Yakuza 0

We set out to uncover the betrayal against our yakuza father who raised us in the orphanage, amidst a real estate conspiracy. While going to buy drinks for the homeless men working at this 'real estate' company to gather information, I helped a child whose video game had been stolen.
And it kept changing hands whenever I got up to it. The last person to have the game turned out to be the child's father, another yakuza. Covered for him in front of his son, the family was brought back together. Wholesome af. 10/10

Incredible hostess club manager sim with some kind of organised crime mini game attached.

============= 9.5/ 10 ==============
Decent gameplay, Good minigames, Heart-breaking history, AND MAJIMA

Yakuza series is a life experience you MUST experiment at least once

On offer? Buy it, Not offer? Buy it, You life sucks? BUY IT

do not play if you are the kind to 100% games you enjoy cuz this game will hook line and sinker you with its incredible story, flashy and fun combat and entertaining side content and before you know it you havent seen your loved ones in months because youre on your 30th consecutive hour of trying to wrap your head around what the fuck a riichi ippatsu is and how to get it in a vain attempt at paying off your debt to the completion list that would make a yakuza loan shark shiver in his steel toed shoes

personal top 5 game of all time tho

Yakuza Zero is still one of the best entries of the franchise to this day.
The first chapters are a slow burn, but keep at it. Once you become free to explore, this is where the game begins.
The city may be small, but your curiosity will direct you to many stories and games to keep you distracted from the main plot.

It hilarious, it is heart breaking, it is silly, it is serious crime drama.

Best game I've ever played. Never have I cried during any game, but this story was so good that I just couldn’t hold back my tears. The maps Kamurochō and Sotenbori are very well detailed, with so much to explore. The combat was satisfying, and the side stories were amazing. I highly recommend playing it. 素晴らしい体験を作ってくれてありがとう!

Yakuza 0 is an A plus fantastic game, It has amazing combat, an extremely engaging story, some hilariously wacky side quests, two amazing protagonists who are some of my now favorite characters in gaming. This is a gem of a video game and I think anyone should play this at least once in their lives.

This game is about Real Estate.

Yakuza 0 is where the series canonically begins in my understanding. I have only played Like A Dragon otherwise at this time. In this game, you'll switch between playing as Goro Majima and Kazuma Kiryu. Ultimately, despite all the drama and side activities, this game is about a small piece of real estate in a large-scale business model that interests a considerable number of parties.

Unlike Like A Dragon, which is turn-based. The Yakuza series is traditionally a beat 'em up. Akin to something like if Streets of Rage 2 were to have been developed at a different time period. Anecdotally, this game reminded me of a game on PS1 called “Ehrgeiz” — it was a 3D fighter— it had this adventure side mode with RPG-style leveling and an inventory. But it played as a dungeon-crawling beat 'em up.

There's no English dub, so prepare for a lot of reading. Makes for a great Steam Deck game. And it runs great on that. Only drawing about 12-17W on average. 800p@60 on high preset. It's an older title so it's not terribly demanding in the first place. And I think it still looks great. There's something nostalgic about this style—this time period—of visuals. Makes the game feel immediately familiar despite largely being unfamiliar with the series.

I have a few issues..

The combat is overtly simple, you can get through the entire game with the same “X,X,Y” combo, while only occasionally side-stepping an enemy combo that would otherwise stun-lock you. You can spend in-game money (I hate you have to clarify that now) on Kiryu or Goro, things like more health, deceased rate of heat drop. There are abilities that expand the mechanics of the combat, but they are unnecessary to be successful in combat, at least on normal. So it's really more for player variety. However, they are so expensive you won't really see them until very late in the game.

And the game overstays its welcome, I found myself disinterested in some of side characters by the end. Very dramatic backstories that go on and on while the main plot also dragged its feet. Mind you, there are a ton of side activities just like Like A Dragon so the game can be “main-lined” in a sense to avoid this burnout. But the combat simply isn't good enough for me to want to push through. It's about the same depth as something like Sleeping Dogs, contextual graphic animations — “Heat” and the Face meter essentially operate the same. But I found this game to be slightly less satisfying. There's something about the way the characters lock-on, or “engage” with certain enemies but evasion is very free, very open in its movement. You can switch styles to avoid the wild swings you'll occasionally get. Some fighting styles seem built for groups of enemies. Such as Kiryu's “Beast” style where he auto-grabs things around him as weapons and swings them horizontally. Ultimately, I found the combat tedious.

The Gist

I think this is an enjoyable game, but be prepared for a novel while you beat up street thugs. I personally preferred the turn-based combat in Like A Dragon. I felt it was more fitting for what I now understand as the tone for the series.

[quote]If you've found this review helpful, consider following my curation — Station Argus[/quote]

Don't play this game you're gonna end up playing them all and loving every single one of them (yes, including Yakuza 3, my beloved)

My first introduction to the yakuza franchise back on xbox and I will always come back to it no matter what gaming platform I use. Yakuza 0 storyline is both hilarious and beautifully written, Majima stole my heart in the game, his story both beautiful and tragic, leaving me balling my eyes out every single time. I recommend this game to anyone purely just for the story aspect.
The gameplay also being peak with a large open world that you can just walk around and do silly mini games after having your heart shattered. Its a game that truly impacted me and helped me through tough times, and I will never grow tired of it.

god I loved this game so much

it isn't perfect, there's some clunkiness and some slightly frustrating elements BUT the story, the setting, the characters, the music, the side content... incredible

♫ I've Been A Fool ♫ for leaving it so long before finally doing a full playthrough of this gem

very strong 9/10

Kiwami next ♥

I deserve to have the shit beaten out of me with a baseball bat for waiting so long to play this masterpiece. I've got a very, very long way to go still but I already know this game is special

Good game runs good on steam deck I recommend anyone playing on steam deck go to steam property's and set the video setting to 1920x1080

this game is so good that I think that everyone should have the chance to play it. it is absolutely legendary, and for me it is undoubtedly one of my favourite games all time

This is my second Yakuza game, I started with the first Like A Dragon and loved it so much I stopped in the middle of the story so I could come back and start from the beginning.

I wish I had gotten into this series so much sooner, I had the chance to grow up with this series but I never checked the games out.

After beating the game:
I just finished the story. I got rather hung up on the business stuff and a lot of my playtime went into that before moving on with the story.
The story, especially after the business stuff unlocks, is absolutely phenomenal!
This is hands down one of the best games I've ever played from the story alone, and I am so ready to move into the first game!

very fun game, lots of side content that can get kinda taxing to keep doing, but overall a super fun game to play with the fighting, story, and comedy it offers!

What can I say? Finally, after four years, I can finish this game
It's a great introduction for anyone who has only seen Yakuza on the internet (who Kiryu, Majima, etc., are)
Amazing story, fun combat, and weird subquest.

Straight entertainment, it has a serious main story and fun combat system, but gives relief from that with it's absurd and wacky side quests and funny karaoke and dancing minigames. I have not finished this game as of when this review is posted but I seriously want to because it is entirely amazing. Getting this along with along with the other main Yakuza/Like a Dragon games for 40$(USD) on sale makes the orange box look like it's the price of a damn 5 bed 5 bath home in comparison to how good of a deal that is.

It's so peak T_T

Note: I played all Yakuza mainlines games except Yakuza 4, and most of the spin off (Haven't played the Judgement duology yet), so this review is slightly based, as I've been into the series since long ago.


Why is it peak?

1/ You can play as Majima and breakdance against evil Yakuza and earn truckloads of money doing that
2/ It's a really great entry in the serie, with LAD 7 it's one of the two best entry point btw.
3/ Sidequests are fun
4/ Main story is easy to follow and compelling
5/ The mini games are varied and fun (Some of the best minigaming in the Yakuza/LAD serie)
6/ Did I say Majima?

Peak game, even better with mods on the second run that improves or enhance the combat styles

One of the highest quality games I've played. If I'm nitpicking I could complain about the bad first impressions, inventory bug that occasionally puts items into the wrong category causing them to become unusable, or the end game afk money farming required to unlock combat abilities you wouldn't get otherwise but again those are just nitpicks. Yakuza 0 is open world done right with an amazing story and tons of hilarious moments to go with it.

Two Hours In: Eh, it's kinda fun, but I don't really see why people are going so crazy about it

100 hours later:

GAN GAN KAZEGUZE!!!

Pros:

+ Very fun open world sandbox game with a decently satisfying combat system (albeit with a lot of you getting knocked on your ass at first and having to mash the "get up" button while you're still learning what not to do).
+ The minigames are genuinely entertaining as well, and for the most part entirely optional too!
+ Story is pretty good as well! Everyone puts in a really stellar vocal performance, even if I can't understand a word they are saying
+ Has Majima

Cons:
- It ends eventually :(

9/10, easy recommendation!

Masterpiece with good story and CINEMA ending

Easily the best Yakuza game story wise. Combat is fine. Worst part was playing gacha games while waiting for Kiryu's real estate %.

"Yakuza is...about life. With all the beautiful ecstasy, awful tragedy and everything in between. When I first played, I thought that Yakuza was all over the place, that it was somehow…messy. But now I realize that life is fucking messy...and that's okay."
-Max0r

This game is the definition of masterpiece. It's a mix of seriousness, chaos and fun all in one. Breaker Style on Majima is so satisfying to use and the whole aspect of combat is so smooth and fun to do.

I still absolutely despise Mr. Shakedown for robbing me of all I was worth in early game. I still need to 100% the game entirely, I'll get on that at some point. But yeah, I strongly recommend getting this game. It's so good.

absolutely goated game. after 40 hours of peak i finished the main story and will now beginn a journey to 100% the game so i can experience this to the fullest. would recommend to anyone and everyone

fire game. story line had me in tears both tears of joy and sorrow. sub-stories are super entertaining, love the humor, i had to save them til after i beat the main plot because the emotional roller coaster i was on started to become insufferable for my ADHD. game play and combat are extremely satisfying, i came from yakuza 4 console back in the day, but PC with controller never fails to satisfy my button smashing vice. loves it

Yakuza 0 is the 6th main entry in Sega's long-running series of the same name and chronologically takes place before every other canonical entry, being set in 1988. (about 7 years before the prologue of the original game and 17 years before most of its' story takes place)

Many people have, and will likely continue to use this game as a starting point for the series because of the above mentioned, and I wholeheartedly agree. With one of the best stories in the series, some of the best combat of the main games and two separate characters with 8 fighting styles between them, tons of other depth commonplace with this franchise and graphics that still hold up incredibly well (especially for a late PS3/early PS4 title) this game hits so many highs time after time that I simply cannot recommend it enough.

...just a word of warning though, once you get into this series, you'll easily be putting hundreds of hours into these games before you know it, so try to not screw up your sleep schedule in doing so...or don't. I'm not your boss.

From masterful storytelling to training dominatrix on customer service - Yakuza 0 is one of a kind and will always be #1 in my heart.

Beating up Kuze never gets old, even after five playthroughs.

Amazing story among the best, shit combat, I don't know what part of "just story" difficulty they don't get, and it's not like the combat is hard in like it needs more training or faster reflexes, it's just the controls are so numb and clumsy it doesn't matter what i press it doesn't respond properly, and it keeps shoving more and more fights on you, the fights for story i understand, but those buggers that keep ambushing you in the city when all you want to do is go for a quick save or buy some supplies before you continue the story remember its 2001 and auto save still doesn't exist... I guess play the game if you have nothing else to do, if you value your limited time, better invest in something else, and just watch a recorded gameplay on YT or something.
I made it to the last chapter, can't stand the game anymore it turns midnight and you're still stuck in one fight, and your options are leave the PC on or repeat the last challenging 2 hours again another day and hope you can make progress and not run out of time again. I ended up watching the last chapter on YT, and aside of the skill difference it was interesting seeing that i wasn't getting the option of performing finisher moves for some reason.

I'll consider this one to be the best story out of all yakuza series

As much as I love kiryu, Majima in this game stole my heart, his story was really really good and interesting his character had amazing development, its a shame we'll never see this Majima again, The gameplay was awesome, the music was so godamn good, 10/10 game that I ended up emotionally connecting to.

Definitely the game that has had the biggest and most meaningful experience to me. I was going through a difficult time and this game captivated me and gave me peace. First came to have made me cry and have such a profound emotional connection to me. After playing the other games in the franchise, you can tell this was a true love letter to their series. If you ever get the chance, you should play this. My go to recommendation for a video game.

This was my first time playing any game in the yakuza series. I had a great time with it. The combat was a little difficult to learn for me, but overall it was a really enjoyable experience.

Remember when you opened the disc channel on your Nintendo Wii while your copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl was in it and it played that horrifically loud sound?

Imagine that but everytime you open this game and/or afk on the main menu.

The Best Game Series Discovered by Accident!

Yakuza 0 is an absolute masterpiece.

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✔ Awesome Plot – The story is ABSOLUTE CINEMA, filled with plot twists and unforgettable characters and interactions.
✔ Awesome Music – Some of the OST tracks have permanently made it into my playlist.
✔ Versatile Gameplay – Whether you're brawling in the streets, running a business , or just enjoying the hilarious side content, there's always something to do.

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⚠ Technical Downsides

⚠ Lowering audio levels muffles the sound instead of properly reducing it.
⚠ Mouse sensitivity is way too high (real Yakuza use a gamepad).

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💯 Final Verdict

This game had massive impact on me, I would gladly replay it for the first time again. A lot of time have to pass till I move on from the emotions I've experienced playing this game and Im sure hyped for the rest of the series.

👍 10/10 would use Heat Action again .

Still as great as ever! The stylized presentation is almost timeless -- the art design, graphics and gameplay have all aged quite gracefully. A fantastic experience and a must play if you are interested in the Yakuza series at all.

great story, great combat, great side content; cinematic, dramatic and goofy

not a huge fan of the switching between protagonists tho, imo it breaks the flow a little, but it also does add suspense which makes you wanna keep playing

fan services,unique and challenging minigames,most stable pc version of yakuza series
thats why you should try it

This game is absolutly amazing. You should definitly play it 100000000000000000000000000000/28

This game is peak gameplay to the storytelling later on, You feel every single emotion in this game, its a rare breed of video game and its made me buy the entire series and preorder the newest. New to the games but i expect it to be the very best one out of the bunch, ill never play the jrpg ones, so those are out of question.

1000/10 game, never been much for story games but this series is it. perfect soundtrack, good mix of thought out cinematic storyline and brawler gameplay. would recommend to anyone

The story is excellent, very well written, interesting characters all around, the main ones are super well developed, and the way both stories intertwine is a sight to see. The game is very immersive, and it shows you both the lights and the shadows of the area.
There is a lot of content, minigames, entertainment and side stories, I didn't have much of an interest in these but they don't get much in the way of the main story, and you find all kinds of quirky characters. This surely attracts part of the audience.
The fighting system I didn't love, I only was looking forward to fighting the stronger opponents, more combos could be added, fighting petty thugs can be tedious, but I don't have a major issue with it, if the story were bad I would consider dropping the game altogether due to this aspect.

9/10

Surprisingly lives up to the hype and then some. Very fun game with very engaging characters. The combat feels rough in the beginning, and even at the end it still felt rough to me with Kiryu. But overall great game!

One of the best story games I've played, the combat is a little annoying sometimes since some people have hyper armor and some won't let you hit more than once but it's still a good game all around

I've had this game recommended by so many friends and personalities online, but never felt particularly compelled to pick it up. I'm so glad I did.

This game and it's bizarre, melodramatic story have this incredible way of sucking you in. I caught myself caring for the main cast more than I ever thought I would, and engaging with as many of the optional characters as I could. Even knowing what it's about and what it has to offer, experiencing it felt so fun and fresh and human.

There's more than a dozen games in these series, hundreds of sidequests among all them that will make you reconsider your meaning of "weird" and "crazy", economy lessons so you could build your real-life estate company, some mahjong if you're having a bad time and want to have an even more bad time...
So why on Earth are you still reading reviews? Just buy this game already, play Yakuza games for the next ten years of your life and become a Yakuza fan for the rest of it

The game that made me fall in love with a franchise that became one of my top 5 favorite game franchises ever. This game has everything I love about gaming, great story, writing, story-telling, gameplay, music, immersion, it’s just perfection. You HAVE to play this game if you haven’t, the side missions alone are reason enough to play, they’re absolutely whacky and hilarious, a stark contrast to the main story which is dark and is a rollercoaster and you really love the protagonists and their development specially my favorite character ever MAJIMA GORO. I will someday completionist this game and I can’t wait for Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Overall score 9.5/10 KIRRRYUUUU CHAAAAAAAN!!!!!

really good main story and an all you can eat buffet of grinding and side activities. I did all of cabaret and most of real estate royale, didnt do hostess storylines but yeah the game was awesome. Combat can get a little repetitive but it's never not fun so that's something

I thought I was ready to jump straight to kiwami but I think after 60+ hours I need a bit of a breather