30 Days of Gaming : Day 2

By aurahack February 14, 2011 7 Comments

And so we continue! You can find a recap of the previous days at the bottom of this post. 

Kazuma Kiryu

  

This one was so very close to either going to Nathan Drake or Batman (seem familiar, anyone?) but after some heavy considering on the public transport to school this morning (of which sucks, by the way. 45 minutes to get somewhere underground when it takes me 15 minutes by car?), I knew this was the only choice I could allow myself to pick.  
 

  There's a bunch of stuff I like about the Yakuza games. The brawler-esque combat, the modern setting, the gang/political-centric storylines, the side quests, the minigames... it's a series that's intricately well-crafted and there's no better proof than the franchise's main protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu. Every entry in the series (save maybe for the Japan-only Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!, which was set in the Edo period) has taken considerable effort into developing his back-story/current character and it more than shows. SEGA and Amusement Vision put all of their talent and skill into making Kiryu a character with an incredible amount of charm, wit and bad-assery while somehow managing to include a legacy of stories and events. From his orphan-raised, yakuza-influenced childhood to his ascension of the Dojima yakuza clan's ranks, Kiryu's character story just gets more and more interesting as you keep uncovering it.
 
His entourage is a brilliantly-developed cast of characters and the story of both his clan and the problems they keep finding themselves in as other families fight for power is nothing short of fascinating. Both Yakuza and Kiryu are two instances where I find myself wishing I was involved in said names when playing most other Japanese RPGs. And that's something I don't ever think of with any other names in gaming. 
 
If there's one thing I would like for you guys to take away from this blog, it's don't let the genre tag "JRPG" or "Action RPG" scare you away. Do yourself a favor and play *any* of the Yakuza games. They all have episode recaps for the previous games and it's, in my opinion, by far and beyond the most under-appreciated series on consoles right now. They're not just terrific games, they're a stage set for what I hold as my favorite character in gaming.
 

Days of Gaming Recap!

Feb 13th, 2011 - Day 1: Your Very First Videogame

I'll attach this one and possibly the next one to the Gen. Discussion forums for views' sake but since I'm unsure if having one of these posted every day on the forums would be considered spam, I'll keep to my blog after that one.    

See 'ya tomorrow! :D    

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