As soon as I jumped into the wild world of Sega’s open-world brawler I knew I was playing one of my favourite games of all time. Its hefty street punch-ups reminded me of Streets Of Rage, the earnest yet ridiculous story brought me back to the first time I played the original Metal Gear Solid, and the mini-games… well, those are just Yakuza, aren’t they? As you get older, there isn’t as much time to fully immerse yourself in something. You enjoy whatever it is and then you move on, because you have to put on a wash, or make the dinner. But this introduction to Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima struck me so hard that I felt compelled to learn more about the Tojo Clan, Kamurocho and everything else Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio had to offer. I’m not going to try to persuade you to play Yakuza 0 with a bellowed call to arms. You likely already know if you want to dip your toe into the crime-filled world of Yakuza. But, you probably should watch The Wire, to be fair. It’s very good.
