Yakuza 0

When I first booted this game, I knew nothing about the Yakuza series. I expected it to be a typical mafia story, and since it's a Japanese game I expected it to be a little goofy.

I would never guess the ride that I got myself into.

First of all, Yakuza 0 story is one of the most intense dramas I've ever seen on any media, in every chapter I was at the edge of my seat. These characters are amazing, Kiryu and Majima are badasses, and they feel powerful, determined, and fearless; but I didn't find myself rooting for them for that reason, I was rooting for them because of their flaws, the hardships they had to encounter, and the heartbreaking moments in the game. Yakuza 0 is not only the story of the Japanese mafia fighting for power, but also how this fight affects the characters, not only the protagonists - the secondary characters in this game all feel important to the development of the conflict.

Storywise, this game is a masterpiece, I can not give enough praise to the writing.

The gameplay itself balances pretty well the dramatic nature of the story, it gives you a break from all the heavy stuff, and oh boy does it give you a good break.

Catfights with girls in bikinis, toy car race tournaments, rhythm games with karaoke and dancing, cabaret and business management minigames, and secondary missions that can go from saving a girl from a cult or saving a little girl and her family from thugs to straight-up teaching a dominatrix how to please her clients. This game has a lot of content in the form of minigames and side quests, and every one of them feels whole, you can see that the devs really put a lot of thought into every aspect of this game. Even tho the city is fairly small, it feels PACKED with stuff to do, I've played open-world games with massive worlds that don't have half the content that the city of Kamurocho has, or at least, they don't have as much appeal to make you want to interact with the environment.

All these goofy side quests and minigames remind you that even tho the game's story is serious, this is still a video game and it's supposed to be fun. And btw, all these minigames might as well be games on their own, they are extremely dense and well-made.

There's not much I can say about this game as criticism, I guess the gameplay can be a little repetitive, but I found heat finishers so cool that I didn't mind that at all, and the amazing soundtrack helps as well.

This has been one of the best videogame experiences I've ever had, Yakuza 0 takes a place on the list of my favorite videogames, and I'm looking forward to playing the rest of the entires.

I just beat Yakuza 0 as my first entry into the series and had some thoughts.

• The game knows how to balance whacky with heavy drama, extremely well.

• Kiryu and Majima are fantastic protagonists. Kiryu especially has become one of my favorite characters in gaming. Majima's growth was beautiful.

• The mini games are fun! There's so much optional stuff to do if you'd like to dive into it heavily, or don't! It's up to you!

• It runs extremely well on a Steam Deck. I got near perfect 90FPS with the game on high settings.

I didn't do a whole lot of minigame stuff during the story, so I'm going to now focus on those in the post-game to play as relaxing downtime gaming.

If a whacky 3rd person action brawler meets heavy drama is something that interests you, do not hesitate to get this game!

I replied to a post on this sub complaining how many open-world games often feel "a mile wide but an inch deep", and that I'd rather have a smaller game world that was packed with content and surprises. Someone said Yakuza 0 was the game I needed to play, so I gave it a go. And wow! Whoever you are, you were right on the money. This is honestly one of the greatest games I've ever played.

I can't recall an open-world game that does so many things right with regards to main story, action, side quests, humor, seriousness, and character development as well as this. When I think of the ones that do, I'd put it on the high shelf with games like Witcher 3, Deus Ex, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound and Under A Killing Moon. And if you're really old, Below the Root.

It's hard to think of a game with deep themes of gang violence, human trafficking, honor, betrayal, friendship and loyalty... alongside light-hearted things like getting a classic arcade game high score, trying to get a date, running a cabaret club, karaoke battles and a literal chicken for a real estate manager. It's ridiculous, but somehow it all works.

The "Japanese-ness" of this game is both nostalgic for me and fresh. I love the setting of the 1980s before the japan economic bubble crashed, and it embraces the excess and flash of that time on every level, both in serious, humorous and technological ways. I love the themes of reputation, honor and sacrifice - many of which I didn't agree with personally - but you're along for the ride and it's a great ride seeing them play out. It likewise has just a touch of a lot of the same charm and mechanics of older 8-bit and 16-bit games of the NES and SNES. They don't always make sense, but they're fun, so who cares?

The Japanese voice acting is top-notch and I'm glad they didn't try to force American voice actors into this game. This is a very Japanese game at its core, and I don't think either the deeper themes nor the humor would have worked with English voice actors. You just have to accept this is a different world with different rules.

It's not without flaws. It's got some grind that could be trimmed a bit. Combat could be a bit deeper and fluid in some cases, and Real Estate Royale in particular was a slog (but not without rewards), yet still, you grow to like the characters so much that you take on all of it anyway.

Every broad, cross-genre game of this type has its shortcomings, but the question is whether the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and this game absolutely is. I didn't want it to end. I kept looking for more side-quests before I embarked on the finale. And maybe the highest honor: I'm somewhat afraid of playing the other Yakuza games for fear of being let down.

One of my top 10 of all time.

I am kicking myself for not having played this game earlier. I never knew brutally beating up punks with traffic cones and signboards on the streets of Tokyo could be so FUN. It's the most fun I've had in a long time. Apart from a few small map issues, I honestly can't find a flaw with this game. The story is amazing, the city of Kamurocho feels alive, the music is amazing, the cinematics are incredible and almost feel like an action movie, Majima is my new favorite videogame character. I've been playing the game for 3 days non-stop and I'm not even at 30% game completion yet. There's SO much to do, the mini games, the management games, the side quests, the RC car race circuit, etc etc. I can't believe this game came out in 2015.

Highly recommended especially if you have the smallest bit of interest in Japanese culture.

Name: Yakuza 0 / Yakuza Kiwami

Platforms: PC

Genre: Action

Release Date: August 1st (Yakuza 0)

Developer: Sega

Additional Info:

Take a front row seat to 1980s life in Japan in an experience unlike anything else in video gaming, with uncapped framerates and 4K resolutions.

Yakuza Kiwami is the ultimate and most “extreme” version of the original vision of the series, now optimised for PC with 4K resolutions, uncapped framerates, customisable controls and ultra-widescreen support.

I never played any of this games. I am looking for a good game with a nice gameplay. Which one do you recommend?

I am having a really hard time getting into a good game to just turn my brain off and enjoy.

Within the last week I’ve tried xeno blade, a few farming sims, Minecraft, elder scrolls online, ect.

I just cannot get into any of them. After a few hours I’ll feel like I’m not having much fun and I’ll turn the games off.

But I saw some yakuza 0 gameplay videos recently and the fighting looked really fun. Idk the thought of just turning my brain off and beating up baddies sounds great.

But I’ll ask you guys what your opinion of the game is.

EDIT: With the overwhelming positivity I have now purchased Yakuza 0 and will be playing it very soon!!

So recently a relative Gave me a $10 dollar gift card for my Ps4, Unfortunately there's not much on Ps4 you can buy that's good under $10 dollars.

I saw that Yakuza 0 was on sale for Ps4, I've never played any of the Yakuza series, so I have no idea what their really about.

I usually prefer Open World, RPG'S with many choices. open world or not it doesn't matter that much, just curious about if this is worth the buy.

Edit: Have bought the game. Downloading it now. Thanks for all the helpful advice

Edit: Yo.... KIRYU CHAN!

I’m getting closer and closer to the rdr2 plat so I want another great game to take it’s place, I’ve never played a yakuza game but I’ve heard it’s very fun and very great, I’m really just looking for an engaging story with fun characters and a nice open world with a lot of stuff to do, bonus points for a trophy list not as grindy and hard as rdr2 but that’s not the main focus, I just want to be experiencing big city vibes and great gameplay wrapped in a great story with a lot of stuff to do.