Yakuza 0 is unequivocally a masterpiece, the best Yakuza game hands-down — in my mind, one of the most important games ever made. It’s a game that’s moody, thematic, topical, and impactful in all the best ways, a must-play of the century. A prequel to the rest of the games, Yakuza 0 was the inflection point for the franchise — the big break it finally needed. Lee’s revival in Yakuza 0 feels sloppy, and it’s starting to feel like there are no real stakes in the Yakuza franchise — do deaths actually mean anything? SegaOn the surface, every recent Yakuza game has still been a good game.