The sidestories of Yakuza 0 are the heart of the game. Yes the main plot is one of intrigue. It's a well told crime narrative with twists and turns, keeping players on the edge of their seat, but the sidestories, when Kiryu and Majima take time away from the immediacy of the crime drama, that's where the game truly shines. I think It's what endears players to this series and keeps them returning. Heck during the finale, I took a good 10-15 hour break from wrapping the game up to take over more areas in Real Estate Royale, and to finish up all the remaining sidestories I had an interest in. 10 - 15 hours. That's the length of a whole nother game. Eventually I became fed up with waiting around for the real estate money to come in and I wrapped things up, but even afterwards I thought about going back and completing Real Estate Royale and the Hostess Club. The only reason I didn't is the psychological effect of having the credits roll signaling that it’s time to move on. There are so many other games to play!
What makes the sidestories so important? Well Kiryu and Majima have a magnetic charisma of course (the way they wholeheartedly throw themselves into even the smallest of tasks) but I don't think that's why we like them as characters. They're good at fighting. Kiryu tends to think that’s all he’s good for, but it’s “why” Kiryu and Majima are fighting that lies at the heart of it. They’re protecting the weak while trying to get to the bottom of this whirlwind they've found themselves caught up in. The player is caught up in the same whirlwind. Wandering the streets of Kamurocho and Sotenbori is a moment of reprieve from the intensity of Yakuza 0’s tale. It's these inbetween moments when we're walking a character through a world, that's the time when Kiryu and Majima can be what we want them to be. It’s the time we have the most control over their direction. It’s the closest the player comes to having a sense of agency.
We tend to think of agency as an important factor in videogames. The core of the medium is its interactivity after all, and if a player is going to spend hours of their lives controlling a character in a virtual world, they want some input into how things are going to play out. They want a sense of ownership over the characters they are controlling. This is often why when games are talked about as being “linear” it is usually in negative terms. The term suggests that the agency of the player is being infringed upon. I don’t see this as a negative, but I think it comes down to the experience the game is promising. In the impressions video I made on Yakuza 0, I talked about how I thought Kiryu was going to have to make a quote "video game choice", a decision that affects the narrative. One way games give the player agency. so they can feel in control about how the story plays out. The reason this made me groan was up to that point the narrative was so well delivered that I didn't want to mess up the story the game had to tell me, by making my own decisions. That's why I was so relieved when Kiryu played out the scene according to his own whims. The only agency I have over Kiryu and Majima is wandering the streets. I mean I could let them get beat up during the main game's fights, but then the game would be over. Choosing what side activities to participate in, and which random strangers to help is the main form of agency in Yakuza 0. It not only helps endear us to Kiryu and Majima as characters, but to Kamurocho and Sotenbori as places.
What initially creates a desire for the player to help all these random passers-by is how off-kilter the stories are. From helping shut down a burasura ring, to training a dominatrix, to getting to use a mobile telephone! Hey the game is set in 1988. Such cutting edge technology is a big deal! Some of the stories are helping local businesses, or partipating in a side-activity. A few are linked to the giant Real Estate and Hostess Club projects that sucked up so much of my time. For instance I never especially liked the arcade racer Outrun. Spending so much time trying to get high scores to fill the friendship meter of the girl who works at the arcade so I could buy the place didn't improve my thoughts on the game. I still did it though, and took over that whole area. Now why did I put in all that time? Because no matter how out there or tedious the sidestories are, they all share one thing in common, Kiryu and Majima using the strength they possess to help others. These Yakuza showing empathy for the troubles of everyday citizens.
This makes the game a positive power fantasy. I think we like the idea of characters from the underbelly of our world being noble, living by their own sets of values. It gives us hope that the worst among us are still redeemable and not everybody who does wrong is a bad person. That we all have the power to help others and change for the better. Like most things in life, it's usually not as simple as that, but such stories let us enjoy characters like Kiryu and Majima restoring a sense of justice to the world they live in. This is reflected in Real Estate Royale and the Hostess Club as Kiryu and Majima are freeing Kamurocho and Sotenbori from the ownership and influence of unsavory and unscrupulous characters. We as the player are using the strength of these protagonists to create a stronger sense of community by helping people. Everyone can use their strengths for the betterment of the community, and in this case, the strength of Kiryu and Majima is literal, their ability to fight with wild abandon, and win.
Walking around the streets, I was often overcome with despair at just how many groups of malcontents were picking on innocent people. At times it made me question, if so many are like this, why is the world worth saving? Even Kiryu seems to think he's only good at hitting people, but now thinking about the side stories and all the people he's helped, I know that's not true. His compassion, empathy, and sense of justice are his strengths. His power, and ability to exercise that power is what allows him to succeed in pursuit of these ideals. It’s the sidestories and the strength of Kiryu and Majima creating this togetherness that showed me that most people are doing the best they can. Some of the worst folk can come around to helping others. They might just need to get some sense smacked into them first.
Thanks for watching. Returning to the conversation on player agency, I think we sometimes forget how fulfilling narrative agency can be. I’ve already mentioned how the sidestories further endear us to Kiryu and Majima but that empathy and conviction is also present in the main story. I enjoy controlling Kiryu because I like him as a character and I want to see the decisions he makes next. Yes, I have little agency over his decision making process (which is why the side content is so compelling), but I still am controlling him, and there is a fulfillment is helping characters reach their goal.
But what do you think? Was there enough player agency in Yakuza 0 to satisfy you? Was it because of the main plot, or the sidestories? How much of the side content did you complete before you said “enough is enough?” Let me know in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, why not buy me a coffee? There’s a link in the description. If you’d like to help me out in other ways, please give the video a like, share it on your favourite social media sites, or subscribe if you haven’t already. Until next time, I hope you’re all having a wonderful day.
No comments:
Post a Comment