Yakuza 0 should have been so much better
Yakuza 0 is an… interesting experience. The sixth installment of SEGA’s Yakuza series is a prequel to the five games that came before it. We learn Kazama Kiryu’s origin story, and how he went from low ranking Yakuza member to one of the most powerful figures in the Japanese underworld.
The game is an open world beat ’em up experience that switches perspectives between Kiryu as a low level grunt and disgraced Yakuza and cabaret club manager Majima Goro. Each character lives in a city independent of each other — Kiryu in Kamurocho, Tokyo and Majima in Sotenbori, Osaka — and are living in entirely separate narratives until a late divergent point in the narrative.
Both cities are filled with a ton of restaurants, convenience stores and other areas filled with side content for you to explore. Each character has their own set of wacky side quests to take part of in their city, including stepping in as a commercial director, winning a few stuffed animals for a little girl out of a claw machine and even helping a child chase down a video game thief, and finding out the final thief was his dad all along.
All of this takes place alongside what is a surprisingly great narrative. Both characters have their own well fleshed out stories that keep you engaged throughout. You begin to care for the plight of both characters, and I was fully…
