Yakuza meets Miyamoto Musashi: Ryu ga Gotoku: Kenzan!

Not too long ago I finally went back and finished Ryu ga Gotoku: Kenzan!, that I picked up during my vacation in Japan this summer. Up until playing the game my experience with the Yakuza series was about 10 minutes of the first game I played over at a friends house and the demo of this game on the Japanese PSN I played earlier this year.



Where the game really shines is the amount of detail they put into the game. All buildings are based real buildings from that era, all characters or random persons in the street wear realistic clothes from the era and even most of the areas are recreated just as you would imagine them. Especially if you have been travelling in Japan and been to Kyoto, you will recognise some of the places. I nearly flipped, when I fought at the Kiyomizu temple, one of my favorite places in Japan, or when I was at the Nijo castle, but could see it not in todays weathered condition but with all the screen paintings looking vibrant and new. Unlike the satire version of NY, that is featured in GTA4, this games places actually look and feel like the real thing.

It's really sad, that this game most likely won't make it outside of Japan. The first two Yakuza games weren't big hits in the west and they will concentrate on bringing over Yakuza 3. Kenzan! is an incredibly game and should be played by everyone, who can understand enough Japanese to follow the story.

Also watch this long trailer for Yakuza 3, because you really want this game: