Anyways. In the meantime, ie. "while not posting", I've been playing Yakuza 3 (and lately Mafia II on the PC - a beautiful game).
What can I say about the "Big Y"? Not having played (to my recollection) the previous games on the PS2, but having taken the time to watch the "what has happened" cut-scene videos from the said previous games provided with Yakuza 3 (smart move, Sega), the world really feels fleshed out.
And not only feels, but acts too; there are multitudes of people walking around the streets of Tokyo, shops to visit, video games to play, etc.
Voice acting is great (and unlike in previous games), not dubbed in English.
The graphics are a bit on the cartoony side, but still pretty OK. Especially if you keep in mind that Yakuza 3 was released in Japan a year earlier than in the US / EU.
The game has a... nice "feel", I guess, for a lack of a better word. I reminds me of the old Shenmue games I played on the Dreamcast and Xbox - and no wonder, since some of the Shenmue people are on the Yakuza 3 payroll.
Combat is simplified, but not too simple (two button combos) and the plot plods along slowly at first. Characters are all real personalities, for good or for worse...
The biggest downside in the western version is that it has seen some cuts made vs the original Japanese version; there are no longer hostess bars or Japanese quiz games to play, but you can still date people and play "other stuff", like karaoke. Yay.
The "feel", the world, the plot and... well, the whole game really begs for a gamer that likes all things Japanse (or just fancy something different for a change). All in all, I'd recommend Yakuza 3 if you're into open world (kind of) games. Especially if you have a soft, very nostalgic spot for the good ol' Shenmue games.
Score: 8.5/10
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