Yakuza

In Sega’s offices, seated in front of a Nintendo Switch 2 console running Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, I was told: “Right, now it’s time to make a lobby.” Jesus. I don’t know these people here at the event with me (I’m pretty sure I’m the only member of the UK press, actually). This is going to be awful. S**t. S**t. S**t.

The PR comes over, loads me into one of the most rudimentary lobbies I’ve seen in a game in the last 20 years, and we get going. I’m presented with a screen that looks like something from a 00s fighting game (no shame there, Tekken is great) where I’m asked to select one character from the entire Yakuza 0 roster. I choose Goro Majima, obviously.

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The lead player boots us into a game, and we’re off: four ragtag Yakuza 0 models – antagonists, people you’ll see in side missions, and major characters all together – start fending off waves of hired goons. It’s stupid: four men yelling, powering up, and battering wave after wave of leather jacket-wearing thugs in the middle of a Japanese street in the 80s. Someone gets pile-drivered into a bin. Someone spins around whilst brandishing a knife until they fall over. This is Yakuza, alright, and it works weirdly well in multiplayer.

And there’s the thing, then. This version of Yakuza 0 is a Switch 2 exclusive (for now, at least). So if you want to try out this baffling rumpus of a mode, you’re going to need to shell out the £45 asking price. Is it worth it? Probably not on its own, but it is a fascinating insight into how Sega, and probably Nintendo, sees what the Switch 2 is putting down for consumers.

This mode, Red Light Raid, is silly fun. It’s an arcade-inspired, wave-based curio that focuses solely on the game’s esoteric combat and pushes the brawling mechanics of the game to breaking point in makeshift arenas that can barely contain the game’s burgeoning chaos. I imagine that with a fully-working GameChat function, you and your mates can have a blast in this mode; shouting about taking down bosses, squabbling over who gets to keep which item as they fall on the floor, jostling over weapons dropped by thugs. It’ll be fun.

It’s also a fascinating way for the RGG Studio folks to reuse assets in a fun way; the character select screen is huge. It’s got 60 playable characters! And you can level up each of the fighters, too. Completionists, watch out. I imagine it’ll take forever. Notably, if you’re playing as either Kiryu or Majima, you’ll have to choose just one style. Otherwise you’d have an unfair advantage via style switching, especially over characters like those found in the fight club that are limited to quite a small selection of moves. Then again, Ginger Chapman has a knife, and Vengeful Otake has a gun. So.

Get ready for a new challenger. | Image credit: Sega

I really can imagine whole nights of sitting in this mode and working through the various courses RGG has set you as a gauntlet. It was all a bit braindead in the early levels I played with my erstwhile colleagues at the event, but I should hope that the later levels ramp up the challenge to some degree, at least.

Chatting with mates, thumping waifs and strays over and over again, and being able to see their little low-res faces as they get their asses handed to them by shirtless men with back tattoos… is that Nintendo’s vision for the Switch 2? To have us all collected in a little lobby like the Uno/Xbox 360 days, gawping at cartoonish hyperviolence on our tiny little 4K monitors? If that’s what Ninty is putting down, I guess that’s what I’m picking up. It sounds great.

But it’s weird that it’s on Sega and RGG to release a game like this – as a launch exclusive – on Switch 2. There are other draws, sure: 26 minutes of never-before-scene cutscenes (though that’s not much in the scheme of things), and a French, Italian, German and Spanish text option now, too (this was missing before). As well as an English voiceover. So there are small temptations for you to double-dip on this, but as a locked exclusive it feels peculiar.

Watch your back. | Image credit: Sega

But isn’t it that exact sort-of off-beat weirdness that we all love Nintendo for? In a way, it reminds me of the bizarre bonus content that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 got for the Nintendo Wii U that never made it to other platforms: Mushroom Battle mode and Tekken Ball, which were sorely missed elsewhere. But it wanted to play into the Wii U’s ‘social’ side more, similar to what RGG and Sega is doing here with Red Light Raid mode… I just don’t really know who it’s for.

It’s not bad. It’s fun! And it plays really well. But you have to assume it’s going to come to other platforms, too, hopefully alongside a cheaper upgrade option so that you don’t have to buy the full product just to get the ‘definitive’ version of the game (Sega’s words, not mine). As a product on Switch 2, it looks, plays, and feels great… but let’s just hope it’s not locked onto the platform forever.

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut launches alongside Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5. Yakuza 0 originally released in 2015 on PS3 and PS4, later coming to Xbox One.

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This is the first time I’ve returned to Yakuza 0 since I first played it when it was released on PS4 in 2017. Despite coming out the same week as other notable PS4 games like Resident Evil 7 and Gravity Rush 2, it went on to be a massive success.

For those unfamiliar with Yakuza or the larger Like a Dragon series, the series started on the PlayStation 2 and is often seen as a successor to Shenmue. The original games are 3D beat-em ups with gripping crime drama stories that house tons of twists and turns. They’re also known for their copius amounts of side activities and those are just as plentiful as the story itself. Whether you’re playing classic Sega arcade games, singing karaoke, racing RC cars, playing darts, or even a business management minigame. Yakuza 0 specifically is a series prequel that first launched worldwide in January 2017 and this Director’s Cut release is the first time the game has come to a Nintendo platform.

Yakuza 0 made its way to Xbox and PC but that port was content adjacent to that original PlayStation 3 and 4 releases. Director’s Cut adds tons of additional content such as additional cutscenes, a new English dub, and the biggest addition is probably an entire raid mode with online support. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here, as we didn’t get to experience a ton in the short time we had with the game.

We were dropped into the beginning of Chapter 3, playing as Majima with his standard form for combat. I ran around Sotenbori for a bit, tried to go fishing but failed, played some Space Harrier, and punched some goons. The game ran at a decent frame rate and resolution, 1080p and 60 frames per second. Though it’s worth noting the high amount of pop in and the texture quality being low on both the UI and the signs around the city. I imagine the game will look fine in handheld mode, but it was worth noting.

Combat felt responsive, I was able to pull off combos consistently enough though options were limited because of the placement in the story. Given how short our playtime was, we didn’t get to hear much of the English dub but I imagine if you’ve enjoyed Matt Mercer’s take on the Mad Dog so far, you’ll enjoy his performance here.

After a while we were told to hop to the main menu to try the new Raid Mode. The raid mode has multiple challenges from level one to six, though we only were told to try levels one and three. Each one has multiple stages – each with their own layouts, weapon pickups, and even some boss fights.

There are over 60 playable characters, mostly comprised of various goons you’ll encounter in Yakuza 0. But all three forms of Kiryu and Majima, along with a few of the boss characters like Kuze – with their own movesets. I immediately jumped into the third rank, safety be damned. I’m a gamer, I’m tough enough. And yeah, if you’ve played a decent amount of Yakuza 0, the first couple tiers may be a bit easy. But even then, what I played felt like a well-balanced challenge.

I played as Kiryu just to keep things simple for the time being but there’s an entire system of landing hits to build up combos which grants additional money and time. It’s a fun beat-em up mode but like some Yakuza side modes, this is more of an extensive minigame than it is its own entire game.

Maybe in a demo setting, it doesn’t feel as satisfying since almost everything gets unlocked after finishing one round. There is a leveling system as well, which I imagine will add replayability, using the money you earn from challenges to increase the capabilities of your lineup. It’ll be interesting to see how well the full mode plays once the game is out, but for what it’s worth, this was a fun time. I imagine it’ll all come together more once we have access to the online modes where you can play with friends or randoms.

Overall, Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut is shaping up to be yet another fantastic experience. Yakuza 0 is already one of Sega’s greatest games of the modern era with its intense narrative and cavalcade of side content both heartfelt and silly. Having all of that portably on Nintendo Switch 2 with additional options, features, and a new mode has me really excited for the full release on June 5th. Thanks again to Sega for the opportunity! You can expect GamingTrend will be covering Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut and more near launch in just a couple weeks. We also have previews for Atlus’s Raidou Remastered and Sega’s Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S if you’re interested in those so keep it locked to GamingTrend!

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Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Red Light Raid Mode is baffling, totally on-brand, and a weirdly good fit as part of a Nintendo Switch 2 launch game

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut preview