Yakuza 0

'Yakuza 0 (2015)' serves as a prequel to its long-running series, focusing both on the franchise's main protagonist Kiryu and on one of its most iconic 'villains' Majima. The game's story is split almost evenly between its two stars, with their seemingly separate plots eventually converging in an incredibly satisfying way. The game is as crazy as anyone who has played a previous entry in the series would expect, stuffed to the brim with wacky substories (which often provide plenty of chuckles) and overly involved minigames, but it also has some real heart to it. The main quests, which are much more straight-faced, aren't invalidated by the often tongue-in-cheek side stuff. As such, the game's overall story is surprisingly effective, a mix of the absolutely absurd and the utterly sincere. It's engaging, enjoyable and, even, emotionally affecting. There are a lot of characters to keep track of but the thing reminds you who's who and what's what often enough to remain clear. Its ending does use some pretty hefty narrative gymnastics to get its core players into the positions they were/ will be in 'Yakuza (2005)'/ 'Yakuza Kiwami (2015)', but it's still an impactful and resonant climax that wraps things up in a cohesive way. The experience took me just under 100 hours and I never once got bored. I finished all substories (including the two secret boss battles and the entirety of both Real Estate Royale and Cabaret Club Czar), completed around 85% of the completion list, unlocked both characters' hidden battle styles, purchased all traditional skills and got all the collectible telephone cards. However, I didn't bother grinding out the last few ranks in the fighting arena, mopping up the rest of the CP points (I really didn't feel like learning how to play Mahjong), finding the last few pieces of equipment from the Dragon and Tiger shop, or trying to win 30 matches of the awful, RNG-based catfighting minigame (the worst minigame in the affair, for sure). That's because some of the game's grind just isn't worth it. Don't get me wrong, it's great for those who want to fully participate in the plethora of available minigames; I just didn't feel like spending hours on them, even if it annoyed the completionist within me. So, aside from in-depth distractions, what does the gameplay consist of? Fighting. Plain, good old-fashioned fighting. The combat system revolves around four styles, each of which have different strengths and weaknesses. Though it may initially seem somewhat repetitive, it's actually rather deep and gets more involved when you start to fill out the skill tree. I defeated several hundred foes and never got tired of doing it. Of course, the battles that are contextualised by story are much more resonant than the random ones that occur while roaming around the piece's two open-world locations. They're all fun, don't get me wrong, but there's this level of, I suppose, intensity that only exists when the fight is set up by a suspenseful series of cutscenes (which are all wonderfully executed). The game is just a ton of fun throughout. Every few hours, something new will appear and reignite your interest. As it approaches its finale and its plots start to converge, it only gets more and more compelling. It's so rare for a title to keep you truly engaged for 100 hours, yet this makes it look easy. It isn't perfect (for example, some of its NPCs look pretty bad), but it's an absolute blast to play. Heck, it's even an absolute blast to watch (its narrative sequences aren't exactly short). It's phenomenal. 10/10

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.

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.

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.

S tier, 10/10. Such a brilliantly over the top game. The story goes in so many different directions and is just a joy to watch. The combat is satisfying, I loved Majima's set the best and the baseball bat the most. Kiru's beast mode was great too. The open world was perfectly condensed with interesting side missions and plenty of things to do.

The infamous kareoke songs are brilliant, the race car game was exceptional, my favorite was however the dancing, just perfect. It did definitely drag at the end and felt a bit repetitive with the combat but there are so many great story moments and things to keep you playing. The last mission is so great and is such a brilliant set piece ending.

The customisation of your character however is very limited and pretty much non existent. The side missions are great but it is very easy to miss them as you have to explore in so many different areas. This is both good and bad as it forces you to explore but is just very time consuming and fustrating for me personally. I did go back to complete the side missions I missed in free roam mode but it just felt really repetitive and tedious to wander around the streets, exploring every inch of this place just to find a questline. Majima's story goes a bit all over the place after the incredible introduction. Over time it definitely got better but was weaker compared to Kiru's.

I haven't played the later games but several characters such as Kiru's best friend who felt like a major character didn't have much of a role. I'm sure that he is more important in the later games but i am very hesitant to play them, as I feel this style of combat and exploration could really get old after a while. I was interested in the story but I just looked up a video online, which definitely made me want to check out some of the games, I probably will but at a later date.

I did get this game because of Dunkey's review and am glad to say I enjoyed it allot more than him. I do agree with most of his points but the story is definitely better than he made it out to be. I'm not angry or anything I just wish he enjoyed it as much as I did.

In all a game I really enjoyed and just wanted to keep on playing and playing till the end. Definitely one of the most fun games I have played.