Unboxing [JP]: Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! - The Best! Edition Reissue (PS3)

Managed to make use of my 1000 Yen coupon for Solaris Japan. Even better the rate got better in time so I finally placed an order. Here we have the first of two.

Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! (龍が如く 見参!), known in the west as Yakuza Kenzan! or Like a Dragon Arrives!, is a spin-off Action RPG from SEGA and produced by Toshihiro Nagoshi and the same team who worked on the main Yakuza series. Kenzan! is a non-canon part of the franchise, focusing instead in an older time period of Japan (Jidaigeki) during the Edo period in 1605.

The game plays slightly differently compared to the previous games as it focused on sword combat rather than the usual beat em up combat. Kenzan is also the first to use a different engine that Yakuza 3, 4 & Dead Souls later adopted, as the game is the first in the franchise to be released on the PlayStation 3. Character models from Yakuza 1 & 2 are in this spin-off under different names and people to fit the time period. For example the main character Miyamoto Musashi takes the likeliness of Kazuma Kiryu.

Format: PlayStation 3

Version: Japan

Exclusive: Yes

Local Players: 1

Online Players: 0

Resolution: 480p/720p

HDD Space: 980KB (Save Data)

Trophies: No

Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! is half import friendly and half requires knowledge of the language. The gameplay is friendly enough but the story and dialogue will need knowledge of Japanese. The good news however is that fans of the franchise have done a fan-translation in the form of a walkthrough (here and here, credit to HyperBitHero for noting them in his excellent video on the franchise) so you can watch the cutscenes online and understand the story while taking a look at where to go for your playthrough.

As this game was released during the very first part of the PlayStation 3's lifespan (where every title had the Spider-man style border on the game covers), there aren't any trophies for this game since it wasn't a thing until around a year later.

I bought the reissue of the PlayStation 3 The Best! Edition as it was re-released to include the newer PS3 border design that's more in line with most games in the catalogue these days). The first version of The Best! Edition actually retained the original PS3 Spider-man border. It's still pretty cheap to acquire, but I got mine from Solaris Japan for £20.