The game is rated M18 for violence and sexual references.
The player character explores the streets of Kamurocho and a seaside town to complete missions so as to advance the main storyline. During exploration and plot progression, the player will encounter enemies consisting of street thugs and gangsters who must be defeated to proceed to the next stage of the game. The player character uses punches, kicks and throws, as well as a variety of melee weapons and objects, to defeat his enemies. These include flowerpots, cement bricks, metal pipes, plastic bottles, baseball bats, furniture pieces, etc. Some enemies are armed with weapons such as knives, swords and guns, which the protagonist can disarm and use as weapons against them.
Stronger depictions of violence occur during cutscenes and when the protagonist deals a finishing blow to an enemy. For instance, in one cutscene, a character is stabbed with a knife at the abdomen, causing him to bleed profusely from the wound. In another cutscene, a character is shot in the head, leaving behind a bullet wound and blood spurting from the wound. When dealing a finishing blow to an enemy, the protagonist may be seen stabbing a knife into an enemy’s abdomen and kicking the handle with his knee to thrust the weapon deeper. In another finishing blow, the protagonist is seen to slash a sword down on an enemy before stabbing the weapon through the victim’s body. As these depictions of violence are realistic and occur frequently throughout the game, they are more suitable for M18 where the Classification Guidelines state that “depictions of realistic violence, such as killing, maiming or causing other serious injury to humanoid characters if the violence is not sadistic, cruel and abhorrent” may be allowed.
The game also contains several side-activities which the player can choose to participate in. One such side-activity is an internet chatroom where the protagonist can engage in online chats with female characters through a mini-game. This may culminate in live-action scenes of the women in various stages of undress, depicting them in their undergarments or partially naked with their arms covering their bare chests. As there are no visible details of nudity, the depictions are appropriate at M18 where the Classification Guidelines state that M18 games may contain “still or moving images which may be sexually titillating (but does not contain nudity), e.g. scantily-clad women shown in a manner that is sexually suggestive, if not excessive or gratuitous”.