4.5/5 ★ – marko2312hd's review of Yakuza 0.

It’s been 7 years since I first played this. This game really got me back into my passion again at the time, I was having a rough time as is in 2018 then this just made me feel better along with its “be you” message. Whilst I do have my gripes with this, 3 different cutscene styles that for me sometimes break my immersion a bit, especially when you are watching an amazing cutscene then it gets followed by them standing like planks talking to each other, I do still love this game and it delivers the story well. This was my first yakuza back then and now I’ve finished Kiryus saga and gone back to replay this and I can say this is a favourite and you could tell the devs were having a blast making this and I honestly think it comes down to the setting. Going to the 80s and having a origins story made it feel fresh and they could play with new and old characters, taking a lot from the yakuza film genre anyways, this installment does it the best and has several faces of that media to further that idea. Walking round the clean known Japan now full of rubbish and call girl cards scatting around your feet in alleyways brings this yakuza a fresh feel as these games were and tbh still pumped out like cakes. Music is top level as always, although sometimes I wish some tracks had a more 80s sound. I can say a lot about this game, it has great bits, bad bits, but one of Kiryus lines in his last cutscene are “from now on I’ll decide on what is me” I love that line and I think it says a lot for this game.