An amazing introduction to the Yakuza series for me, I’m really eager to play the rest as this was a strong prequel. The “dual-narrative” is executed really well, it’s pretty interesting to see the effects of your actions as a different character. The actual individual stories are great as well, both characters kicked out of the yakuza, both trying to find a way back in, Kiryu is framed for a murder and Majima is practically imprisoned. Makoto Makimura and Nishiki are 2 loveable characters who are thoroughly developed and even the rest of the side cast is endearing. What’s of note here though, is the villains. All of them are imposing and intimidating, heightened by the extraordinary voice acting, each have their own differing ideals and goals, and slowly unravelling these is done at the highest level. The areas of Kamurocho and Sotenburi are bustling and lively, lots of people walk about who you can interact with, there are many buildings with different activities like baseball and bowling, the actual environments are gorgeous as well, colourful street lights brighten every road. The soundtrack just straight up bangs, beating the shit out of everyone with the most badass music in the background just makes everything better, when the tension rises the music completely changes creating a completely different ambience, and especially towards the end when each fight has their own unique track it just doesn’t get much better than this.
However I do have a few gripes. First of all, what the fuck is the save system. It is so damn archaic and unnecessary, forcing you to save at at only telephone boxes is so constricting, you pretty much have to play the game through long segments (especially at areas like the Dojima HQ or other Yakuza buildings) and there is no chance to save anywhere which is frustrating. And on occassions the damn thing doesn’t even function properly, I had to repeat some segments because of this which was really lame. Another complaint is the combat system, it is really really rudimentary, the styles are so unbalanced that there’s really no point to using anything other than Beast for Kiryu and Breaker for Majima (but slugger is pretty awesome) and also fighting the same people on the street gets extremely boring at times - when you’re trying to get somewhere and some random idiots make you waste 5 minutes it’s annoying. I think the most wack flaw here though is the jarring transition between cutscenes and that weird phase of characters talking with text. It literally goes from high quality and gorgeously animated to static and hilarious. Sometimes it’s really funny, and other times it kind of breaks the immersion and tension, even the voice acting doesn’t save it sometimes, and some moments which should be great feel kind of ruined.
In spite of this, Yakuza 0 still manages to set a strong, solid foundation with a bold, edge of your seat story and a lovable cast who pulled me in for the entire duration, never letting go even in the final moments, cementing itself as a masterpiece.
However I do have a few gripes. First of all, what the fuck is the save system. It is so damn archaic and unnecessary, forcing you to save at at only telephone boxes is so constricting, you pretty much have to play the game through long segments (especially at areas like the Dojima HQ or other Yakuza buildings) and there is no chance to save anywhere which is frustrating. And on occassions the damn thing doesn’t even function properly, I had to repeat some segments because of this which was really lame. Another complaint is the combat system, it is really really rudimentary, the styles are so unbalanced that there’s really no point to using anything other than Beast for Kiryu and Breaker for Majima (but slugger is pretty awesome) and also fighting the same people on the street gets extremely boring at times - when you’re trying to get somewhere and some random idiots make you waste 5 minutes it’s annoying. I think the most wack flaw here though is the jarring transition between cutscenes and that weird phase of characters talking with text. It literally goes from high quality and gorgeously animated to static and hilarious. Sometimes it’s really funny, and other times it kind of breaks the immersion and tension, even the voice acting doesn’t save it sometimes, and some moments which should be great feel kind of ruined.
In spite of this, Yakuza 0 still manages to set a strong, solid foundation with a bold, edge of your seat story and a lovable cast who pulled me in for the entire duration, never letting go even in the final moments, cementing itself as a masterpiece.