Having only heard about, and never actually played, any games in the Yakuza franchise, my chance to check it out on the Switch has been a long time coming. Now having spent time with it, even if the Switch conversion may be a little rough around the edges, I’d still say that the hype is at least mostly justified. While it does take quite a while to really get rolling with what makes it more special, namely being able to wander around the city and indulge whatever it is you may feel like doing, I suppose it is a good thing to get introduced to the players, the drama surrounding your character and his place in the criminal underworld, and to establish the game’s narrative heart.

In terms of the overall action, the game most resembles an upscale 3D beat-em-up for the most part. You’ll end up spending a fair amount of time in the game brawling it out for a variety of reasons, though smart design at least keeps this from getting too stale too quickly. Rather than being constrained by a single set of moves to work over your enemies with, in Yakuza you’ll be able to change between four different combat styles, greatly increasing the variety in action while also opening the door to smarter fighting as you work out which styles may be most effective in which situations.

The thing is, what really gives the game its appeal, at least outside of the fun brawling and its penchant for drama at times, is its more odd and silly side. While some of the side quests you may find are more unusual, the amount of time and effort the developers have put into fleshing out the city with plenty of distractions is impressive. How about going to Club Sega for some fun? Maybe you’d be more interested in some karaoke? How about trying your luck at collecting everything you can from the UFO machines? While perhaps more hardcore gamers could be offended at people getting distracted with what are essentially throwaway activities that are in no way vital to you completing the game, I could see those being precisely what could appeal to others. Whether you’re a docked gamer or enjoy taking your Switch on the go, this first entry in the Yakuza series may not play as well as it does on other platforms, but it still does well enough to be quite entertaining.