Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Review – More Twists Than Kamurocho’s Streets!

by Jim Smale · Published June 13, 2025 · Updated July 1, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2nhjslX9as

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut – Overview Trailer 1-888-YAKUZA0 | Nintendo Switch™ 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2nhjslX9as)

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Review Pros

Gorgeous graphics.
45.3GB Download size.
Three voice choices – Japanese, English, and Chinese.
A full completion list that is seperate by type and pops up when completed.
Gore options – normal or mild.
3 game difficulties – Easy, normal and hard.
Action-adventure gameplay.
Tutorial pop-ups and set pieces as you play.
Fast loading times.
The in-game cutscenes and interactions are brilliant.
Amazing voice work, no matter the language.
You can skip the cutscenes and fast-forward interactions.
A full 3D game world, and you have 360-degree camera control.
Third-person view.
A compelling story covering the rise of the young Yakuza Kazuma Kiryu of the Dojima family. Framed for a murder he didn’t commit, Kiryu must find the culprit and bring them to justice, but the path is a dangerous one, and he must cross several lines to succeed.
Play as two characters, Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima.
Take in the beauty of the two cities, Kamurocho and Sotenbori. Both are unique but wonderful living, breathing cities offering many activities, shops and experiences.
Open world action game with RPG elements like player levelling and load-out management.
Free roam, you can take in all the cities have to offer without being forced to do the main story.
Optional side quests are found all over and, to be honest, are worth doing not only for EXP and items, but for how absurd and funny some of these missions are. I would say they are just as good, if not better than the main story!
Items have rarity levels to them.
Fast loading times with no hard loading for fights, including street encounters.
Perfect game for newcomers as it’s the most polished, but also sets up the other games.
Random fights/encounters, you see the enemy and can run away, but doing them triggers fights.
Fighting is a lot slicker, Chaining combos is easy and punching/kicking enemies causes them to drop money. Earn more money for combos and using Heat moves or items.
Press R and A to instantly end conversations outside of the cutscenes.
Loading that was in previous versions isn’t here now, so going into fights is instant.
All new Heat moves. Heat is something you build in fights, and once the Heat bar is filled, you glow blue and can do Jackie Chan levels of crazy finishing moves. Heat moves are not limited to punches and kicks either, Grab a bike/sign and go nuts…Think of the money!
CP (Completion Points:) Earn points for completing the tasks in the CP list. A bit like achievements, you get a tracker that shows progress. Use your CP at the CP shrines and exchange them for new buffs and abilities like more health or faster running, etc. An example of CP tasks is something like doing 5 heat moves or walking x amount of miles in the game.
Play how you want.
Save locations are phone boxes, and they are all over the place.
Many memorable characters.
I love that you can pick up a bike and hit people with it, and it breaks as it hits them, meaning by the end, you have just a wheel.
Learn new fighting styles that trigger this cool-looking montage where Kiryu will reenact the moves and style.
Side missions are just as zany and out there as the main story and are all optional.
Arcade- In-game visit SEGA amusements and play classic games, Space Harrier and Outrun or maybe chill out on the claw machine. Each game is a full-screen rendition of the retro classics.
The soundtrack is simply superb.
Mr Shakedown NPC, who walks the streets and will attack on sight. He will take all your money from you if he wins. Similarly, if you win, you take his money, but man, he is tough.
Hidden collectables. Every Yakuza game has them, and this time it’s telephone cards of women.
Fighting styles- You can unlock up to 4 fighting styles for each character. This allows a varied approach to fights. From standard to crazy bat-wielding styles, the choices mean no fight is ever the same.
Atmosphere is next level, Interact with strangers, People watching is just as engrossing and creepy as it is in real life.
Buy and sell items in the many shops.
Video theater-Here you can watch sexy videos of women you have encountered in the world. Not much I can say, really, except the room has a box of tissues and a big screen TV, and men will be men.
Friendships can strike up with NPCs, and increasing this will get you rewards.
Save at phone boxes and from the pause menu, and finally, the save process is just smooth. For context in the PlayStation versions, it would go to save, then pop up with a location, then go to another menu and save.
Activities- Within the game world are many, many activities for you to partake in. From bowling to fishing to karaoke to the awesome RC car racing circuit. Here you can buy new cars and even new parts, and take part in tournaments. The activities have always been a staple in the Yakuza games, and no expense has been spared here. You are well catered for.
Buy and eat the many types of food, and this also goes towards your completion.
Karaoke is a rhythm-based mini-game complete with its own rating of your performance.
Upgrade tree- Spend cash on upgrading your characters using in-game money, and the tree splits off into many areas.
Load-out- You can set up your characters with weapons or items like health buffs or a tool that beeps when near collectables.
The overall performance of the game is, on the whole, a lot better and smoother in both handheld and docked modes.
You will constantly be left open-jawed. You just cannot comprehend how big this game is. From walking into a restaurant and ordering food to dancing your ass off in a dance off. Just….awesome.
Fighting is visceral and pleasing. You feel so bad ass dishing out the smack down with anything at hand. You can do combos, pick up items and do heat moves, which are powerful combo enders.
Day/Night cycle amd you have some control over it.
Best played with headphones on, and you can just go to a better world.
Red Light Raid is an all-new seperate game mode that supports single and multiplayer. It boasts 60 characters who each have unique stats and fight styles, weapons, abilities, etc.
It is so satisfying seeing money flying around and the amount of money you earn popping up.
You earn cash and buy new characters in the red light raid mode, and progressing in the main game can unlock new moves and characters.
Online leaderboards for the red light raid.
Three ways to play red light raid mode: solo, raid online, and raid with friends.
Solo red light raid lets you choose if you want CPU teammates.
Red light raid is a series of fights against waves of enemies, and you can fight named bosses and have a final boss fight. You are timed and can earn more time, items drop for health and heat, plus you can still use weapons.
Full breakdown of money earned, stages cleared, etc, in the red light raid mode.
You can level up characters in the red light raid mode.
Red light raid has six missions, each with different difficulties and a number of levels.
Climax battles mode – Online score chaser event where you face off against enemies with restrictions or conditions.
This is a very smooth version of the game, and I honestly see little graphical difference from this and the PlayStation 4 versions of the game.

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Review Cons

You cannot pause the game in the red light raid mode, even in the solo offline mode.
No tutorials or anything for the red light raid mode.
Some animations are a bit janky.
You have to unlock the climax game mode.
Combat with multiple enemies in a small space can be frustrating as enemies hit you off-screen.
No online RC car racing!
Some optional side quests are boring and slow.
Annoying invisible walls.
Swapping styles is quick, but it also means you can accidentally swap.
I’m not a fan of some fighting styles, which is fine overall, but at times, it can be forced upon you.
You cannot remap the controls.
Having Kiryu stop and catch his breath when running is the level of immersion I do not want.
It’s annoying how you can’t sneak up and initiate fights against thugs.
There is pop in, but it is mostly on the clutter around the world, and it’s only when you are looking for it, really.