Many times I'll criticize a game's combat as unrewarding or simplistic. I'd like to be more specific in the future. Towards that end, I'm going to break down the brawling mechanics in Yakuza. Like the neuropsychology articles, this will be me casting about in the darkness of my own ignorance, so feel free to skip it.
For those of you still here, we'll start simple, by listing the tools the player receives. I'm going to assume you know the names of the buttons on the Playstation controller. Also, I use only male pronouns. So far, no females are combatants in Yakuza.
Blocking is on the L1 button. You can only block the way you're facing. You probably also can't block grabs, but I haven't encountered grappling enemies yet.
If you want to lock yourself into the direction you're facing, hold the R1 button. You can only shuffle back and forth, not run, but you can use the X button for quick shifts. This is good for sidesteps or getting in and out of range. Well, that's what they say it's good for. Considering how many times my combos lose their target, staying pointed in one direction doesn't strike me as useful. Quite the opposite. Plus the quick shifts are too short to be useful for dodging. I've upgraded them once, so maybe they're worth something now, but I'm guessing it will take one or two more upgrades.
The triangle button (once you've upgraded a bit) is the crouching charge kick. Hold it to charge, release to kick. You can't change directions once you start charging, so it's a high risk move.
The circle button is for grabbing. You can grab items to use as weapons. You can grab people to pummel or throw them. Throwing is great for getting breathing room because you can throw the guy in any direction, knocking down both him and his buddies. Large guys can't be thrown reliably, often falling on top of you, but can still be punched while held. You can use the triangle button to do a one punch knockdown, or you can use the square button to tenderize them a bit first. But like the charge kick, this is high risk. You're probably gonna get punched in the back if you don't end it quick.
The square button is for starting combos. Once a combo is started you can keep hitting square for more attacks or press triangle to do a knockdown finish (or press circle to grab your opponent if they're still standing). The interesting part about this system is that each finish is different.
- One combo attack and a finish throws a quick haymaker which knocks the opponent back.
- Two combo attacks and a finish throws a kidney punch which knocks the opponent to his knees, where they wheeze for a bit before collapsing. This is my favorite attack because you can still hit them while they're wheezing, effectively making an infinite combo (also called an infinite juggle).
- I think three combo attacks and a finish throws an uppercut, but I usually don't bother stopping at three.
- If I'm not doing the infinite combo, I go straight to four combo attacks and a finish (the longest combo I can currently do) which ends with some flashy kicks. But I don't use that too much. It's mostly throws and juggles. It's not a street fight. It's a circus act. :)
That covers the basics of the controls. You can also stomp on fallen foes (causing them to get back up faster) and if you've done enough successful attacks to get your "heat meter" up, you can grab a guy and press the triangle button near a table or wall to smack him into it. But those moves don't really do a ton of damage and reset the heat meter, making all attacks less powerful until it's back up again.
Next up, priorities.
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