Yakuza 0
| Yakuza 0 | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Sega |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Producer(s) | Toshihiro Nagoshi |
| Writer(s) | Masayoshi Yokoyama |
| Series | Yakuza |
| Platform(s) |
PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 |
| Release date(s) |
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Yakuza 0 (Japanese: 龍が如く0 誓いの場所 Hepburn: Ryū ga Gotoku Zero: Chikai no Basho, lit. "Like a Dragon 0: The Place of Oath") is a open world, action-adventure video game and is also a prequel to the Yakuza series of video games, developed and published by Sega. The game takes place in December 1988 in Kamurocho, a fictionalized recreation of Tokyo's Kabukicho and Shinjuku Golden Gai areas and Sotenbori, a fictionalized recreation of Osaka's Dotonbori. It was released in Japan for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in March 2015,[2][3] with the Taiwanese version released in May 2015. A North American and European release is scheduled for the PlayStation 4 in January 2017.
A free accompanying game application for PlayStation Vita, titled Ryū ga Gotoku 0: Free to Play Application for PlayStation Vita (龍が如く0 基本無料アプリ for PlayStation Vita), was released on February 26, 2015.[3]
Gameplay
Yakuza 0 is an open world, action-adventure video game. The game takes place in December 1988 in Kamurocho and Sotenbori, a fictionalized recreation of Tokyo's Kabukicho Shinjuku Golden Gai areas and Osaka's Dotonbori areas.
A major innovation of 0 is the addition of styles for both Kiryu and Majima that can be switched in the middle of battle. Kiryu has Brawler (a balanced style similar to the one he's used in the previous entries), Beast (a powerful but slow style that allows him to use heavy weapons), and Rush (a fast boxing style that emphasizes mobility) while Majima has Thug (a balanced style), Slugger (a weapons-oriented style with liberal use of a baseball bat), and Breaker (a tricky style utilizing dance moves).
Character customization and growth is similar to the system from Isshin, with abilities earned by buying them off of a skill tree that is gradually unlocked during the game. Instead of using experience to buy skills the player instead uses money acquired from fights or via Kiryu and Majima's side businesses. Money is more liberally awarded in game than previous entries with every heavy attack causing enemies to drop cash. The player can lose their money if they encounter a special enemy called Mr. Shakedown, huge men who are far stronger than normal. If the player is beaten they will lose all their cash, but can beat the enemy again to earn back their money and extra.
Kiryu and Majima also have side businesses that they run during the game with Kiryu investing real estate in Kamurocho while Majima runs a hostess club. Finishing these rewards the player with Kiryu and Majima's secret styles, Dragon of Dojima and Mad Dog respectively which are in-tune with entries later in the series' timeline.
Plot
In December, 1988, two unlikely figures from the Yakuza world, Kazuma Kiryu of the Kantō region and Goro Majima of the Kansai Region, have suddenly found themselves getting involved in the terrible events of the so-called "Vacant Lot" dispute, which is the centrepiece of power struggle for all the dark organizations across Japan. In order to find out the truth behind such a power struggle, as well as maintain their own innocence and safety, they set out to investigate all the events surrounding the "Vacant Lot" incident.
In Kamurocho, Kiryu is suspected of murder after the man that he has collected money from winds up dead in a piece of real estate that is hotly contested. Kiryu's boss, Sohei Dojima, offers a promotion to second-in-command of the Dojima Family to whomever can find the deed to the land and thus the most ruthless members go after Kiryu. On the run, Kiryu must prove his innocence thus keeping his foster father from facing retribution for introducing him into the clan.
In Osaka, Goro Majima runs a cabaret club after being exiled from the Tojo Clan due to the Ueno-Seiwa hit years earlier. Despite his club being highly successful, he realizes it's nothing more than cage as he's under constant surveillance. One day, he's offered the chance to redeem himself by assassinating a target. He takes the job, but can't go through with it when he realizes his target is in fact a defenseless blind girl. He decides to protect her instead and find out why she's being targeted.
Development
The game was first announced in a special Yakuza event on August 24, 2014 together with a trailer.[4] A Chinese-language localisation of the game was announced in 2014 and eventually released in Asia in May 2015.
On December 5, 2015, at PlayStation Experience 2015 in San Francisco, Sony Computer Entertainment's Gio Corsi announced that Yakuza 0 will be coming to the Americas for the PlayStation 4. While a trailer for the game was released that ends with the statement that it will be releasing in North America and Europe, later that day Sega posted a tweet, on Twitter, saying "We know the Yakuza series is loved by all its fans in Europe but unfortunately at this time we're not able to confirm a Yakuza 0 EU release". Since then that same trailer is now on YouTube with that same statement at the end but with the word Europe removed
In July 2016, it was announced that the game would release in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 4 in January 2017.[5]
Reception
Yakuza 0 debuted at number 1 on the Japan software chart in its first week of release. The PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation 4 version sold 146,000 units and 90,000 sales respectively.[6] PlayStation LifeStyle's review of the PS4 version was a 9/10, calling it the best in the series and "the result of 10 years spent not just perfecting a formula, but adding to it."[7] The game received a 36/40 from Famitsu on both platforms.[8]
Sales
As of June 2015, the game has sold over 500,000 copies within Japan and Chinese-speaking regions of Asia.[9] Sega president Haruki Satomi stated that the Chinese version of the game sold more than originally expected.[10]
References
- ↑ Romano, Sal (July 27, 2016). "Yakuza 0 launches January 24 in the west". Gematsu. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
- ↑ http://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/zero/news.html
- 1 2 "『龍が如く0 誓いの場所』ゲーム内容の一部を基本無料でプレイできるアプリが、PS Vita向けに配信決定". ファミ通.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ↑ "『龍が如く0 誓いの場所』が発表された"龍が如く特別番組"レポ！ 激戦を制したセクシー女優の目に涙が!?". 電撃Online. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ↑ "Yakuza 0 Launches January 24, 2017, Exclusively on PS4". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- ↑ Sal Romano (18 March 2015). "Media Create Sales: 3/9/15 – 3/15/15". Gematsu. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ↑ "Review". PlayStationLifeStyle. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ↑ Sal Romano (2015-03-03). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1370". Gematsu. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- ↑ http://gematsu.com/2015/06/yakuza-0-sales-top-500000
- ↑ "Sega president on current console market, potential Tokyo Game Show announcement". Gematsu. July 7, 2015.