Subscribers get bonus perks: ask me unlimited gameplay questions about any review and get personal responses within 24 hours!
Check out my review of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth here!
Have you ever explored different parts of the world using Google Street View? My travel-loving spirit struggled during Covid, so I found solace in virtual exploration. While nothing compares to real-life travel experiences, tools like Google Street View offer a fascinating way to see the world. Imagine if we could also use it to explore cities as they appeared before the 2000s! Since that’s not an option, indulging in games like Yakuza 0 is the perfect way to enjoy a developer’s interpretation of a vibrant historical setting, 1980s Tokyo. This is a worthwhile game for that alone, but there are so many other reasons to give Yakuza 0 a shot!
0 is tough to write about story-wise because for people like me, it could be the last (or one of the last) Yakuza games, but for others, it could be one of the first to play. It stars series mainstays Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima. What is most difficult is the stark contrast in Goro’s personality between 0 and every other game. 0 provides a deep dive into both characters’ roots as young adults, though neither looks in their early 20s; I guess people just aged more quickly in previous generations.
The story takes place during the economic boom period of the late 1980s. This was a time of immense prosperity and rapid growth, during which fortunes were made practically overnight, and money seemingly grew on trees. This doesn’t seem like a group of developers making their best guess about what life was like back then, but more like people who lived it. That’s the impression I got. The late 80s in Japan were a time of spending freely and living large, clearly displayed throughout the game in many not-so-subtle game mechanics. For example, rather than gain experience, Kaz and Goro gain excessive amounts of money that can be spent to increase HP and strength, and obtain many unique attacks and special moves. Want to avoid fights with annoying street punks?
Make it rain by throwing a few hundred thousand yen (100k yen is about 600 euros or 650 dollars) into the air and watch civilians and enemies scatter to pick it up while you run by unbothered.
Money is easy to come by, meaning some of the best skills and stat increases can climb into the billions of yen (One billion yen is 6.5 million dollars or 6 million euros), which seems daunting.
But two lengthy mini-games can increase the playtime, possibly doubling it and helping to grow money into the hundreds of billions with patience and perseverance. Cabaret club and real estate might not immediately jump out as being interesting, and it is slow going at first, but the long-term benefits are impossible to ignore. However, the way it is presented can seem overwhelming, and it can be tempting to bypass it. I know I wanted to. But once you give it a chance to dive in, it is simple and provides a steady income stream. I purchased 100% of the first two areas in Real Estate and beat the Cabaret mini-game. Cabaret had less grinding and flowed better, plus optional but highly recommended training events can help the platinum hostesses improve.
Compared with Yakuza 3–5, 0 is a dream; it is seamless, and battles flow, never lasting too long or turning into a struggle of breaking guard like in Yakuza 3, though not as snappy as Judgment. The Mr. Shakedown guys will rip you apart if you are not ready. Mr. Shakedown fights are optional enemies that function more like difficult bosses and can net tons of money or lead to financial ruin. I can’t think of another RPG with such harsh punishments versus massive rewards.
Overall, I found battles in Yakuza 0 to be fun, with tons of heat actions and 6 styles between Goro and Kaz, plus two I never unlocked. Kaz can fight as a beast, which is slow and lumbering but incredibly powerful, perfect for crowd control. Rush focuses on quicker movements with weaker strikes, but more versatile and brawler strikes a balance between the two. Goro can fight as a slugger with a baseball bat, which felt broken at times, but was my favorite for crowd control. Thug was balanced, and breaker was something unique. It was hard to get used to, but there was a certain understated beauty and flow to the style that, as the name implies, resembled break dancing or capoeira. Building up a meter eventually leads to a prompt to push the triangle button, leading to heat actions; strong cinematic, brutal attacks that can decimate any enemy and severely drop boss HP levels.
I remain steadfast in saying there is no such thing as a bad Yakuza game; at worst, they are merely good, and with the improved battle mechanics, 0 is a great game, though like all other games in the series, just short of excellence. Just the same, the series is exceptional for its consistency and quality.
Getting into the Yakuza franchise, you can depend on a familiar experience as you move through the games, for better or worse. I’m not one to complain too much, as each city in the series looks astonishing, but a little more variety would have been welcome. Have you heard of “Old Faithful”? That’s the geyser in Yellowstone, but it's what Kamurocho is to Yakuza. Of course, taking place in the 80s, and being a Yakuza game, we see the gritty, seedy side. New York City has made a similar transformation since those times, so the Kamurocho you would be used to in later games looks vastly different in 0. We see a more vibrant, bustling side of Sotenbori, which also appeared in Kiwami 2, 5, and Like a Dragon. I am amazed at how inviting Sega presented these two cities. I would love to explore something like that, flaws and all, in real life someday. Every street is jampacked with restaurants, both glamorous and down at the heels, as well as food stalls, stores, and places for minigames. You’ll want to get used to every place because they serve several important functions. The pawn shop, for instance, is a fantastic source of money, and eating every meal at a specific eatery earns an easy 1 CP.
Completion Points (CP) encourage exploration and experimentation. Just run around the city, pay attention to your surroundings, and interact with people, and you’ll start to see the CP role in. Make sure you try all the different battle styles; Kaz and Goro each have four total, though the fourth for each character requires some steps to unlock. Each battle style has its upgrade tree, like a smaller version of Final Fantasy 10. Some slots on these trees require each character to train with various masters around town. Anyway, reaching predetermined milestones for each battle style rewards you with CP. CP can be spent at the shrine in the center of each city in three categories: Adventure, Battle, and Business for Kaz and Goro. Adventure helps both characters to do things like run for longer without getting tired (adventure), gain more money from enemies (battle), quick collection to get revenue in real estate (Kaz), or employ a new hostess in cabaret (Goro), sometimes Gold or Platinum, the two best!
After seeing how well done most of the voice acting was for Like a Dragon: Yakuza, Infinite Wealth, Judgment, and Lost Judgment, I had a small hope that Yakuza 0 would have English voice actors. Alas, they’re in Japanese with English subtitles. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind subtitles with the original language, but the four aforementioned games nailed it, so I would have loved to hear Kaz in English. Like the previous games in the series, there are a lot of ambient noises that will instantly transport you to a typical city with occasional tracks for the most impactful scenes. All of the tracks are well done.
As always, there is a boatload of content in 0. There are about 100 side quests, 60 for Kaz and 40 for Goro, which often serve as comic relief to the more serious main plot. It seems daunting, but many can be completed within minutes. Some are hidden behind other mini-games, such as disco and karaoke.
Normally, disco and karaoke are not my cup of tea. In 0, they required properly timed button presses, and weren’t as hard to get used to as I initially imagined, and were surprisingly manageable. There is also bowling, darts, and pool. I found bowling a blast, but didn’t like this game’s version of darts compared to other Yakuza games, where I had fun. I had no clue what I was doing with pool, but I won a game. I didn’t touch pocket racing or phone chat, but those also exist for people looking to get 100% completion. Some classic Sega video games can be enjoyed at the arcade in town, while others need to be completed to advance certain side stories.
Yakuza 0 is an impressive, commendable effort that fell short of phenomenal or outstanding. On normal difficulty, the challenge is just right, but there's an easy mode for players who are struggling, and hard and legend for those looking to test their limits. There isn’t anything 0 did particularly wrong, as it’s possible to speed through this without side content, or you can sink nearly 100 hours into it (I took just over 60), and it will be enjoyable regardless. Perhaps a new area would have been a positive, or expanding on Kamurocho or Sotenbori; otherwise, the Yakuza series is a steady stream of solid gameplay, and this is a game I can confidently recommend.