For heaven’s sake, play Yakuza 0 before the Amazon show ends

I just finished Yakuza 0 last week and I can safely say that it is one of the best games I have ever played. If you’ve ever wanted a game with way too many things to do, all equally crazy and good-natured, then this is the game for you. I also have more than a hunch that it will be crucial to understanding some of the characters in Amazon’s upcoming adaptation of the series, Like A Dragon: Yakuza. So please, for heaven’s sake, play Yakuza 0.

The series began with Yakuza in 2005, but 0 wasn’t released for another 10 years. That’s a long time to slowly go through a series and its characters, meaning this prequel, set in the late 1980s, is informed by many of the insights of that decade. As a result, Yakuza 0 is nothing short of masterful in balancing the franchise’s irreverent humor, top-notch brawler action, and soapy crime drama storylines, and features a number of finely tuned side activities that prove extensive in games like Majima’s famous cabaret mini-game and Kiryu’s foray into the property management. In Yakuza 0’s progression system, you convert the money earned through these lucrative detours into skills that can be translated into three different fighting styles for each of the game’s playable protagonists: the series’ long-standing hero Kazuma Kiryu, and Goro Majima, an equally strong rival of being.

If you ask me, this game really belongs to Majima, who has been an integral part of the series since the beginning but benefits greatly from the characterization he receives in Yakuza 0. In the original version of the games, and particularly in the initial release of Yakuza, he was a more straightforward and eccentric Joker-like villain who plagued Kiryu before they eventually became allies in their later years. Yakuza 0 tells the story of how Majima earns his accolades, not to mention his reputation as the Mad Dog of Shimano, as the events of the first Yakuza game take place.

This characterization follows Majima in Yakuza Kiwami and Kiwami 2, remakes of the first two games that followed 0, and remixes elements of their stories while fleshing out others that may have been underdeveloped in their first releases. And I think we will see this renewed version of Majima and Kiryu in the Amazon adaptation.

The series has the advantage of the long series that precedes it, but while the cast and creators have said they are taking the liberty to do their own thing, it would be a little foolish not to draw from the perspective of this prequel . Kiryu, the series’ main character, is largely portrayed as this stoic outsider in the criminal world who wants to get out of that lifestyle, but Yakuza 0 goes to great lengths to paint a picture of his hot-headed nature and youthful ruthlessness and show the circumstances , which lured him to the Yakuza and perhaps even set him on the path to disillusionment. In Yakuza 0 you even get to see Nishiki, his sworn brother, and their remarkably close relationship before they fell out in the first game.

Considering that the first season of the series is only six episodes long, there is a lot to discuss, and it makes sense to summarize the complicated and storied relationships of these men through various aspects. The series seems to focus on the confrontation between Nishiki and Kiryu in 2005, but I don’t know how well that will work without picking up at least some elements of their friendship from Yakuza 0, even if it doesn’t fully adapt the story. Majima, who makes a crazy appearance in the series’ trailer and says “Kiryu-chan” in his iconic and crazy way, benefits so much from the emotional foundation laid for his character’s arc from Yakuza 0 onwards. It would be much better to play him realize what a ridiculous character he is if the series also included the backstory that informs this appearance, and it would be doing Majima a disservice to do so.

However, to get the full benefit, I highly recommend you just play Yakuza 0. The show looks good, but adaptations always win and lose something, sometimes equally and sometimes not. I’m sure there will be quite a bit left on the cutting room floor, but it will be interesting to weigh the development of these characters and the differences once you understand the breadth of their backstory, which Yakuza 0 offers, which is otherwise untouched for the larger events of the season, which seem to align with Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami. Realistically, you only have until the end of the month to catch up on the games before the show premieres. As much as I’d like to recommend just marathoning the series, fitting just one of these gigantic games in this time around might as well make it the best and most informative of them all. For these and countless other reasons, you absolutely need to play Yakuza 0, now.