Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Review – A Decade In The Making

The Yakuza/Like A Dragon franchise is easily one of the most prolific series out there today, which is rather interesting considering how little impact it had on the West even as recently as a decade ago. While most entries had made their way out of Japan to that point, the series was still very niche until the release of Yakuza 0 in 2015. This prequel for the series was followed by remakes of the first two games, re-releases for the subsequent games, and now at least annual releases under the Like a Dragon series brand. Yakuza 0 has made its way to many platforms over the last 10 years, with it now finally being available to Nintendo players on the all-new Nintendo Switch 2 with Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, a brand-new version with some new content.

Let’s take a look to see if this masterpiece still holds up, especially on Nintendo’s shiny new console.

A Switch 2 Launch Exclusive

Yakuza 0 is a great entry point for newcomers to the franchise, while also providing a stellar prequel for those who are familiar with the other games in the series. That was the case when it was first released and is still the case in this latest release. The story begins 17 years before the events of the original game in 1988, where the plot is set into motion when Kiryu is accused of murder related to a body that was found in an Empty Lot that multiple people with power are trying to take control of in the game. After realizing he may have been set up by someone in the Dojima Family and the fact that they are after his foster father, he manages to leave the family after coming to blows with Kuze, one of the lieutenants of the Dojima family. From there, a mysterious real estate agent named Tetsu Tachibana offers Kiryu help with clearing his name in exchange for helping him acquire the aforementioned Empty Lot.

In Yakuza 0, not only do you play as the usual series protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, but you also get to play as his long-time rival, Goro Majima. At the time of the original release, this was the first time Majima had a major focus on him that was then continued in Yakuza Kiwami 2’s bonus content. His story begins when he is an ex-yakuza member who is forced to run a cabaret club due to a past incident. The game shifts control between Kiryu and Majima throughout, with the two getting more intertwined in parts as the game goes on. Even though the game is now 10 years old, there is no reason to spoil the story further, as it’s a very well-written game that you will want to play through yourself.

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut not only brings the original story back, but also adds additional scenes that provide context to certain situations not included in the original release. On top of that, the game has also added an English dub for the first time, which can really give fans a whole new perspective to enjoy the game with, even if they have played through it before. The series has had an interesting history with English dubs, as some of the older games had them and they were not well received, so they got removed entirely for a while before returning in more recent outings. Now that the series has proven to be a smash hit in the West, the game has gotten a very respectable English dub that I quite enjoyed listening to, even if I also did find myself wanting to switch to the Japanese sometimes just for the most authentic experience.

The Yakuza game formula is pretty standard, where you play through a number of chapters with an abundance of substories that you can take on in between if you so choose. These substories are what really add a lot of life and charm to these series beyond the actual story. Some of them are completely self-contained, while others end up tying together in the long run. Whether you are forced to fill in as an actor in a scene while the producers are away, help a cop gain confidence in himself, or take part in a series of dance battles, the majority of these are rather entertaining and allow you to see another side of both Kiryu and Majima.

As for the combat system, it remains unchanged from previous releases. You have the option to switch between stances in battle and dole out damage to your enemies. These enemies can vary from random thugs on the street to those within actual story missions and substories, which are then taken a level higher for bosses. The bosses will feel like a natural evolution of the regular battles by upping the difficulty quite a bit with a lot more health to take down. Even with the combat still feeling very fluid, it does feel a little dated compared to some newer entries in the series that have taken things even further in recent years. However, it still works very well here in this re-release.

Releasing on the Nintendo Switch 2 meant that Yakuza 0 did not have to make any concessions to the visuals compared to if it had been released on the original Switch, like we saw with the Kiwami release. This is great, because Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut looks fantastic in action on the Nintendo Switch 2. I spent plenty of time playing in docked and undocked modes and equally enjoyed both. I have had the ability to play this game through SteamDeck in the past, but I never got around to experiencing full handheld Yakuza until this time around, and it was well worth the wait. Even as a re-release of a 10-year-old game, this one still managed to fit in alongside plenty of the other launch-day games. I’m excited to see how the upgraded version of Kiwami and then Kiwami 2 run the system as well when they release later this year.

A Surprise Addition

Besides the addition of an English dub and the extra scenes, the biggest new feature in Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut is the all-new Red Light Raid mode. Red Light Raid mode is an online-based mode where you can raid online with random people, with friends, or entirely solo. To start, you get to choose from one of 60 different characters from the game to use in battle, with the game giving you the money to purchase one character to start. Raiding solo can be done entirely offline, while raiding with friends or with randoms requires you to get online.

Within Red Light Raid mode, there are six challenge missions for you to take on that range in difficulty from 1 all the way to 6. The easiest includes 10 stages, while the most difficult amps it up to 18 total stages. The goal is to play through each stage and take out all enemies before you run out of health in what is essentially a survival mode. When playing solo, you do have the option to add CPU teammates to help, which is highly recommended if you don’t want to get overwhelmed. Grinding these different missions for money is quite helpful, as you can not only unlock the other 59 characters, but you can also pay to upgrade your existing ones. This will take a lot of money overall, so prepare to grind quite a bit here if you want to unlock everything.

Red Light Raid mode is a refreshing addition to the game that gives you something else to do, and it can get pretty addictive if you have a really fun friend group to play with. However, it also doesn’t have that much content overall besides the different character unlocks, and that can lead to the mode feeling stale sooner than you might expect. Even so, it’s a great addition to the game that I know I’ll jump back in and play again in the future with friends.

Verdict

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut finally brought one of the most well-received entries in the series to Nintendo exclusively on the Switch 2, and it is still every bit as good as it was when it first released a decade ago. In addition to the base content that is still the same, this version’s addition of an English dub, extra scenes, and the Red Light Raid mode have made it well worth another purchase for both fans of the series and newcomers alike who are just looking for some new exclusives on the Nintendo Switch 2 around launch.

Score: 9/10

Pros:

• Compelling story
• Interesting characters
• Fun combat that still holds up
• Red Light Raid mode is addictive
• The new English dub is quite good

Cons:

• Some areas of the game do feel a bit more dated compared to newer entries

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.

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