Switch 2's Yakuza 0 Director Cut is an upgraded version for new and old fans

Ryu Ga Gotoku fans are a special type of fanaticism, and almost every participant agrees with one thing: Yakuza 0 It is the best starting point in the Dragon/Yakuza series. Few people disagree that Yakuza 0 is one of the best champions in the entire series and remains one of the best games the studio has made. Even after eight main line titles –Yakuza Kiwami pass Like a dragon: infinite wealth– There is no game at all in the series as it feels like Yakuza 0. Fans will even beg for any of their friends, gamers, to play Yakuza 0 because it's really great.

When Yakuza Kiwami released on the Nintendo Switch last fall, fans expected Yakuza 0 to eventually enter the Nintendo platform, too. Although Kiwami has many technical issues running on the elderly console, RGG fans will be happy to know that the Yakuza 0 director's layoffs on the Nintendo Switch are smoother than the perfect score for “Friday Night” in the disco minigame.

If you haven't checked out Yakuza yet/Like the Dragon series, the director's editing is shaping is the best way to try it, as it's arranged in chronological order, and the new Nintendo Switch 2 version will have upgraded graphics and more features.

Yakuza 0 is still very special

Before I even immerse myself in the director’s cuts, I should probably explain why Yakuza 0 is unique and a newbie in the series.

Yakuza 0 took place 20 years before the event at Yakuza 1/Kiwami, and the franchise began initially. This is a dual deducer setup that highlights the series' main protagonist Kiryu Kazuma and one of the most popular characters in the series, Goro Majima. The transition between two characters between the story chapters, each with a different mission, combat style, mini-game, and is located in two separate cities in Japan, both of which are separate fiction (but based on real life).

This is my first time playing against Yakuza 0 and all my feelings are back. The Japanese bubble zone and neon aesthetics are just comforting and nostalgic. The soft light of the city, the garbage alleys, the colorful fashion – you can almost smell the smoke of cigarettes as you walk through Kamurocho.

Starting to demonstrate the cuts from the new director, I'm so happy to play again. Yakuza 0 is able to excellently balance its stupid material and side content with a serious traumatic plot without making either of them completely inappropriate. My thoughts on how much attention this game has been made, and how all the events that have happened in the arc of Kiryu and Majima ended in satisfactory returns and gave its future title with heartfelt honor.

New features of the director

Our brief demo begins in Chapter 3, just after Majima’s iconic character introduces cutscenes, you can play as him and explore Sotenbori for the first time. The gameplay changes little compared to the original graphics, but the graphics are distinct and the performance is smooth, which makes the experience easy to adapt to the new Nintendo Switch 2 controller.

We have to explore the areas in the newly added English dubbing. Matthew Mercer returns to Majima again, so the first thing I certainly have to do is check out his rendition of 24 Hours Cinderella in the karaoke Mini game – by the way. It's a little strange to be used to hearing the young Majima's voice in the British dubbing, but Mercer nailed the voice and attitude of the young gangster. Several other voice actors are also returning for the voiceover. Yong Ye is back at Kiryu, David Hayter is back at Barten- Err's voice, I mean Osamu Kashiwagi.

One of the annoying mechanisms in original Yakuza 0 is in saving. You can only save on phone booths, which makes it tough in long battles and cutscenes. In the director's edit, you can finally choose to save at any time. You can still use a phone booth for sorting storage, but now you don't have to keep reminding yourself to stop and save before you get stuck in a story or accompanying content.

We haven't explored more gameplay or any of Kiryu's games, but I can say it would be a great release champion for the Switch 2. Additionally, we were told that there will be more than 25 minutes of added cutscenes in the story, that's all, that's all, and that's all, that's what it means to convince a lot of old fans to bite the bullet and buy this game.

Red light raid mode

The second part of the demo lets us return to the main menu and see the new Red Light Raid Mode – you can play a new online battle mode with single or multiplayer games. Side note, I noticed in the main menu that the OG Yakuza 0 theme is Shōnanno Kaz's “Bubble”. Initially, it wasn't licensed for the US version, so that's cool.

Red Light Raid Mode has six challenges, all of which are raiders, where you can collect with waves of enemies and bosses to unlock more characters. Most characters are all kinds of NPCs and enemies you encounter throughout the game, thus building up random mistakes and terrifying boss fun. You can choose a fighting style for each raid, so it's great for new hot action and combos, although all I did was choose Kiryu's beast mode and throw a motorcycle at each enemy.

The challenge of each wave will eventually become more and more difficult, which will quickly become compelling. I always felt that Yakuza’s Beat'em Up Combat became a little easier, so having something like that was like a real challenge. I'm sure I'll spend too many hours when Nishiki is waiting for me somewhere in Karaoke bar.

The final thought

Overall, the cuts from the Yakuza 0 director offer more new features than I expected, besides the already awesome game. Upgraded gameplay, added cutscenes and online mode should be a great experience for new and old fans, and I'm very happy to see the love of Nintendo fans for our Yakuza Boys growing. I can already see Ryu Gagoku Fandom expanding with this version and can't wait to relive those young Kiryu and Majima Days by myself.