Man, that PS2 just keeps hanging in there, doesn't it? We're nearly 8 years after the system's launch and still getting some pretty high-profile games; part of me wishes that the PS2 wasn't on its last legs (as far as quality software goes), because that would mean we'd still be seeing the great output that Japanese studios gave us last generation--when development costs were merely crazy instead of wholly and intractably insane. But in the world of reality, Yakuza 2 ships today, and it's pretty important.
If you didn't play the first Yakuza, you're not alone; it came out in the Fall of 2006, when the world cared only for the tidal wave of next-gen was about to hit. I actually found out about the game long after its release date, and GameFly-ed it the following Fall. Yakuza was actually pretty surprising for what I assumed would be a ripoff of Grand Theft Auto--okay, it kind of is a ripoff of Grand Theft Auto, in its own way. Add a distinctly Japanese sense of game design to the GTA series, and you've basically got Yakuza; and obviously, there are some benefits and drawbacks to this equation.
Read More...