Yakuza 0 (2015)

I am in love. It took too long for me to get into the Yakuza series and I finally did. I'm glad I heard the fans and started with 0. This game is absolutely incredible!

This is probably one of the best stories ever written in a video game. It immediately transported me to a Yakuza-style movie. Characters are very well done, with some very convincing motives for doing the things they do. They're just too damn well developed and charsmatic. Like I said before, the writing helps. The story is filled with twists and turns, with believable and impressive moments. The pacing is great and it never gets old. Soundtrack is discreet, but it's a banger. It's a contained personal story, focused on its characters, but just as epic as any other game. The only two chapters I did not like were 5 and 7, because they felt like padding.

Gameplay is unorthodox and I love it, but not perfect. It fits the tone and does the job, but if the story wasn't THAT good, I'm not sure I would get to the end. The combat system can get repetitive. Guns are overpowered, the 'sphere-grid-like' upgrade system is shallow, it lacks a good lock-on system and equipments feels useless. In the end, it's just fun. Simple, but it does the trick, especially when it comes to the amazing boss fights (even if you have to fight Kuze FIVE GODDAMN TIMES). The semi-open-world areas take a long time to actually get going. It's a slow burner, but a rewarding one. Albeit repetitive, the side quests and subseries are hilariously well done, helping to build a well realized atmosphere and setting for both cities. The cabaret and real estate mini-games are boring, though.

I recommend this game purely for its story. The gameplay is fun, but it's the thirst to know how everything will unfold that will keep you coming back for more. Amazing! I'm not sure if the rest of the series is worth it, but this one definitely is.

Audacious, crass, eclectic, surprising, unwieldy, nostalgic, shameless: All these words describe Yakuza 0.

This was my first experience with the franchise after years of hearing it described as "Shenmue meets GTA." I love Shenmue, I don't really care about GTA, so I stayed away. That was clearly a mistake.

I didn't fall in love right away. The beginning of the game is (understandably) preoccupied with showing the ropes of combat, which I found to be fun but mindless... better than Shenmue, worse than the Batman: Arkham series.

But as more mechanics are introduced, as the story unfolds and is complimented by a variety of quirky sidequests, I found myself enamored by how it all manages to come together. And while I prefer the pace and setting of Shenmue, I'd be lying if I said Yakuza 0 wasn't, mechanically, a better game.

It is gutsy and weird and stylish and awkward in the same way my favorite Dreamcast titles were. I was genuinely moved by its epilogue. And now I'm eager to give Yakuza Kiwami a try.