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Jdao's Yakuza 0 (PS4)
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| [March 26, 2018 01:09:13 AM]
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Just beat chapter 3 and it was actually pretty short. Not a whole lot of side missions popped up, it was mainly a lot of cutscenes. In this chapter we play as a new character, Majima, whose the manager of a well known cabaret club. He's a proper and polite manager when on the job, and will do anything to make his business successful. We later learn that he's only doing this in order to make money so he can go back to living as a yakuza. He'd rather go back to living as a yakuza than living a normal civilian life, even if that civilian life earns him a lot of money and a peaceful life. He wants to stay true to himself. Though it kind of seems like he may forsake his own moral compass in order to accomplish his goals. So far it's hard to tell what moral framework he follows or if its a mix. Majima helps others when they're in need and takes out those that try to get in his way like Kiryu. Unlike Kiryu he's a smooth talker that can 'read the room'. Kiryu and Majima seem pretty similar in terms of morality. The only difference is there methods in getting things done, besides the beating your way out of a problem aspect cause they both kind of share that. Kiryu is pretty straightforward and lets his intentions visible for everyone. While Majima is a bit more calculative and tries to find a more efficient route and his will to continue following his moral compass no matter what may be a bit lacking compared to Kiryu.
This game seems like it's going to be pretty lengthy, which I don't mind. And so far it's been an enjoyable experience because of the story and it's characters. There's a lot of things that I can see being applicable/relatable to real people's lives. It's a game that I can see people take a lot from it.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Mar 26th, 2018 at 01:14:53.
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| [March 22, 2018 03:54:50 AM]
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Today's Entry Date: March 21st, 2018
I spent way too long beating up random yakuza, hooligans, drunks, and men in black. I've just completed chapter 2 and it took around roughly 7-8 hours from like 4:30 PM to like almost 2 AM, with some little in between breaks though. In this chapter they really let you roam the city and do random stuff. I guess this chapter was to introduce those side quest mechanics and to show a more human side of Kiryu. To show what he's like when he's not bound by the yakuza or anyone else. He's just doing what he feels is right, following his own moral code, no matter how messed up it kind of is. At this point in the game, it seems that the main way to solve a problem is through intimidation and violence.
Probably the reason why it took so long to finish chapter 2 was because me goofing around and going around the city. Exploring and seeing what I can do. I went to a dance club and had dance battles, I visited various stores ranging from: restaurants, drug stores, convenience stores, bars, etc. And the side quests/types of people I met doing all those things was interesting. The game shows various kinds of moral codes from all kinds of people and their reasoning for following those codes. I met a dad that stole a video game from a thug that stole it from a high school student that stole it from a kid, and the dad stole that video game in order to give it to his kid for his birthday. And upon realizing that the original owner of the video game was his very own kid, he felt ashamed that he did all this even at the possibility that it could've been someone else's kid and they would've been sad from having their game stolen from them. He realized that the end does not justify the means. While doing this deed he felt that because this could result in a good consequence then that meant that it was a good action, though this is before realizing his errors. Despite this good consequence = good actions kind of thinking, it doesn't necessarily fall into utilitarianism because he's not thinking of the happiness/pleasure for everyone but just for his son, and in doing this act himself and the rest of the thieves would've actually caused the least amount of happiness overall. And in a way from realizing this mistake he realizes that stealing is never good and seems to fall into how a Kantian would think.
I met various other people to and chose to help them. I helped a film crew get through their shoot by impersonating as their producer, this was by the film crews instruction of course. This was done because the actual producer was on strike and avoided coming in and so I had to impersonate as a well-known oversees producer to deal with the passionate director. So I had to lie, and so from this I believed that Kiryu doesn't follow Kant's way of thinking. Though I probably should've realized this when the very premise of the game is Kiryu being framed and having been used as a means to an end.
I helped a girl that felt pressured to remain in a underwear selling ring. That even though she wanted to stop and leave she felt that by doing so she would be bullied by the ringleader and her friends. Though in due time I did change their minds. The ringleader's reasoning in doing this business was just because she could. It wasn't really specified but she didn't really care about what her parents would think and even rebutted Kiryu's saying that a girl shouldn't do such things like selling basically their sex with how come men are allowed to do it, that it was gender discrimination. I was only able to convince the ringleader to stop because she was about to be stabbed by her customer and that she realized that this kind of job could put herself and employees in danger. She didn't realize how dangerous this kind of job could be. She just thought about the overall happiness from making so much cash by just selling underwear. Possibly the majority of her employees are happy and that seemed to justify the means, so in a way the ring leader was a utilitarian at least until her realization that it was wrong.
I've helped a few other people as well and I could keep talking about them but that'd take too long. Overall, like I said the game shows you that everyone has their own sense of morals and that their framework of thinking is different. Some people think that just because someone else did it that it's ok for them, ends justify the means, or the means are everything and that circumstances don't matter, etc. Kiryu follows some aspects of Kant's way of thinking and some aspects of Utilitarinism but he doesn't fall in either. If I had to choose out of the three we've talked about: Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Social Contract Theory I would probably say that he falls more into the social contract theory. Because of the moral rule from social contract theory that right acts are those that do not violate the free, rational agreements that we've made. Even though he hasn't really made any agreements with others but himself, so I'm still determining his moral framework of thinking.
Also the actual main story of the game where Kiryu has been approached by a real estate company, Tachibana. And that they're trying to seize the empty lot just like the Yakuza/Tojo clan is. And the reasoning so far explained for them wanted the empty lot like the yakuza is that the want to essentially stop the yakuza because they're using the people of the city as a means to an end. The yakuza don't think of the people as people and consider them autonomous. So the Tachibana group is seizing properties in a more ruthless/calculative way compared to the yakuza. The use the intimidate residents through harassment, using private information they have on residents. Now, Oda, the right hand man of the president of the Tachibana company feels that their means are justified because the people they're taking from are people that did the same and took the building/resident by similar means, that it was 'karma'. Even in one district they feel that the Tachibana group is better than the yakuza because they're supposedly protecting them from the yakuza, I'm not entirely sure how though because they're also seizing property. All in all, Tachibana and the company seem to be Utilitarians in the way that in order to take/relieve the city of the yakuza's control that the end justify their means.
Overall, I'm having a great time with the game and it still feels like I've barely touched the game's content despite my long hours of playtime.
This entry has been edited 3 times. It was last edited on Mar 22nd, 2018 at 03:59:15.
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| [March 20, 2018 11:36:26 PM]
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I'm starting a little early for the third OPA game log, and I kept this game for last because of the good and bad things I've heard about it. And now I have an incentive to judge it for myself.
I just finished chapter 1 of the game and it took me about 3-4 hours. And so far it still feels like I don't know much, in terms of the context of the story. I'm enjoying the game so far despite the really lengthy dialogue sequences that kind of happen a little too much, in my opinion. At least all the sequences feel important and that it doesn't seem to be unnecessary. I'm enjoying how much detail and work is put into the city, the characters, and the NPCs that inhabit it. There's a sense that a lot of thought went into their design, it feels 'authentic'. I've only been to Japan once, so I'm talking without much experience/knowledge, but the atmosphere of the city feels pretty similar from when I visited. The way districts are designed, the cramped alley ways, some of the mannerisms of the people, it feels 'authentic'.
Back to the game, the story in my opinion feels like it's based on a true story of some sorts. I don't mean the characters themselves but the events that are happening in the game feel like it's based on some event. Though I'm talking without any knowledge of Japan's history, so I could be wrong. In the game's story, you play as Kiryu, a picked up orphan turned yakuza, and you've been framed for murder. And this murder that you've been framed for has interrupted a big redevelopment project. So you're on a journey to find who framed you and killed the man you beat down to collect the money he owed. We're not that far into the game yet, and I haven't done many side quests so there hasn't been much character development yet. All I know is that I'm was an orphan and I was picked up by one of the captains of the yakuza. From seeing the sequences and the way Kiryu handles himself in the in-game sequences and the cut-scene sequences, you get a sense that Kiryu isn't a bad guy despite his occupation. He's man that stands by his beliefs no matter what. So far, i'm not sure if he follows moral frameworks like Kantianism, Utilitarianism, the Social Contract Theory, or something else entirely. Of course in the game he's given ultimatums by his adversaries like spying, basically betray the person that raised him or go to jail for a crime he didn't commit. Though the issue is kind of resolved fairly in a weak manner, in my opinion, though I guess it fits with how Kiryu is as a character. A character that sticks by his beliefs and is loyal. The ultimatum situation is basically resolved by Kiryu being loyal and him just essentially fighting his way out of the situation.
I guess the moral question or issue depicted in terms of reality is that some people are put into situations/circumstances and sometimes they feel that they no choices and just stick to that life because that's all they know, if that makes sense. That this kind of problem can still be seen in today's world. For Kiryu and Nishiki, they were picked up as orphans and raised into the yakuza, though in the game they wanted to go into that life themselves and the person that picked them up was initially against it. Also the game may be trying to depict an accurate/also romanticized representation of what life was like in 1980s Japan and how the yakuza operated.
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Jdao's Yakuza 0 (PS4)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Tuesday 20 March, 2018
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