Yakuza 0 is an action game set in Japan's entertainment districts during the late 1980's, but that's underselling it. The main game consists on a lengthy story mode full to the brim with drama and suspense going over the adventures and, more often than not, misadventures of the protagonists: Kiryu and Majima. Both characters have a habit of solving problems with their fists and luckily the combat system accommodates for that, each character has multiple fighting styles with unique combos and finishers and fights are varied enough to keep things fresh. It's not rare to swap multiple times between styles in a single fight and that's not even taking bosses into account, the fact that you can pick up furniture and use weapons only adds to the chaos. Granted, random enemy encounters on the street can get tiresome, but you can avoid those if you want.
In between story missions there are many different side missions and activities to do as well, from visiting restaurants, going to the disco, singing karaoke, watching erotic videos, gambling and even playing video games at the arcade.
A lot of the side content is lighthearted in nature to contrast with the main story too, so you can go from contemplating murder to playing a dress up minigame and the transition feels very natural somehow. I'd like to say that completing Yakuza 0 would be a fun experience, but it does require learning the basics of Mahjong and practicing arcade games so it's not for everyone.
When it comes to presentation, Yakuza 0 knocks it out of the park too. The streets are alive with people going about their day, there's some excellent voice acting and cinematography and fights look simply fantastic, even that little gesture your character does when you change styles looks good. I also like how money flies everywhere after a heat action.
To conclude, I believe Yakuza 0 to be a wonderful game and I enjoyed it immensely from start to finish. Nobody reads these reviews, but if you are then I urge you to go play it.

Reviewed on Jul 25, 2022


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