Yakuza 0 | Review

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft Windows

Initial release date: March 12, 2015

Developers: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Sega

Genres: Fighting game, Role-playing game, Action-adventure game, Adventure

Mode: Single-player video game

Composer: Hidenori Shoji

Publishers: Sega, SEGA of America

Key Takeaways

• One of the best Yakuza games I played
• Great story
• Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima origin stories
• Played on my Xbox Series X via Gamepass
• Released in 2015
• Three combat styles
• Janky controls
• Gripping story with plenty of twists and turns
• Thirty hour campaign
• Plenty of side content
• Too many cutscenes
• Quirky Substories
• Holds up visually In 2024
• Music and voice acting good
• Play as Kiryu and Majima throughout campaign

Introduction

My history involving the Yakuza video games are me completing Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2. I also completed Like a Dragon: Infinite and Like a Dragon Gaiden.

Played through most of the first Like A Dragon. I also played but never completed due to time are Yakuza 3, 4, 5 and 6. So basically I have a strong starting point with the franchise yet know there is so much more I haven’t seen.

So I figured as time permits I’d start Yakuza 0. I did. And it’s a great Yakuza game. Yakuza 0 tells the tale of how Kiryu Kazama “Dragon of Dojima” and Goro “Maddog” Majima” got their names and reputation in the dark underworld of the yakuza.

Presentation

In 2024 Yakuza 0’s presentation holds up for the most part. I will say this game had too many cutscenes which were really needed as the story had so many twists and turns that needed to be fleshed out.

Switching between the two protagonists lend to some janky combat as each had three individual battle styles of their own you should master. Yakuza 0 needed more save and checkpoints in main missions. Exploring the main hubs of Kamurocho and Sotenbori were fine when it came to checkpoints and saves.

Story

The main crux of Yakuza 0’s story revolves around an “empty lot” of land located in the heart Kamurocho. Warring factions of Yakuza want to own the sliver of land to start a revitalization project that would give said Yakuza family the most power in Tokyo.

The owner of the empty lot is a blind half Chinese, Japanese woman named Mokoto Makimura. Tetsu Tachibana hires Kazuma Kiryu in securing the empty lot and later protecting his sister who happens to be Makoto.

Goro Majima and Kazuma Kiryu are thrusted into a “protect the girl at all costs” mission for most of the story. The story had plenty of roller-coaster moments over it’s thirty hours.

Yakuza 0 kept me wanting to see what happens next which is a sign of a good story. The climax revolves around Makoto selling the ownership rights to the plot of land to Masaru Sera of the Nikkyo Consortium.

Gameplay

Yakuza 0 like other older main-line Yakuza games is third person beat’em up action adventure. Kiryu and Majima both have three separate combat styles that are tied to unlocking abilities in skill trees. Completing main and substories side quests can net you gear that can boost both protagonist’s strength.

For me the combat got janky because I usually went with the Beast and Pummeling Bat styles between the two which are the slowest heaviest combat styles. Yakuza 0 will have you switching between the two main characters across various Chapters. Boss fights were fun and spectacular.

Okay. Was the actual gameplay fun? At this point I’d say the combat was average due to me enjoying Like a Dragon and Infinite Wealth’s combat more at this era. So yea, for me, at this point I prefer Like a Dragon’s turn based combat more than the real-time beat’em ups of yesteryear.

Visuals | Art

Surprisingly Yakuza 0 holds up well graphically in 2024. On my Xbox Series X the cutscenes were impressive along with in-game visuals while strolling through Tokyo and Osaka.

It’s easy to tell this was made last gen however as I recently played through Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth which looked WAY better than Yakuza 0. But I digress. Art style inside buildings was bland but outside impressive.

Sound | Music

Music along with voiced it’s Japanese dialogue delivered. Music was super moody at times during dramatic sequences and kicked up to ten during boss fights. I enjoyed the music in this for sure.

So many performers did a great job delivering their lines in this. I can’t speak Japanese, yet, that didn’t stop me from feeling the lines being spoke during certain story and plot points. I see why gamers say “make sure you use native voice speakers” when playing games. That’s it. Thanks for reading – Jason