NOTE: this playthrough contains the undub and retranslation of Yakuza 1! No rough dub here.

Yakuza's first entry shows promise as an immersive open world that brings tales of yakuza movies and bare-knuckle action to life. The action definitely falters and the world is a little sparse but this entry hints at what would improve in further sequels.

The story follows Kazuma Kiryu, a yakuza member who spends ten years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Upon his freedom he finds an orphan, 10 billion missing yen, and an adventure that spans all the clans of the fictional Kamuro-cho district in Tokyo. The game is VERY story heavy, with plenty of lengthy cutscenes and name-drops that can be difficult to keep up with as not a lot of the cast has standout personalities. Kiryu's own personality is at times dull in its stoicism but shines in his relationships with the supporting cast, such as the aforementioned orphan, a police detective down on his luck, and a handful of hosts/hostesses in the various clubs around Kamuro-cho.

The gameplay is split between two main modes: walking around fixed camera sections of Kamuro-cho where the player can buy items, talk to people in side quests, bump into passerby, and get pulled into random battles from time to time. The battles in question are a rougher affair, with a janky camera that kind of follows the player as they move (with a camera reset button as a bandaid if the player is stuck in a terrible angle) and a 3D brawling moveset that starts out pitifully limited and must be leveled up over the course of the game. Kiryu is very much stuck in a single direction when he launches attacks and is either overwhelmed by many different enemies or enemies that easily evade around his attacks and throw moves that Kiryu can do nothing about in a combo. There is a lock-on and guard button but the lock-on doesn't actually lock onto an enemy (it locks Kiryu in his direction) and Kiryu cannot actually lock-on and guard at the same time.

That said, when treated like an RPG it's a little more forgivable. The player can level up movesets, Kiryu's health/strength, and a special meter for special moves/finishers and the like. Basic moves such as hitting behind Kiryu or a parry (multiple different parries! All with awkward timing) move must be learned from a secret trainer later on in the game, so players will most definitely struggle. There are equippable items and limited use weapons but there are also segments where players will be forced to play without them. In the endgame it's a blast to be able to throw finishing holds, giant swings, and stomp into bad guys' skulls but up to that point it's an aggravating slog. Bosses will still dance around the player and make a lot of the tried and true moves pretty useless so one may have to end up falling back on healing items and spare weapons if they want to survive.

The environment and aesthetic is where Yakuza really shines. The game is a convincingly realistic recreation of Tokyo's Kabuki-cho district, with plenty of variety in NPC passer-by, glowing neon signs in busy streets, and a cameo from the Don Quijote discount store. Most of the environmental sounds are all ambience for the exploration part of gameplay but some really funky and high-energy rock hits in when the player needs a boost for the fight. The game goes wild with graphical effects at the time such as bloom and stylized blurs and the camera is expertly woven in cutscenes and finishers (when it doesn't need to awkwardly follow the player in combat). Voice acting for the original Japanese version is distinct and prevalent, and while the player may get a lot of gruff words from Kiryu or sinister words from the variety of bosses he meets it's all very well done.

Yakuza might be a tough first entry to go back to - it makes sense why people remade this into Kiwami. The world is lovingly detailed but can be slow to move through, and the simple and badly implemented combat system could use a touch-up. That said, it's a promising sign for better sequels to come.