Yakuza: Every Game Ranked From Worst To Best

After the bloat of Yakuza 5, the best way forward was backwards, with this 80s set prequel showcasing the franchise in absolute steller conditions.

This iconic Japanese era is lovingly recreated with the tinted neon glow and grimy streets of that decade's flavour. Sure, it doesn’t turn the dial up to Vice City excess, but it does add a fresh coat of paint to familiar settings with plenty of fun opportunities to tear up the disco between missions.

The plot trims the fat and brings the series back to an involving and grounded crime tale, focusing on two essential characters - Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima - and delving into their colourful past history, both with heartfelt consequences. The writing and performances are absolutely top-notch, with yakuza movie icons, like Riki Takeuchi and Tetsuya Watari, filling up the colourful roster.

The wacky side-quests and activities are plentiful and enjoyably distracting, with constant temptations to go off the beaten path and uncover whatever weird treasures the game is hiding; from stealthily attempting to buy porn, to hilarious breakdance battling.

The Yakuza games have several plates to spin with every entry - the open-world, the main story, the combat, the side-quests - with some stronger in certain aspects, whilst faltering in others. Not so with Yakuza 0, it easily sits at the top with every essential item reaching peak quality - in what is the definitive Yakuza experience.