Not Just Story – The Best Mini-Games
What do The Witcher 3, GTA and Mortal Kombat have in common? Perhaps curiously, playing big games usually implies playing smaller ones, and some of the mini-games are truly exquisite. Here's our selection of the best ones.
Table of Contents
- Not Just Story – The Best Mini-Games
- The Witcher 3 - Gwent
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon - Motor Kombat
- Yakuza series – too many to choose one
- Project Gotham Racing 2 – Geometry Wars
- Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake vs. Monkey
- Final Fantasy 8 - Triple Triad
- GTA 3 (and some later installments) - Ambulance
Yakuza series – too many to choose one
INFORMATION
- What game: every installment in the Yakuza series
- Type of additional entertainment: a minigame built into the main campaign
The Yakuza series is a dark crime drama about honor, sacrifice, loyalty, and betrayal in the world of Japanese criminal organizations. Yakuza are also karaoke simulators. And dating. It is possible to run a hostess club or a baseball team. There also are street gang RTS games. The game offers opportunities to play poker, blackjack, mahjong, and shogi. Or racing in self-built cars.
In each installment of the series about Kazuma Kiryu (as well as spin-offs), players find themselves in a small but crowded open world. Apart from completing the plot and performing twisted side missions, players can indulge in a number of other activities. Some, like mahjong and karaoke, are found in almost every installment of the saga. Others, such as baseball team management, only appear in individual games. Some are just meant as small interruptions lasting no more than several minutes, while others have unique plot threads and can provide even several hours of extra entertainment.
They all have one thing in common – even if they rarely present an outstanding level, they do an excellent job as interruptions between the "more serious" parts of the game. And that's what we often remember most fondly from our adventures with Yakuza. Their diversity means that everyone should find something for themselves. And unlike what it might look like, they do not interfere with the immersion. On the contrary, they are one of the pillars that build the illusion of being in a slice of modern Japan.
