Figured I'd try to get a general discussion thread going on this comm. If there's interest I'll make a new thread every now and then.
I've been going through the Ratchet and Clank series on PS2 and am just starting up Going Commando. Emulating everything on PCSX2 (ask me about emulation for anything ever and I'll be glad to help you) which has been a really great experience so far. This franchise has lots of nostalgia for me and represents the best of the PS2-era platformers (although I did love both Sly and Jak). I think the reason I've always like the R&C series more than Jak is that the weapons were more creative/fun to use than those in Jak 2 onwards.
I'm thinking about trying out the System Shock Remake this weekend but never played the original. I'm aware it's a much older design-style of game but it looks like something I could really enjoy.
"Foreigners" (most often Chinese and Korean people) are portrayed almost universally as organized criminals, but not funny wacky nice criminals like yakuza. That's the main thing it does. Of course the games are going to humanize and make excuses for the yakuza, because those are the characters and its from their point of view I guess. But organized gangs from elsewhere in the world are all portrayed as ruthless, vicious murderers.
It doesn't help that every Chinese person in a Yakuza game is one of like two things. They're a simpering docile old man who sells noodles and lives in the one slum area. Or they're some gangster, but not like...a gangster. These guys are like fighters in the Boxer Rebellion from 1899. They're wearing queues and have giant piandao swords. They have staffs and do kungfu. They have hideouts that look like a Qing dynasty palace with antique vases and jade dragon statues. It's goofy and racist.
There are a few other instances of the games stereotyping black people as well, but the Chinese and Korean stuff is the worst.
I can agree with this for earlier games, althought it brings into question whether a piece of media can portray foreign crime syndicates in a negative light at all (like the Jingweong don't strike me as particularly Korean in some stereotypical way, they just are Korean. The Saio Triad from 6 seems a bit less stereotypically Chinese than the Snake Flower which has all the wacky Kung Fu shit, but that aesthetic is kind of predominant in fighting games in general. Not entirely sure if it is malicious, probably just :japan-cool: brainworms)
I'm curious about your take on Like a Dragon. I thought it did a good job of humanizing the Geomijul and Liumang and their struggles as Korean and Chinese immigrant groups in Japan. They have scumbags in them but are led by people who are mostly shown to be honorable and become your allies. Which honestly seems kinda problematic in that it whitewashed criminal organizations, but this is the Yakuza series lmao
Haven't played LAD7 yet but I'm glad to hear they've worked through some of the writing issues from earlier games. I do like how the games often have a sympathetic portrayal of stuff like poverty, losing family, or adapting to new environments. I also like the constant messages of how you should be nice to kids.
I'm pretty sure Japanese media standards are stricter than you'd see in North America, yeah. There are state censors in Japan, and most pieces of media need a license to have a mainstream release from what I know. There are various laws concerning games/movies that would glorify crime or actions against the government. For instance, you'll notice you never actually fight a police officer in the Yakuza games. I'm pretty sure that's why there are so many lines about that Saejima's prison island in 4 being illegitimate or not connected to the government. Sega didn't want to risk glorifying a prison breakout and getting censored or denied release.
Maybe this is part of why the games have an easier time portraying the rival gangs as more malicious? I don't know.
Interesting detail about the state censors in Japan, but not all that surprising. I'm reminded of when I recently watched Kurosawa's Drunken Angel, which was made in 1948 and takes place in a bombed out Japanese town and was subject to the censorship of the American occupation.
During the final long battle of Judgment, you fight a shitload of cops. No twists, just straight up cops. And it fucking rocks. Aside from that, I think your theory probably holds water.
Which kinda sucks, as the infamous plot twist from that game throws away his arc of
spoiler
"I'm a murderer and I fucking regret it". The Colosseum speech to the bloodthirsty crowd he gives is one of my favorite moments from the series.