It should be a testament to the enduring strength of a video game when, in a year that I would not hesitate to call my busiest and most hectic ever, I spent 179 hours playing this particular game. Any spare moment in the first half of the year that I got to play video games, that was not for a video essay project or a stream, I seemed to spend on Yakuza 0.

I must admit, I was not quite sure the game would fit me. I thought the game might be either a bit too silly, or that I might bounce off the gameplay, which I worried at the start might get repetitive. But this game never, ever got old for me. Well, maybe the mahjong and the fishing… but basically everything else just seemed to grab me and never let go.

It’s almost embarrassing to admit, but the soundtrack for Yakuza 0 is often a daily listen. Video game nostalgia seems to be built on the back of soundtracks. Vincent Rone in his book “Nostalgia and Videogame Music: A Primer of Case Studies, Theories, and Analyses for the Player-Academic”, argues that “videogames and their music have contributed to and can help explain the explosion of nostalgia studies within the last twenty years” (2022, 11). Players therefore can co-script their virtual experiences, which documents “the unfolding of a journey that encodes itself into autobiographical memories, constituting a type of lived experience. Players recollecting their experiences then can shape part of their identities. VGM in turn accompanies this process and makes those memories even more indelible and retrievable” (2022, 11). In the case of Yakuza 0‘s astoundingly good soundtrack, it felt like the nostalgic memories were being indexed right there and then, right in front of me, in soundtrack form. I will never, ever forget the triumph that climaxed my 179 hours of Yakuza 0 when my final boss battle culminated in me with no healing items and down to one hit left of health. Heart racing, literally on the edge of my seat, I fought furiously, using every single trick that all the gameplay before had taught me. And maybe that wouldn’t have been so memorable if this track hadn’t been playing.

But the music isn’t all that’s good about the game. No, of course not. The game has a dynamic and fun brawling system, which meant that on my journey for 100% completion, a steady and constant source of amusement was getting better at the fighting, particularly as Majima. Majima’s fighting styles were insanely fun and each had technical moments of mastery that Kiryu’s sometimes didn’t supply. But you get to play as two fascinating characters nonetheless, each with awe-inspiring moments of storytelling and character development. There were two scenes (one each) that made me tear up and cry, one of those scenes making me cry both playthroughs I played; if I hadn’t quite figured it out before, then I knew at that moment, when I was tearing up – this game had won me over, heart and soul.

Much has been said about the Yakuza series’ big heart, and that is certainly true. Each character is cast to perfection, with great voice acting driving stirring writing and moments of incredible tension in the cutscenes. Those tense cutscenes are overwhelmed by a tsunami of excitement and urgency as gameplay starts and a boss’ name pops up on the screen, with, again, the music flaring dramatically. Yakuza 0 always leaves the fights to you, and it shines here, allowing you the fantasy of being the ultimate action movie badass. But he’s always a badass with heart, someone who at the end of the day will do the right thing. The scumbags you go up against always have legitimate reasons for their scumbaggery, and sometimes even turn out to be tragic villains, or at least villains who you can respect. Each of them is a worthy, epic encounter.

In a game already filled with amazing storytelling and character-driven drama (the cutscenes are gorgeously shot and presented too), it is stunning to realize that there is so much more beneath the surface. Eight combat styles to master, a literal completion list of hundreds of things to see and do across two small but intimate hub cities, countless minigames, and a sense of immersion that few games ever get to achieve. By the end of the game, it felt hard to wrench myself away from the struggles of Kiryu and Majima.

Yakuza 0 has stamped itself irrevocably on my mind. From its amazing action movie set pieces, to its tear-jerking dramatic moments, to the soundtrack that will probably never get old, to the characters that come straight off the screen and fire up the imagination, it is no wonder the game is such an enduring presence within not just the Yakuza franchise, but gaming culture. I will never forget those early nights playing Yakuza 0, no idea what to expect, curtains drawn, believing that any moment could be the end for any character I see on screen. It is a taut, ruthless thriller of a plot with enough engaging silliness that you will absolutely never forget it. For a year that has been so stressful for me, with so many different new obstacles thrown my way almost every week, getting to engage with the world presented in Yakuza 0 was a joy. The conflicted heroics and stubborn individualism of Kiryu; the dramatic descent into a desire for revenge that was Majima’s story; the disco dancing minigame being so damn fun; I will not forget this game until the day I die.

If you like video games, you owe this one to yourself. I was filled with joy, a raw respect for the medium of video games, at almost every moment.  Fight the first boss – then see if you can put the game down. I dare you!