> The story begins 10 years from the present day with the main character, Yakuza henchman Kasuma also known as the dragon of Dojima, standing over the dead body of the local crime lord of the Tojo clan with a gun in one hand and an ornate ring gently held in place by the thumb and index finger of the other as police car sirens become louder and louder outside. As if mesmerized by the ring, our hero calmly awaits for the police to kick down the door behind him. The game then takes you back in time a day in order to show you the events leading up to that moment. Kasuma's loyalty to his family seems to know no bounds as he takes the fall for a murder committed by a man, Akira Nishiki who has been like a brother to him, in defense of a mutual female acquaintance, Yumi, whom was on the verge of being raped. Locked away for 10 years for covering his brother's tracks and taking responsibility for a crime he didn't commit, Kasuma is released from prison to discover Yumi missing, Nishiki becoming an aspiring criminal mastermind of the Yakuza, 10 billion yen missing from the Tojo clan's bank, and a little girl being the key to it all. And that's only the beginning. The rest of the story delves into in-fighting between rival clans all eager to reclaim that money for themselves.

     > So PS2 texturing leaves a lot to be desired, and it shows everywhere you look. Granted, Shenmue 2 has higher res brighter textures in places (whereas Yakuza is all misty and dark(ened) to minimize the aliasing highlighted by more contrasting colors) and the facial animations are no more impressive, but when setting these disappointments aside, Yakuza is a rock solid game with a large spacious city setting jam-packed with detail one can only admire. The only problem is, Kasuma being the very unpopular guy that he is, runs into all sorts of low life scum itching for a fight who aren't always avoidable. So naturally, it's the job of this noble badass to put the lowest of the low in their proper place! Even if the transition from the sky-high floating third person perspective to overhead fight scenes can take up to a minute (the scenery in Shenmue 1-2 was all seen behind and above Ryo or through his eyes while Yakuza makes Kasuma seem tiny in comparison to his surroundings). Sega has already confirmed a sequel for the Playstation 2 to play it safe on the established userbase, but I'd love to see all this action rendered in photo-realism without long pauses to load in fight scenes.

     > The bottom line here is you can't really ask for much more from the PS2. The streets at night are amazingly well lit up with dynamic (non-static at times) light sourcing (the DC simply wouldn't have the processing muscle for these effects) and there's more detail than you should reasonably expect from this platform. Anyone who expects more is just dreaming.

     > There's a lot to explore and there are even side quests and mini-games (such as a baseball alley and arcade) to distract yourself from the main story if that floats your boat. It all helps to create the illusion of a non-linear game world, and since Kasuma will be running back and forth between areas most of the time, it's difficult to not soak up the sights and sounds. In fact, you can easily lose yourself in the city, but fast food and convenience stores provide the health you may need in between all the brawling, so don't despair!

     > Sega of America actually hired some decent voice acting talent (i.e. pop-culture voices) including the likes of Eliza Dushku (of Buffy The Vampire fame) and Mark Hamill (people remember him mostly for his leading Star Wars role, but this isn't his first game role, also starring in the sci-fi space-shooter Wing Commander series for the PC). The least we can expect are voices injected with real emotion. Believe me when I say it could be far, far worse.

     > Yes, the main character, Kasuma, happens to say "I see" a few times (paying homage to Ryo perhaps?), but no where near in the same complete apathetic monotone Ryo, who seems almost numb at times even when luscious women in loose fitting clothing hit on him, does. Kasuma is a lot more passionate and impassioned by events at times. Sometimes you'll see actual anger on display which seemed like a totally alien concept to Ryo except in fleeting moments almost too short to remember.

     > The music is suitably atmospheric ranging from subtle melodies to screeching or fast beating trance-like and pulse pounding dramatic encores (this is a matter of taste). Be warned that swearing is abundant in this game. You could argue, however, that this lends more realism to the game. Violent criminals tend to swear a lot. Face it. If Sega were aiming for something darker and edgier, they succeeded.

     > The loading times are where this game falls the most, but you really can't ask for much more from a console that renders lower resolution textures than the supposedly inferior Dreamcast (both consoles have their own strengths and weaknesses much to the chagrin of the corrupt media who couldn't afford to downplay the importance of their meal ticket). If, however, you are the type of gamer who won't be disappointed just because Yakuza isn't a GTA clone set in Japan (funny how people will overlook this game for not being a clone, yet criticize it for being unoriginal if it was), Yakuza easily stands on its own two feet when judged on its own merits.