Yakuza 0

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JaySevenZero
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Yakuza 0

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions of Yakuza 0 for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder to all that where feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but self-editing (brevity) is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mainly reading. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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plqc
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by plqc »

I tried this game after a random Youtube channel recommended it as an underrated RPG on the PS4.

I don't know if it is quite a RPG, but that youtuber was right saying Yakuza Zero is a great game. As I assume was the case for many westerners, it's the title that got me into the Yakuza series. I'm now playing through the whole saga one game at a time.

I'd heard of the Yakuza series before, but I'd always assumed it was another GTA rip-off but in a japanese setting. Boy was I wrong. What I found instead was an evolution of the beat-'em up genre peppered with an insane amount of absurdity and humor.

Yakuza Zero is also a lesson in open-world design in my opinion. Instead of a large open-world full of busy work and chores, it counterintuitively opts for a very small playground, but one that is full of characters and personnality. Soon enough, Kamurocho feels like a second home, although one populated by random thugs begging to get their faces smashed on the concrete.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here. Yakuza 0 is in my opinion a masterpiece for anyone open to it's brand of absurdity.
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Jobobonobo
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Jobobonobo »

I had always heard good things about this series but good god I was not prepared for the sheer experience this turned out to be. The substories are truly something else. The situations I got myself into ranged from helping a wimpy rock band appear tough in a Q and A session with fans to helping a man on witness protection reconnect with his family to infiltrating a cult to rescue someone’s daughter. These situations were sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking but always wonderful to experience. Nine times out of ten I had a big grin on my face going through these bonkers quests.

The other obsession I acquired while playing this were the minigames. I would spend hours upon hours on these. Pocket car racing, fishing, telephone club and the estate management were particular highlights but my real favourite was the Cabaret Club. Leveling up the hostesses and becoming the best club in Sotenbori absolutely gripped me in a way that few games truly do. I would spend ages agonising over dressing up my hostesses. If she wears that dress her sexiness goes up but her cuteness goes down, what a dilemma! I felt like a girl playing with Barbies but I did not care I was going to be the cabaret king damn it! Also praiseworthy is that the hostesses were far from just eye candy and many of them had touching stories about their lives and struggles that you learned about as you continued training them.

Alongside this is a genuinely compelling story with a maze of twists and turns, a simple yet deep combat system with a variety of different fighting styles and some wonderful characters. Its protagonists are easily my favourite characters in gaming ever. Kiryu is a likeable blend of machismo and compassion while Majima is a suave professional who is also an absolute madman. One of the highlights of the story was Majima's relationship with Makoto which was a legitimate tearjerker at times.

Yakuza 0 was an absolute delight from start to finish and the over 100 hours I spent on it just flew by. In terms of what I like in games it gets everything right and I am kicking myself for ignoring this series for so long. Japanese GTA? No, it is so much greater than that. SEGA at its best.

Three word review: Moshi moshi, NANI?!
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Simonsloth »

Early three word review:

No autosave! Argh!!!
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Superuser
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Superuser »

Yakuza 0 is a game I engaged with like I hadn't for years - where every waking moment, I was thinking of returning to its world.

Its main strength lies in its fantastic story, both in terms of plot and characters. There are many twists and turns in a well-paced plot that keeps your interest. The characters that inhabit it are genuinely memorable and some of the best you'll find in any game.

Compared to the other big crime game series - GTA, Yakuza is very upbeat about humanity, and this positive attitude is infectious. It is best shown in the charming and often heart-warming substories.

It's worth noting that the game's super serious gangster plot is quite different from the tone of the substories, but it works, because life contains light moments as much as it contains dramatic ones, and these combine to make the over-the-top setting believable.


The game is a mix of beat 'em up combat with random but avoidable encounters and exploring the city. You can engage in minigames or pick up 'substories' (side quests). You come across these in an organic way, and there's a sense that you're constantly bumping into this content as opposed to going to map markers

The combat is fun, if a little easy on Normal difficulty. If you're confident in your ability to play third-person action games, consider playing on Hard. It's sometimes clunky and easy to cheese, but I prefer the fact that some depth is there, rather than the systems of Assassin's Creed that get boring fast. Yet it's not overwhelming; there's a good balance between simplicity and depth, and it's always a spectacle.

The minigames are a nice break, while the substories are frequently hilarious and contain sharp, funny writing across the board, featuring truly zany scenarios that you have some power over, choosing your response in many of them.


A point regarding series continuity. No spoilers, it's just not that relevant to the podcast, but newbies may want to read this:
Spoiler: show
I've played two past series' games, the PS2 entries Yakuza and Yakuza 2, but none of the PS3 sequels.

I think this is an even better starting point than those. It fixes some of the backstory problems in the original Yakuza (for example, you get to see the relationship between Kiryu and Nishikiyama) that will make the twists in those games that much more impactful.

Yakuza 0 is self-contained but also sets you up to play future entries, and is thus the best possible entry point. Also, Yakuza 1's combat is really rough (to the point of being annoying), though it was overhauled and massively improved in 2, which is worth playing to this day. There are remakes for both, but that's my opinion on the originals; watch a longplay of 1 on the PS2, then play 2 or K2. Before both of these, play 0.

There's some legacy jank here, like the fact there's no autosave and how much of the story is delivered in text. Read a quick tips guide and you'll get past it. I also recommend Devil Leon's short combat tutorial on the game, which will cover you for the entire Yakuza series.


All in all, I'm happy to say that Yakuza 0 is one of my all time favourite games. I give it a 9.5/10. If nothing else, it never failed to keep me entertained, whereas many lengthy story-driven games like RPGs have me dropping off after a few hours and never coming back. The sublime pacing really helped out here, and I think you will like it too. A strong recommendation from me.


Three word review: Chickens are managers
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by RinseWashRepeat »

Three Word Review: 'Breaker is OP'
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by ColinAlonso »

While many started the series with Yakuza 0, it was my 4th entry in the series.

The previous game, Yakuza 5, was my personal high point in the series. I was worried that the reduction in locations to 2, both returning from the 5th game, and the reduction in playable characters would mean a lesser experience. However Sega did not skimp on the content and the game still includes many great substories and highly involved minigames for both characters. Giving both Kiryu and Majima 3 distinct fighting styles maintained the varied battle styles of the two previous games. The main story is also my favourite in the series.

Despite my initial worries I spent just as long playing 0 as I did 5, completing the main quest, the real estate quests, the cabaret club quests, the pocket circuit races and many substories. It became and remains my favourite in the series.
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by lilkitano »

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ColinAlonso
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by ColinAlonso »

Ew that's ... unfortunate. I think the first time that guy appears on screen is in a Majima cutscene. I just burst out laughing, I love how ridiculous the games can be sometimes.

As for the game engine, if I recall correctly 3 and 4 (on the PS3) used the same engine but then they built a new one for 5 (even though that was also on the PS3) and used that engine for 0 and Kiwami as they were PS3/4 crossover games released in 2015 in Japan. Basically, the engine for 0 feels dated because its a PS3 game.

6 is the first entry built specifically for the PS4.
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Alex79
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Re: 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Alex79 »

I was meaning to get in to Yakuza for years, and then Zero came along. It's just a fantastic game. Brilliant story, good acting, solid combat and endless side activities - I probably spent hours playing Outrun in the arcade. This really is an excellent jumping on point for the series. I loved spending 40 hours or so with these characters, and the city - which is as much a character as anyone else - and it really set me off on a journey which would see the series become a firm favorite. Majima is coolness personified in this game - I'm still not sure what on earth happened between this and Kiwami 1 with him, but that's for a different show. The games have an incredible knack for making me feel nostalgic about a place I've never been, and that's thanks to the good world building of this game. Its not perfect. Casual misogyny abounds, and there were several points in the game which did make me cringe a little, but on balance the game is really worth a play. I often hear people say things like 'It's a Japanese GTA' but I just don't get that. The games bear almost no similarity to each other on any level, but if it sells the game to people who wouldn't have looked at it then it can only be good. All in all, I really enjoyed this game a lot.

Three word review: Dragon Of Dojima! (obviously)
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Re: Our next-but-two podcast recording (8.3.20) - 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Magical_Isopod »

I'm writing this fresh off of FINALLY finishing Yakuza 0, after starting it over 2 years ago. To put my thoughts succinctly... Yakuza 0 is a very good 15 hour game bloated into a 60 hour game. That I invested nearly 80 hours into this game, only to achieve 34.5% completion is rather telling of my frustration.

The story is really quite compelling, and the main story beats don't really drag at all. If you play the game as a straight story and ignore all the side content, it's really quite an interesting and well-executed story... But therein lies the crux of the issue. This game is bloated with way too much side content. And unlike something like The Witcher 3 or Fallout: New Vegas... The side content just isn't worth your time. The sidequests are very poorly produced, and I found myself just mashing through the dialogue after my first few, simply to get them over with.

That said though, I really enjoyed the real estate and cabaret club management side activities quite a lot - and frankly, I think the side content could have benefited significantly from being more directly tied to these. Sure, the sidequests are often how you unlock new girls or security guards, but a real narrative thread connecting the side activities to the main story would have been a great asset in the case of this game.

Overall, I'd say I enjoyed the ride this game provided, but I doubt I'd ever go back to it. That being said, I'm excited to jump into Yakuza Kiwami after the ending of 0. I'm really hoping future games in the series do a better job of managing the bloat.
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Re: Our next podcast recording (8.3.20) - 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Magical_Isopod »

Three Word Review:

Punching Solves Everything
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Brendan California
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Re: Our next podcast recording (8.3.20) - 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Brendan California »

Toshihiro Nagoshi and crew injected that classic SEGA "fun" of Monkey Ball into a Grand Theft Auto style open world game, for me the combination totally works. Only Gripe is that combat against the tougher bosses can be a bit frustrating on the default difficulty. Not sure if this was an issue for other contributors, but yeah I was really impressed with this game.


Three Word Review:
That SEGA Magic
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Re: Our next podcast recording (8.3.20) - 409: Yakuza 0

Post by Caliburn M »

More Yakuza :)

My favourite Yakuza largely because of the setting but it also improves on it its earlier siblings in nearly every way.
Once again the game has a serious but fun main story along with the usual mad optional quests and activities in the bustling world that's a perfect size for a game without vehicles. Love the fact that unlike many of their peers ( from the eighties up till the present ) the developers of Yakuza realise that its what the world contains rather than the size of the world that makes a game fun.
You're also not in any way forced to do anything but the main story, personally I only do things that I bump into along the way rather than search out activities preventing the game overstaying its welcome.
My only small gripe is the continuing mix of voiced and unvoiced cut scenes which I've always found jarring.
If you've never played a Yakuza game 0 is a perfect place to start, go on give it a try :)
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DeadpoolNegative
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Re: Yakuza 0

Post by DeadpoolNegative »

It appears I'm too late to weigh in for the podcast discussion but perhaps that's for the best- I had a whole rant about the game's plot that was way too rambly (Like for example how Majima and Sagawa were hired to kill Makoto... but they expected Majima to be too much of a softy to do it, which would win over Makoto and make her want to sell them the lot... a lot which she didn't even know she owned at that point). Felt like putting down some thoughts anyway, though.

But plot strangeness aside, Yakuza 0 is another ludicrously fun entry in the series, one of the best because it's interesting to see Kiryu and Majima's differing perspectives. But also because there's so much to do and see, the side quests are better than ever. I was really drawn to the adorable little substory of Kiryu befriending the model racers, and how detailed the game's take slot car racing was. This all has a very satisfying payoff in the KIwami game.

I was bitching and moaning in my RDR2 ramblings that prequels aren't a good idea... but Yakzua 0 is the exception that proves the rule. Since Kiryu and Majima's backstories have been fairly established at this point there's no attempt to recontextualize or alter everything we knew about them for cheap shock value or to make the story "Fit better" as is too often the case. There's no awkward scene where Kiryu and Nishikiyama have a toast to being "Friends forever", although Nikshikyama does prevent Kiryu from crossing the line into murder. No, the game is just content to observe their friendship as normal, which makes knowing what's coming ever harder to stomach. The Majima storyline likewise just tells a Majima story, and doesn't quite turn itself into a sad sack tragic origin. The relationship with Makoto is just part of what defines him, and not the whole thing. (Although it's real lame that Makoto doesn't even recognize his voice in the epilogue. I know after 15 years asking for a woman to have agency or a non-submissive role in a Yakuza game is a losing battle, but yeeeeeesh).

I think the most interesting part of the story, however, is in the final battle. When Kiryu confronts Shibusawa (who STILL hasn't killed Makoto even though thats the entire plan... there I go, ranting about the plot), Shibusawa has a long rant about his father's failures as a politican and how he didn't want to end up like his father, he had more ambition and drive. I kept thinking back to what Kiryu was going to do that fateful night in 1995, that changed everything. He wanted to be a big cheese Yakuza figure. He wasn't as malicious, or driven by ego as some, but that ambition inadvertently led him down a very dark path. Yakuza 0 seems to be making the point that this sort of ambition, the need for more and more power, is a trap. All you wind up doing, eventually, is become more and more paranoid and alone and willing to hurt others to protect yourself. In a way, taking the fall for Nikshikyama and winding up as a father figure to Haruka kept Kiryu from becoming another Shibusawa.

--Dan
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