Friday 30 March, 2018

So this chapter I started the second chapter, which seemed to have more open ended objectives, with the first sidequests opening up. I've been having a real difficult time trying to do the dodging minigame that Kamoji introduces, and so far it's been very frustrating trying to get past it. I also started another quest helping a high school-age boy find out what is happening with his girlfriend, but haven't made any progress as I'm not yet familiar with the layout of Kamurocho. The thing that stuck me most during this play session is the freedom with which Kiryu can act now that he isn't a Yakuza. His overall goal at this point is still protecting Kamaza from Yakuza reprisal, but the way he just jumps in to help others even though he has no obligation to "protect his turf" or "show off" as a Yakuza member is striking. It sort of feeds into the idea that it doesn't necessarily matter what kind of position someone is in or what their status is, just what they are willing to act on and what they are willing to do to help others, which I find kinda endearing.

Great work James! The observation you made in how Yakuza 0 “earns” its over the top violence, as opposed to Shadow of Mordor, brings up some interesting questions in how a game’s presentation of something morally questionable such as violence can change how it is interpreted by the player. In what ways does “being upfront” about the moral duplicity of the NPCs allow for a game to “earn” more gratuitous violence? Does moral ambiguity give developers more leighway in how they portray their game’s mechanics?