Yakuza 0

Yakuza 0 is a prequel to the whole series, set at the end of the 1980s during Japan's economic bubble. The player alternates between young Kazuma Kiryu in Tokyo's Kamurocho and Goro Majima in Osaka's Sotenbori, with each character working through their own plot that gradually intertwines. Fights take place right in the streets, and each character has three switchable combat styles, from a quick dancer's tempo to heavy, crushing blows. On top of that come flashy finishing moves the game displays with obvious delight in over-the-top spectacle.

Alongside the main story, which is surprisingly serious and well written, sits an enormous amount of side content. The player can run a real estate business or a cabaret club, sing karaoke, play period-appropriate arcade machines, go fishing, bet on horse races, and solve dozens of bizarre stories involving passersby, ranging from comedy to touching little dramas. It's precisely this contrast between the harsh underworld and utter silliness that's typical of the series. On PlayStation 4 the game came out first in Japan and reached the rest of the world two years later; technically it was a clean, smoothly running version with substantially reworked environments.

Western reviews were enthusiastic, and this entry is often cited as the title that opened the series up to a worldwide audience. Criticism mentioned a slower start and a large amount of reading. Its influence lies in showing just how well a smaller, densely packed urban space can work instead of a huge empty map. Today Yakuza 0 is the most frequently recommended entry point into the whole series and one of the most substantial games ever released on PlayStation 4. Anyone who lets themselves get pulled in will find that the main storyline is just a skeleton, onto which an entire city full of little stories is layered, and that people keep coming back to Kamurocho even after finishing the game, just to play a round of mahjong or sing a song at a bar.