Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Switch 2 Hands-On Preview – Portable Mayhem
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We are rapidly approaching the Nintendo Switch 2’s June 5 launch date. Ahead of this, SEGA invited MP1st and select other outlets to get some hands-on time not only with the hotly anticipated console, but also three of their games set to launch day and date with the Switch 2. First up? Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut. We spent some time playing the campaign as well as the upcoming co-op horde-like mode, and have our impressions ready now.
Beat ‘Em Up
If you’ve never played a Yakuza game before, you’re in for a treat. Regarding main story combat, it’s a brawler – real-time slugfests take place within the city, where you can switch stances, dodge, perform combos, and other moves typical for the genre. Most fight areas also feature various objects which can be picked up and used as weapons for a couple of hits before they break. This can range from bicycles and traffic cones, to business signs and even some melee weapons. Some enemies use guns, which in a country where such things are pretty rare, must be dealt with quickly lest you get taken out in a blink. There are also a lot of side quests to partake in, but we had a limited amount of time to take everything in. But it’s the same Yakuza 0 many of you will already be familiar with.
Combat is definitely showing its age. Dodging is, well, dodgy and a bit unreliable; meanwhile, targeting enemies feels a bit counterintuitive. Despite this, the fighting remains fast, frenetic, and fun. Walloping groups of Yakuza with a bicycle will always be satisfying! Each playable character has multiple fighting styles, so you can switch out whether you’re going for power moves with slower speed, or vice versa.
While combat remains largely unchanged from the original release, the inclusion of English dubbing (voice acting) is a pretty big deal. This game has a campaign that spans dozens of hours, with a lot of lengthy, fully-voiced cutscenes to boot. The voice acting sounded pretty good, and of course, the original Japanese voice acting is available as well for those who prefer the original audio. Speaking of which, there are also several new languages to choose from for subtitles: French, Italian, German and Spanish should help to further the mass-market appeal of the Yakuza franchise.
An Entirely New Mode
Another new feature in Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut which we managed to get our hands on was the Red Light Raid mode. This is Ryu Ga Gotoku’s take on horde mode: you and three friends, frenemies, or CPU-controlled players take on waves of enemies across six different missions of varying length and difficulty. They feature dozens of enemies, locale changes, persistent player health across waves, and bosses to finish things off. There are sixty characters from across the Like a Dragon franchise to play as, each of which can be leveled up through repeated play. While I’m sure playing the handful of missions might get a bit tiring normally, mastering each character can present a fun challenge for the completionists out there. If you enjoy Yakuza’s fights, then you’ll love this mode. I certainly had a fun time beating the hell out of hundreds of enemies.
Although the focus of the day’s event was on the games, naturally there was also interest in the Switch 2 and what it brings to the table. The system effortlessly rendered Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut in 4K resolution, targeting 60 frames per second. While we only had Elgato devices to capture footage, it did appear to hit that target pretty consistently. Granted, the original game released in 2015, so it shouldn’t be taxing to ANY upcoming console, portable or otherwise, but nothing is ever guaranteed when it comes to performance.
Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut should serve as a great entry point for anyone even slightly interested in the franchise, or action games as a whole. While some of the mechanics are starting to show their age, the overall package is such a fun time that it’ll be difficult to put down, especially on a platform as easily portable as the Nintendo Switch 2. Look out for Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut when it launches with the upcoming console on June 5, 2025.
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