I started this game around December of 2022, giving it a shot thanks to the game undergoing a large surge of popularity thanks to the many memes of it that existed around that time, in a similar vein to Metal Gear Rising. It was a blast in every regard: the story, the gameplay, the characters, the sidequests...and yet only now did I buckle down to try and complete the main story. Regrettably, I forsook the rest of those elements in favor of completing the main story simply because I wanted to say I had beaten it. This game was one of many I tried to beat within a year, all inspired by a pair of excellent videos from Daryl Talks Games talking about the gaming backlog. That initial video inspired me to take to many places and ask both friends and various Discord servers about games I needed to play and to see if I could beat them in a years time (July 2023 to July 2024). Needless to say, I am definitely not accomplishing that goal with the many RPGs I have included taking well between 60-100 hours. Yakuza 0 was one of those games, and I sporadically hopped in every now and then in between both games I wanted to try out and the many multiplayer games that have cycled through my friend group. This experience of going from taking my time and enjoying myself to racing to the finish line just to check another box in my spreadsheet shows me the issue of trying to beat games under a deadline. Daryl experienced a similar situation and found the same conclusion, and he offered the viewer to experiment with their backlog in the same way. Now in late May as of writing this, there are many games I've had to leave behind for this challenge. And yet, Yakuza 0, the game that took me almost one and a half years to beat, is probably one of the best I've experienced in my time. This was my introduction to the franchise and funny enough is a prequel game to a long running series that just recently got two huge entries. What a hell of a first impression. I loved the combat structure, switching between styles and wiping the floor with goons never got tiring or less enjoyable. The bosses were admittedly frustrating but maybe that's because I preferred to rush in headfirst and mash a variety of X, Y and B like I was back in seventh grade typing class. Still great. The story and the writing is tight in that it can incorporate moments of humor and cheese as well as the heartfelt and admittedly tearjerking without feeling out of place or like tonal whiplash. The tension, the drama, the fun, the sadness, all blend together to create a unique and flavorful experience that rivals even the tastiest of beef bowls. Like I said, I regret taking it fast towards the end because Yakuza gives me the impression that you should take it as a marathon and not a sprint. There are SO many sidequests and minigames to enjoy on the side that is just as polished as the main core gameplay and it's insane. There's fully functional RC racing, fishing, darts, pool, disco and karoke minigames, and that's not even all of them! There's well over 80, maybe even 100 hours of content just for you to explore and enjoy. I guess the main lesson that I learned from this game is that sometimes it's about the journey and not the destination, even if it is excellent in itself. I will come back to this game one day and see everything that it has to offer.

I remember my friend recommending I try this game out a while ago, always seeing him hop on to see if he could improve his times and beat the game in under an hour. Admittedly I would do the same thing but with Pizza Tower instead, so I could see the appeal. But then I actually played the game and damn is it fun. The story provides a really cool setting, but I could see the conversations being a little too...over the top for some people in terms of the writing. Either way, I had a hell of a fun time blazing my way through the levels as well as coming back for the collectibles and I recommend this one for sure.