Why Yakuza 0 is a Masterclass in Managing Tone 

Dude you nailed it. This series is one of the only ones I've seen that is able to carefully balance its serious and sillier elements without them clashing horribly.

As a newcomer to the series, the dissonance is spot on. I was blown away on how serious yet humorous the game was and blended together in the context of the plot and sub stories really well. the fact you help the girl as a fake bf is funny because of the premise but serious when you learn that the father tells you about her mom passing. or how you save the girl in the cult from being taken advantage of and you beat the dude and watch his students still play into his scam and laugh so much. comedy and seriousness are yin and yang for this game: they want to override the other, but cannot live without them. it blends it so good that the narrative truly is outstanding for me so far.

A lot of people love the Yakuza games for that exact reason. This weird world they depict grabs you against your will and bombards you with relatable and unrelatable experiences alike until it just clicks and you become a part of it. There are things to be said about the various schools of writing in the world, and what has always fascinated me about the typical Japanese way is how it absurdifies a completely mundane thing, or normalizes a completely absurd thing and in that manages to make the core issue of the situation, the human component that reader is supposed to relate to, that much clearer. That's exactly this dissonance you talk about, and this game manages to incorporate it probably as good as one could for a method that usually builds on the reader filling in the blanks with his imagination.

Japan is killin it in the game scene again

I was out drinking with two salarymen yesterday, and while they didn't play the newer ones they pretty much seemed to consider the Yakuza games to be almost painfully true to life despite the obvious absurdity of it all. It seems regular people do experience them very much in the way you describe, which I'd say means you did a real good job writing this video.

One thing about Japanese RPGs and Visual Novels in general, like Way of the Samurai and Yakuza for example, is that it hooks the audience in with gripping emotional moments, but relaxes when is necessary. This is why you can play games like Yakuza 0 on end without ever feeling bored because it provides a perfect balance between the two. If you'rebored of the extraneous content, you can switch back to a story mission. If you're tired of the dreary tone, you can walk around town, help people, play blackjack, go on a telephone hookup and feel refreshed before going back into a more serious tone. And all of it blends perfectly well inside the universe that it creates. I don't think I can actually find that same level of balance in a Western game, generally a western RPG has one purpose and method or entertaining you and it sticks with it, which gets tiring at times.

I say modern MMORPGs could take some notes from Yakuza 0 on how to make interesting side stories, or at least make "Kill 10 boars" or "Collect 10 flowers" more worthwhile.

I've gotta say, I really love that Yakuza 0 is getting as much praise as it is, because the series is criminally underrated here in the west. Like, Dead Souls aside, every game in the series has been really good, but no one ever buys them. I'm super stoked that we finally got this game, and that we're gonna get Kiwami and 6 in the next year or so. Here's hoping that we eventually get localisations of Kenzan and Isshin some day. that's never gonna happen, why do i keep doing this to myself

I've wanted to play the Yakuza series for years. Mainly because I felt it may fill the Shenmue void. But I picked up Yakuza 0 recently and I love it. It's so unapologetic in its approach. And the thing is, that you never question the switch in tone. You just accept it, because it's balanced so well and there is conviction in every moment. Whether you're dancing in a disco or your life is being threatened. This may be slightly off topic, but I also think the localisation in this game is amazing. The conversations in this game are gold.

I've never played this game before, but the artstyle I find fascinating: the characters look pretty realistic, though their eyes are somewhat exaggerated, and their movements seem cartoonish. This contrast somehow...looks like it fits. I find this look more interesting than the generic "realistic" look Western games always have.

High five, brain.

Very well said. I love this series so much ever since I played Yakuza 4 a few years back. I call it my "virtual holiday in Japan". While I really like the main stories, the absurd amount of side stuff to do is equally important and a great counterpoint to the dark and serious gangster story. A few days ago I spent an hour(an HOUR!) on a Ufo-Catcher to help out a little girl. I love all those little weird stories that these games are full off. Play two or three hours and then try to tell someone, what you did in this time. In a game about Yakuza. "Well .. first I was bowling with this girl I met on the Telephone Club. We went for Karaoke after. Then I helped out a tax fraud agent who I met while managing my real estate business. One of my competitors challenged me to a game of Outrun in the Arcade. I had some sushi on the way there and smacked some guys around with a motorcycle. On my way home I had a whiskey with a reporter friend, discussing local arms dealers, went for a game of darts and had a little dance off on the disco floor. Yeah. that's about it. Completely normal session in a game about Yakuza. "

Steven Speilberg dancing on the street and the Yakuza guy is the normal one here. I just decided that I need to play this game.

I feel like dissonance like this, at least where it's woven together nicely, is also just very relatable in the sense that it's a lot like a reflection of reality itself - we all experience serious circumstances throughout our own lives, and sometimes even when things get particularly rough, you also have to have a sense of humor/optimism and learn to enjoy life despite all that. Now Yakuza may really exaggerate the kinds of experiences someone may encounter since it does revolve around organized crime and a fictional story, however the constant changes in tone between serious and humorous content much like our own lives make the game that much more immersive (vs games/movies that stick to an entirely serious or comedic theme), while simultaneously keeping things interesting in getting to explore what the yakuza culture may be like.

Takeshi Kitano's film Kikujiro has the exact same tonal shifts - violent gangster drama, touching melodrama, goofy comedy, etc all at he drop of a hat. None of this would work if it wasn't Japanese.

I cried twice, end of Chapter 6 and end of Chapter 14 I never cry at video games, it’s either once or never at all I am SO playing this game like 50 times, the fact that they could even do that to me has such a big effect on me personally.

I'm currently playing a Yakuza game for the first time (yakuza 0) and i am completely obsessed with it!

Yakuza 0 directly belonged in my top 10 games of all time! And oh boy i have played a lot of games in my life!

You know, I wonder if this whole "dissonance of tone" thing is what got the Saint's Row series so popular, and why it's always been so contentious. Like, fans of the series seem to always want it to go entirely serious or entirely insane, but maybe it was at it's best when it did both? That would explain why Saint's Row 2 always seems to be the game fans of the series agree was good, even if not a personal favorite. (Perhaps an idea for another video?)

but even the sillier aspects of the game make a point in reality. Majima effecting tax policy in japans future. The real estate mini game foreshadowing the real estate bubble and recession that happened in the 90s. Kiryu coming up with parcel service sent in m-store (7-11 in japan are amazing.) Each story has a bit to say. Some of these things I wouldnt of known without yakuza. A shift of perspective and the reminder its better to know and love someone than to hate that this game encapsulates. Like of mice and men

The tone of the game is exactly what made me fall in love with it. It actually reminds me a lot of Shadow Hearts Covenant on PS2. Both games have very serious main storylines but constantly break away from it with silly and funny side quests and NPC personalities. Both also have a fair dose of cheeky humor.

In a way, I think the Yakuza series (and other works of fiction with dissonant aspects that somehow blend together) pulls it off by amping up these aspects instead of toning them down to create a story "grounded in reality". Whenever I read the dreaded words "grounded in reality", I prepare for disappointment. Games that focus so much on the realism angle are oftentimes morally confusing, stylistically bland, and end up being boring or depressing. But when you let some absurdity in, something magical happens. It's not "realistic" - nobody should be able to rip off their suit jacket/shirt in one smooth motion, those old crime bosses shouldn't all be jacked as hell - but it heightens the emotion behind the serious scenes. It's a "world of the hot-blooded" - everyone wears their hearts on their sleeves, everything seems to be on a higher setting than normal, but it works. The honor and kindness of Kiryu and Majima makes them protagonists we can rally behind wholeheartedly. The world they live in may be almost fantasy, but their struggles feel real - perhaps because of that almost fantastical touch.

This game is an absolute blast to play. You're absolutely spot on with the tonal shifts throughout the game. I love how wacky the game can be while also being able to tell a really compelling and serious story.

I've played several Yakuza games. After watching your video, I realized that you describe something I've always felt, but never bothered to articulate on my own. Thank you

An excellent, vintage opinion. As someone just playing this game in 2022, I love seeing the analysis from before other entries came out. Spot on about the dissonance, the thing people tried to sell me on was how “random” the stories were. Nice and insightful ideo even five years later

I love the fact yakuza 0 pretty much inspires essays

This really nails down what makes the series special to me. sub'd!

Streaming Yakuza 0 to my friends: The subquest: "HAHAHAHAH man that's such a silly funny moment" The story: ".....this shit cuts deep man."

You truly appreciate how good of a prequel yakuza 0 is once you finish yakuza Kiwami. It makes the plot twists even more shocking

I find the dissonance when done right to strengthen each counter-aspect by contrast. Making it be both more empathetic and funny in the ebb and flow.

This game looks so damn good

The reason I got a PS3 was to play Yakuza 3, then 4, then 5. I got a PS4 for Yakuza 0 and don't regret it at all. Honestly some of my favorite games ever made, they have a magic that is so rare in games to have such a serious main narrative but at the same time not taking itself seriously outside the story. Brilliant video man you hit the nail right on the head, glad I've discovered you!

To paraphrase Super Eyepatch Wolf in his video on the Yakuza series, "Yakuza is tragic and silly, because life is tragic and silly." Every day life is a jumbled mess of emotions. You could be feeling great one minute, and terrible the next. It's something that fiction, with its efforts to maintain a consistent tone, can't really convey. Because of that, Yakuza, with its high drama and low comedy, actually feels more true to life than something more "realistic" would.

A big reason from where the Yakuza series manages tone is probably where it heavily borrows its influence from; Yakuza movies. My foray into Yakuza movies is still very few with Beat Takeshi's 'Brother' and Takashii Mike's Dead or Alive trilogy but I feel those movies did a good job adding certain emotional dynamics while keeping straight to the point of the movie. The Dead or Alive movies have a bit of an exception as things escalate at a high level at a certain point that just makes you accept that wild ride you have been glued to watch. But overall the format of how the tone is managed is what makes the Yakuza series a digital successor in a sense to Yakuza J-Cinema. And which is why certain cult J-Cinema stars appear in the Yakuza series make all of the sense having their likeness be in there.

Honestly this game makes me think of Gintama, because that show bounces back between comedy and drama all the time. Maybe that's why I got hooked into the series. Gintama energy

It's really interesting that while I was watching this, I kept drawing comparisons to Sleeping Dogs. I get the feeling that this sort of contrast is what they were going for (albeit from a Chinese instead of Japanese perspective), but they didn't manage it with the same level of skill. I loved the analysis though, and I really want to play Yakuza 0 now.

This was incredibly well done. Thanks for putting into words so many of the reasons why I love this series.

On the side, Majima Goro is also 50% of the sole reason to buy Yakuza as well. Even as average as Dead Souls, Majima in that game was NUT. Actually, Yakuza Dead Souls alone by itself would worth like 120$ if you compare to the current AAA titles with their BS DLC practices. Yet, those Yakuza are pretty damn functional and rarely patch at launch.

When I was playing this game, I was constantly asking myself "What is the theme here? What is it trying to convey?" Enough so that once I finished (literally yesterday), I immediately wanted to find some literary analysis. The dissonance absolutely made me take a step back and ask what is trying to be conveyed.

It all comes down to a deep level of understanding and respect for itself and its subjects. Not once does comedy directly clash with seriousness, when it wants to be serious its serious when it wants to be wacky its wacky. Often games break when they fail to get you invested in their serious story or when their jokes come off as tasteless or tone deaf. The serious tone makes us want to know more about the characters and the silly side stuff lets us get to know them so we care about them more. If the quality of either part would be bad the whole thing would fall apart so Yakuza is masterfully treading a thin line.

Facts I would like to add though that yakuza does in fact have such good story telling in games. The reason why they use substories, from what I think, is so that you can level up but through a fun kind of way. You can definitely go through the game without the substories, but you may end up seeing that the game becomes more difficult when you don’t get enough experience or money through just the story. This is why substories exist as a way to earn experience and money, but in a fun way, so that the player doesn’t get bored of doing tedious things to level up. When I first played yakuza, I really got invested in the substories because there are so so many different stories for the game. I have no fucking clue how the devs even make up these stories but there is just no end to how many they can make. I even played judgement and it’s just as good as yakuza itself. This is why I love yakuza a lot UwU

I started Yakuza recently and will never no love the insanity of it. One minute I'm watching thr most well written serious cutscene, later I'm shaking it it with some silly sub stories.

Fantastic video i've been enjoying Yakuza 0 a lot even grinding for money in the game hasn't gotten too old somehow but man you nailed exactly why the writing of this game is so genius and it has definitely pushed me to be excited for the upcoming yakuza kiwami and the rest of them.

I finished the main storyline + exploration in 40+ hours.. Now I'm playing the in game mini games.. they are so much fun

Just got into this game series recently, and i started with yakuza 0...i haven't put it down since i started week ago

Thanks for not including any major spoilers here. You are one of the better ones.

I'd argue that the beauty is not on the dissonance, but the lack of it. It seems as this duality crashes with itself towards the player, but why all the substories, minigames and events contribute so much to the immersion? Because the world is presented as something both bizarre and realistic. It tries to say that there's so much light between the darkness, and no matter how bad things turn out, because at the end of the day Kiryu is a sentient human being that likes to sing or help people around like anyone else. It's the humanization of the character. I'd say, if it contributes to engaging with the world or the character itself, it's not so much dissonant as it would seem. Other than that - great video, man.

Just bought this game because of this. Super happy to give it a go, I always remember seeing the Yakuza titles when I was little since Blockbuster was renting games out on the ps2. Ready to see what I missed.

Nice video essay on one of my favourite games.

After playing 0 and Kiwami im really trying to play all the games now 😢

Strictly speaking this game does not involve much killing just beating up, which makes the moment of killing much more significant when it does arrive.

Thank you for supporting Yakuza 0!! God bless you bro

Good stuff man. Initially I didn't find the tone of this series very appealing but for some reason recently my interest has been peaked. I'll have to check this out after getting Nioh and Hitman.

Zero is where I fell in love with Majima. :) I hated him in Kiwami, but seeing what he's been through makes me feel for him.

Whats mad is I have never batted an eye at this game at all. And were it anyone else pitching it to me (although i know youre not pitching the game), I dont think I would be half as interested. So congrats. I dont know how you do it but the combination of your voice and writing make for magical experience. So yeah. Probs gonna check this shit out now

haha I find Kiryu issue with killing as funny as Batman's policy of no kill cause some of Kiryu's heat action definitely killed his target.

Awesome video! I played Yakuza 1 on my PS2 more than a decade ago and after all this time, just started playing Yakuza 0 on my PS4 yesterday. Felt ashamed of myself for missing Yakuza for so long before picking a new game of the series to play.

"Through the eyes of a hooligan and a Heart of Gold"

What a king move, bringing Brecht into this analysis. Nice! I could tell while playing the game that it wasn't your typical postmodern trope of the characters lampshading their own narrative in order to make an anachronistic story more palatable. Well, not just that.

I feel like playful dissonance, and disregard for genre expectations is more common in Japanese and Korean art. Some of the music that comes from that part of the world jumps around constantly, and the same in cinema especially Japanese horror and Anime which benefits from the odd combination of ideas and imagery. In the West there is much more of a focus on consistency in tone which isn't necessarily bad but can lead to much Western art feeling a little more safe .

Aside from the main quest, it's rare to play a game wherein the side quests are funny, entertaining, with ample storyline of its own and also memorable. I stopped progressing the main quest for a while because I just enjoy all the side quests in the game.

Great video man! As the others said, you nailed it. I shared this out to my followers. Playing this right now on my channel.

A pleasure to stumble on content of this caliber. Well played indeed. My first of many videos from this channel. :)

Playing through 0 right now and the way I'd describe the tone is: Yakuza 0's main storyline is a Scorsese film, that occasionally breaks out into an episode of the Simpsons when doing side quests.

When you brought up the whole aesthetic distance approach of Brecht's Epic Theatre I liked amd subscribed.

holy shit didnt expect you would extually put a video out on this so fast

You could convey in words things I felt while playing, thank you. Btw your accent is so new to me (and also interesting), I am not not native speaker tho

God damn this game hooked me. Badly. I thought it was better then uncharted 4. Fun gameplay and great story. Didn’t think I would ever see the two in one game, but here they are.

I am so infinitely glad that, finally, after the long years of hell, Yakuza gets the recognition in the West that it deserves.

I enjoyed the video and I think the main reason the tones work so well is because the side missions and main story are completed separated and don’t coincide with each other for the most part. The main story did an amazing job with the serious tone and idk if anyone noticed but there was little to no ‘comedy’ in the main story. Closest thing I can think of is in the beginning when you need to get a new suit with Nishiki and Nishitani’s moments with Majima, but that ends in an extremely serious tone as well. The comedic tone was basically exclusive to the sub stories and I feel they did an amazing job with splitting the two.

Yakuza 0 is an early front runner for my GOTY in 2017 and it isnt even spring yet!

u'v done it again .. excellent writing as always .. gg man

Glad to see you write on this game!

Basically - this game is anime as fuck. If you ever watched one, especially like a longer shounen, you'll probably agree with me. It's usually about a guy that gets beaten up, so he trains to get stronger, wins with who beat him up before, then the cycle continues, but in-between there are single episodes of goofy stuff, like chasing after a cat, or making enormous effort to find out what is under a mask of a guy that never takes it off. Here? It's about a guy that needs to find out who framed him, whilst dancing with Michael Jackson in the mean time. If you didn't watch the anime, it's similar to breaking bad - it's all serious most of the time, and then suddenly you get an episode where Walter goes very far just to kill one fly. Awesome stuff.

You dont beat "anyone you find on the street" You beat yakuza or people that start a fight with you

Im sorry for being one of those people and i wish to say that this video got me to get to play these games but i wish to know the music in the backgroundin this video and 6 because it is so GOOD

Yakuza 0 was my first game in the franchise (hell i didn't even knew said franchise existed before that), but it has rapidly climbed to be one of my favorites, the writing is just so good which is something so hard to find in games today. And regarding the video, for me the moment it clicked was with the Ara Q3 quest, that mission was so hilarious just to do a 180° and end in such a wholesome note, it threw me totally off guard but in a good sense.

got here through the endless recommended tab after blasting 0's ost haha. great vid = 1 new sub

Fantastic analysis.

At points it felt like I was playing in the film The raid 2. I was so happy to find a new game I loved instantly

The perfect Evolution of Shenmue

Unconsistancy of cutscenes makes the trick in my opinion. Goofy side quests have wacky graphics and animations, while serious drama moments are well directed and slick. Sometimes feels like two different games

Love your stuff brother, keep up the great work!

So basically this is a more adult version of Shenmure :)

Love what you do Hamish!

The best part is how real it feels. Life can be everything

DaMe DaNe

I think the difference is that yakuza embraces the dissonance

You got me into these games. Thank you

Kiryuuuuuuuu channn But in seriousness the reason why I love this series after playing 0, and Yakuza Kiwami is that, this game is serious but it doesn't take itself super serious which in turn leads to it's quite humorous moments. Esp when Majima-San Chases you everywhere in different outfits and scenarios (Yakuza Kiwami)

This video is amazing. Thank you so much. I love the Yakuza franchise..

"A small reward" He says while showing Kiryu getting a Platinum Plate, an item worth 100 Million Yen, while he's still wearing his first suit

The many sidequests are often too silly(bad) but also often moving. But the main story rivals best movies about yakuza. It's mindblowing.

That's rad!

its like reading a book if its too serious 24/7 you get bored/depressed no matter how well you make it. There has to be some levity. A book is also good when you have sub plots that arent related to the main plot to see what the mc would be like in different situations. And thats real. You wouldnt always be on 1 track mindset. You drink you fight you love you hate you get into funny or serious situations constantly. Thats why were so drawn to the main characters cuz they dont feel like just this one Main protagonists. Your mc is important but theres a world outside of your mc that you visit mostly trough side quests and thats not something you see in any medium cuz its too focused on the main story/mc that it often forgets that there are people outside this main quest bubble.

Bang on. Yakuza 0 is still on for my game of the year! Can't wait for kiwami! *i haven't played Zelda yet so back off :p

if you watched Gintama anime series you would find similiar tone. Series that has enormous shift in tones. Starting as crazy, random parody full of dirty jokes. Then we get scenes of shounen action anime. Then we get elements of noir drama like Cowboy bebop. All of this mixed with some elements of real life dramas like history of a man who after many years of frustrations decide to go back to divorced wife. Only to get another crazy gag parody.

I just finished Yakuza 6 a few weeks ago and I have to say I've never had more fun with a video game series than Yakuza. I started off with Kiwami when it came out for free and a year later I finished the entire series. Now I'm just waiting for 7...I just hope it'a gonna be as good as the rest of the games.

Odd question for you Hamish, and if you've answered this somewhere else, well, I obviously haven't gotten that far. I found your channel a couple months ago along with a number of other critical analysis channels (all of which I love, but yours have become a stand-out even among them), that is to say, I haven't watched every video you've made... yet. Anyway, what is your accent? Scottish? It's pinging me as Scottish. But I'm not an expert. I ask not to make fun of you, I like the character your voice brings to your videos and wouldn't change it. Accents are just something I'm fascinated by and learning to mimic them is something of a hobby of mine. Anyway, thanks for another awesome vid. Someday when I'm a little better off financially, I'd like to become a patron, but that dream lives in another time.

A like for you, man. You deserve way more subscribers.