Ryû ga gotoku Zero: Chikai no basho

Yakuza 0 is an action-adventure game that is the sixth main entry in the franchise and serves as prequel to the original game. The game takes places between December 1988 and January 1989 in Kamurocho, Tokyo and Sotenbori, Osaka. Players can control charismatic protagonist Kiryu Kazuma and eccentric Majima Goro. The story revolves around an empty lot in Kamurocho that is owned by a young woman living in Osaka who suffers from psychogenic blindness and is mercilessly hunted down by criminal organizations.

This game convinces on numerous levels. The game play is very addictive as players can incarnate the franchise's two most skilled fighters in this game which makes for extraordinary and unique fight sequences. These characters also have a more humane touch this time around since they are much younger than in the other games and trying to help a helpless innocent woman you can't help but rooting for.

The story is also intriguing as it comes around with several conspiracies, turns and twists that will keep players on the edges of their seats. The number of characters here is more impressive than in many television series featuring multiple seasons.

This game also helps us understand how the two lead characters became the people they are in the other releases of the franchise. Regular players will discover sides of these characters that they would have never expected to witness.

It also oozes with atmosphere and brings Japan in the late eighties to life in authentic fashion with less modern suburbs, elegant discotheques and tons of addictive arcade games. The accompanying soundtrack completes the authentic immersion.

This game once again offers value for money, with the main story taking more than thirty hours to be completed while finishing the numerous different side stories might take far over one hundred hours.

While not being the franchise's most memorable game, it serves its purpose as a prequel exploring the main characters' origins extremely well. This is why this game should certainly please regular fans of the franchise. However, it would also serve as excellent starting point for new fans who could then continue their discovery of this extraordinary game series chronologically.

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

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.

'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 game is honestly insanely good. When I first played Zero, I was really new to the Yakuza franchise and was still getting to grips with the lore. Thankfully, due to this game being a prequel of some sorts, if you're interested in playing the Yakuza series but don't know where to start, this game is your answer.

The storytelling and the pace of this game is beyond fantastic. It has everything, intense highs and devastating lows, great comedic timing and the silly charm that the Yakuza series is well known for. It really is a game that you can just boot up and goof around in. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers for the game in this short review since I truly believe that everyone interested in the game should play it for themselves.

Beautifully crafted and insanely fun. Yakuza 0 is one of, if not my favourite game of all time. This is the first game to ever render me a sobbing, wailing mess.

10/10, fantastic and beautiful.