Shawn Lebert, Lead Video Editor

Yakuza 3 Demo Impressions

February 22, 2010

Sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto or Fallout have been with the gaming market for years now. It can be noted how highly successful they are in their own unique form. Without the limitation of linearity, the choice of doing what you want and when you want, gives the utmost privilege in a game. Although Grand Theft Auto and Fallout are completely different titles with contrasting goals, it's clear to point out that gamers love their freedom.

Yakuza 3 debuts in the States just weeks away and it's come a long, arduous way to be acknowledged as a very anticipated game for this year. Japan was graced with the PlayStation 3 exclusive for an entire year and it showed its dominance, beating out blockbuster Resident Evil 5 in sales.

The intrigue of Yakuza comes from an intricately detailed, open world that allows players to move at their own pace. The fact that you can play with the intention of not advancing the main storyline is what has everyone turning his or her focus on this very title. It's been done in the past, sure, but how often is the market honored with that much freedom? It only happens probably every two or three or four years. Final Fantasy is known for the open world—we're not going to diss the news on Final Fantasy XIII yet— and it's an incredible series. Yakuza 3 has more than just side missions. It's known for its fun, pointless mini-games that have no particular involvement with the story, but it's the fact that there is karaoke, or a batting range, or going out on dates; it's all cleverly intertwined with the title just so the player knows that this world is alive.

Yakuza and Yakuza 2 were on the PlayStation 2. Both titles provided an open-world too, exploring storyline, including side missions and mini-games is what makes this series fresh. Although both games generally had favorable reviews, there were a few problems that needed a touch up. With Yakuza 3 on the horizon, there is hope that they fixed the kinks and since the demo has arrived on the PlayStation Store, we'll be able to tell you right now how it is.

Yakuza 3 continues the dramatic story of Kazuma Kiryu from the previous games. Jumping right in the bustling streets of Tokyo, Kiryu isn't out of the mess, startling up some trouble, which he has to in order to hear the truth. Moments into the demo, Kiryu busts into a nightclub, in which he has to deal with no-do-gooders, who may have information he needs. There isn't much of a basic tutorial, unleashing havoc minutes just into the demo.

The graphics for a PlayStation 3 game aren't too extravagantly polished. There are tons of areas where they intentionally put motion blur over backdrops or less important faces during in-game scenes just to get optimal performance. It'll catch anyone off guard and most will find it visually unappealing. However, understanding this series is big and all the things you can do, lowering resources here and there is expected. It's not exactly acceptable, but it's not too much to turn me away from revisiting a series that I enjoyed in the past. The non in-game cut-scenes in contrast to the in-game ones do look pretty phenomenal and anyone will enjoy staring at them extra long in crisp full high definition detail.

One of the issues in previous games is that controlling the character feels a bit too sensitive.

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