Yakuza 0 is a long windy road down betrayal, political and familial intrigue, criminal investigation and ripping shirts off and beating enemies down! The series was all but a blur until a random day in 2019 when I decided that it was time to give the (at the time) niche PlayStation exclusive series a go. And ever since I have never looked back
Flash forward to 2025. The Yakuza series is riding high with a great cadence of high quality releases. While RGG (Ryu Ga Gotoku) is set on expanding the franchise to new locations. Alongside a fresh new protagonist. Sega is also set on trickling out the Kiryu Saga titles to the Nintendo ecosystem. Which all started with Kiwami 1 on the original Switch back in October of 2024. An announcement that popped up in the latest Nintendo Partner Direct is that Yakuza Kiwami 1 is due to receive a Switch 2 update. Alongside the release of Yakuza Kiwami 2, which will be the Dragon Engine’s debut on Nintendo Hardware.
Although Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut is on the engine that predates the Dragon Engine, there are still a ton of good qualities on display to warrant another stroll in the busy streets of Kamurocho.
Developer & Publisher // Ryu Ga Gotoku, SEGA
Platforms // Nintendo Switch 2
MSRP // $49.99
Release Date // June 5th, 2025
Reviewed On // Nintendo Switch 2
Story in Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut
Yakuza 0 is a prequel story and stars a pair of protagonists, those two being Kiryu Kazuma and Majima Goro. The way it is split up is we switch between them every two chapters or so. And the pair have a spider web of connections interweaving all the way up to the finale. Following the campaign, there is so much intrigue and mystique it truly is an emotional roller coaster. Which is offset by the goofy side content that is a ride of its own. Kiryu and Majima grow into the badass characters we know them to be, but it all starts from humble beginnings.
Kiryu’s Angle
The stage is set and we begin in Kamurocho back in the late 80’s. We start as a younger Kiryu who is still working his way up the Yakuza ladder. But quickly gets tangled up in gang war over a small empty lot. A guy that Kiryu beat up for a small debt collection gig. Was found shot dead in the small lot that the Dojima family is after. This is bad on two fronts. Firstly, Kiryu never killed the man but the lieutenants of the Dojima family want him to take the blame of the murder and spend time in prison. And secondly, Kiryu’s father figure and the current captain of the family is in prison, and the lieutenant who secures the land will take his throne as the next captain of the family.
Kiryu suspects that there is something fishy going on, and decides to leave the Yakuza to become a civilian and clear his name on his own. Kiryu, roaming the soaked streets of Kamurocho, receives aid from a man who goes by the name of Tachibana. He swears to help clear Kiryu’s name if he gains Kiryu’s aid in return. Tachibana says he is after the lot as well, and on the surface, he says that it is in efforts to counter the Yakuza’s influence over the city. But through the interweaving stories between Majima and Kiryu, we see the true reason as to why Tachibana needs to secure the lot.
Majima’s Angle
Around this time in the game is where we first switch to Majima and get an intro into his conflict. Goro Majima is also living life as a young adult. He is trapped in Sotenbori almost like a prisoner, wasting away his talents managing the top cabaret club in Sotenbori. All while gauging at ways to get back into the Yakuza family. He gets a chance. But the price is steep. His task to earn himself back into the Yakuza family is to murder someone named Mokoto. With information on where Mokoto works, we are off to find and see if Majima’s golden but insane heart will follow through and kill this Mokoto character.
As players we are asked to really pay attention and follow along. But there are a ton of parallels to Kiryu and Majima’s story thematically. Kiryu is trying to clear his name of a murder he did not commit, and Majima is tasked to kill a civilian.
The plot payoff over this small empty lot is immense. Even on the second go for this title, I am still left stunned over the twists and turns. And the cliffhangers the chapters are left on. It never lets up from the beginning till the end. And the story here is worth the price of admission alone.
Gameplay and Combat in Yakuza 0
Yakuza games are more than their story of course. A huge part of Yakuza is the fights. In Yakuza 0, Majima and Kiryu both have three different styles to use in combat. And to toggle between them you just use the D-pad. There is a fourth option here and that is to use a weapon, however I rarely strayed away from the three main styles for both.
Kiryu’s & Majima’s Fighting Styles
Kiryu’s initial style is The Brawler Style, and this is a jack of all trades style with no major weakness. The Rush Style is focused on speed and replaces the grab (A) with a kick that acts as a combo to evade enemies. And Kiryu’s Beast style focuses on power and makes Kiryu slow and brutal.
For Majima, his initial style is the Thug Style, which acts similarly to Kiryu’s Brawler style. The Slugger Style sees Majima attack with a baseball bat; however, the catch is that in narrow spaces, Majima can’t be as effective with the bat; it clanks off objects and walls very easily. His last style is called the Breaker Style, and this one is all about dealing damage with break dancing.
Fighting with Grace in Yakuza 0
Yakuza 0’s combat is pretty simple at face value. But can get as complex as the player wants it to get. In the initial styles, both our protagonists can attack with X and Y, defend with the left bumper (L), and press A to grab enemies, which also opens up more combat options. My first tip here is to not neglect the lock on, especially in one-on-one fights.
Locking on to enemies in Yakuza 0 is done via entering a Fighting Stance, which is done by holding down the right bumper(R). You perform rush combos with Y and finishing blows with X. The number of times you press Y determines the finishing blow, for example, in both Kiryu and Majima’s initial styles. A two-button combo of Y followed by a finishing blow with X pulls of an uppercut move that stuns the enemy for a brief moment. Experiment here and avoid complacency by not spamming Y.
There is a grace to how Kiryu and Majima fight. This comes through in combat if you play it correctly and use rush combos to set up finishing blows, utilizing Heat actions as they present themselves. What is a Heat action?
Heat Actions
Heat actions are special moves that both Majima and Kiryu can pull off. There is a heat gauge underneath the health bar, and it fills up as Kiryu or Majima emits damage. Once a row of the heat gauge is full, Kiryu and Majima will enter heat. And players are able to perform a Heat action. The Heat actions will change according to the situation, but they are very over the top and deal plenty of damage.
Overall, I adored the combat. Even after playing some of the more modern Dragon Engine brawlers like Judgement, or Pirate Yakuza. Yakuza 0‘s combat is a tier above those in terms of responsiveness. It is so satisfying to see all the money particles spew out of the enemies as you beat them up. The combos feel great to execute, and the Heat actions are ever so brutal and have great animation work.
The World of Kamurocho and Sotenbori
The streets of Kamurocho and Sotenbori are not vast. It is small but densely compact. One of the biggest joys I get from Yakuza titles is experiencing all the side content. And boy, is there a ton of side content in Yakuza 0. Players can easily double, if not triple, their playtime just meandering around and taking part in exploring what the streets have to offer. Substories act as side quests, and they all have self-contained stories. Oftentimes, they will be wacky and funny, but some substories cut deep and make you feel.
Highlighting a Couple Substories
I will highlight a substory from each of our protagonists. In a substory playing as Majima, a girl asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend. She states that her father will not stop trying to find a suitor for her. So after getting fed up with her father, she made up a story about having a boyfriend. But now the father wants to meet up with the guy. This side quest shows off the more emotional storytelling that is on display. The father eventually catches on to Majima being a fake boyfriend, but the lesson the father learns is to just trust in his daughter. However, it ends on a playful note of the father demanding that Majima actually be his daughter’s real boyfriend.
In a substory with Kiryu called Don’t Dance Alone, it has Kiryu being challenged to a dance battle, and this one transitions into the disco dancing mini game. And it is just hysterical seeing a tough-as-nails, serious guy in Kiryu being animated in such a flamboyant and unserious way. It is a nice reminder that life is meant for spontaneous fun.
Mini-Games
This takes us right into the plethora of mini games. As mentioned, there is a disco where players can dance their hearts away. Karaoke, where players can sing their hearts away. Batting cages, pool, poker, bowling, blackjack, and darts. Parallel to these, there is also the Sega Arcade, which houses some smaller games and stuffed animal UFO catcher-like games. The most memorable mini-game for me is karaoke because it’s both hilarious and candid to hear the voice actors sing. But it is also a good and intuitive rhythm mini game. Alongside these more bite-sized mini games are in-depth management sim endeavors for our heroes to take part in.
Management Sim in Yakuza 0
The one I sunk some time into is Kiryu’s management sim game, Real Estate Royal. This one opens up around 10 hours into the game in Chapter 5. At this point, new players should start coming to grips with what the game has to offer. So it is a great time to introduce a new mechanic. The management sim aspect of these games can seem very complicated. But they are somewhat straightforward when things get going. In Real Estate Royal, Kiryu is tasked to take back Kamurocho from the five billionaires. And to do this, Kiryu needs to buy properties, and set up and assign proper personnel at these properties and districts.
The five billionaires of Kamurocho all control a different district. Once the player has enough of a percentage of a district, there are challenges that unlock, which are mandatory to complete to further progress the story in Real Estate Royal. A note here is that Real Estate Royal is one of the easier ways to make money for Kiryu.
Money is important in Yakuza 0. It is one of the main themes of the game. It is used as a negotiation in some of the biggest moments in the story. The empty lot is just to create more wealth for the one who gets it. But it is important for gameplay because you use money to unlock more skills and moves. Use money to buy healing items from convenience stores, which I highly recommend stocking up on.
It is Almost an Overwhelming Amount of Content
There is so much content on offer in Yakuza 0 that it almost feels overwhelming. Just walking down one street may have multiple substories or mini-game interruptions, and it really does feel like we are doing ourselves a disservice by skipping them. You will never know what will come next, and that is one of the best feelings. Always being in a trance of constant delight and surprise, it makes it hard to even step away from the neon colored, vibrant streets of Kamurocho and Sotenbori. But this being dubbed Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut must mean that this Switch 2 release brings new content. And indeed it does.
What is New in the Director’s Cut
This is the definitive version of Yakuza 0. Now, as for why it is, that is because this game runs in 4K while docked on the Switch 2 and maxes out the 1080p screen in handheld. And maintains that great image quality at a buttery smooth 60fps target. However, one gripe I have is that the game’s UI elements and text are lower resolution compared to the gameplay and cutscenes. Which, in handheld, does not really matter, but in docked, the lower-res UI and text are noticeable and should have been touched up.
New Cutscenes and Game Modes in Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut
Although there are a few new cutscenes peppered in throughout the runtime, they do not add much in terms of substance. They just feel like some nice additional character moments. One big addition that is exclusive to the Director’s Cut is that the game is completely dubbed in English. Though I highly recommend playing the game in Japanese dub with English subtitles. It just feels more natural; the Japanese cast is excellent and very emotive.
The last addition for the Director’s Cut is a brand new multiplayer mode, which is this re-playable bite-sized raid mode called Red Light Raid. You can raid online, raid with friends, or even just raid solo. There are 6 different missions to tackle and pound enemies down. And you progress through these missions in rounds. This one feels at home on the Switch and in handheld mode. It is there as a nice bonus for people who just want to engage with the combat and have fun.
Even when choosing the play online option. I rarely ever matched with Human players. But even then it did not take a long time to get into a mission. The game just fills your party with CPU companions if it can’t find any human players. And the queue time was always fairly quick. Each mission progressively gets harder as well so it is worth playing. And the Red Light Raid mode is a nice avenue for us to enjoy the combat without needing to enter the story.
Accessibility and Settings in Yakuza 0
The game does have a settings tab where there are a slew of options. Like adjusting difficulty, adjusting camera controls, subtitles, and even gore level. There is a neat Notebook/help tab that also houses plenty of crucial information about characters and any tips learned in combat, just in case you forget.
I would not say there is much here as for accessibility. However, this is where the Switch comes in super handy. There is a whole accessibility tab in the settings on the device with a lot of options. And here you can change the button mapping on the controllers that suits you as well. And a pro tip for Joy-Con users, you can map the two metal bumper buttons almost like back paddle buttons.
Conclusion
Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut is a blast from front to end. There is so much to discover and fall in love with. Although this Director’s Cut port does not bring much new that may excite long-time fans, it is still a classic and is one of the best entries in the series. It serves as a great starting point for those who want to experience what these games have to offer. Yakuza 0 played a huge role in revitalizing the series in the West and showed Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku that we also deserve these games. The best part of it all, though, is that one of the best entries in the series is finally on a Nintendo platform, and it looks and runs great.
Score: 8.5/10
Note – A key was provided for the purpose of this review.
Pros
- Amazing Story
- Solid Brawler Combat
- Game Looks and Runs Great
- Good List of Modes
- Mini Games Galore
- Sub Stories House Well-Told Short Stories
- Japanese & English dub
- Fun Bite-Sized Online Mode
Cons
- Somewhat Lacking Accessibility Options
- The Additional Cutscenes Do Not Add Much Substance
- Lower-Res Text and UI
- Amount of Content Can Feel Overwhelming At Times
