I spent over 100 hours in a tough gangster game

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Gangster stories are popular templates for films, series and of course games. The Yakuza genre is also very popular. The great Yakuza 0 is currently available on Steam and MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes can only recommend it to you, at least if you have time for karaoke or blind dating in addition to the tough gangster stuff.

What kind of game is Yakuza 0? Yakuza 0 is a rather unusual mix of beat ’em up and action role-playing game. In the Japanese city of Kamurocho you are traveling with Kiryu and Majima in the 80s and in the main story you have to dedicate yourself to a criminal Yakuza story.

The big highlight for me in the Yakuza games is the wonderful mix of serious main story and silly side stuff. That’s why I love Yakuza 0, which I spent way too much time on – especially with karaoke and dancing.

Yakuza 0 – Trailer for the prequel to the Japanese gangster series from SEGA

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Great open world with countless side activities

Let’s start directly with the open world: The two districts you can explore are wonderfully compact, bursting with life and filled to the brim with side quests and mini-games. This ensures that there are no empty spaces. As a big fan of Japanese games and films, I love the 80s aesthetic full of neon lights and pushy street gangsters.

You can fight with them to make money. With money you can not only buy items, but also skills and new abilities in the skill tree. You can expand on the 3 different fighting styles and it’s worth it because it makes the fight deeper.

The various interactions during fights are particularly cool. You can throw bikes or throw opponents at other opponents. This is beautifully staged and creates a nice flow. The set pieces in the main story are also action-packed. Fans of good and harder fight choreographies will be happy.

Away with the hard-hitting story and on with the silly side stuff

The real star of Yakuza 0 is the wonderfully silly side stuff in the form of quests and minigames. This is not only the perfect contrast to the very serious story, but also a good approach to make money and strengthen Kiryu and Majima. It can get so silly that you think you’re playing a different game. I’ll list my favorite stories and activities for you:

  • Singing karaoke
  • Blind dates on the phone that of course went horribly wrong
  • Kiryu starts a real estate company and hires a chicken named Nugget that he won at bowling
  • Majima is harassed by a guy in underpants who dances and goes by the name Mr. Libido
  • Made a zombie music video with a parody of Steven Spielberg and Michael Jackson
  • Kiryu gets a dirty booklet for a kid on a stealth mission
  • Kiryu teaches a dominatrix to insult her customers

    • And that’s not even close to all the absurd things you can experience outside of the story. You can spend a lot of time with Kiryu’s real estate business and Majima’s hostess club. These are larger side quest series that let you earn a lot of money.

    I spent over 100 hours on the main story and a lot of the side stuff. If you get into the many mini games like Mahjongg or Poker, you could spend even more time in the game.

    And even if you just want to experience a dark gangster story, then Yakuza 0 is worth it. The main story is exciting, has memorable characters and great action sequences.

    Yakuza 0 is the perfect entry point for newcomers as it is designed as a prequel. The game is currently available on Steam for just under €11. The offer is valid until December 4th. If you want to get more parts of the series, you can do that too. The entire franchise is currently on offer. You can find a much more relaxed recommendation here: A game on Steam with 91% positive ratings is currently available for the price of a pack of noodles

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