Bungus' Video Game Blog

Yakuza 0

General Info

  • Release Date NA: March 12th, 2015.
  • Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Metacritic Score: 85
  • Platforms: PS3, PS4, Windows, Xbox One
  • Review Time

    To start off, I just wanna say that Yakuza 0 is probably the single biggest reason why the Yakuza franchise is as big as it is today. Not only did it bring new fans to the franchise but it's release was followed up with remasters of the next 5 games (Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 3, 4, 5). Sega perfectly timed the release of this game and revitalized a franchise that had otherwise been dead for nearly a decade. In Yakuza 0 you play as two young members of the Tojo clan, Kazuma Kiryu, and Goro Majima. The game flip flops between the two elegantly and always recaps what each character has gone through during the switches. The game has 17 "chapters", and they are split up evenly between both Kiryu and Majima. While the main story is incredible and has a very satisfying ending cutscene (around 50 minutes long), the game shines in its sidequests and minigames. By far one of the most fun and charming moments of the game is seeing our manly yet elegant protagonists, who had just beat 10's of grunts in a row, walk into a karaoke bar and sing one of the most flamboyant songs I've heard in a while flawlessly. Probably my most favourite karaoke song in Yakuza 0 is this one right here. I believe that right now, after watching that video, is the perfect time to mention that during development of this game, Ryu Ga Gotoku games frequently asked former, real life Yakuza members about the accuracy of the games content, and without fail, all of them insisted that it was 100% accurate. I'm 100% going to assume that that estimate includes the karaoke bars. Overall, Yakuza 0 is an incredible game and definitely worth a play. Yakuza 0 gets an astounding 10/10.

    Beam Me Up, Scott.