Reviews

Featured Review - YAKUZA 0 (Playstation 4/PC)

The game begins with a man named Kiryu Kazama, (left) who is a newbie to the Japanese mafia, otherwise known as the Yakuza. He wanted to join because he was adopted by a Yakuza captain named Kazama who took him in and raised him. Kazama was locked away in prison during this time. He felt joining the Yakuza was a way to repay him, even though Kazama was against it and wanted him to live a normal life. Kiryu was sent on a job to rough up a person whom owed money, but later he saw in a news report the man was murdered. He eventually finds out that someone in the Dojima family (allies of the Kazama family) had set him up. This causes the cops to search around. He was blackmailed to betray Kazama, but he refused and as a result the entire Yakuza is out to capture and kill him. During this chaos, Kiryu also learns a dark, billion dollar secret about the place where the man was killed.

The secondary protagonist, Goro Majima (right) was a former Yakuza member himself. He was kicked out of the Yakuza and tortured because he chose to disobey his captain, Shimano's orders due to his brother being ambushed. The captain liked and didn't want to kill Majima, so he was made as the manager of a club called Grand, where they can keep him close. He had a reputation for his hospitable, "customer is always right" mentality. Majima wants to rejoin the family, and he'll do whatever it takes to accomplish that... or so he thought.

The core gameplay in YAKUZA 0 is very fun. It is a combination of a beat em' up action adventure and a Role-Playing Game. As you play, you will unlock multiple different fighting styles, with unique feels to them. During fights, you can use weapons (like a motorcycle!) and satisfying finishing moves on your opposition. The combat is very fluid, and sometimes hectic as you fight up to 20 people at once at the same time, much like a classic martial arts movie. The story is a good length also.

Outside of combat and the story, Yakuza offers a rich amount of side content. You can go Bowling, dance in a disco club, go to batting practice, play darts, and much more! You can play these online also. There are over 40 side stories that you can do as well. I highly recommend picking this game up.