I can now say I've actually played a Yakuza game, though I question whether going by order of release would've been a cleaner start, nonetheless onto the review!
I've attempted to play this game like 3 times for the past 5 or so years, I usually just don't get hooked and just stop playing, this time I really just bunkered down and stuck through it regardless of how I was feeling, and I think it's for the better! It wasn't until about chapter 7 or so where it started to connect with me, and I was actually enjoying things.
To start, the main story is pretty great and entertaining, though I've got some nits to pick. Biggest complaints include fighting the same boss (Kuze) 1 million times, that got old. There are CONSTANT cop-outs where characters will get shot or people will get definitively defeated but nothing comes of it, I mean what the fuck is Kiryu and Majima supposed to be Yakuza members or batmen? My final and fairly major gripe is the interwoven stories kinda killed me. Whenever I finally got fully-invested into either Kiryu or Majima's story, I was taken out of it and forced to re-adjust again, a real motivation sapper personally.
I don't wanna ramble on a super long review so I'll just try to get all of my thoughts out here; The mini-games are excellent but the game asks you to spend way too much time with them considering their simplicity, so I simply do not wanna waste too much time with them. The side-quests are kinda hit and miss, some will be fun condensed stories while others will just feel like doing someones chores. The combat is extremely simple and got kinda dull in the second-half, but I think it gets the job done, it just never feels fluid to me, but it's just silly fun, y'know? I would have preferred less styles and a more thought-out combat system centered around the fewer styles.
Yakuza 0 has a lot of rough edges and you could pick apart its flaws for days, but it's got a lot to love and a lot to show, I'm confident there's something in here for everyone, would definitely suggest giving it a go.
I've attempted to play this game like 3 times for the past 5 or so years, I usually just don't get hooked and just stop playing, this time I really just bunkered down and stuck through it regardless of how I was feeling, and I think it's for the better! It wasn't until about chapter 7 or so where it started to connect with me, and I was actually enjoying things.
To start, the main story is pretty great and entertaining, though I've got some nits to pick. Biggest complaints include fighting the same boss (Kuze) 1 million times, that got old. There are CONSTANT cop-outs where characters will get shot or people will get definitively defeated but nothing comes of it, I mean what the fuck is Kiryu and Majima supposed to be Yakuza members or batmen? My final and fairly major gripe is the interwoven stories kinda killed me. Whenever I finally got fully-invested into either Kiryu or Majima's story, I was taken out of it and forced to re-adjust again, a real motivation sapper personally.
I don't wanna ramble on a super long review so I'll just try to get all of my thoughts out here; The mini-games are excellent but the game asks you to spend way too much time with them considering their simplicity, so I simply do not wanna waste too much time with them. The side-quests are kinda hit and miss, some will be fun condensed stories while others will just feel like doing someones chores. The combat is extremely simple and got kinda dull in the second-half, but I think it gets the job done, it just never feels fluid to me, but it's just silly fun, y'know? I would have preferred less styles and a more thought-out combat system centered around the fewer styles.
Yakuza 0 has a lot of rough edges and you could pick apart its flaws for days, but it's got a lot to love and a lot to show, I'm confident there's something in here for everyone, would definitely suggest giving it a go.