There are multiple reasons to use preexisting spaces in fiction, from nostalgia to faithful simulation. These specific environments facilitate the telling of certain narrative forms. We believe that, in the case of Kamurocho, the well-known representation of Kabukicho in the Yakuza/Judgment (2005/2018) series, the narrative and ludic wealth content in the virtual world reflect the personal urban understanding/experiences of the members of the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. To pursue this line of thought, we explore the following questions: Can gameplay and narrative design be influenced by virtual urban design? Is the particular approach to spatio-narrative design of RGG Studio discernible in Kamurocho’s design? In previous work (Barroso & Huang 2025), we proposed a “triple modality of space” analytical framework for urbanism in video game (virtual) environments. Despite our proposal, we focused on the design of the virtual city and the strategies for “reducing” real (preexisting) space into a playable environment, that is, “ludoforming” (Aarseth 2019). By considering game analysis in tandem with urbanistic theories, we examined the specific approaches to translating Kabukicho (the actual Tokyo) into Kamurocho (the in-game setting). The first modality refers to the city level (perhaps “map level” would be appropriate), thus, we analysed space at this level through Roberto Venturi’s study of Las Vegas (Venturi et al. 1997) and Kevin Lynch’s “five elements” (1996) that render a city “imageable”, both in terms of real and virtual urbanism (vid. Dimopoulos 2017, 2020, 2022). Here, we also introduce the vernacular zakkyo buildings, which, as emergent multipurpose structures distinctive of Kabukicho (Almazan & Studilab, 2021), echo the game structure of the Yakuza/Judgment series. Descending to street level, the second modality refers to the design and arrangement of the space navigated by people; to study this layer, we abstract models from both real and virtual cities (following Luke Caspar Pearson’s work, 2020), and then discuss the degree of proportional transformation (D/H and W/D ratios) employed by RGG Studio through the lens of Yoshinobu Ashihara’s work in The Aesthetic Townscape (1983) to better differentiate between a building’s original facade and its attached billboards that is, their “primary profile” and “secondary profile”. In this project, we take an in-depth look at the third modality of space in video games. This layer takes the whole city district created by RRG Studio as what the architecture studio Atelier Bow-wow calls “environmental unit” (Kaijima et al. 2001), which refers to built environments where “any particular building (...) can perform several roles within multiple urban sets”. This conceptualization of space-activity symbiosis finds its counterpart in game studies, as seen in Adam Chapman’s idea of “narrative gardens” (2016), a conceptual structure where “space and narrative are deeply and inextricably linked” (101), a space that gives players the opportunity (and responsibility) of enacting certain (hi)stories. As we carefully examine the models of in-game Kamurocho and compare them with those taken from Google Earth and on-site three-dimensional scans of Kabukicho, we abstract and describe the different tendencies or strategies employed by the development team to guide and channel both the story and gameplay. Through a series of axiometric diagrams in the architectural ethnography/urban sociology tradition widely practiced by Japanese architects and urbanists (vid. Matsumoto 2000; Kuroishi 2016), we schematize how the re-usage of in-game design resources affords the creation of specific and varied narrative-gameplay situations. In this regard, two design strategies stand out above the rest: the efficient use and reuse of architectural/urban assets, and a direct relationship between the openness of an environment and gameplay mode and difficulty adjustments. These strategies result in an evolving rapport between the virtual city and the life in it, simulated yet emergent. Ultimately, how does the real Kabukicho relate to the virtual Kamurocho? Through a playful/gameful narrative, RGG Studio crafts a compelling video game world and projects its own understanding and experience of the city. As the developers have stated on record, they have tried to honor the city to which they were exposed, fictional and not; furthermore, they also wanted to make the often impossible possible in the city, creating a new sort of urban experience through gameplay.
| Period | 15 Jun 2026 |
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| Event title | 17th Digital Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA 2026): Intersectional Pleasures |
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| Event type | Conference |
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| Location | Maynooth, IrelandShow on map |
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