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KevinJRoeder's Yakuza 0 (PS4)
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| [February 15, 2018 08:40:39 AM]
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Part 3
So, I called my bosses and take a taxi to get to the Dojima Family headquarter. I wonder what awaits me there? Once I arrive the "lieutenants" of the clan await me. In another long sequence we learn the real issue behind the person who got killed. It seems that there is a plot of land in the middle of a popular area which the Yakuza want to get their hands on. However, because a person died there, it has become significantly more difficult for them now. And they are blaming me? They do not believe that I did not kill that man, even after I clarify that I only "ruffed him up". I am beginning to understand the issue here; the story seems to be more deep and complicated as I would have expected after the first part of the game which seemed like a fun "beat 'em up" game. One thing, which again is interesting to note, is that a gun seems to have been in play, which seems to be bigger deal than we would expect coming from the U.S. It seems that guns are very rare, and hard to get your hands on. After I learn that the person who took me in as an orphan (a higher ranked Yakuza I believe) will be made responsible for my "failure" my character decides to leave the Clan. After the plan is hashed out, I make my way to the boss of the Clan to tell him personally. On the way to him I fight numerous bad guys, where at its end I meet the Boss. I am allowed to leave the family, and one of the other bosses also leaves for a reason which is not entirely clear to me. As a sign of leaving Yakuza he cuts of his little finger, which I for some reason am not asked to do. I have the feeling I will meet that guy again, probably not in a peaceful manner though. This game is setting up quite the interesting story. What I find interesting is that until now I was not able to choose any specific path, so the game is making me play a specific way. There is no way to resolve a conflict through talking or without beating anyone up for example. This is interesting because that means the creators of the game are in full control setting the game up under their ideas of what is right and wrong. Then - because I will fulfill the actions I have to, I will then experience the reactions to it, which the creators have invented, which should in some way reflect their own moral compass. An interesting game, yet it appears to take quite some time to really start.
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| [February 14, 2018 08:03:20 PM]
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Part 2.
Once done with showing these guys who the strongest is, a guy appears. Nishirki. He seems to be an old friend. A quite long sequence begins, where we are introduced to him, and we learn about their relationship. It seems that he is a old friend, and quite possibly the closest we have to a brother. We learn about how the image of one self is very important to Yakuzas. The display of wealth (cars, jewelry) is especially important, so that people look up to the Yakuza. This is an interesting thought, I wonder if the writers of this game took this idea from reality, or if it is a rather sly social commentary masked as a characterization of a Yakuza?
After another fight, we meet a weird foreigner, who wants me to fight for him or something like that? It is not really clear, nonetheless he teaches me some new fight moves. The game continues to show me various parts of the game, including a Karaoke mini game?
As we sit and eat Ramen later that evening, something important seems to happen. A TV journalist reports about a guy who was killed. That guys seems to be the person we beat up in the alley in the first moments during the opening sequence of the game. I am honestly surprised about how the main characters are reacting to this. Is a guy dying such a big deal? We have been punching and kicking our way up till now, but now it is a huge deal that this guy is dead? It does seem that the underlying idea is that the murder of a "civilian" is an atrocity. This is an interesting moral perspective which may be used as a Framework here. It puts the player in this situation where he has to believe that murdering a civilian is not allowed, and against all rules of the Yakuza. I wonder if this is reflected in the Japanese underground as well, or was this chosen to create a specific experience for this game? Anyhow, the main character (us) is very worried about this and decides he needs to speak as soon as possible to his Yakuza bosses. I wonder how this will work out...
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| [February 12, 2018 08:44:31 PM]
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Yakuza 0, in a not very surprising manner (considering the Title) starts with violence. The game begins with a well made cut scene introducing us to the main character who violently beats a man, and kicks him on the floor before he takes what we can expect to be money from him. The scene changes and we watch a small man talking fresh to some young women before he gets pushed aside by our "Hero". The little man becomes angry and follow him, taps him on the shoulder before his friend signals him that the guy he is tapping on the shoulder might be the kind of guy that can become dangerous. If this is us the player, we seem to be quit the Bada$$. With a bloody, and cold face our character leaves the scene (without beating the guy). We then watch out main character have a mysterious discussion with a loan shark, it seems like we do jobs for him, and he encourages us to join him, which we decline because we are YAKUZA. Alright then, quite the intense introduction to this game, especially because it is all in Japanese with english subtitles. Atmosphere seem interesting, although quite dark. We continue watching our Hero walking through the streets of the city, until we get a page. This is where Chapter 1 begins, and we begin to control the main character.
We walk for a couple of meters, where we then get involved in a street fight. We talk to the bad guys and decide to take them out, they do not respect out turf it seems. The game uses this situation to teach us the fighting mechanics... simple enough and quite brutal. Faces get smashed, and heads are hit against concrete walls. It is interesting to analyses how this game deals with such moral problems as violence and murder. As we discussed in class a game can provide the player with a moral framework, I wonder if it will also make me as a player decide if I want to do good, or if it forces me to live the live of a Yakuza, which probably would include some morally questionable instances. I am interested to see how this game deals with such questions.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 14th, 2018 at 19:45:07.
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KevinJRoeder's Yakuza 0 (PS4)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Saturday 10 February, 2018
GameLog closed on: Tuesday 27 March, 2018 |
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