Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut – Exclusive Hands-On Preview

So, okay, here we go again. Another slice of the Yakuza pie is landing on a Nintendo console. Remember when the Wii U got a taste? And recently, the Switch had its turn with Yakuza Kiwami. Now, brace yourself, ‘cause Yakuza 0 is coming out for the Nintendo Switch 2, and guess what? I actually got a chance to mess around with it a bit.

Can you believe Yakuza 0 has been around for 10 whole years in Japan? It hit the shelves on both PlayStation 3 and 4 back in the day. But this Switch 2 version? They’re calling it a director’s cut. Why? Who even knows, since the original director waved goodbye to SEGA ages ago. But hey, we get English voice acting and some new scenes, plus there’s this thing called Red Light Raid. Yeah, I’ll get to that in a sec.

So, I spent like 45 minutes with the docked version. Smooth as butter on this new hardware, running at a slick 60 frames per second. It looks sharp, probably at least 1440p if you care about that nitty-gritty tech stuff (I mean, who doesn’t, right?). HDR support though? Nope. Nada. Thanks, SEGA. Or not. I asked and got a no on that one.

If you’ve never dived into the Yakuza madness, Yakuza 0 is kinda the perfect intro. It’s got everything. A story that’s part thriller, part comedy, all heart. Throw in karaoke, arcade games, and batting cages, and you’ve got mini-games for days. Fighting? Yeah, loads of it. You swap styles mid-brawl like it’s cool. Plus, wandering around 1980s Japan? Golden. I can’t wait to dive back into it after my PS4 run-through.

Now, Red Light Raid mode. Ugh, what can I say? Maybe it’s just not my jam. I’m not the best at Yakuza combat, and this mode’s all about survival waves and bosses. Tried it solo (though you can have computer pals, woohoo), but there’s also co-op. I picked this character, Ginger Chapman. Picture a twisted Chucky grown up, and there ya go. His fighting style didn’t wow me—just lots of knife-waving. Fun for a while, but gets old quick.

Playing as Kazuma Kiryu, but a special version? Yeah, that was way better. But you only get one combat style per variant in this mode. You rack up money to level up or buy new characters. Solo play here is alright, but I bet it’s way more fun with buddies.

This Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut is probably what I’m most hyped for when the Switch 2 drops. Sure, I’ve played it before, but checking out the English dub sounds intriguing. That new mode, though? Meh. I guess I’ll try it when the game hits next month, just to be sure.