Yakuza 0 let’s players step into Japan’s underworld as a member of one of the crime families

IF you’re looking for a great setting about the importance of honour, loyalty and redemption then it’s hard to go past the world of organised crime.

Yakuza isn't afraid to show its characters smoking a durry

IF you’re looking for a great setting about the importance of honour, loyalty and redemption then it’s hard to go past the world of organised crime.

Whether it’s the Mafia, the Triads or the Yakuza, the backdrop provides outstanding opportunities for compelling storytelling, gritty realism, plenty of action, and thought-provoking moral choices – be it in movies, books, TV shows or video games.

As the name suggests, the game Yakuza 0, published by Sega for the PlayStation 4, asks you to step into Japan’s underworld as a member of one of the eponymous crime families making up the organisation.

The game is part of a long-running series which is popular in Japan but not as well-known in the West outside dedicated fans.

With something like six games in the series now, the plot appears to have become rather complicated – but Yakuza 0 has been designed as a sort of entry point to the series for newcomers, particularly in the West. Which is just as well, because I hadn’t played any of the previous games so wasn’t really sure what to expect going in to this one.

The gameplay itself is best described as a combination of open-world adventure, old-school brawler, and organised crime-themed soap opera.

I was surprised how previous-generation the graphics were. The game is set in 1988 so it’s possible the developers were deliberately going for a slightly old-school look, but when you consider the incredible graphics seen in things like Uncharted 4 or Horizon Zero Dawn it still seems a bit lacklustre.

Yakuza 0 asks you to step into Japan’s underworld as a member of one of the eponymous crime families

The game’s audio is entirely in Japanese, with English subtitles. Which is fortunate, because there’s a lot of talking in the game. There’s even more text, because – oddly – a lot of the game just has text boxes with the dialogue, like something from 1998.

I feel like I almost spent more time watching Yakuza 0 than actually playing it. There were really, really long cutscenes laden with exposition and intrigue, before a brief interlude of doing martial arts at people, maybe a bit of running around some colourful settings, then back to cutscenes full of people in flashy suits plotting betrayal and revenge against one another.

You control two characters, Kazama Kiryu and Goro Majima. Kiryu has been exiled from his Yakuza family after the target of a debt collection inconveniently wound up dead later, while Majima has fallen from grace in his Yakuza family and has been exiled to Osaka, running a cabaret as he desperately seeks to regain his position in the organisation,

While the main quest in Yakuza 0 is Very Serious, the side quests are so bizarre it’s like someone designed them after watching a bunch of YouTube videos about how wacky Japan is, possibly while enjoying a few drinks.

Funnily enough, the side quests are what endeared me to Yakuza 0. They provided a welcome break from the seriousness of the main story, even although they comprised absurd situations like pretending to be a producer on a lifestyle food show, helping a dominatrix be more assertive, or helping a child recover a stolen computer game from an increasingly long list of suspects.

And then there’s the mini-games, including activities such as baseball batting practice, tenpin bowling, fishing and even playing actual Sega arcade games. There’s something delightfully surreal about thinking “I need to go and beat up some goons – but first, a game of Space Harrier!”

Being set in Japan in the 1980s some of the views in the game might be described as being somewhat outdated or perhaps traditional, for want of a better term. Also, everyone seems to smoke at Mad Men levels.

When you’re not watching long cutscenes or wandering around a virtual Japanese city’s entertainment district, you’re beating up people who randomly accost you in the street. About half your interactions with other people involve fisticuffs, usually instigated by them on ludicrous grounds.

At first it sort of makes sense since you’re fighting other Yakuza or beating some sense into troublemakers, but Tokyo is hardly renowned as the sort of place where passing ruffians can go around saying “Ni!” at will to old ladies — so the sheer number of people who go out of their way to get into fights with your character rapidly crosses from “amusing” to “tiresome”.

This isn’t helped by the combat not being especially challenging either, especially on lower difficulty levels.

Having said that, the combat styles are quite interesting – Majima in particular, has a breakdancing combat style which is surprisingly fun to bust out, and he also has a fondness for smacking opponents around with a baseball bat too.

Yakuza 0 is a big game too – you’re looking at about 50-odd hours to complete it, with the story taking place in both Tokyo and Osaka. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on things, another feature pops up – including the ability to get into the real estate business, dispatching agents all over the world to find materials to craft weapons – meaning it rarely feels like there’s nothing interesting to do.

The settings are colourful and vibrant, and while the graphics may not be cutting edge, they still work effectively in creating a sense of place in the game.

I can safely say I’ve never played anything quite like Yakuza 0 before and it’s worth checking out, especially if you’re looking for something different or with a strong narrative focus.

Originally published as Yakuza 0 let’s players step into Japan’s underworld as a member of one of the crime families