Yakuza 0

This is the first Yakuza game I ever played in the Yakuza franchise and the prequel game where it all started from the beginning.

Yakuza 0 has absolutely shown that this game has blown many expectations along the way. Not only that I get to play one but two protagonists to play along the storyline and each of them has their own fighting style, their own storyline, and one of my favorites is the heat actions. Their heat actions are devastating and satisfying and this is what makes the Yakuza games absolutely playable and fun.

Not just the main storyline that has serious moments but the substories is that make the game have a more and-go-lucky feeling. Plus the minigames here are absolutely entertaining. The best part of minigames is the arcades and secret arena fights.

In conclusion, Yakuza 0 is absolutely the best game recommended for new players who want to know about the Yakuza franchise from the beginning. If you want to know about the Yakuza franchise you have to play the game on where it absolutely all started. With Kiryu and Majima together with their own stories.

Yakuza 0 is nothing short of a miracle. This game was born from SEGA giving one final push for the Yakuza series to succeed in the United States and boy oh boy, did they do it. It's a cinematic roller coaster of action and emotion.

This was the second game I played in the series. Yakuza Kiwami, the remaster of the first game that was published after this one, was my first. I really recommend playing them this way, mostly because meeting the two protagonists and going on that adventure with them gave me ten times more investment in this story (But don't blame yourself if you can't get through Kiwami. It's short but the story is still full of holes from the original).

Speaking strictly of the story, once you hit the end of Chapter 2 you're hooked. Every two chapters you switch between the two protagonists, Kiryu and Majima, and their respective cities, Kamurocho and Sotenbori. The writing on both sides is immaculate. Once those two chapters with that character come to a head, they're left caught in a situation that leaves you wondering what happens next. But the best part is that switching to the other character doesn't feel like a dip in tension because you were already excited to find out what happened to them since last time. It's a very well-balanced approach to the dual narrative structure.

The cinematography isn't half-bad either. The tone for this title is much more serious (at least in the main story) than its brothers and sisters. There's moody lighting, excellent expression capture, period-accurate environments (did I mention this game is set in 1980's Japan?), and other details that create a believable atmosphere. I'm a huge proponent of using motion-captured cutscenes to tell a story versus using in-engine mouth flapping and dialogue boxes, and this is the Yakuza game that probably delivers the most on that front. Every other cutscene is mocap, and nearly all of them are played real-time with the detailed models (which means they can run at 60fps). There are so many scenes that crank up the intensity to 11 and catch you off-guard and it's wonderful.

Surprisingly, the combat is not my favorite out of the series. You have your staples like separate fighting styles, impactful heat actions, etc. But it has some mechanics like the depleting heat bars and abilities costing money that might throw off a gameplay-focused gamer. I still adore it, but if a remaster happened in five years I'd hope they change some things.

If you're looking for a great game that keeps you on the edge of your seat and has amazing presentation, you found it. It's probably my favorite piece of media in the entire world.

The story is freaking awesome. It catches you early on and you are hooked until the very end. The mini-games in this game would count as full length games in other games.

For example, bowling is great, pool is awesome, karaoke is fun, darts are fun too, you can dance, and do all sorts of stuff. You can also manage clubs, buy property, hire people to manage your business, and a few more things.

Also you can find soft-porn cards that unlock softcore movies, and so much more man.

The only issue I have is that you engage in too many fights, it becomes repetitive after a while. There are times where people on the streets will just start fight with you every few seconds, and it gets too much sometimes.

Anyways,9/10.

A great prequel story for some of the main stays. The story grabbed me and the characters intrigued me. Everything just fell into place.

This is honestly a top 5 game for me at worst, I finished it recently due to a friend recommending it as a starting point and this was perfect for that

The game is all over the place and messy in the perfect way, one moment I'm laughing at something stupid, the next I'm angry at a character in the game and wanna beat them with the wrath of god, then I'm emotional devastated over something because let me say this games ending hurts

The story is paced well and constantly has my investment each chapter, plus the characters were all brilliantly written, with my favourite of the bunch being Goro Majima, this is all further complimented by the simple yet satisfying melee combat system which can make you feel like an absolute badass at certain points

Either way I'd 100% recommend this game as a start to Yakuza as it really shows you the bond between two characters Kiryu and Nishiki before Kiwami, which makes that games story even more impactful, as well as making Majima more than just a funny guy used for comic relief

"This truly was our Yakuza 0" - Goro Majima.