The Yakuza series holds a special place in my heart. I started into the series around the release of the third title and was immediately exhilarated by the visceral combat, the stoic and manly main character and the charming open world setting. I’ve played through a good deal of the series since then and while not all of them have been quite so inspired, it’s a series that I keep coming back to as one of my favorites. So take that with a grain of salt while I gush, but the latest release in the series, Yakuza 0 may be the best title to date. It’s a well-refined version of all the great things about the series along with some exciting new aspects. While it’s not perfect, and I think I can safely say it’s not for everyone, it’s a work that I think old fans will absolutely appreciate, and the right newcomers will be able to pick up and immediately understand what makes it so much fun.
The latest installment in the Yakuza series is a prequel, taking place in 1988, the peak of the Japanese economic bubble, when asset and real estate prices skyrocketed, infusing the Japanese economy with cash on a scale never before seen. It was also the heyday for Japan’s underworld crime syndicates, who used this time of economic prosperity to further entrench themselves in the country’s political and business spheres. When the West thinks of Japan this is the era when many of our conceptions come from – outrageous game shows, $10,000 watermelons, panty vending machines – it was the time when eccentric Japanese tastes and conspicuous consumerism collided so spectacularly that it may be the best setting of all for series. Taking place in a fictionalized recreations of Tokyo’s seedy entertainment district, Kabukicho, and Osaka’s iconic nightlife spot, Dōtonbori, money flows through the streets of Yakuza 0 at ridiculous rates, setting a stage where a fortune can be squandered in an evening and people are willing to kill for just a little more.
Yakuza 0 puts you back into the role of its iconic protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, the tough-as-nails foot soldier of the Dojima Family. Kiryu, now a mere 20 years old, begins the game by doling out a beating to delinquent loan shark customer. What seems like a job well done goes south when the victim turns up murdered, with Kiryu being the prime suspect. In order to clear his name and protect his surrogate surrogate family, Kiryu renounces his oath to the Dojima Family and must go it alone to track down the real killer, embroiling himself in a plot to take control of a single, minuscule plot of land that sits at heart of a deadly underworld conspiracy. Meanwhile, you will also take control on Goro Majima, another Yakuza regular. Majima, in the meantime, has been consigned to an honest life running Osaka’s most successful cabaret, biding his time before he’s allowed back into the Tojo Clan from which he was expelled. Majima. Desperate to return to the family, Majima agrees to take on a contract hit, only to find himself protecting his would-be target from other gangsters.
The plot to Yakuza 0 is probably the best I’ve played since the third installment. 1980’s Japan is a great setting for tales of greed and violence, and the pursuit of owning a single 10 x 10 square of land in Tokyo a perfect distillation of the runaway madness of the bubble economy. While not overly preachy, it actually works as a surprisingly severe indictment of bubble Japan’s obsession with wealth (A refreshing change from the nostalgic reverence the period usually gets), while at the same time letting the player get a little taste of the heady notion of dropping huge fortunes at a whim. That said, the series probably isn’t known for its gripping, original storylines. The game does a superb job of giving you characters you like, villains you who are fun to hate but also appealing in their own right, and some amazing badass action scenes, but it probably won’t be winning any awards for best story. You’ll go through some pretty familiar territory in the world of double-crosses, backstabbing, secret plots and triple-crosses, with some twists that you will likely see a long way in coming. Without giving anything away, I don’t think this is to the games detriment; it’s like a classic action movie that hits all the high notes, and while it may not be the most original, it’s still a lot of fun. A fair warning, the game does take its time getting started, and it doesn’t hesitate to drag out it’s exposition and cutscenes. While it does a great job of setup, I know some people will be put off by the 20 minutes of introduction the game requires to even start playing. It’s worth it, but there are times when you’re probably going to wish the conversation would end and the fighting would start.
Gameplay wise, fans of the series will know the drill pretty patently at this point. You’ll be placed in a sandbox setting mirroring a half-dozen blocks of Tokyo or Osaka. Kiryu and Majima have a core story that has them going about town, meeting people and doing missions, often while fighting off roving gangs of hooligans, bikers and other gangsters around town, but at the same time taking on side missions and enjoying the leisure activities on offer. For new players, the games emphasis on doing seemingly mundane activities like bowling and eating at restaurants may feel a little off at first, but the recreational aspect is probably one of the game’s most charming aspects. Tokyo and Osaka are crafted to be pretty similar to their real life equivalents and the the world really comes alive when the map is dotted by different shops selling different specialty dishes, different amusement parlors both regular and adult, and Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores offering canned coffee and boxed lunches. For some who spent some very fond years of their life in Osaka, walking across the Dōtonbori and getting takoyaki is almost painfully nostalgic. While other games have done recreations of real world locations, the almost banal aspects Yakuza‘s open world has to offer makes it feel far more engaging than any other title.
In order to enjoy your new swinging 80’s lifestyle, you’re going to need cash. While like in previous installments, you earn money by street fighting (And a lot more of it thanks to the bustling economy, where a clash between a few rowdy street thugs could net you fifty grand), to really enjoy the finer things in life (And to boost your fighting skills, which you now do by paying in cash), you’re going to need a business. As you progress through the story Kiryu becomes the president of his own real estate company, and Majima takes over ownership of a struggling cabaret club, or a club where guests pay for women to charm them with engaging conversation and flirting. These are both management simulators and somewhat similar to mechanics seen in previous games, and while I put many more hours playing cabaret manager in prior titles than I’d like to admit, 0‘s entry feels a little flat. Kiryu’s real estate company has him assigning managers and security to his businesses to ensure smooth collections, using the proceeds to buy and improve the shops under his control, while Majima’s cabaret has you manage a staff of hostesses whose charms you must match to the right customer in order to maximize profits. Both are fun for a little while, but they’re also somewhat shallow, surprisingly so from a series whose boxing manager simulation ate up nearly a whole work week of my life once upon a time. Neither system offers much in the way of challenge and once you have the basics down, both feel more grindy than exciting. This may not be so much of an issue in a series where I’m used to picking and choosing the side stories I want to engage in, but like I said, you need that cash and the businesses are the only feasible way to get enough. This problem compacts upon itself as access to the best businesses, managers, hostesses, etc. are most often given as rewards for completing side quests. While I have an endless well of affection for Yakuza, I won’t hesitate to tell you that the substories run the gamut from fun and engaging to almost maliciously tedious, sometimes putting you through huge dialogue pieces only to conclude by fighting a single guy who is pitifully under matched against you. This never bothered me when I could ignore the quests that didn’t interest me, but when you need to get the best manager for your pachinko parlor, you’re going to have to slog through quite a few of them. This is probably the biggest downside of the game, despite being a fun concept.
Now, for the main attraction, the fighting! Fans of the series will find themselves right at home in Yakuza 0, with slick brawler combat that is a fun, free-flowing and brutal as ever. In fact, at first it may seem like they really haven’t changed much at all, and that’s from a series which hasn’t changed a ton from it’s original formula over the years. But don’t despair, while the basic battle system may not look much different, as the game progresses both Kiryu and Majima will learn three distinct fighting styles which change up their combat behavior considerably. Kiryu starts with a brawler style which is similar to how he played in previous games, along with the speedy and agile Rush mode and, my favorite, Beast mode, a plodding and brutal style where attacks will automatically pick up weapons and off the street and incorporate them into a flowing assault that’s feels really good when pulled off. Majima begins with Thug mode, a relatively balanced, normal stance, but also gets a baseball-bat focused style that’s pleasingly violent, as well a breakdancing fighting style (Which is cool to watch, but I still don’t really understand how to use it effectively). Beating a tough foe can often times be a matter of using the right style and the right tactics, and while the game is rarely very difficult, you can save yourself a lot of time and grief by knowing how to best use your moves in the right situations.
Also returning are the Heat Moves, charged special attacks that activate a brief cinematic where you’ll hurt your opponents really, really bad. While it may seem puerile, the satisfaction of doling out these heinous beatdowns is one of greatest pleasures of this series. While I’d hate to spoil anything, there’s no way to really give you an idea of how visceral these can be without a demonstration:
As satisfying as these are, it feels as though there was less varied and less spectacle than previous entries. I suspect this is due to needing separate actions for two separate characters across six different fighting styles, but the difference was definitely felt. In fact, I might say the game in general seems to have a little less variety in general than previous entries. This doesn’t hurt the overall game too much, as the product still feels really strong as a whole, but I’d be curious to know if other long time fans felts the same. That aside, the core is still really strong, especially when it comes to the big action pieces; there’s a scene early on that has you charging to the top of the Dojima Family office which feels really great as you beat your way through a small army, and as always, the boss fights are the dramatic showdowns that all games should strive for, which plenty of the flair that makes Yakuza games so exciting.
In the end, I have some small complaints with Yakuza 0, some are old and some new, but when all is said and done this is easily one of the best in the series, if not the best. Picking it up was immediately familiar but at the same time new and exciting, and while some of the minutiae didn’t do it for me, I still really love this game. Depending on how much time you want to spend on it, you might be able to rack up a hundred hours exploring everything it has to offer, but I also estimate that you could power through the main story a quarter as much. If you’ve ever had a fondness for the series this one is the stand out you should make time for, and as a prequel it’s a great place for new players to give it a shot. Again, keeping in mind my long-running affection for the series, for the right audience I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
