So... i just beat this game. First Yakuza game i've ever beat actually... and wow. For some reason i was always under the impression that Yakuza was somewhat similar to Shenmue? I backed the Shenmue 3 project, figured this might give me a taste of what to expect. Have to admit that this is my third attempt at trying to get into the series... first tried on PS2, dropped it within the first 30 mins. Then i remember buying Yakuza 4 or 5 on PS3 and it just did not click with me again, dropped it after 1.5 hours. This time, I was so god damn determined to beat this game -- all the crazy ass gifs i've seen posted and the fervent community Yakuza has garnered, surely i was missing out on something.
Missing out i was! The first 1-2 hours i have to admit were somewhat brutal... i found the controls rather unresponsive and moving the character around was a challenge (still feel that way). It was also rough to experience the invisible walls in the game when it came to navigating the cities, particularly the alley ways... getting in and out of little Asia, lol, what a god damn challenge that was and continues to be. However, i pressed on, focused on the other aspects the game has to offer. Fortunately, after 2-3 hours of play, it clicked and it felt like i had unearthed the biggest diamond in the rough.
The amount of content packed into this game is absolutely bat shit crazy... i thoroughly enjoyed all the mini games, laughed my ass off at a lot of the sidequest and the god damn story... that ending and FEELS. I really enjoyed how despite being an open world game, the story progressed about as linearly as it could... it made for a very cohesive experience, with unexpected turns that was quite honestly executed very well. I know Naughty Dog coined the term liner wide, but to me this game seems much more representative of what i take that to mean.
Officially on board the Yakuza hype train... so glad i stuck with it.