Amazon Prime¡¯s new ¡°Like a Dragon: Yakuza¡± series is so chock-full of scene-chewing mob bosses, try-hard henchmen and haggard cops (of both the corrupt and upstanding varieties) that it¡¯s almost a marvel the showrunners missed out on the most important character of the long-running game franchise: the red-light district of Kamurocho.
Barring a few exceptions, this thinly veiled stand-in for Tokyo¡¯s Kabukicho entertainment district has served as the main backdrop for the Ryu Ga Gotoku game series (as it¡¯s known in Japan) since its first title in 2005. In the Kamurocho of the games, there¡¯s always a tableau of side characters hanging out on the neon-drenched streets ¡ª some seedy, like a rookie dominatrix in need of a confidence boost; some less so, like a budding hard rock band comprised of soft-spoken members feigning malevolent tendencies. This web of urban oddities is always there for players to nibble on between main missions of murder, billion-yen heists and other yakuza-related melodrama.
In most games, this makes for a refreshing gameplay loop: Carry out a mob hit or shakedown a shop owner to move the plot forward. Then step outside and bump into another eccentric Kamurocho denizen for a palate cleanser that serves to paint a fuller picture of the vices and iniquities of a society that allows a criminal network of thugs and thieves to thrive.
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