Ryu ga Gotoku (translated to "Like a Dragon") is set in the dark side of Tokyo life. You take the role as Kazuma Kiyuu, who has also been known as "dragon" of his underground organization. The game starts when Kazuma gets out of jail, having served for a crime that he committed for the sake of his best friend and the girl that he loves. You will find yourself caught in a disappearance of a mysterious girl called Haruka, who is the key to a ten billion yen payday.
The has been produced by Toshihiro Nagoshi and eatures the voice performance of several prominent Japanese actors as well as Japanese author Hase Seishu as scenario director.
Good game, could have been translated better. I played this game through in Japanese when it first came out and loved it. When it came out in English I had to see what it was like. The voice-acting in the English version is not too bad, but some of the translation is a bit off, in fact in some parts way off, to the point that whoever translated it missed the point and/or subtlety of the Japanese completely at times. That said, if you don't speak Japanese, this will have to do. I have also heard that a number of side-stories are missing from the US release, but I haven't played the English release all the way through so can't be sure. The Japanese release has around 80 sub-stories, and you will want to do most of them, as they flesh out the story really well, and because some of the characters popping up in them will be appearing in the sequel due out soon.
Great game.
newinjapan2002(143) on 13, May. 2006 06:03 (HKT)
Great Yakuza Game Beautiful game, very good story, nice gameplay with a good mix of action, fighting, and role playing. You can explore the environment as much or as little as you want, going into bars and chatting up hostesses, that sort of thing, or you can just plow through the story. The fighting system is pretty well done, and its not too difficult to get past enemies. Actually for gamers who like fighting games the fights in this game will probably seem a bit easy.
Knowledge of Japanese would be best to fully appreciate this game. I think it would be impossible to play without knowing any.
Recommended.
Korean version of Ryu ga Gotoku In game language is in Japanese but Korean version of the game comes with translated guide so even if you know Japanese little to none, it's quite safe to pick up Korean version. Yeah, it's pain you have to look at the guide whenever an event starts but it's well worth it in my opinion.
johnlaftah(1) on 24, Mar. 2006 05:38 (HKT)
JON ON 24TH MARCH I remember buying shenmue on jap version 1999 Dreamcast and telling my friends this games going to be big. That might be the case here with Ryu GA GOTUKA.