Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Review

Yakuza 0 has many accolades. Many fans consider it one of the best in the series. Some know it as the title that made Yakuza a success out West. And up until recently, it was the only title that allowed you a deep insight into the mind of Majima, the wild eye patch wearer famed for his own construction company until his latest pirate exploits. This director’s cut of the successful prequel promises a few bonuses for long-time fans and a new mode to sink your teeth into, all the while showing its age given Ryu Ga Gotoku’s recent form.

If you’ve been living in a sewer with Majima and coming to this franchise with fresh Switch 2 eyes, Yakuza 0 tells an earlier tale of series protagonist (and Daddy to many) Kazuma Kiryu. Set in 1988, you’ll play as both a young Kiryu juggling his life as a member of the Tojo Clan and the in-fighting between clan members over a vital plot of land, and disgraced former Tojo Clan member turned cabaret manager Goro Majima. Both men find themselves on paths to redemption, Kiryu in an attempt to clear his name for a murder he didn’t commit, and Majima to reclaim his life as a Yakuza where he belongs.

The thing about Yakuza/Like a Dragon has always been the balance between gritty crime drama and wild, fantasy-like action and humour. Though the Majima we find here is toned down compared to his pirate quest, he still straddles the line between kooky and ridiculous compared to the strait-laced Kiryu, acting like the perfect foil to those harder hitting scenes of loss and betrayal yet witnessing plenty of his own in the process.

My Dad is so cool

At the time it was the first game in the series to introduce different fighting styles per character, a mix between brutal brawling and using every item within arm’s reach as a weapon (chairs, tables, the occasional street sign), and faster but lighter strikes that allow for easier dodging. Both Kiryu and Majima have their own skill trees, which you can unlock from the currency earned from winning fights and the like, though the cost to open things up can take a while to reach.

The additions to this so-called Director’s Cut don’t go too heavy. There are some new cut scenes that aim to fill in some gaps within the narrative, but otherwise the biggest addition is Red Light Raid, a new mode available right from the main menu that feels hastily thrown together. Choose your favourite character from a roster of familiar faces and random NPC’s and compete as a team of four in a series of challenge rooms full of enemies and boss battles that increase in difficulty. You can jump into an online lobby with randoms or a few friends, even play solo with AI if you prefer, though even in online the game will add NPC allies if it needs to.

Of course, I went with Majima and his baseball bat, swinging wildly across every Power Ranger coloured enemy that stood in front of me. There wasn’t much strategy and no way to communicate with online randoms once you find a game, it’s just pump those fists and hope for the best. You are on a timer, so you’ll need to continually beat down everything you see quickly to keep the clock in your favour. The more you do take down, the more money you’ll earn to level up your existing roster or unlock other characters, but crucially not until the game is over and not during play. Both Majima and Kiryu have variants based on their different fighting styles from the main game, but you’ll need to play a few rounds to earn enough currency to unlock them first. Otherwise, every other character is serviceable, each with their own basic attacks, special moves, and they may or may not have a weapon to make use of.

My Uncle is so cool

Red Light Raid won’t hold your interest for too long. If there had been some challenge or complexity to the mode, maybe some roguelike elements, this would be an easy recommendation to play around in. It does get a little more complex the further you go in, though that’s more to do with how many enemies are on screen than anything else. Credit where it’s due, the Switch 2 handles all those characters on screen with no issue, but it feels a bit stripped bare compared to the skill trees and options of the story.

In a further move towards broadening the experience for all, Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut brings back the English voicecast (something the original release lacked). Weird as it may be to have Majima and Kiryu not speaking badass Japanese, it’s nice to see Matthew Mercer return to the Majima role a second time in the space of a year. He brings some heart to the role, though perhaps not quite as much craziness when the time requires it. I tend to avoid the English option and stick with the original Japanese cast, but the broader appeal might be of interest to those who struggle with subtitles.

This isn’t the first Yakuza title to make an appearance on Nintendo Switch, that honour went to Yakuza Kiwami late last year, and by all accounts it was a solid port that sometimes struggled with texture quality and load times. Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut is the first on the Switch 2, and the benefits here are clear. There are zero framerate drops or blurred textures to be seen, load times are quick smart and, though the aging engine this was originally built on shows some wear and tear, everything looks bright and sharp. This is a clean translation of the original PS4 release that hopefully results in other title across the Yakuza/Like a Dragon stable heading to Nintendo’s platform in the future.

Do I play as Dad, Uncle or random guy in a suit?

There are some areas that could have benefitted from the ‘director’s cut’ of the title, however. A higher resolution map would have been nice, for example. Something more akin to the clean lines of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. It’s still readable, but the textures have that blurred, last generation look about them. Despite this minor blemish the remaining content holds up well, a testimony to how good its story and content originally was. Those jumping in having played the more expansive turn-based combat of the recent sequels may find the basics of combat lacking, but the coveted mini-games, outlandish action sequences and violent escapades all remain highlights.

Final Thoughts

It’s a relief that I can now play in handheld mode without cutting down the experience to a poorer quality on a Nintendo console, which makes the Switch 2 the perfect place to take the rough streets of Japan with you on the road. Though the added content doesn’t do enough to justify its inclusion, the overall experience of Yakuza 0 remains a bright spot in this long running series, the perfect jumping on point for newcomers and still as entertaining for returning souls.

Reviewed on Switch 2 // Review code supplied by publisher

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