best game in the series, potentially barring yakuza 7: like a dragon, but i'm broke and i haven't gotten the chance to play it yet. certainly the best game out of the classic brawler-RPG hybrids the series has been known for. the culmination of everything great about the series up to that point.

if possible, i wouldn't recommend it as the FIRST yakuza game to start out with like a lot of people do because i'm a purist - if possible, start with the original PS2 games (not the kiwami remakes) and work your way up from there. the yakuza team really takes care to add slow and steady improvements between iterations and it would just be extremely odd to play the games outside of release order because of that. also, kiwami 1 kind of assumes you've played yakuza 0 while 0 itself has a lot of callbacks to earlier games in the series. it's really weird, and in my opinion playing in release order is just more satisfying - the kiwami games are fun as GAMES, but they arent necessarily good as REMAKES for a couple of reasons.

that being said, the first two games ARE on outdated hardware and yakuza 2 copies in particular are pretty rare while every other mainline yakuza game, including the kiwami remakes of 1 and 2, are available on the ps4. if emulation isn't an option (which is completely understandable), yakuza 0 is a more than serviceable start to the series. it's a fantastic game that's more than worth your time either way.

some newcomers and fans of the series love to frame it as some lame ass shit like "The Adventures of the Wacky Crime Boys" and while not entirely untrue, i think part of the appeal that's lost in that descriptor is that it seamlessly combines and interweaves the deadly seriousness and emotion of a japanese crime drama with the outlandishness of its core gameplay, substories, and minigames in a way that only the medium of video games can do. i'm pretty sure this has been said before by people who are way smarter than me, but it's a great example of a whole that's more than the sum of its parts. not only does this insane clash in tone actually result in a more multifaceted main cast, but it makes that core gameplay that much more satisfying - when you see kiryu kicking a goon's face in, or having daydreams while singing karaoke, or picking up girls at a phone club, the outlandish, exaggerated nature just sells EVERYTHING. the now iconic sewer fight with kuze is probably a great example, where a dramatic cutscene where we see kiryu backed into a corner immediately segues into a hot-blooded, over-the-top, anime-ass battle, but there are great little moments like these in the entire series.

meanwhile, this overstated gameplay is set in painstakingly accurate recreations of tokyo's kabukicho district and osaka's dotonbori, with its main characters going through almost hellish personal trials involving the japanese criminal underworld. the turns the story takes end up being some of the best in the series, and is extremely engaging throughout. this is especially refreshing after yakuza 3, 4, and 5 in particular were written with bloated, needlessly convoluted storylines with a million different plot threads that just bog everything down. here, the writing takes a step back and simplifies things while being arguably the most engaging plot in the entire series. even though the gameplay does the absolute most to keep you engaged via style, the plot and setting resemble, well.... a gritty, cinematic yakuza crime drama that engages via substance. it all goes back to "being more than the sum of its parts."

half star docked because some of the requirements for substory completion, or maxing out character stats can get REALLY grindy in the most boring way possible. repeating what's written as basically the same social link six times as majima while he builds relationships with his cabaret club hostesses isn't exactly fun, and waiting outside kiryu's real estate office while waiting for your profits to come in so you can continue to level him up is just a waiting game with no entertainment value whatsoever. however, these are by no means required to finish the game whatsoever and can be completely ignored - the main parts of the game are about as perfect as they can get, in my humble opinion.

i wholeheartedly recommend yakuza 0 to anyone that even vaguely enjoys either narrative-driven titles or action-oriented gameplay (with a completely insane amount of side content and minigames of different flavors).

dame da ne...

it's a bad remake! feels more like an expansion to yakuza 0 than anything else and i'd easily recommend just playing the original PS2 game (emulate it if you have to) over starting with this as a substitute, and kind of assumes the player has already played yakuza 0 to begin with, both within its gameplay design and added story content. it feels like the RGG team didn't want to choose between just making a straight up remaster and making a full-blown, completely different remake, so the lion's share of the original game's content is all intact with JUST enough tweaked mechanics and new content available to make it different.

how they handle the main plot is kind of a reflection of this - a lot of the clunky story beats from the original game are still there and aren't really improved, and you can REALLY tell they just straight up lifted a lot of the PS2 cutscenes and just painted over them with nicer looking textures rather than just completely re-doing them. this is REALLY evident when you contrast it with the new cutscenes involving main antagonist nishikiyama that actually look like they were made with the PS4's graphical capabilities. it's like the new blood showing the old guard up! the "majima everywhere" mechanic is also an example of this weird both-waysing deal kiwami's got going on. the mechanic is definitely a fun addition, gameplay wise! but the entire thing cuts into majima's character so badly that it kind of overtakes his role in the actual plot from the original game.

that being said! it's still a yakuza game, and there are way worse games you could lift game mechanics from than yakuza 0. i had fun with it - and if i'm being honest, it's not SIGNIFICANTLY worse than the original version of yakuza 1 (in fact, it definitely plays better, gameplay wise) - but i'd still recommend just starting with the original playstation 2 game for series newcomers and playing through the series in release order, if only because it's satisfying seeing the progression of everything as the series continues. i guess i just wish the RGG team took more care with making kiwami to rationalize remaking yakuza 1 in the first place.

a little janky, combat seems too simplistic for what some of its boss battles seem to want to actually be like, difficulty curve can be a little wonky, but it fuckin rules anyway. the best 3 and a half stars ever. grasshopper manufacture and suda51 really punching above their weight class here with stellar-as-always direction and a badass burnout punk aesthetic that pervades throughout the entire game. if the mainline kill the past series is about tackling sociological and political issues on a large scale, no more heroes is all about the personal and small scale. replaying this game makes me want to rewatch repo man and listen to black flag at full blast

comparatively limited when you look at dmc5’s unreal anount of combat options and yeah the platforming and puzzle sections are unneeded but there’s a reason this was considered one of the best action games ever before 5 came out and blew everything else out of the water. this game got me hootin n hollerin n suckin n fuckin. 5 might be the better /game/ but as far as plot goes (aka what everyone plays dmc games for) i’m honestly not sure which of the two is better. i love the dante vs vergil dynamic too much

sidenote but i kind of prefer the switch version (with pro controller) to the ps2 original if only because the pro controller doesn’t give me carpal tunnel. that shit is the comfiest controller ever

got this on a whim because of the steam winter sale thinking it'd be a fun, no-frills action game and ended up playing through the entire thing in one evening. a few random-ass thoughts:

- my brain unlocked a higher state of concentration and i was completely fixated by the end despite:
a) fatigue (i beat the game around 2 am and started pretty early on in the evening. steam says my total playtime was 3 hours but it feels like more and probably was)
b) some parts of the game making me completely dizzy. i knew i had to look away from the screen at some point to get my bearings but i was too fixated on the game to do that
c) two of my fingers being really sore by the end
honestly the best type of game! i think more games should actively deteriorate the player's physical well-being

- stories that are aware they're being told through a video game and use the interactive nature of the medium to enhance the way the plot unfolds rule. i'm not talking about telltale-esque "choose your own adventure" stuff here (though the plots of those games don't really change much to begin with anyway), moreso how a game's mechanics help tell that game's particular story and this one does that with some motherfucking finesse. each core gameplay mechanic has a plot-relevant reason for it to be there and learning WHY the MC has these insane time powers throughout the course of the game is pretty tight.

- on the other hand, the dialogue trees, while they dont really change the core plot at all (barring one particular instance where you can just load the game to before that dialogue choice anyway), are implemented in a really satisfying way. interrupting other characters' dialogue is such a satisfyingly petty option to utilize at times

- v rules. actually all the characters rule but i love russian mafia tracksuit dipshits in particular

- speaking in terms of comparison to other games in this subgenre: better than hotline miami 2. probably worse than hotline miami 1???? the gameplay here feels more refined to me but i gotta respect what HM1 did for this type of action subgenre and i might prefer the more simplified approach of HM even though i loved the time-slow shenanigans of KZ quite a bit. anyway, i'm rambling

- the main writer is the guy who made barkley shut up and jam gaiden??? and the dilbert videos???? fuck yes

didnt mean for this to be as long as it is, my bad. mucho texto, as they say

PROS:

it's literally doom

CONS:

it's literally doom


jokes aside it's a fun game that doesn't stray far at all from its 90s "boomer shooter" genre inspirations for better or for worse. some cool enviromental storytelling but oddly enough i liked dusk the best when it was channeling tobe hooper with the first episode. after that it was a lot of industrial and supernatural stuff, which was fine, but i've seen it done before! give me more redneck-y horror vibes.

also speaking of, i think the frantic and tense nature of an old-school shooter really lends itself well to its horror setting. there were a couple times where i was well and spooked either due to the well-done atmosphere of some levels or because of certain enemy placements i wasnt expecting which was neat

actual level design can be kind of questionable at times imo, especially when youre in a super cramped area and it's hard to avoid enemies, but the arena segments of the game whip ass and when the gameplay hits, it hits. with games like these i just wanna sit back with my white monster energy zero ultra and enjoy the carnage

imo probably the best and most realized plot the yakuza series has had to date with my favorite cast of characters, shit ruled

BUT!

though i found the new turn based gameplay enjoyable, it was pretty clear RGG still has some kinks they need to work out for the future. i think this is hardly a fault of their own because this is their first time doing a turn-based title after years of brawlers. not the earth shattering JRPG experience people say it is (maybe people are saying that because of how much it contrasts with YLAD's relatively unique setting for a JRPG instead of how it actually plays? idk) but still very much a fun time. i also spent like 90-100 hours playing this total cuz i was trying to max out kasuga's stats and complete all the substories lol

like i said, this is absolutely my new favorite yakuza plot and its got me really excited for a yakuza 8 (or like a dragon 2 i guess) where the RGG squad can really polish up the gameplay and have it be on par with their clearly ambitious goals

would LOVE this if the actual gameplay were more engaging and interesting but also recognize that's not even the point nor the main draw this game has in the first place. does an outstanding job showing off suda51's writing style, once again proving that he's in the top 0.1 percent of elite video game writers, but without the esoteric and intentionally obfuscating style of most of his KTP games. instead he uses one of his most recognizable characters as a lens to reflect on his entire career up to this point, and it works insanely well. the ending got me in my feelings for sure.