This was my first Yakuza experience, and I was totally blown away. Like into the stratosphere, blown away. I adored every second, and I'm still not done with it! I completed the story and am mopping up the side and minigame stuff currently, sitting at 55% and 72 hours played.
The characters and story were so fantastic all the way through, it had beautifully epic moments, touching and poignant moments, and was frequently irreverent and hilarious (i died every time Youda and Majima were spying on someone, sneaking around inconspicuously). The brawling is super fantastic and satisfying, especially when you start learning more moves and mixing styles on the fly. Easily my favorite game I have played all year and in a long while no doubt.
It's really made me hungry for more Yakuza, i anxiously await Kiwami and i suppose ill be busting out my PS2 after that to play through 2 (at this point i wouldn't be able to wait for a remake, even though I'd love to see it). I'm just unbelievably bummed that neither Kenzan or Ishin have any plans to be localized for North America. They look like ridiculously cool offshoot games and I really hope the success of 0 (and hopefully Kiwami) might make Sega or Atlus change their minds.
