I'm both annoyed that it took me so long to get into this franchise, but also glad that this is the game that I started with. Yakuza 0 is a perfect starting point, especially with how the remakes of 1 and 2 incorporated new elements from 0 into them to make the prequel game feel more natural.

Yakuza is what the later Saints Row games wish they could be. It nails the delicate balance of a mostly serious crime story with over-the-top action and extremely wacky side stuff.

Kiryu is one of the greatest game protagonists of all time. He's up there with Solid Snake.

I started this game simply because there were so many memes with the side quests.

I didn't expect to like it because it's not my style of game, action rpg+ criminal gangs and the truth is I loved the story and it kept me in suspense, while I went dancing on the dance floor and beating up yakuzas.

I've learned things I should have never known like what a busurera is, but it's been worth the sacrifice.

Este juego lo empecé simplemente por tanto memes que había con las misiones secundarias.

No esperaba que me gustará porque no es mi estilo de juego, action rpg+ bandas criminales y la verdad me ha encantado la historia y me ha mantenido en suspense, mientras me iba a bailar a la pista de baile y me pegaba contra yakuzas.

He aprendido cosas que mejor nunca haber sabido como que es una busurera, pero ha merecido la pena ese sacrificio.

One of the best stories I’ve played in a video game, right up there with Red Dead Redemption 2. Only thing holding this game back from a 10 for me is the random goons you have to fight on the street get annoying after awhile and the combat got a bit stale for me.

Would have also liked a proper quick save feature, I learned the hard way and lost a good bit of progress because I didn’t have time to play for an extra hour and I didn’t expect the game wouldn't let me save for the next hour. Bosses also got a bit stale and all they would do is add more health to make a boss harder.

But the game is worth it just for the story alone. The Two playable characters are amazing and there are so many twists and turns in this game where I was in disbelief.

素直に I LOVE YOU 届けよう
きっと YOU LOVE ME！ 伝わるさ
キミに似合うガラスの靴を探そう

２人で Step & Go！ いつまでも
深夜１２時をすぎたって
ボクらの恋魔法は
解けはしない

おいでめしませ お姫様
毒のリンゴを食べて眠っちゃいそうな
素直すぎるキミが とても愛しい

当たり前＝宝物さ
地球はまわり 陽はのぼり
キミは微笑む

素直に I LOVE YOU！ 届けよう
きっと YOU LOVE ME！ 伝わるさ
キミに似合うガラスの靴を探そう

oh man. not the greatest game of all time but shit, it may as well be. feels emblematic. not just the Most video game but above and beyond the video game. there's just an astonishing amount of things to do in this and none of it is bad. there's so much REASON to engage with the world, and so much reward in turn.
eat at a restaurant to restore health? good news, you can become friends with the cook as she learns to become more confident thanks to your compliments. want to blow off some steam with an arcade claw game? good news, there's a sad little girl outside in need of toys and a father figure. bowling? WIN A CHICKEN WHO CAN MANAGE YOUR BUSINESSES.
impressive doesn't begin to cut it. both kamurocho and sotenbori are vibrant, bustling, real and living cities with dozens of things around each corner. the substories that present themselves are uniformly excellent for both protagonists, whom I've not even begun to talk about, and these stories gave me hard laughing fits till tears fell... as well as moments of pure, moving, tenderness.
this is close to a 25 hour game and yet my first playthrough ended with 107 simply because I seriously wanted to engage with everything. sure, I found myself grinding certain aspects, and if you're going for a literally full completion you're gonna have to grind some more, but I never wanted to turn down any of these experiences.

and that's not to mention the main story itself. certainly what elevates it, I think, it's unbelievable how many twists, turns, and spins are thrown at you and yet they're all natural, believable, and more importantly SHOCKING. this thing gets thrilling on so many levels. all over a small plot of land. what unfolds is exciting, infuriating, tragic, all at once. even when there's an air of predictability as to where things may end up, the execution is undeniably masterful.
if there's literally anything to fault this game on it's just that it's a minorly taxing experience. long cutscenes and the need to pay attention to subtitles means you have to stay engaged. even then, fuck it, that's all on me. I was happy to keep playing, happy to come back, even if it took me time. completing this felt like the end of an era and yet it's the start of something entirely new.

both kiryu and majima have superb balancing, hardly a bad thing to say about either. if there's an award for what who does best then I'd have to say kiryu wins on: character writing and dialogue, substories, kamurocho is also better to navigate; but majima wins for plot, character, and fighting styles. there's that much to compliment these guys on that I'm entirely forgetting how much more I can list.

really just a blessing to finally beat this and already looking forward to replaying because I WANT to get every achievement here. already looking forward to playing the next game. and the next. and the one after that. it's rare that a game can infiltrate my top 10 so fast (tied for 7th?), but wow, I don't think I've ever had this much to say about one like this. good time!!

A fun, compelling, stupid game that's worth playing. The side content is fun (although the real estate stuff was kinda dull) and the main story is great. Combat is the usual you get from RGG, kinda clunky but fun. The balance seems even more insane than normal, though. Enemies often guard or just attack straight out of knockback so I ended up relying on the same few safe combos. Majima's Breaker style is especially broken, dishing out insane damage while making himself nearly impossible to hit. It's not balanced in the slightest, but destroying a boss by breakdancing on him is admittedly very fun. Much like the other Yakuza games I've played, it's a mess, and a fun one at that.

Yani genel olarak güzel bir tecrübeydi, özellikle hikaye anlatımını çok vurucu ve hoş verdi bana
mekanik olarak majimanın kiryudan bu kadar daha iyi olması şaşırtıcı kiryu çok daha düz kalmasına rağmen hikaye ilerleyişinde ikisini de eşit sevdim ki bunu yapması manyak bir başarı bence
kiryu da sırf beast mod ve arada 1. kullanırken
majimada her boku kullanıp elendim hatta ana yan görevi pavyonculuğu da bitirip mad dogu da açtım o bile çok güzeldi
ve emlakcılık sıkıcı pavyon siker atar
minik etkinlikler güzel discoya ve karaokeye çok kastım bi de beyzboll
yan görevleri bi notkada sladım ç,ünkü hiç ilgimi çekemdi ne blm
güzeldi ama cidden vurucu bossları ve karakterleri vardı
ha bi de kuze babama benziyor

Forgot how fun Yakuza 0 was. There is a lot of stuff to do in the game from bowling, baseball, and real estate. The combat is not as in depth as a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but it does get the job done. I think everyone agrees that Majima's Breaker and Slugger styles are the most fun styles in the game, since one style is a good way to deal with crowds, while the other style is good at boss fights. Kiryu isn't bad in terms of Combat, just that one has the more fun techs then the other. My only problems with this game is that the heat system is not good, I prefer to have my finishers be dectated by my moves then what situation I am in/how much heat I have. It doesn't help that you can lose your heat in one hit. The other major problem is that you can get stun locked by the enemies and it gets really annoying, but this is a great start to Yakuza, there is a reason this game saved the series in the west.

The story feels slow the first half of the game, but then it picks up and it's fucking amazing.

I loved Kuze (and especially his theme) and the relationship between Majima and Makoto. Beautiful.

Gameplay may need a bit more polish, but it's really good.

As unassuming as it seemed to me at first, Yakuza 0 quickly grew on me so much, that it made me mad at myself for not playing it sooner.

The story in this game is on another level entirely, and I enjoyed it so much that I was ravenous and giddy every time I finished a session, and couldn't wait to start the next.

The serious moments and the stupidly funny ones are balanced by the main story keeping a weighty hold on the tone at almost all times, while reserving the lighthearted, ridiculous stories for the side quests, which at times are just so damn stupid but with a lick of humour.
This game distinctly recognises when it needs to keep a poker face, whilst acknowledging its stupendously over-the-top nature at the right intervals. Even the more out of pocket quests never manage to feel out of place or tonedeaf.

The combat is fun, although sometimes it can feel button-mashy if you don't really experiment with combos or upgrade your skill tree that much. It's undeniable, however, that it will never not be funny to grab a bike or vending machine off the side of the road and beat the living daylights out of someone with it (can you tell my favourite is Beast style?).

I struggle to really quantify everything I want to say about this game, because there is SO MUCH to it. The amount of minigames available, things to do and see, and the atmosphere + scope of Yakuza 0 is staggering. It's a 50-ish hour game if you're just doing the story, but you could easily sink over 100 if you want to see everything it has to offer.
The real estate and cabaret side quests feel a bit dragged out, but this is a nitpick and doesn't affect the game overall.

The two protagonists are both so incredibly charismatic and full of personality, it's hard not to become attached to them as you follow their own struggles that, at first glance, seem disconnected.

I loved the dichotomy of Kiryu's image being an intimidating, stoic muscled brute - until the game shows you he's also somewhat shy and reserved, and a kind, gentle soul despite also being able to kick ass when trouble brews.

Majima is none the worse, his embodiment of a wildcard is nothing short of awesome. He's more light on his feet compared to Kiryu's playstyle, which I kinda preferred. His introduction scene in this title is also jaw-droppingly good.
He's such a goofy character that can snap around to being viciously brutal at the drop of a hat, I love it. He's a lot of fun to play as, and to follow along with.

Looking past the protagonists, all the other characters are fantastic too, including the substory characters and the villains.
I loved Nishiki in particular, his interactions with Kiryu and the relationship between the two of them is wholesome, they're real bros.
Another favourite of mine was Kuze, an absolute beast of a man with boundless tenacity.

The soundtrack is rich in quality, quantity, variety and zest!
I'm inclined to say it's one of the best soundtracks I've come across in recent years.
Even the minigames have hype themes for no reason (I'm looking at you, 'Red Radical Rage', 'Beyond the Speed', 'Money Makes Money', 'Trouble Shooting Star' and 'Interplanetary Spark'!!!).

I could keep gushing about this game...honestly, if you haven't played it, you're missing out.
Looking forward to playing Kiwami and onwards..!

Yakuza 0 was my introducation to the series, and Im kinda upset with myself for choosing it as my first because its one of the best in hte franchise.

The story kept me hooked from start to ending, though it does get a little messy with how many twists there are.

The way that money cycles through everything in this game is one of the greatest design choices I've ever seen in a game. Enemies drop thousands at a time, which you can use to make your self stronger. you can invest your money into your own buisness, which will pay out with profits large enough to break the game.

The music is great, the graphics are slightly dated but dont look bad.

Overall, yakuza 0 is an amazing game, and while its the one I reccomend that you start with it may spoil the series for some with how good it is.

Replayed this after playing all the other games some things didn't hold up.
There's broad structural issues with this being a prequel, a lot of things don't connect to Yakuza 1 in a way that makes sense, most obvious being Kiryu and the Dojima Family. Kazama makes Kiryu and Nishiki join the Dojima Family instead of his own and it's never explained why, at least in universe, because the real reason is that they were a part of it at the start of Yakuza 1. But what really makes that stupid is that the Dojima Family are the main antagonists of 0 and Kiryu now has to randomly rejoin the Family in the end despite all the shit they did, also patriach Dojima should obviously hate him (but that's not the case in 1).
Aside from that, the story itself is easily the best one to come out of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series, it checks so many boxes without succumbing to too much stupid shit.

Money as a progression system for a game that takes place in the bubble era is obviously a neat idea but the execution is just so beyond fucked.
Street Encounters are a waste of time from the start of game since the money you get from them becomes irrelevant as your ability upgrade costs shoot well into the millions.
The main way to make money is through Mr Shakedown. From chapter 5 onwards he'll waltz down the street with a billion yen bounty on his head, no setup required. Sure it's a "hard" fight but nothing else comes to close to that type of money.
The fight isn't even hard per se, it's just tedious since his entire gameplay is basically a big slow rock that doesn't react to your attacks at all and 1 or 2 shots you if he gets a hit in. The real way of dealing with him is equipping a weapon and heat spamming or shooting him death, the cost of the tauriners/weapons is a drop in the bucket compared to the money you're raking it.

Biggest gripe with the combat is that Kiryu's 3 styles lack identity compared to Majima's more distinct flashier styles. They boil down to fast punch n kick, medium speed punch n kick and slow mostly punch some kick.
There's also many bizarre stipulations on skills relating to specific heat level that are generally counterintuitive and pointless. Attack speed scaling with heat almost makes heat actions feel bad to use.

Dragon & Tiger is the most needlessly convoluted approach to a crafting/equipment system I've seen. Endlessly sifting through menus trying to find whatever parts you need and then it's still RNG whether you actually get them or not. While you don't have to interact with the system too much (even for all the achievements) it's still worth pointing out how crappy it is.

The side activities and mini-games are pretty underwhelming. Even just completing all the substories is a pain the ass because of the roulette wheel that is the Telephone Club and the massive times sink of the Cabaret Club. Don't even get me started on cat fights, god forbid 100% this game.