Yet it's Majima who steals the show, this charismatic wildcard demonstrating heretofore unexplored depths. As the de facto lead, Kiryu's journey to becoming the dragon of Dojima initially seems like the biggest draw. The narrative is entirely self-contained, but it's likely to mean more to anyone who played the original Yakuza because the two threads essentially double as origin stories. Millennium Tower is, however, conspicuous by its absence, while unsightly piles of rubbish bags line streets and alleyways. At times, you'll forget it's a period piece, since Kamurocho fashions have always erred towards the garish. Having been excommunicated from the yakuza, he's trying to work his way back into favour as manager of a cabaret club, until he reluctantly agrees to pull off a hit, the fallout from which sets him on a collision course with some very dangerous people. Majima, meanwhile, is in Sotenbori, Osaka - and in hock to the unbearably smug Omi Alliance chairman Sagawa, whose comeuppance you'll be anticipating from his very first scene. Kiryu finds himself dragged into the mess when a debt collecting gig goes bad and he's framed for murder on the same patch, forcing him to operate outside the clan's jurisdiction as he investigates who wants him out of the picture. Factions within the ruling Tojo clan find themselves competing against a new player, Tachibana Real Estate, headed up by a mysterious outsider with good reasons for laying claim to the land. Kiryu's tale - set, as ever, in the pleasure district of Kamurocho, rendered here in rich, bustling detail - centres on a tiny plot of land known simply as the Empty Lot, the ownership of which is set to prove crucial to a forthcoming regeneration project. This affords the individual strands room to breathe, leaving space for character development without slackening the pace. Zero, unburdened by the need to accommodate the expanded cast of more recent entries, focuses on just two playable characters - stoic series regular Kazuma Kiryu and loose cannon Goro Majima - and two narrative threads, which begin some distance apart before inexorably drawing together and eventually becoming intertwined. For all its ambition and variety, Yakuza 5's multi-stranded plot sagged in places and felt rushed in others. It might take a step back in time, but Yakuza 0 is a stride forward in every other sense. The bonkers and frequently brilliant result is the best Yakuza to date and one of the finest Sega games in years. The series that never does anything by halves enters the decade of excess in a pulverising bombardment of bone-shuddering violence, overwrought melodrama, sentimentality and silliness, where just about everything is dialled up to 11. Yakuza and the 1980s: it always looked an ideal fit, and so it proves. Some encounters were quite challenging and demanded I pay attention, one mistake can cost you quite a bit of health.Bruising, bonkers and frequently brilliant, Yakuza 0 is Sega's cult favourite at its very best. When you’re fighting a big bad guy Yakuza 0 makes sure you know it, making triumph over them all the sweeter. Beating up cocky Yakuza henchmen never gets old, and thanks to a fantastic localisation, a lot of the more significant fights have great build-up. Kiryu’s are a little more traditional than Majima’s, who employs the use of a baseball bat and break-dancing. Combat is carried out with punches and kicks, with each character having three distinct fighting styles. As Kiryu (and a little later as Majima) you’ll spend most of your time dealing with the various crime families, a mysterious Real Estate Agency that even has the Yakuza running scared and a large number of side activities including hitting a few balls at the batting range, karaoke (complete with a button-mashing rhythm game), ten-pin bowling, Mah Jong and more.
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