I've known for a long time that gritty, realistic games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Last of Us and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Red Dead Redemption aren't for me. I understand they're good games, but the focus on fidelity goes too far for my tastes. I recognise the skill needed to craft such life-like facial expressions and how the horror of The Last of Us’ hyperrealistic violence supports the game’s themes, but I'd prefer to play a less realistic game with a more interesting gameplay loop. I understand that saying The Last of Us has boring gameplay is testament to blasphemy around these parts, but those are my, inherently subjective, feelings about it.
This is exemplified in the ridiculous remaster, The Last of Us Part One, in which Naughty Dog focused its efforts on making a decade-old game look a bit prettier. Remasters for older games can be important for preservation and accessibility, but this instance screams of corporate greed, executive narcissism, and a focus on the wrong parts of an iconic game. The Last of Us isn't brilliant because of its graphics, which are just a small part of what sells us the characters and story.
Even if you enjoyed t✅he remaster, would you really prefer that the developers be working on remasters instead of Naughty Dog’s next masterpiece? Gaming’s obsession with realism has led to ballooning development times, increased prღices for consumers, and the perpetuation of the worst industry practices in pursuit of perfection.
The realistic graphics aren't even the biggest technical marvel in The Last of Us – it’s actually the bit where Ellie puts on a scarf.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Yakuza: Like a Dragon sits at the other end of the scale. While it's realistic in its presentation – characters look like real, albeit slightly exaggerated people rather than, say, drawings or stick figures - it doesn't push things too far. The realism doesn't extend to perfecting every wrinkle of Adachi’s face or simulating the wind blowing through Ichiban’s hair. Because, ultimately, that doesn't matter. It's cool to see that sort of thing in games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ghost of Tsushima, but it doesn't add to my enjoyment of the game. I go, “Wow, what a technical marvel,” and never notice it again.
Instead, Like a Dragon spends its resources in other areas. Instead of having some poor sod manually place every grey hair on Ichiban’s head in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Infinite Wealth, the studio added Pokémon Go to the game. Instead of focusing on follicles, Like a Dragon ensured that there was always something going on in every inch of its open world, whether that be Pokémon Go-style raids, spontaneous party chats, or dudes dressed as coconut trees popping out of the sand to fight you. It's difficult to compare Yokohama to The Last of Us’ linear level structure, but I know which I find more rewarding.
But forgoing realism isn't just about freeing up development time to work on other areas of the game. It's about having fun with the world that we live, laugh, and love in. What other game has a side quest involving adult babies, where you can press X to make Ichiban drink the formula? What other game would then let you call on said adult babies to help you out in a fight, because these adult babies are a part of a local Yakuza gang and you’ve earned their respect?
Too few games allow you to mollywop your opponents with bicycles. You might get a steel chair in WWE 2K24, or a coffin if you're lucky, but Ichiban and his party of adventurers are willing, nay, thrilled to use any makeshift weapon that they might find on the streets of Yokohama, be that a traffic cone, a garbage can, or a street sign. It's unrealistic, sure, but it's fun.
I'm about halfway through Yakuza: Like a Dragon at present, and the best weapon I've used is a two-foot long vibrator. I've upgraded the Hitachi twice over picking weapons with better damage stats because it's hilarious to watch Ichiban, complete with his suit of heroic armour, swing a massive sex toy at a rival Yakuza gang. You don't get that in The Last of Us.
My favourite f🌸lex in Yakuza battles is sending Nanba to nap in front of an opponent who’s close to death. Get slept on, bozo.
Like a Dragon thrives because of how much of it takes place in Ichiban’s imagination. Regular street muggers become deadly assassins, manual labourers wield their hammers as deadly weapons, and the city of Yokohama comes alive because Ichiban wants to believe he's the protagonist of his own, personal Dragon Quest game. It's hilarious, it's confusing, it's even childish at times, but it's fun.
Ichiban's breaking of the fourth wall in this way is risky. Many people play games as a form of escapism, and how can you escape reality when the protagonist constantly reminds you that he's a character in a video game? The fantasy of Like a Dragon is not that you live in Yokohama rather than England, it's that you can fight for justice with a group of friends, make a difference to peoples’ lives, and have fun doing so.
If I wanted to roleplay the grim post-apocalypse where roaming survivalists try to shank you at every corner, I wouldn't play The Last of Us, I'd step out of my front door to face a country devastated by decades of austerity. Real escapism may be connecting to Ellie and Joel, but it's also calling in a muscular adult baby to help you beat up a piece of machinery that a rival Yakuza boss is piloting.
That's not to say that realism doesn't have its place in escapist fantasy. There's a reason millions love The Last of Us, why we watch TV shows or movies. Someone else's life often feels far more interesting than our own. But it can get you down. Breaking Bad is the depressing tale of a man's hubris instigated by the lack of universal affordable healthcare. The Last of Us shows how violence is cyclical and the effect that violence has on people forced into hardship. These are stories worth telling. But so are the stories about freezing a man in a bin bag to death with a giant lollipop.
In many ways, the absurdism🥃 of Like aಌ Dragon helps its more tender moments to pop. The contrast of fighting alongside an adorable pussycat and then having a heart to heart with Saeko a moment later, in which she details the messy relationship she has with her twin sister, brings you right back to earth. These beautiful, deeply personal moments are never played for laughs, they're treated with delicate care, and the baffling battles that occur around them only serve to make them feel even more special.
Like a Dragon understands when to have fun and when to take things seriously. It's a game that makes the most of being a video game, an inherently fun concept. Why stab someone with a knife when you can whack them with a mythical baseball bat pulled from the ground and seemingly imbued with magical properties? In no other game would I accept that a homeless man would wear a plush suit and cravat to conduct his daily hunts for coppers under vending machines. But Like a Dragon sets a precedent for weirdness, and never lets up. Like a Dragon isn't afraid to be fun.
