Dreddz, you like Shenmue, yes? (Yakuza is even mentioned in that thread :P)
This ain't Shenmue :P But it seems like that kind of game. It is made by Sega, after all. The combat in Shenmue wasn't that deep--in fact the all-around gameplay itself wasn't so hot. Nobody cared about that because the story is what was awesome, and left all of who've played it punching walls waiting for a Shenmue 3.
The fact that this is being fashioned somewhat like Shenmue is what really got me interested in Yakuza. I wouldn't write this game off yet.

So, Game Informer gave it a 6. Everyone else so far has been giving it 8+, so clearly the game is at least somewhat good. (6 is above average, remember) I can't give a link to the Yakuza section of www.gamerankings.com because I can't access it from work, but all of the reviews for the english game are from the future. GI's review (dated September 1) isn't even online. The site that I originally link at the top of the thread is going in-depth into the game, telling you what it's all about and the people behind it. Don't rely on scores so much--despite the fact that the game is getting very high scores from most of the time traveling publications.