Bet you didn't think many things could top the ability to pop heads with mind-bullets for a living, however with the Yakuza series we have genuinely the finest off-kilter narrative in gaming since Metal Gear Solid. Obviously that's going to cause uproar, so explanation is in order. Yakuza's story is not on the level of something like The Last of Us, or Gone Home, instead it's another cast of characters brought to life with more vigour than a particularly sprightly Pixar creation. As with MGS, should you happen to try explaining the 'je ne sais quoi' of the series whilst simultaneously defending the likes of a man who can transform into bees, or the fact that said man also helped win World War 2 in that series' canon, you've probably already lost. Rest assured Yakuza is not as crazy as that (yet anyway), but what is on offer is a perfect pairing of eastern humour, fantastic character moments of going against the odds and succeeding, other longtime deceased characters revealing they'd faked their death all along, and a perfect backdrop of a free-roaming city filled with side-activities like baseball and karaoke. Plus a stupidly brutal combat system. It's the icing on the Yakuza cake, being that an initially very simple system of hitting opponents enough to fill up your 'Heat meter' will let you unleash a finishing move (usually by slamming your boot straight into an opponents face, complete with flying teeth and smushed up nose), however this evolves into judging where you are in the environment, and with upgradable moves allowing more athletic characters to flip off benches and walls to take out a group of thugs at once, that's when you know you're onto something special. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8AqjD9mgVE Yakuza has a pacing all its own, and it could care less about whether or not you get on board or not being the series is onto its fifth instalment over in Japan (we're currently still waiting on a Western release) but with the doors of acceptance being fully open and the aisles of stupidly-enjoyable 'Yakuza Moments' being things you need to experience for yourself, this is something fans of great stories will enjoy a whole lot, but for those who are still fully on board the Metal Gear-train, it'll be your next favourite franchise. Any more you guys want to throw in the pot? Perhaps this has twixt your nostalgic nethers and there's something you feel was also criminally overlooked? Let us know in the comments below!
