Yakuza 0 Retrospective - The Definition of a Perfect Prequel

Having Majima in it was probably the smartest decision they ever made for the series popularity. Absolutely nailing his fighting techniques was just the icing on the cake.

The "never killed anyone thing" was a mistranslation. And only really applies to Kiryu. It was never killed anyone outside of self defense. As for Majima, there's a difference between taking a job as an assassin and killing someone you're in a fight with.

I really love how when Majima meets Kiryu they both just recognize each or without knowing any physical traits. They just knew it had to be each other based on the looks

Yakuza 0 is one of the greatest comeback/breakthrough stories ever. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Nagoshi for sticking with his vision and with Lost Judgment being the last game he produced, I can only say: ‘Thank you for everything’

Kiryu’s not a member of the Kazama family. They specifically point this out with Nishiki asking why they joined the Dojima family and not the Kazama family. He’s called the Dragon of Dojima for a reason

Yakuza 0 was my introduction to the series at the lowest point of my life. Super depressed and one meal a day or sometimes no meals a day broke. But something about coming home after work and doing all the story, karaoke, disco and fighting was such a big deal to me. This game means so much to me that it’s one of the two games I’ve ever gone out of my way to get all the achievements in, the other being dmc5. Both of those adventures can be equally hellish, but I’m glad I did it. And It’s a little cheesy, but I’m proud of myself for committing to this thing simply because it was fun and it made me happy. When I didn’t have any money or friends, I had yakuza 0. This game could very well be solely responsible for me being here today, knowing that I was going to have a great couple hours at the end of the day kept me going. And yes my life is way better now and I still come back and start a fresh save every now and then

Nishiki is the reason I am so happy I started with 0 and avoided all potential spoilers like the plague. Heck I even save all future yakuza content to 'watch later'.

the yakuza series asks the bold question of "what if shenmue was good?"

I think what makes Yakuza 0 really special for me is the time period. There is something really kind of satisfying and analogue about everything, communicating through pagers and payphones felt novel. In a game set in current day when the family wants to call kiriyu in they'd probably send a text message but there is something more satisfying about getting a code on the pager, not knowing the clan wants him but not instantly why. The conversation carries on and at the end he physically walks to a payphone and calls the clan. There is something within the context of a video game that I like about that mechanically as opposed to navigating the menu of a virtual smartphone.

I wish all of you a happy Ishin Day tomorrow

The part where you mention the localization of Majima's kansai dialect is interesting; I hadn't really thought about it, but it's actually a remarkably good localization of the general "feel" of kansai dialect.

The tachibana part at the end of the game will always make me cry. Makoto’s reaction dude god damn.

You're probably right about the bubble economy and the developers enjoying it. There's a substory in Kiwami where this young actress asks Kiryu what it was like during that era and he reminisces about it to her while she gushes about it to him. It's a great little story that feels deeply personal.

as an owner of yakuza 1 and 2 on the wii U, get ready to be hit by lightning twice tomorrow

Really underselling the combat here. The gear system, four styles, wall bounds, counters and heat actions coupled together does not just provide plenty of variety but a lot of depth as well.

“the combat system isn’t that deep” proceeds to explain the depth of the combat system

I read an article where the devs of Yakuza 0 say they believe the biggest reason for the western success was due to them finally learning their lesson on localization. Yakuza 1 has an English version, which is pretty bad since it's a full dub with sketchy translation. Devs said leaving the dialogue in Japanese and localizing only the text made it much easier to make the game accessible while not losing context or sounding out of place. Later they used the same recipe for Kiwami and it worked great as well. I do believe if they released kiwami in the west before 0, it would have a similar success story for the series as 0 had.

The word of mouth and amount of streamers who gave this game a chance really spread around how good this series is

Played yakuza 0 back in 2020, loved the game so much and ended up completing the whole series in the year. Got me back into the gym too because I wanted to look like kiryu and now in the best shape of my life!

First NieR and now Yakuza, two of my favourite game series! Keep up with the amazing work Brando!