Platform: Steam
Genre: Action
Completed: 16/06/2024
Wow, this was a heck of a trip to get through.
I always wanted to play this franchise but kept putting it off. Originally, my first attempt into the franchise was with Yakuza back on the PS2. But I was still young and didn't appreciate the tempo of the game. I was looking for fast and intense action games back then, and I didn't give Yakuza a chance.
I then tried again on the PS3 by getting a Japanese import. I convinced myself that I could play the cutscenes on YouTube to understand the translation while I played the game. That idea lasted all of five minutes.
This time though, I was committed to playing a Yakuza title when I decided to go through with this challenge. In this instance, I figured starting them in chronological order would be better, rather than whichever came out first. (Currently, I have up to Like a Dragon and a couple of the spin-offs, so they will be featured in the challenge for quite some time.)
Yakuza 0 is probably the first game in the challenge that took me the longest to beat. And it's not because the main story is long. If the focus was just on the main story, I would say that within a couple of hours, it could be completed. The blackhole that took up most of my time however was all of the side content. After 10 hours into the game, I was still in Chapter 2! All because of side quests, collectibles, and minigames! And not everything was dumped on you all at once (otherwise that would be overwhelming). More sub-stories and minigames became available as the game progressed. At around chapter 8 (out of 17), practically all the distractions had been rolled out - except for the coliseum in chapter 11 - so I was able to make some heavy strides in the story from then on.
In the end, however, I had to draw a line somewhere. While I did complete all the sub-stories and picked up all the telephone cards and finished the business storylines for the two characters, I chose to step away from getting all the achievements. Otherwise, it would have taken me a lot longer to complete this title.
I had managed to get into Yakuza 0 without any previous preconceptions about it. So a lot of it was new to me. And I was grateful for it. I found the main story engaging and nothing felt out of place. I did however feel that the pacing of the cutscenes dragged on (and here I thought Metal Gear Solid 4 was bad!) Sometimes I would think I had thirty minutes before my shift to get in some Yakuza time, only for it to be swallowed up by cutscenes.
I did enjoy that the whole game wasn't completely serious. A lot of the side content was either bizarre or outright ridiculous. There were a couple that took on a more somber note, which would then tug at the heartstrings, but the majority were impressively outlandish. But they worked!
I also enjoyed how everything in the game was intense. Combat? Fast-paced and intense. Fishing? Intense hooking. Arcade? Intense game start! Pocket racing? INTENSE CAR SELECTION! Phone club? INTENSE PHONE ANSWERING!! Surprised there wasn't an intense bathroom break scene.
There were however a couple of things that made things a little dicey when playing, especially when you have an 8-year-old with a tendency to walk into the room unannounced and ask a bajillion and one questions. I had to make sure that anything related to the telephone club (had 7 substories tucked in there); the video store (bloody achievement) and... Mr. Libido (*shudder*) ... was done when I was sure she was either not home or fast asleep.
I might consider returning to the game and either playing the New Game + mode and getting the achievements, but it is not something I intend to do just yet (Translation: He'll forget and move on in about a week)
In the meantime, I am fast approaching the end of the first cycle and I am looking forward to raising a summary post. For now, however, it is time to focus on Z... for Zack Zero.
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