The Yakuza vs. GTA Debate
The Yakuza vs. GTA debate is a time-old argument that, frankly, never seems to go away. GTA is the obvious heavyweight, and even Yakuza fans will admit that Rockstar’s series has more “open world” to it. But some of the series’ biggest supporters have had enough, and their defense of Yakuza is wonderful to see.
Fighting Back Against the Critics
“The Yakuza games are good but not as open world as GTA,” you might see in the comments section. Well, Yakuza fans are fighting back, and it’s the best thing I’ve seen all day.
“Americans hate walkable cities and wouldn’t understand the quality storytelling in Yakuza games,” one user responds. “People who throw shade at Yakuza games wouldn’t understand quality storytelling if it hit them in the face.”
That’s just the tip of the (fist) iceberg, as there are plenty of funny anecdotes from fans about their experiences playing Yakuza games. There are also many recommendations for newcomers, with Yakuza 0 being a particularly popular fan-favorite.
I’m not a big Yakuza person but I can appreciate the love. I’ve played a bit of 0, and I’m always impressed by the passion and quality. It’s nice to see a big studio like Sega care about something as much as we do. They’re like the Nintendo of Open-world games, only they do so much more.
I’m not a massive fan of the graphics, but I understand that they’re very realistic. I can’t say I’m a fan of the over-the-top style of GTA either, and I prefer something a bit more realistic and detailed.
Positive Reception
There are also a lot of discussions about the graphics. Some people love them and think they’re the best around. Others, not so much, but they don’t want to see the Yakuza series go down the road of adding more and more bells and whistles to the engine until it becomes unrecognizable.
The comments are very positive overall, with people highlighting the series’ well-written stories and great characters. That’s something I could never get into though, as I’ve never been a big anime or manga guy. I’m just a fan of the various genres these games span, from the beat ‘em up RPGs like Yakuza and Kenzan to the detective dramas of Zero and Ryū ga Gotoku 4.
Yakuza is like The Godfather – a serious story about family and crime, but with moments of humor. It’s a unique series that has a little bit of everything.
The most recent Yakuza game, Yakuza 6, is a great example of that. I remember more from Yakuza 6 than I do from other open-world games. You can’t say that about Red Dead Redemption 2 or even GTA 6.
I love Yakuza open world more than any other franchise.
I wish I could play Yakuza games in Japanese though, I love the story and characters so much. The localization is bad, but I’d like to try to learn the original language.
This user is happy with the positive comment karma.
I used to play Yakuza but I’ve since moved on to Sleeping Dogs. I’m not a fan of karaoke, but at least GTA has that.
Sleeping Dogs does karaoke? I haven’t played it in a while, but I always thought it was more of an undercover cop game. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to check it out.
This isn’t Yukazu’s first time in the spotlight, as we also wrote about how Grand Theft Auto V is the best selling game of all time.
