I would like to say this first and foremost - I missed out on the original Yakuza release on the PS3 when I was younger. I never like the looks of it and, to be honest, I never thought I would play it. Oh boy, was I wrong... was... I... wrong.

I got this in 2020. I wanted something fresh. Something I won't be able to beat in a day. Something that would keep me wanting... well... more and that is exactly what I got from playing Yakuza 0. I knew nothing about "kiryu" or "Majima" or the streets of Osaka and Tokyo. I thought It was just a typical "beat 'em up" , Japanese satire game. Again, I was so utterly wrong.

Before I get into anything, first a quick disclaimer and my registered completion time!

100% Complete in 112.6 hours - December 12th 2020

This review is MY opinion, MY own personal experience and MY thoughts. I am brutally honest when it comes to reviewing games. If you do not like my opinion, my time or respect my personal experience, please move on.

⚫The story is PHENOMENAL!! It's set in 1988 with 2 amazing leading characters - Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima who are caught in the middle of a land war between 2 rival clans. This was the birthplace of Goro and Kiryu, who at the time... I knew nothing about. At no point in the story did I loose interest because the writing of the story is just.... AMAZING.... (sorry, I'm not going to spoil anything!)
⚫You get to explore 1988's Osaka and Tokyo. One area as each character. As Kiryu - Kamurocho, Tokyo's Kabukicho District. As Majima - Osaka's Sotenbori. Each area is packed to the brim with detail from top to bottom. This was astonishing to see and for a game so old... it was a marvellous accomplishment. From big bright lights shining the way, to dark, damp and musty little alleyways filled with bikes, bottles, bins, trash e.t.c (lets not forget the thugs!!!)
⚫If you get "fed up" with the story there is tonnes of content to do. For example, running around Kamurocho I found the SEGA building and inside of it had games such as OutRun and Space Harrier... Absolute classics!!! Not only that there are tonnes of other minigames such as Disco, WHICH IS SO FUN, fishing, blackjack, Koi-koi and Mahjong, these last 2 I had a tough time learning but... the game taught me how to play both. There is so many mini-games to be played you will never run out of stuff to do. Some are harder than others but it teach's you and to accomplish 100% you need to learn how to play them.
⚫Now, another note about "side-content" is the substories. When I first heard of the "Yakuza in nappies" I thought to myself "what a dumb thing to have in a gangster type game"... but trust me... it only adds to the experience. The sheer emotions you feel doing these side story's... first it could be anger, then hate, then pity and then you might even start to cry with the reason WHY they are doing what they are doing. I'm not going to spoil anything but trust me... it all makes sense.
⚫Each character has their own locations, as I mentioned above. Now, with that comes two AMAZING mini-games of sort, Kiryu's real estate business in Tokyo and Majimas Hostess bar in Osaka. These mini-games are absolutely fantastic. One thing to note - they require a lot of time to complete and maximise yen (the currency). You meet amazing characters during these mini-games too that will almost make you shed a tear when it's time to move on.
⚫Going to sound like a broken record here but, another thing with each character (I know, I know) is that they have their own fighting styles which, YOU as the player, can tailor each of these fighting styles to each scenario. I sure did. Kiryu has brawler, which works best on smaller enemies. Beast which works best on groups and Rush, which works best on one-to-one combat. Then, Majima has, Breaker which works well on groups, thug which works best on one on one combat and finally, slugger which works best on boss's. They both gain their respective "TITLES MOVES" once you complete Kiryu's Real estate agent and Majimas Cabaret Club Czar. (now I did not know what this was until Yakuza Kiwami because this is a prequel game).
⚫The combat is brutal, well in depth with finishing moves and it just felt great. Don't get me wrong, I have played tonnes of Batman and the combat is not as fluent as the Batman Arkham series but it was more flashy and much more satisfying in my opinion. Funny thing, no one actually dies when you fight them either, just like Batman!!!
⚫I had no issues with the game at all. No lagging, stuttering, freezing, fps drops, crashing e.t.c. Even on my old crappy PC, Yakuza 0 ran so smoothly I was amazed.

⚫I got lost so much in the cities. (but as time went on, I knew them like the back of my hand)
⚫Japanese voice acting from start to finish with English subtitles (TRUST ME, YOU DON'T WANT THE ENGLISH VA'S) but I thought I'd mention this for others in-case they don't want Japanese only VA.
⚫The combat is a tad dated and this continues on to the next few games sadly. Batman Arkham games has much more fluent combat.

Phew... after all of that is said.... I thought I'd hate this game. I thought I'd never play it but after spending 100+ hours learning about the game, the story, Kiryu, Majiuma... I wanted more and with what I was told about the Yakuza series... I wouldn't be let down as this... this is a prequel and I said to myself "If this is a prequel.... damn, that was an amazing prequel".

An Open-world game, packed from top to bottom with detail, mini-games, a perfectly written story, perfectly designed/written characters, amazing Japanese Voice Actors.... I just cannot praise this game anymore than I already have.

I would like to say this first and foremost - I missed out on the original Yakuza release on the PS3 when I was younger. I never like the looks of it and, to be honest, I never thought I would play it. Oh boy, was I wrong... was... I... wrong. I got this in 2020. I wanted something fresh. Something I won't be able to beat in a day. Something that would keep me wanting... well... more and that is exactly what I got from playing Yakuza 0. I knew nothing about "kiryu" or "Majima" or the streets of Osaka and Tokyo. I thought It was just a typical "beat 'em up" , Japanese satire game. Again, I was so utterly wrong. Before I get into anything, first a quick disclaimer and my registered completion time! [b] 100% Complete [/b] in 112.6 hours - December 12th 2020 [b] This review is MY opinion, MY own personal experience and MY thoughts. I am brutally honest when it comes to reviewing games. If you do not like my opinion, my time or respect my personal experience, please move on. [/b] [h1][b] Pros [/b][/h1] ⚫The story is PHENOMENAL!! It's set in 1988 with 2 amazing leading characters - Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima who are caught in the middle of a land war between 2 rival clans. This was the birthplace of Goro and Kiryu, who at the time... I knew nothing about. At no point in the story did I loose interest because the writing of the story is just.... AMAZING.... (sorry, I'm not going to spoil anything!) ⚫You get to explore 1988's Osaka and Tokyo. One area as each character. As Kiryu - Kamurocho, Tokyo's Kabukicho District. As Majima - Osaka's Sotenbori. Each area is packed to the brim with detail from top to bottom. This was astonishing to see and for a game so old... it was a marvellous accomplishment. From big bright lights shining the way, to dark, damp and musty little alleyways filled with bikes, bottles, bins, trash e.t.c (lets not forget the thugs!!!) ⚫If you get "fed up" with the story there is tonnes of content to do. For example, running around Kamurocho I found the SEGA building and inside of it had games such as OutRun and Space Harrier... Absolute classics!!! Not only that there are tonnes of other minigames such as Disco, WHICH IS SO FUN, fishing, blackjack, Koi-koi and Mahjong, these last 2 I had a tough time learning but... the game taught me how to play both. There is so many mini-games to be played you will never run out of stuff to do. Some are harder than others but it teach's you and to accomplish 100% you need to learn how to play them. ⚫Now, another note about "side-content" is the substories. When I first heard of the "Yakuza in nappies" I thought to myself "what a dumb thing to have in a gangster type game"... but trust me... it only adds to the experience. The sheer emotions you feel doing these side story's... first it could be anger, then hate, then pity and then you might even start to cry with the reason WHY they are doing what they are doing. I'm not going to spoil anything but trust me... it all makes sense. ⚫Each character has their own locations, as I mentioned above. Now, with that comes two AMAZING mini-games of sort, Kiryu's real estate business in Tokyo and Majimas Hostess bar in Osaka. These mini-games are absolutely fantastic. One thing to note - they require a lot of time to complete and maximise yen (the currency). You meet amazing characters during these mini-games too that will almost make you shed a tear when it's time to move on. ⚫Going to sound like a broken record here but, another thing with each character (I know, I know) is that they have their own fighting styles which, YOU as the player, can tailor each of these fighting styles to each scenario. I sure did. Kiryu has brawler, which works best on smaller enemies. Beast which works best on groups and Rush, which works best on one-to-one combat. Then, Majima has, Breaker which works well on groups, thug which works best on one on one combat and finally, slugger which works best on boss's. They both gain their respective "TITLES MOVES" once you complete Kiryu's Real estate agent and Majimas Cabaret Club Czar. (now I did not know what this was until Yakuza Kiwami because this is a prequel game). ⚫The combat is brutal, well in depth with finishing moves and it just felt great. Don't get me wrong, I have played tonnes of Batman and the combat is not as fluent as the Batman Arkham series but it was more flashy and much more satisfying in my opinion. Funny thing, no one actually dies when you fight them either, just like Batman!!! ⚫I had no issues with the game at all. No lagging, stuttering, freezing, fps drops, crashing e.t.c. Even on my old crappy PC, Yakuza 0 ran so smoothly I was amazed. [h1][b] Cons [/b][/h1] ⚫I got lost so much in the cities. (but as time went on, I knew them like the back of my hand) ⚫Japanese voice acting from start to finish with English subtitles (TRUST ME, YOU DON'T WANT THE ENGLISH VA'S) but I thought I'd mention this for others in-case they don't want Japanese only VA. ⚫The combat is a tad dated and this continues on to the next few games sadly. Batman Arkham games has much more fluent combat. [h1][b] My Verdict [/b][/h1] Phew... after all of that is said.... I thought I'd hate this game. I thought I'd never play it but after spending 100+ hours learning about the game, the story, Kiryu, Majiuma... I wanted more and with what I was told about the Yakuza series... I wouldn't be let down as this... this is a prequel and I said to myself "If this is a prequel.... damn, that was an amazing prequel". An Open-world game, packed from top to bottom with detail, mini-games, a perfectly written story, perfectly designed/written characters, amazing Japanese Voice Actors.... I just cannot praise this game anymore than I already have. [h1][b] 9/10. What an excellent introduction into the Yakuza franchise for a NEW player like myself!!! Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, you have a fan for life with me! [/b][/h1]