Chapter 3 is where the game really starts to open up. There
were no barriers blocking me from exploring Downtown Ryukyu this time, and
there were many things to see and encounter. Being more expansive, Chapter 3
took me 3-4 hours to get through.
The theme of family is again present throughout this
chapter, from the main stories featured in the chapter, to the sub-stories that
I experienced while exploring the city. It’s great, really – it can definitely
get very emotional at times. There are scenes between the kids where I just had
to go “Awwwww” again. The feels, man. The feels.
I took fishing for the second time, equipped with 3 worms to
use as bait. I managed to catch 2 things, this time – a coral branch and a
porcupine fish. Success! I managed to adjust to the fishing system – which is
pretty natural; it’s similar to what you’d do in real life, I would think
(don’t let the line slack too hard, but don’t let it get too tense, either),
and the music that plays when you catch something on your fishing hook definitely pumps up the action.
I also got to play virtual golf, which is actually part of
the main plot in this chapter. I would probably describe the gameplay of golf
to be a more sophisticated version of the golf game from Wii Sports, in that there are bars to measure how much power you
put into your shots, different golf clubs to use depending on the distance,
etc. I like the fact that there’s no music while playing. The ambience felt
very nice and somewhat calming, but it would be frustrating when I kept hitting
out-of-bounds. I wasn’t too good at playing golf – I would often have to redo
my shots, which you’re allowed to do. Maybe it was because I wasn’t that good
at it, but I just felt like the golf game was okay. Not amazing, just decent.
Like I said before, I had access to most of, if not all of
Downtown Ryukyu, and took a lot of time exploring the stores and side-missions.
There was a side-story where I encountered some con men (I didn’t fall victim
to their tactics, of course!), and one where I rescued a street musician.
There was an interesting side-story where I met a girl named
Mika while going to get a bite to eat at a fast-food restaurant (and recover my
health), Smile Burger. It was interesting, as she asked me on a date. I ended
going up on 2 dates with her – one to a restaurant and one to a karaoke box.
When you do karaoke, you play a rhythm game. I’ll be honest, I was pretty
terrible, and I had 2 tries (I did better later, though). I remember two
things: “Tone deaf”, and “Are…are you all right?” Enough said. Anyway, after fighting
her family bodyguard and finishing her story, we faded out of the sidewalk and
faded into the outside of the “Casual Hotel” Urban Castle…
Of course, I got into more battles, but by this point, I’m
sure you have a good idea of how it went. There was actually one really funny
moment where one guy who stops me while I’m running goes and tells me he’s been
having a pretty bad day. And so he says, “Do you mind if we take out our
aggression on you?” before he and his pals gang up on me. Really? Oh well.
The most notable battle was the boss fight, which was
actually pretty hard; the dude kept blocking. And the boss used weapons this
time, which made him much more difficult to defeat. I ended up using half/most
of the food in my inventory to heal myself, which had to happen quite often as
I receive some brutal beat-downs. It was tough, but I made it.
By this chapter, you should have a
pretty good idea of what’s going on, and how it ties in with the prologue.
Things are getting more and more interesting… Anyway, you’ll hopefully know
what to expect in the early parts of Yakuza
3 by this point, and this is a game I definitely recommend playing. A
review might be written in the future when I’m finished with the game, so stay
tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment