Yakuza 0 is by far one of my favorite open world singleplayer games that I've ever played both due to the overall great setting and atmosphere but the gameplay and combat is some of the best fun I've had in a while.

Yakuza, and like so the Yakuza games as a whole are a rather unique experience that isn't quite like any game I've ever actually played in the past. Besides being an open world game it is also a third person beat em up game where melee combat is the main focus, unlike most games attempting to recreate the Akrham combat system, Yakuza 0 is all about button mashing someone's face in with over the top violence and brutality. The open world by itself is rather compact however densely populated with an abundance of minigames to choose from such as Karaoke, disco and bowling to name a few which really adds to the overall experience given the game really gives you a taste of what it'd feel like to actually visit Japan in the late 80's, minus being assaulted for no reason in public. As for the length, the gameplay is surprisingly addictive, you can find yourself playing for days worth of gameplay without even bothering with the main story due to the selection of distractions and other minigames in store for you.


The story of Yakuza 0 is a remarkably enjoyable experience by itself, it is a rather cinematic game with a great writing to it that is sure to leave you with an emotional impact by the end of it all, well written characters as well as the overall plot make the game have that much more of an immersive feeling both from supporting characters as well as enemies you will meet. Considering this game is a prequel to the original Yakuza that came out in 2005 on the PS2 this game is the go to starting game if you consider trying out Yakuza following up to the remaster of the first game Yakuza Kiwami.


The soundtrack is stunning, purely stunning. Even now I still listen to some of my more favorable tracks on a daily basis and I never grow tired of it, 80's rock among other genres really have a strong feel given this game's theme and it never disappoints.

The game, as well as generally speaking the entire Yakuza franchise is entirely in Japanese with English subtitles, this might seem offputting at first for people like me who prefer to play their games in English, but given the overall impressive voice acting as well as general feel of the game, you wouldn't want it any other way.

The PC port is surprisingly optimized despite the overall poor release state considering the glitches and crashes it suffered at first, you can run this game pretty easily with fairly low tier rigs and that is rather welcoming by itself.

If you're wondering if you should get into the Yakuza franchise, this is the game to do it, I myself got absolutely HOOKED into Yakuza since I played this and even took the extra mile to be able to play the other games before they've released on PC, I'm just in love with this game, and I'm sure you will be too.

Overall excellent experience, 9/10!

Co op puzzle platformers are by no means my favorite kind of game. That said, I did enjoy Hazelight's previous game It Takes Two and loved A Way Out so seeing Josef Fares made a new game already gave me a lot to hope for. The setting and characters however didn't fill me with confidence when I first heard about the game as I didn't really know what to expect going in.

I was however foolish to ever doubt Fares and his vision. So I can confidently say this game exceeded my expectations and then some.

Split Fiction is much like It Takes Two. Except noticeably harder. And crazier. And dare I say much more fun overall if you can believe it. The amount of ideas and gimmicks and minigames put here is nothing short of amazing. Across various Sci Fi and Fantasy worlds the game manages to put you through various scenarios and stories allowing for a rich variety of gameplay quirks and always keeps you guessing what fun ability you and your co op buddy will get to use next. And the variety of gameplay elements and minigames is absolutely insane. You'll never see it coming. That's half the fun of this adventure though, the thrill of finding out what else can these people come up with and put it in videogame form, to say the people who made the levels and designed the gameplay did an amazing job would be an understatement.

As far as puzzles go most of them are thankfully pretty straightforward. Though there have been a few times where me and my co op buddy were a bit stumped but that was fairly rare.

In terms of the overall story, It was a fairly interesting one but nothing memorable. it does have some emotional moments which I found surprising but nothing that really moved me drastically. A Way Out still carries that one for me. As for the characters? Surprisingly likeable. I had my reservations going into this game, I will admit, let alone hearing about it get announced. I can confidently say that the protagonists in this game are pretty good and never annoyed me in any way like I expected.

I want to quickly mention the last portion of the game, without going into detail. Absolutely bonkers. Just insane. This game needs to be studied on a technical level because I didn't even know you could do what this game did near the ending. And no I won't mention it outright but let's just say I found myself asking "How is this even possible? How did they do that??"

Rarely has a game ever made me audibly go "This is so cool" or be genuinely impressed. I highly reccomend Split Fiction to anyone looking to play a memorable adventure with a friend. Doubly so with how insanely consumer friendly the 'Friend Pass' system is as well as getting rid of EA account and software DRM entirely from the game.

Josef Fares , I kneel.