Ryu Ga Gotoku (PS2) - JPN

Sega. Please bring this game here.

I've had my hands on the import copy for a few days now. I'm several hours into and all I can think is....

"WOW."

What a great game. The storytelling method used here is simply stunning... making the gameplay/cutscenes transitioning nothing short of a masterpiece.

At first glance, it might draw in fans of Shenmue, but it's nothing like it... It's darker and in my honest opinion a bit deeper.

Enough of my opinionated rant on the game... here's some concrete info/pics for you to see...













Official Website - http://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/

Rough Synopsis of the Story:
Kamuro...a district full of hope and violence.

There was a man there who had taken upon the shameful name of "father killer"
for the sake of a dear friend, and for the sake of a woman he loved.

He was the legendary hoodlum who has once been called "The Dragon of the
Doujima."

Kiryuu Kazuma

Ten years earlier, led by fate, the man returned to Kamuro.
However, all that awaited him there was his former organization, who hated
him, and a dangerous trap.
One after the other, mysterious events chased the lone man down and
pinned him down more and more.
And then, he met a girl said to be worth 10 billion yen.
When their two fates came together, that man pleged to fight...
...for the sake of the girl who believed in a future...
...to get back his own past, that he had run from....
And so, the two went to find the reason why people live.
This is dramatic violence action, where a drama of man's hope, love,
friendship, and betrayal pierce into your chest with a sleepless city as
a backdrop.

Kazama Shintarou was Kiryuu's professional father figure and a man to whom
he owed his life and loyalty.
Continually taking care of Kiryuu, who was raised in an orphanage, he led
him to this world.

Nishikiyama Akira was a man who for twenty years was Kiryuu's best friend,
from whom he was never separated.
Owing him the same loyalty he owes Kazama, he prepared him, too, to live
in this world.

And then, there's the woman who loved him with all her heart...Yumi.
To Kiryuu, she was a woman named Yumi he considered to be another close
friend. To Yumi, Kiryuu and Nishikiyama were at times friends, at times like
brothers, and at times, lovers.

1995, Kamuro District.

In this town where it was truly "survival of the fittest," both the men and
the women were strong and were able to live.
But their good fortune would vanish in one moment...in "that incident."
That incident in which everything switched gears.
In October of 1995, someone kidnapped Yumi.
That man was known to possess the stature of a boss in Karyuu's professional
world, Doujima.
To save Yumi, Nishikiyama went and gave himself to Doujima.
Finding this out, Kiryuu severed his ties with Kazama and ran over to meet
Nishikiyama.
However, Doujima was dead--from a bullet shot by Nishikiyama.
Prepared for excommunication, even for death, Nishikiyama decided to turn
himself in to the police.
However...he had a little sister in the hospital.
So, for the sake of his dear friend and the woman he loved, Kiryuu went and
gave himself in his place.
Kiryuu was shamed. That changed Nishikiyama greatly.
Nishikiyama had made a debt for himself he could never repay to Kiryuu. Yet
after that, the death of his sister and disappearence of Yumi made drastic
changes in him.
His rebellion against Kazama, to whom he owed his life.... His hopes to make
it on his own before the incident.... The reasons he became a monster....
These were all triggered by a person named Kiryuu Kazuma.
And then the sudden disappearance of Yumi, who hid herself for these 10
years...
Yumi vanished just after the incident 10 years ago. After that, there was
no sign of her life or death.
Then, 10 years later, as if waiting for Kiryuu's release from prison, her
existence would become clear...
...as the suspect in the 10 billion yen theft.

10 billion yen has been stolen...and the curtain is raised on the struggle
of the hoodlums' ambitions.
The 10 billion yen was stolen from a secret organization. This money became
the new target because of the situation of the Toujou Group's management
staff, who had been in the fight to appoint a successor.
Nishikiyama, trying to gain his own place in the world, was locked in a
magnificent battle with rivals within his organization...and now fate had
brought Kiryuu in the middle of this incident.
Kazama continued to wait. He would hand his dreams over to Kiryuu.
After losing Kiryuu, Kazama waited for him for ten years.
Then, on the day before his release, Kiryuu's mind was shaken when he was
given a letter addressed to him from Kazama. And so, he was entrusted with
his dreams.
Then, he met the "100 billion yen girl."
This would lead him to the unimaginable truth of the incident....
The girl said to be worth 100 billion yen, Haru, suddenly appeared before him.
To find her mother "Mizuki," whom she had never laid eyes on, the girl
wandered about Kamuro alone.
Looking at Haru's single-minded form thinking only of her mother, Kiryuu began
to realize his own excessive wickedness.
There was the ambition of Nishikiyama, the volition of Kazama, the mystery of
Yumi's disappearance, and the person behind the missing 10 billion yen...
...and then, the situation would unfold in an unexpected direction.

--Like A Dragon--

Hope you guys can enjoy this as much as I am...