Yakuza 0
2015
Audio: Japanese · Subtitles: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, English
- role-playing (rpg)
- simulator
- hack and slash/beat 'em up
- adventure
- action
- drama
- open world
- single player
- multiplayer
The story
Yakuza 0 is an action-adventure beat 'em up and a prequel to the Yakuza series, set in 1988 Japan during the country's economic bubble era. The game follows two protagonists: Kazuma Kiryu in Tokyo's Kamurocho district and Goro Majima in Osaka's Sotenbori district. Players alternate between their stories as they navigate the criminal underworld, engaging in street fights using multiple switchable combat styles, managing businesses, and participating in a wide variety of side activities and minigames. The game is largely credited with bringing the long-running franchise to mainstream Western attention.
What it’s like
Neon-soaked late-night Tokyo and Osaka, rendered in saturated pinks, sodium yellows and the cold blue of convenience-store fluorescents, with the rain-slick asphalt of Kamurocho and Sotenbori reflecting every sign. The sound is a bubble-era soundtrack of city-pop and tinny arcade chimes layered over distant traffic and the chatter of hostess bars, broken by sudden, heavy impact sounds in fights. Camera work sits behind the characters in fluid third person, and cutscenes lean on static, stagey framing with long still holds on faces. The vibe is nostalgic and wry, a sleazy, gleefully sincere wander through a vanished economic boom, best for a late evening alone or a long, unhurried stretch of playing. Pacing is looser than the fights suggest: long stretches of karaoke, mahjong, pool and cabaret-club management punctuate the story, which follows two loyal, stubborn men on separate paths slowly turning toward the same troubled past. Violence is frequent and stylised, with exaggerated, cartoonish brawling and blood-free knockouts, though the plot includes murder, gang betrayal and some sexual innuendo in the nightlife scenes. For players who want a crime drama with humour, sentiment and a lot to do besides the main story.
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