My Quick Yakuza 0 Playthrough

Recently, I started playing video games again after many years. Trying this game called Yakuza 0, which I had a quick play through.

My 1st impression of the game was that it is the Japanese version of GTA, a game I last played in secondary school. Yakuza 0 turns out to be a far less open world than GTA. You can’t drive vehicles & the districts were really small.

Over time though, I grew to like this restrictiveness. With big open world games, I had to constantly look at the map for how to navigate. But with small districts, you kind of learn how to navigate through important landmarks over time. Being small also mean that the designers can build a very realistic portrayal of both Kamurocho & Sotenbori in real life. As can be seen in the videos below:

Hence, to some extent playing this game felt like going on a holiday to Japan for me. A plus during the pandemic.

Story wise, it is really good at the right length & great voice acting. A lot of the political stuffs I previously struggle to understand in my current & past jobs now makes clearer sense to me. How an empty small vacant lot could be worth so much, the power struggles among the 3 Dojima lieutenants & lastly Majima transformation.

You could really relate to those characters & their loyalties to each other, taking the fall for their good friend.

It touched me in a way I have not felt in a long time.

Going to try Yakuza Kiwami Next