Look through your Steam Library, peruse columns of your PlayStation collection, or look at the shelf that has all your Xbox games on it and tally it up for yourself: how many games are set in the world you’re in. living?
I’m not talking about call of duty, set the date and name in modern locations but can be placed anywhere. I’m not talking about a racing or sports game that intricately simulates exactly one aspect of the entire human experience, at the expense of countless other aspects.
I’m talking about a video game that allows you to do many of the things you already do or at least can do every day. After you finish adding those games up, you probably won’t find much. You may not find any at all.
Let me explain where I’m going with this. I played Yakuza Kiwami 2 Another day, part of a series that was supposed to be inherently Japanese, when I realized that one of the things that impressed me the most was not Japanese at all.
yakuza formerly urban. Most of your time is spent interacting with a yakuza the game is not about slamming a bike in a man’s face, but about the same things anyone living and/or working in a modern urban environment does every day. You just… walk around. Visit a convenience store to buy a drink. Try the new fast food place on the corner (every yakuza game, set 1-2 years after the last one, there’s always a new place to try). Took a cab because it was raining and you couldn’t be bothered to walk four blocks. Running into people you know on the street (or Are not run into them, see previous taxi comment).
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These are global, human experiences because they’re built around one of the few things billions of people around the world have in common: consumer capitalism. Yakuza is set in Japan but the bulk of its action—ritual and ancient combat on the grounds of a hallowed clan headquarters aside, maybe—could be taking place anywhere and it would be much the same game. Anywhere people live, eat and shop within close proximity, from Manila to Melbourne, Brussels to Bangkok would work just as well.
A big part of yakuza attractive is its proximity location, the availability of so much in such a relatively small area, the way you start to recognize certain buildings, knowing your way around the alleys. The fact that almost everywhere you visit is a shop—a bar, a takeaway, a restaurant, a clothing retailer—a bit depressing! That so much of our love for Kamurocho is built on commercial and that I removed the other categories above just to do one thing when yakuza that is, when you strip it to the bottom, spend most of its time doing just one thing (buying things).
On the other hand, that’s a gross simplification, because it’s not ours error in the world is like this, we’re just living in it. And buy a soda from the vending machine, go to the amusement park, buy a new bandana or sitting down to a delicious meal may all be “commercial” in the broadest sense of the world, but they are also very different kinds of good things, satisfying very different needs and urges.
What is important is what sets these yakuza activities beyond other “real world” games such as madness or Gran Turismo or Strange La river life the fact that they are everyday things. We do them all the time, like the guy on the screen. It sounds boring, but actually I think one of the biggest reasons why people love it yakuzaand its playable protagonists, a lot.
Of course, Kazuma Kiryu is a special man who can throw signs at crowds of armed men, jump over obstacles like Superman and even cheat death. But he’s also the most believable protagonist in video games, because when he’s not doing those things we are in control belong to him when he sat down to slurp a bowl of ramen, buy a pack of cigarettes or get strangely frustrated with a UFO catcher.
I do it! We do that! And letting players take control of Kiryu’s most mundane activities—taking place in a world that is our own entertainment, not a fantasy world or alternate or fictional timeline—To be the bestbecause they are does a great job of highlighting the character. Make him fallible, human, a guy who has to kill time and run errands and eat normal food, just like us.
This revelation got me thinking about two things. Firstly, about how if you can move yakuza recipe to another city, I wanted to see a London edition/shoot, complete with Greggs, pints, fine suits and the city’s iconic taxis. Characters and cutscenes will write themselves:
Second, it’s weird that I have to imagine another game doing this, since almost no Another series of video games are allowing us to do everyday things in a digital version of our own world. There are open world games (yakuza definitely not an open world game) with some shops and pastimes, sure, but they’re not integral to the experience or densely packed. They are also often caricatures of cities (see: gta and)less similar to yakuza Loyal recreating the modern urban environment, down the magazine shelf on the convenience store shelf. And games like Crossing animals And Star Valley may encourage players to enter the mundane world, but they are located in idyllic locations and Turnip digging is not something that people living in modern cities do every day.
personality, Maybe? Although it gives the illusion of freedom and choice, In fact, it’s hampered by a limited number of locations and a strict schedule that keeps players going. So, no. Dog is sleeping? It has some denser areas, designed to be played as a walker, but still nothing on the scale. yakuza daily distractions. The Sims? That could be the best or worst possible example, and would require a whole other paper to unpack, so to keep this short, I’ll say “no” here. too (though I’ll entertain the counter arguments!)
I guess all I’m saying here is that video games aren’t always about escapism. Or at least not always must be about escapism. Sometimes the most boring, everyday actions can make the most sense in the game, because if you want us to really involve a playable character, one of the best ways to do it it’s not about doing some superhuman trick every five minutes, but just to…Let’s take them out for a snack and a walk in the street.
