Yakuza 0 remains one of the series’ best games, and so you’d think that a PS5 re-release would be something to celebrate — but the circumstances surrounding the Director’s Cut, and the new content that it actually adds, are questionable at best.
Let’s start with the objectively good stuff: Director’s Cut enjoys a noticeable boost in resolution, the load times have been improved, and there’s now an English dub for the sickos that want such a thing.
We’d also argue that the title’s brand new multiplayer mode, Red Light Raid, is a decent addition. While far from essential, the mission-based distraction offers up some daft fun if you’re into 0’s combat system, letting you play as 60 different characters from across the main game.
Most of these fighters are barely worth touching because they’re so basic in terms of moves, but we did enjoy just pissing about with the likes of Kuze and Awano — two of the campaign’s big baddies.
Red Light Raid’s problem is that it’s little more than a curio, bolted onto the experience in an attempt to add some kind of value. Unless you’re a Yakuza diehard, you’ll probably play it once or twice and then never touch it again.
So what else does Director’s Cut do to justify its existence? Well, it’s got over 25 minutes of new cutscenes. That might sound interesting on paper, but boy are they a mixed bag.
A couple of them bring just a little more context to certain story beats, but the rest arguably cheapen the existing narrative, expanding on plot points that simply didn’t need to be tampered with.
Indeed, the most egregious addition actually flips a chunk of the story on its head for no good reason — it feels beyond forced, even by Yakuza’s infamous rubber bullets standards.
It’s worth mentioning that, as far as SEGA’s concerned, this is Yakuza 0 now, as the original release has been removed from digital storefronts. To be fair, the publisher does offer an upgrade path if you own 0 on PS4, but it’s still such a weird way to treat a true Yakuza classic.
If you’ve been wanting to play through Yakuza 0 again, or even get stuck in for the very first time, then you can’t really go wrong with Director’s Cut. But at the same time, its additions range from superficial to downright dumb, cheapening a game that introduced so many to the franchise.
