Yakuza 0: Director's Cut Review - The Perfect Slice of Kiyru and Majima
Yakuza 0, the game that started a passion, nay, an obsession for me. It wormed its way into my soul when I first played it, and from that point on, I was lost. I was a Yakuza (now Like a Dragon) tragic. It was my life, my brand, my purpose. Anything from RGG Studio becomes an instant buy for me, and I immediately devoured it in its entirety. So it is somewhat serendipitous that the first game I ever played on my brand new Nintendo Switch 2 wasn’t Mario Kart, it was Yakuza 0, and let me tell you, I was more than happy to spend some time revisiting my buddies Kiryu and Majima for another lap around Kamurocho.
I won’t dive into the game too much. At this point, I have covered the franchise and game so many times that it is becoming a bit stale. I will talk about how this mighty, wonderful slice of zany, dramatic, heartfelt fun runs on the new Nintendo hardware. First things first, don’t expect it to look as good as it does on PC. That’s not going to happen, and that would be unrealistic to even contemplate. That said, it still looks great and runs at a nice pace with no apparent slowdown or frame rate issues. The main character models, Kiryu, Majima and the key players all look fantastically detailed, even when you get a close-up look at their faces. The NPCs littered around the world seem to have suffered the most from the move to Nintendo’s hardware, with most looking exceptionally bland. That, however, is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. If sacrifices like that mean the game runs as well as it does, then it was the right call from the developers.
One of the things I had forgotten when jumping in was that this is quite an old game now, 10 years old to be precise, and as such, there are some quality-of-life issues that rear their head during the game. Things like the mini-map not allowing pinning or markers (which for a Yakzua veteran won’t be an issue because we all know Kamarucho so well by now, but new players will struggle a bit), the slow transitions into shops and indoor locations, and the occasionally wonky camera all make things feel like a game from 2015, not 2025. It should also be noted that these issues were all resolved in later entries in the franchise, so it is perhaps a bit of a shame they didn’t go back to make some of these smaller improvements.
Apart from these issues, this is the same game, same story, same highs, same lows and same addictive quality that the original release gave us. The beauty of this franchise is that one minute you could be mourning the loss of a loved one and the next helping a shy dominatrix find her mojo, all without suffering any sort of tonal whiplash. This is a franchise that has been built with the clear focus on fun over realism, and everything present in the game, from the deceptively moving story, to the silly mini-games to the oddball side missions, serves that overriding goal. Yakuza 0 is perhaps the best example of this development philosophy, and it makes for the perfect entry point as a result.
As for new content, well, there isn’t a lot. A wave-based battle mode that can be played with friends online is about it. It is fun, sure, but hardly deep. I can see people dabbling for a little bit, maybe putting in a couple of hours, but really, it is nothing more than a small distraction from the main game, and if you have Yakuza 0 on another system, it isn’t enough of a reason to buy it here. The only reason to buy this game again is because you want to play it on the go, and the Switch 2 is your portable system of choice.
With Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut, we have a fantastic, portable version of a great game that just happens to be the perfect entry point for anyone who wants to see what all the fuss is about in regards to the franchise. It runs beautifully on the Switch, with no tech issues whatsoever, and while there is little in the way of quality-of-life updates or new content, it is still an absolute classic that I strongly feel needs to be played by everyone. So if you haven’t spent any time with The Dojima Dragon or the Mad Dog of Kamarucho before and you have a shiny new Switch 2, now is the time. Jump in, join the cult, become one of us. We will welcome you with open arms.
Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch 2 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
