Yakuza 0—the prequel story that shows how series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu rose through the ranks to become the big boss of a Japanese crime syndicate—is more than just knuckles, guns, illegal rackets, and vendettas. At the heart of the gangsterism is empathy and honor, be it between bro and bro, an orphan and his surrogate father, or well-dressed hoodlums and the desperate strangers they meet. It's also a tale involving a pelvis-thrusting man, referred to as both Walking Erection and Mr. Libido, wearing nothing but shoes and tighty-whities. Yakuza 0's ability to dance between the dramatic and the absurd, all of it punctuated with thrilling combat, makes this beat 'em up one of the best PC action games.
Set in 1988, the $19.99 Yakuza 0 focuses on two underworld protagonists operating in Osaka and Tokyo: Goro Majima and series mainstay Kazuma Kiryu. Both young men become unlikely major players in the organized crime scene, though the roads they travel are radically different.
Kiryu is framed for murder, so he must unravel the mystery surrounding that. Majima is offered a violent chance at redemption after his clan loses faith in him when the young gangster disobeys orders. Those are Yakuza 0's narrative basics; anything else would venture into spoiler territory, and Yakuza 0's story is one you'll want to experience fresh as it unfolds.
Similar Products
Twin Snakes
Yakuza 0 has a narrative that will be familiar to players of crime games, with its many illegal schemes and backstabbings. Yet the story never feels rote, thanks to the game's characterizations, scenarios, and localization—all of which truly shine in voiced and subtitled cutscenes. While there are many serious mob moments powered by love, loss, and revenge, there are also lighthearted and outright comedic happenings that give the game, and series, its distinctive flavor.
One moment you're knuckling up against a syndicate head; the next you're helping a milquetoast boy band develop street cred in a side quest so that they can keep their fans. Despite these disparate narrative tones, Yakuza 0's story feels cohesive. That's due mainly to the way Kiryu and Majima react to the increasingly bewildering events that they stumble into during the course of the game. They are just as confused by a yakuza double-cross as they are by the prospect of busting up a used panty-selling ring. The drama and laughs are played incredibly straight; there's no winking to pull you out of even the most ridiculous situations.
Dynamite Action
Excellent as it is, Yakuza 0's story is only the backdrop to the game's core gameplay element: delicious beat-'em-up action. The Yakuza series is frequently cited by press and fans alike as being Sega's Shenmue successor or Japan's Grand Theft Auto. Those are the wrong takes. While Yakuza 0 certainly shares those games' open-world elements, its gameplay DNA is most like Sega's wonderfully silly Die Hard Arcade and Dynamite Cop.
From back-alley brawls to penthouse showdowns, Yakuza 0 gives you lots of mooks and bosses to beat down with punches, kicks, and throws, as well as katanas, baseball bats, and other deadly (and occasionally wacky) weaponry. If you enter a room and see blue triangle icons pointing toward, say, a sofa or vase, you can rest easy in knowing that you can use it to clock rival gangsters. On the other hand, you may prefer to blast foes into the afterlife with an oversize, fish-shaped gun.
Though most fights feel like a true test of your skill, some mid- and high-tier gangs prove frustrating at times. Ocassionally, one enemy will punch you, sending you careening into another foe's fist. The resulting ping-ponging action can be difficult to escape, especially if you aren't accustomed to using evasion tactics.
You earn money as you trounce enemies and complete side missions. This cash can be used to purchase health and power-boosting items from the game's many stores, and to unlock new attacks. A low-level move, like a running kick, costs just a few thousand dollars, while a high-level move, such as Raptor Mastery (a fancy evasion move), costs millions. What makes Yakuza 0's combat and combat customization particularly tasty is that you don't have just one fight style to deal with; you have three per character.
Why You Should Game on a PC
Both Kiryu and Majima can switch styles in the middle of a fight, which is a feature update to the Yakuza series. Kiryu, for example, has the balanced Brawler style, slow-but powerful Beast style, and swift, boxing-based Rush style. Majima, on the other hand, has the balanced Thug style, baseball-bat wielding Slugger style, and dance-based Breaker style. The ability to switch fighting styles comes in handy when you square off against mid- or high-tier enemies. For example, you can pepper slow-moving enemies with attacks by switching to Rush. Each style has its own stance and rockin' musical accompaniment, so the fighting remains fresh. You can't start a combo in one stance and continue it in another during the game's early moments, but you can obtain an incredibly useful business suit that lets you switch combat stances in the middle of an attack animation.
Your attacks fill a multitiered Heat Bar, a meter that governs your ability to pop off super moves called Heat Actions. When Kiryu or Majima have at least two blue Heat Bars filled, pressing the Heat button causes either gangster to unleash a big-damage attack that looks awesome as the camera zooms in on the brutality. The two share several Heat Attacks, such as Head Crush and Essence of Door Slamming, but they each have several character-specific Heat Attacks, too.
Heat Attacks are context sensitive, altering their animations depending on your character's fighting style, equipped weapon, and positioning in the environment. For example, Kiryu's basic Head Crush, when performed on a bridge, hurls a goon into the water below. As with regular moves, Heat Attacks can be purchased as you advance through the game.
RPG Elements
Yakuza 0 may be a beat 'em up, but the game has many role-playing game elements that give the title extra, welcome depth. As Yakuza 0 takes place in a small open world in which people work and play, the city is littered with the sorts of roaming goons you find in a traditional beat 'em up like Double Dragon Neon. You meet those thugs as you would in a very RPG-like manner: random encounters. As you criss-cross the cities, you'll be spotted by hoodlums of different power levels and gang sizes who are just itching for a fight. You can, however, attempt to run away from foes if you don't feel like engaging them. Alternatively, there are encounters that you can initiate, be they simple street fights or full-blown side quests.
In addition, Yakuza 0 lets you equip weapons, items, and gear to enhance your character's traits. For example, equipping brass knuckles, or the frozen sardines that you use as nunchaku, ups your offensive damage, while equipping chain mail or a jacket ups your knife resistance. Unfortunately, the clothing-based gear that you equip isn't reflected on your character model.
There are dozens upon dozens of items to try, and you obtain them by completing missions or by having operatives bring back items from the field that you can use as-is or craft into new items altogether. That's right, as you progress through the story, you manage foot soldiers who perform actions while you're regulating bad guys with your fists. In that way, Yakuza 0 is a bit like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain . You can even run a hostess bar and take over shops to earn more funds.
Gaming the System
Sega, knowing that even gangsters need their downtime, includes several mini-games in Yakuza 0. You can enter dance battles, play UFO Catcher machines, belt out karaoke tunes, bowl, and perform several other leisure activities. As you play Yakuza 0, you unlock these mini-games for competitive real-world action, either locally or online. You can also visit in-game arcades to play classic Sega games, such as Fantasy Zone, Outrun, Space Harrier, and Super Hang On. And these aren't just gameplay demos; you can sit Majima or Kiryu in an Outrun cabinet and play the entire racing game.
Yakuza 0 boasts activities that delve into the adult entertainment category. There are opportunities for the protagonists to engage in flirty conversations on dating hotlines (complete with a cigarette and tissues conveniently placed on a nearby table) and watch videos of smiling women posing erotically, as sensual music plays in the background. Though these activities sound incredibly skeevy on paper, they're laced with the same goofiness that permeates the rest of the game, giving them an odd charm.
Sempai-Powered PC
Yakuza 0 is a port of a 2017 console game, so its minimum requirements aren't very demanding. Your PC needs at least an AMD FX-6300 or Intel Core i5-3470 CPU, an AMD Radeon HD 6870 or a Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and the 64-bit Windows 7 operating system. As a Steam game, Yakuza 0 supports Steam Cloud and Steam Achievements.
Sega blessed PC gamers with a version of Yakuza 0 that supports 4K resolution and uncapped frame rates. My gaming desktop, which features a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080ti graphics card, pushed polygons at a silky rate of more than 100 frames per second during intense action sequences. That said, the frame rate occasionally drops to a stuttery 20 frames per second for brief periods, but it's so infrequent that the flaw doesn't greatly impact the game. This slowdown happened with greater regularity before Sega released a patch a few weeks back.
Note that Sega surrounds Yakuza 0 with its controversial Denuvo Anti-tamper DRM. Denuvo, in the past, as been suspected to be the cause of the poor performance seen in some PC games.
Gang-Related Activities
On the surface, Yakuza 0 is a beat 'em up about gangsters fighting each other over money and respect. But as you explore Osaka and Tokyo and become embroiled in the more than 100 side quests, you'll quickly see why the series has become so beloved in recent years. Yakuza 0 is one part crime drama and one part comedy. More importantly, it's an all-around excellent video game.
With Yakuza 0, Sega gives its long-running gangster story the origin it deserves. Featuring brutal combat, hard-boiled drama, and a wacky sense of humor, Yakuza 0 is a beat 'em up classic.
Like What You're Reading?
Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Sign up for other newsletters