Yakuza 0 is amazing and you should play it

Well, I made it. Don’t try to play the finale when you have a honey-do list to get to. Sheesh.

I’ve never played a game so driven by the plot. Videogames do settings and characters well, and of course a lot of them have stories, but here I felt like I was inside of a serialized crime drama. (For better or worse – all the cliffhangers and pointless secrets started to drag in the middle.)

Like the video above says, smashing assholes in the face was always satisfying. I never got hooked on any of the minigames or side stories though. No big deal I guess.

I’m not sure I will ever play another one of these games, but I’m tempted to read the plot for each one of them to find out what happens to these characters.

I saw this on Gamasutra’s game of the year list and looked like something I’d like, as an open world fan. But I’m confused from this thread: is it open world (I can wander around, pick what I want to do when I want to do it?) or linear? I hear comments that go both ways (Speaking of 0)

You get dropped into a small city pretty often to run around. Side quests will pop up and you can play minigames, or earn tons money in the real estate and cabaret club minigames.

The city is smaller than you’re probably expecting and there’s nothing really hidden to explore.

The other weird thing is the plot is so compelling it might feel strange to stop and play baseball. They do restrict you in key scenes.

Picked this up after listening to the Giant Bomb GOTY deliberations podcasts and surprise! It’s pretty damn good. The mix of silliness and melodrama is really working for me. Plus, I dig plots that revolve around commercial real estate.

I didn’t realize this at the time, but thinking back now, it feels a little like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance where the characters are so serious in such ridiculous situations that it becomes fun for the players who are in on the joke. The only problem is Yakuza plays it a little too straight with some of the gang violence stuff.

I haven’t played Metal Gear Rising, but it definitely reminds me of the tone in Deadly Premonitions.

I’m playing it now as well and enjoying it a lot. Also, I’m really looking forward to the Fist of the North Star game coming out next year with the Yakuza team making it in roughly the same style.

Man, I might’ve played some of these minigames if they had been in 0:

The After Hours edition comes with bar glassware too.

Well, I’m slightly annoyed that we’re getting a PC port of this. I wish my save game was on PC instead of languishing on a terminal console appliance.

On the other hand, I don’t really plan to play it anymore, so no major loss.

That’s cool, I’ll play it again for you. It’s still amazing.

Send me your endgame save! Try not to do too much. :)

I played yak 0, finally getting through yak 1 a year after buying it. I understand playing 0, 1, and then 6 is the proper order.

Playing Yak 1 feels like a step backwards because it’s missing so many minigames.

FYI all, there’s a 20% discount on this on Fanatical.
If I liked Sleeping Dogs, will I like this? I realize that this is more of an RPG though, right?

Maybe? It’s kind of apples and oranges, despite both being open world games set in the world of organized crime. Sleeping Dogs is very much a conventional western open world game, while Yakuza is kind of a cross between a fighting game and a life simulator. The world is much smaller, but much more detailed, and you don’t get most of the usual gameplay verbs open world games give you while traversing it. (I.e. the Yakuza games strips you of any opportunity to harm innocent civilians.)

The real question is - are you a person of good taste who likes good things? Because Yakuza 0 is amazing and you should play it. :)

Are you a fan of fighting games? That helps a lot.

I was really looking forward to Yakuza 3. I loved the story, the videos I watched of the various mini-games, etc. But the main gameplay verb in the game is a fighting game, and I’m not a fan, so sadly I had to step away.

Yeah, it is a fighting/brawling game first, with RPG elements.

If you turn the difficulty down though, it isn’t so hard. And you can focus more on the minigames and storylines.

It’s a beat ‘em up with a story where you get to walk around town and play videogames and hang out in clubs and bars.

This guy knows what he’s talking about. He also has amazing taste in forum avatars so you really can’t go wrong following this advice.

I went into Yakuza 0 not expecting to like it much at all and bounce off it hard. 92 hours and counting later, it has been one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had.

Surprisingly great fun this, despite having many of the things I hate in games (poor checkpointing, overlong cutscenes, and button mashing for grinding.) Something about the unapologetic full blown gonzo nature of it appeals.