The series of Yakuza has always been difficult to understand: we are talking about a product that has existed since more than 15 years, which goes on in Japan as a constant success and which is actually starting to have an audience in the West too. With the exception of spin-offs in the past or in alternate versions of a world populated by zombies, the themes of the series have always been more or less the same: in the end the protagonist was the stoic. Kazuma Kiryu, a boy who has been through a lot of hardships for his adoptive family, for his friends and for the people he cares about. Depicted as mafia with a heart of gold in these games, he then proposes stories steeped in loyalty, courage, respect and honor, themes that perhaps we could define a bit distant from the underworld but which instead find a fantastic combination in Yakuza, and so it also happens in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
The Yakuza series has always had the ability to swing between the serious and the facetious, swinging like a swing between raw scenes that make you reflect on the values of life, and phases in which maybe it's time to sing in a karaoke as if it was a concert at the stadium. Yakuza 7, or rather Yakuza: Like a Dragon finally arrives in the West (the only console that will have to wait is PlayStation 5, in March), and it does so from scratch. The game is in fact a sort of soft reboot (therefore it does not erase the past of the series), a product that abandons the historical character (its narrative arc ended with Yakuza 6) and proposes another, different and at the same time similar. .
Kon'nichiwa, Kasuga Ichibandesu
The protagonist of this Yakuza: Like a Dragon this time is Kasuga Ichiban, as always, a member of the Yakuza who will find himself living an opening very similar to that of Kiryu. Finished in prison for an unspoken crime, our protagonist will find himself in one after 18 years Kamurocho which went on, evolved and different from what he remembered. This time the game, however, instead of focusing the events in the city inspired by Kabukicho, moves mainly to the district of Yokohama, in Isezaki Ijincho (which in reality represents Isezakicho), but will still allow Kasuga to visit the historic city of the series and even the Sotenbori district of Osaka (which in reality is instead the Dotonbori district). If therefore the departure seems very similar, in reality here we have a clear detachment of the character of the character from the previous stylistic elements: if Kiryu was serious, stoic and distinguished, Kasuga is what we would call "extroverted", a more emotional and loud character.
The thing that seemed most interesting concerns precisely this difference: accustomed to the coldness of the old protagonist, the character of the new character gives more color to the series: this might seem like a further exaggeration, but in reality it goes well with the bivalent nature of the game . Like all Yakuza, in fact, the title will not limit itself to talking only about serious and important things, nor joking and frivolous, but will alternate the two things, tearing laughter and a few tears of sadness. For the rest, the game will be proposed as a set of main and secondary missions, with many mini-games and a strong RPG component. Speaking of the latter, unlike Kiryu, who once released from prison decides to solve the problems in his Yakuza family, Ichiban instead changes course completely and starts his career as a hero: in fact, raised on bread and Dragon Quest, he based his whole life on those principles and for this reason the title also adapts the game system, abandoning the beat 'em up in favor of a turn-based combat . Returning to the minigames, the title offers a variety of interesting challenges for the city, from the already renowned karaoke to some news that we let you discover.
It's your turn
Speaking of the combat system, it is the only flaw in a system that already worked well: the idea of adapt the gameplay to the character of the character and to his passions it works, but brings with it two serious problems, where the first, of lesser importance, is compatibility with the game: change is always welcome, but to dismantle a system that had worked for many chapters by now in favor of a different gameplay, perhaps less accepted by the West and in any case not very functional in a similar title could represent a difficult barrier to overcome. In fact, if before we could boast of chaining combos, special attacks and different styles, now we will only be able to make attacks, defenses, use objects and use some special attacks (here the Jobs system comes into play, which we will talk about later).
The second problem, the most serious, however, concerns the wanting to be a "live" turn-based combat system, where the whole city, including the characters, keep moving. This leads to a fantastic rendering on the screen where it really seems to be fighting in the middle of a road, but on the other hand it poses insurmountable problems: we are talking about failed attacks not by mistake of the player, but because simply a bush hinders with one edge movement, or a character suddenly decides to move. Nonetheless, it's fun to articulate attacks in the party, and the on-screen rendering remains fantastic… only not all that glitters is gold.
The other side of this RPG system is instead customization. In fact, the character of Ichiban will not only have statistics values useful for the fights, but will also have some necessary value for certain dialogues: it will be very important to talk to your companions (with them you will even have to do activities to forge a stronger bond) and with people, so as to unlock points that will go into statistics such as wisdom or passion. The result will be given only by what you answer, and it must be said that these dialogues differ from the simplistic ones seen with the NPCs, or the serious ones seen during the main missions, proposing a third differentiation which first appears in this Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
The real interesting news concerns instead jobs: Ichiban will be able to rely on other characters throughout the story (which you can enlist as you advance in the game and which you can use as companions in the party or as an assist), companions who will help him survive in Yokohama and become the hero he wants to be. Yet our protagonist will not find himself making a crusade against the traitor of the moment in the family, but he will have to live by his own strength to become a hero: for this Ichiban will have to find a job, so as to make money and have it to live on. These Works, which you can choose in a sort of placement, will give our protagonist skills, usable in combat, creating a system very close to that seen in the first Final Fantasy, and tracing even more the idea of life to the Dragon Quest that the character has. The freedom of choice will make it fun to alternate these works between the various characters (which you can also do during the fight), and without spoiling the surprise, being more or less in the same area of Japan, some historical characters of the series will be usable.
We have often talked in the various Yakuza reviews of how Kamurocho was a lively city, great to explore and full of content: we chatted about the beautiful views of bright boulevards, a cleanliness and a distinct shape, very close to the top of the Yakuza and the style of life of Kiryu. The district we will visit in Yakuza: Like a Dragon is very different (as well as three times as big as the old Kamurocho): it seems close to a sort of slum, a much more infamous and less "bright" place than the old city. Although this may seem little, in reality it changes the theme of the game a lot: the characters we will meet will not in fact be successful people, or in any case well-defined, but will aim to be characters more than anything else in search of something, perhaps solutions to theirs. problems or someone to follow to get back on top.
The technical sector is always of the highest quality, with well-kept details euno graphic style that manages to highlight every single expression of the characters. From the sound point of view, on the other hand, the choice of putting English subtitles with double value is interesting: if in fact you will play Yakuza: Like a Dragon with Japanese dialogues, the subtitles will aim to be a literal interpretation of the speeches, while if you will play it in English , the subtitles will maintain the intent of the original dialogue while adapting the speech in a more understandable way. Regardless, Spanish subtitles will also be available.
