‘Yakuza 0’s Switch 2 Version Cements One of My Biggest Worries About the Franchise​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Yakuza 0 is unequivocally a masterpiece, the best Yakuza game hands-down — in my mind, one of the most important games ever made. It’s a fascinating character-driven drama set to the backdrop of Japan’s bubble era, a 1980s playground where real estate boomed. It’s a game that’s moody, thematic, topical, and impactful in all the best ways, a must-play of the century. That’s exactly what has me feeling a little lost by the Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut on Nintendo Switch 2, a game that, on a technical level, is undoubtedly the single best way to play. But it also feels emblematic of the creative rut that the series is starting to feel stuck in, an unwillingness to move on from the past. As much as I love Yakuza 0, this release does help cement a worry that’s been at the back of my brain for the series at large.

Note: This article contains spoilers for Yakuza 0.

For a little context, Yakuza 0 originally released on PS3 and PS4 in Japan in 2015, before making its way to North America in 2017. A prequel to the rest of the games, Yakuza 0 was the inflection point for the franchise — the big break it finally needed. It quickly became a cult classic and catapulted Yakuz to worldwide popularity that’s only continually increased in the years since. So it’s undeniable that it has a vital place in Yakuza/Like a Dragon at large.

With that in mind, it makes sense that Yakuza 0 would get a rerelease right now, especially in time for its 10th anniversary and with the launch of a notable new console. And yes, this is the best-looking version of the game to date. Yakuza 0 looks absolutely stunning on the Switch 2 with visual upgrades that makes the moody streets of Kamurocho pop, and a stable 60 fps. It also feels like the perfect game to take on the go. But then we start to get to the “changes” of the game, which have me scratching my head.

The Director’s Cut features 30 minutes of “new” cutscenes, although these are more cut content than something entirely made from scratch. On top of that, there’s a brand new multiplayer mode called Red Light Raid, where players can team up to beat down a stream of thugs. While Yakuza has featured multiplayer elements before, like Yakuza 6’s Clan Battle, this is the first time the series has had a bespoke muliplayer mode.

While I’m never one to say no to new content, both of these “additions” feel like limp justifications for a new fully-priced version of the game. Red Light Raid feels like a throwback to the Xbox 360 era where every game had to have some tacked-on multiplayer. It feels hollow and vapid, sending your online team through lengthy and monotonous brawls that fail to really capitalize on both the brutality and absurdity of the game’s combat system. And that’s a big letdown, because I do think multiplayer modes could work exceptionally well in Yakuza, implemented in the right way. But Red Light Raid really feels like an afterthought here.

But even past that, the bigger problem is the new cutscenes, which actively make Yakuza 0’s narrative worse, in an astounding way. There are some baffling choices in these scenes, chief among them the reveal that the assassin Wen Hai Lee didn’t actually die in the carbomb, and is, somehow, alive. Other scenes revive bit charcters and go to great lengths to outright say some of the more nicely subtle narrative bits of the game. Instead of us simply seeing Majima took the time and care to fix Makoto’s watch, we now have to hear him say he’s going to fix it.

As someone who’s played Yakuza 0 multiple times I hate to say most of these scenes actively make the story worse — and the hard thing to think about is this is how some people will experience this game for the very first time. If you don’t know these cutscens are new, you’ll have no idea.

Yakuza has a long history of reviving deceased characters in ridiculous ways, but Wen Hai Lee’s feels particularly eggregious. His death is a major climactic moment in the story, especially in terms of Majima’s character development, and him choosing to lean into the Mad Dog persona to keep those he cares about safe. Even if these scenes are “cut” content, they’re integrated into the game like normal, which again hurts the interpretation of the story for anyone new.

But Yakuza undoing a major dramatic death feels indicative of the series’ reluctance to leave the past alone. Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Yakuza 7) felt like a fresh start for the franchise, inroduding the new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, a turn-based battle system, new setting, and more. But since then we’ve seen Yakuza struggle to meaningfully use that new foundation.

As much as I might love games like Infinite Wealth, The Man Who Erased His Name, and Pirate Yakuza — there’s an undeniable sense of not being able to move forward. After a fitting ending in Yakuza 0, Kazuma Kiryu was brought back for Infinite Wealth. While his story does delve into the nature of ageing and confronting mortality, there’s still an element of it feeling like its overstaying its welcome. And that idea can be extrapolated to the likes of Pirate Yakuza as well — a spinoff that despite trying new things, is undeniabely stuck in the old ways of the franchise. These last three games have also seen the return of nearly a half-dozen characters that past games had “killed,” including the owner of Revolve Bar, aka Yakuza 3’s Andre Richardson.

More than anything, that’s what worries me the most about Yakuza right now, an unwillingness to let the past go, and a constant need to “return” to things. Lee’s revival in Yakuza 0 feels sloppy, and it’s starting to feel like there are no real stakes in the Yakuza franchise — do deaths actually mean anything?

On the surface, every recent Yakuza game has still been a good game. They all have compelling themes, complex characters, gameplay improvements, and fantastically realized settings. But I simply can’t deny the creeping feeling that’s been building. It’s like the shining veener that’s kept me enthralled for so many years is starting to show wear and tear, cracks are starting to form.

More than anything, it feels like Yakuza needs to take some time off, stop the blistering release cadence and really reasses the core of the franchise — especially in terms of the kind of stories and narratives it wants to tell.

I’m glad Yakuza 0 is out there for more people to discover, but it’s still dumbfounding to me that those people will experience a legimately weaker version of the story than I did — and I hope that’s just a one-time occurence.

Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut is available exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.