5/5 ★ – Lord_Hazenberg's review of Yakuza 0.

A last ditch effort by Sega & Sony to promote this series outside of Japan, and they hit a grand slam. It is no exaggeration that this game saved the franchise, and for good reason as it is exceptional. The story is split into 2 parts; multiple crime families fighting for control over a seemingly worthless plot of land in downtown Tokyo, while the other features a man seeking his return into a family he was exiled from. They weave together perfectly by the game’s conclusion, & man if it doesn’t tear into your heartstrings. The combat is a brawler/beat em up type. Random encounters are scattered through the cities so you’ll never lack any gangsters to beat down. You acquire 3 unique fighting styles for each character throughout the game (and a secret 4th if you complete their main side stories). Upgrading these with in game currency to get more health, moves, etc. Boss fights will also feature QTEs which while they are the devil, here they aren’t too intrusive. It is an open world game with scripted action sequences during main quests. Kamurocho & Sotenbori are much smaller maps than something like Elder Scrolls or Witcher. However what they lack in scale, they make up for in depth. Whereas the games I mentioned earlier will have vast areas of nothingness on the maps, Yakuza has so many activities to keep you busy. Over 100 side stories, buying real estate, managing a cabaret club, bowling, darts, pool, batting cages, underground fight clubs, disco, karaoke, shogi, mahjong, secret casinos with multiple games, skill crane, classic SEGA arcade games, pocket circuit racing, telephone club dating, betting on cat fights, & training with fighting style masters. Soundtrack is hype personified. Voice acting is fantastic. They obviously didn’t have a huge budget so a lot of assets are reused such as animations, voice lines, locations, etc. In conclusion, this game is so very close to being my 2015/17 GOTY (it was translated & released in the US in 2017 so idk which year to count it for). One moment you’ll be protecting copyright free Michael Jackson from zombies as he moonwalks down the street, and the next you’ll be delving into the horrors of human sex trafficking. There’s a reason you’ve never heard a bad thing about a Yakuza game, and Zero is the best of the bunch so get it any way you can.