[ad_1]
Saw
The latest offshoot of the long-running Mafia game series remains true to itself despite numerous game innovations. The game takes the player on a crazy journey through the underworld of Japan, which he will not soon forget.
It’s dark. I walk the busy streets of a Japanese city. Bright neon advertisements and dubious street vendors vie for my attention. But my gaze wanders over to a group of muscular men with colorful tattoos. Surely Yakuza, you walk slowly, but decisively and threateningly towards me. Suddenly they gesticulate wildly and challenge me to fight. They will be sorry for this.
Such scenes are well known to fans of the old games “Yakuza”. In a total of eight games, players as dark muscular man Kiryu Kazuma beat up countless shady characters and fought for supremacy in the underworld of the Japanese mafia.
Even in “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” countless opponents have to be brought back with fists, but with some decisive innovations.
The country needs new heroes
The main protagonist of the old games has retired and leaves the stage to a new charismatic hero: Ichiban Kasuga. And his story has it all.
To prove his loyalty to the patriarch and his clan, the low-ranking yakuza beginner voluntarily starts the game with a prison sentence of over 15 years. For a murder he didn’t commit. All for the good of the clan.
As if that wasn’t enough, after his release from prison, Kyousuke is betrayed and nearly killed by his patriarch.
In search of the truth behind the betrayal, Kasuga wanders the streets of Yokohama as the game progresses. Compared to the game worlds of its predecessors (Tokyo and Osaka), the port city appears significantly larger, more detailed and more vibrant.
But perhaps the most important innovation in “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” is revealed as soon as the fight against the colorfully tattooed Yakuza henchmen begins …
Strategic combat
In contrast to the real-time battles of the old games, the player of “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” fights in turn-based battles. While in the past you could have worked your way through dozens of opponents with quick key combinations and evasive maneuvers, every move needs to be carefully planned.
Anyone who has ever played classic Japanese RPGs such as “Persona”, “Dragon Quest” or “Pokémon” will feel right at home in the new combat system.
The player can attack with unspectacular standard attacks or with particularly wacky “abilities” per turn. The former can be used as many times as you like, but it only causes moderate damage. The latter can only be used to a limited extent, but it causes more damage and can provide strategically valuable status effects (burns, sleep, paralysis, etc.).
Kyosuke is also supported in the fight by up to three team members he knows throughout the story. Each character has their own attacks, strengths and weaknesses and can play an important strategic role in combat.
Turn-based battles don’t reinvent the RPG wheel, but they are hugely fun thanks to the massively over-the-top visual effects and staging. However, you would want a little more variety and strategic depth in the RPG system, especially in the last 40-50 hour course of the game.
Saw
Job search with a difference
In addition to the many unlockable weapons and equipment, the new work system can provide some variety on the day of the fight.
Depending on the work done by individual team members, there are exciting strategic combat combinations. For example, a cook can use fire attacks and burn enemies, and an “idol” can heal himself and his teammates.
Jobs can be changed at any time and as often as you like at the job office, but the game discourages the player with time-consuming obstacles from experimenting too much with the constellation of work.
When changing jobs, the respective character starts from scratch and loses important defensive and offensive attributes, as well as access to weapons that have already been unlocked. Also, the really powerful attacks and abilities of a new job must first be laboriously unlocked.
Especially in the last course of the game, you can often no longer afford an experimental job change due to incredibly strong opponents, unless you are willing to invest countless hours in updating your new job.
So many distractions, so little time
Aside from the numerous fights, Kasuga and his squad members can spend time in various side activities.
Notorious collectors are kept happy with various collectibles on every street corner, and minigame lovers are entertained with an incredible range of leisure activities. From a go-kart grand prix to a trip to the cinema or a surprisingly complex economic simulation (where Kasuga has to run a small family business), everything is included.
Unfortunately, the sheer number of side activities and collectibles can sometimes be overwhelming and exhausting, especially as many activities are associated with an immense amount of time and sometimes repetitive tasks. As a player, you often feel lost in the abundance of time-consuming options.
More attention to quality rather than quantity of activities would have been good for the otherwise very large game.
Saw
An almost perfect mix
Regardless of whether you fight through the main story, complete mini-games or take on side missions, “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” exudes an incomparable charm in any situation, which is unparalleled not only in the world of video games.
No other game manages to mix a highly dramatic and serious story with incredibly absurd and ridiculous elements with so much success.
Were it not for the repetitive and unnecessarily time-consuming gameplay elements, “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” would be a perfect excursion into the Japanese underworld and a serious contender for Game of the Year.
back to home Page
[ad_2]
Source link
