The Yakuza series has seen a resurgence in the West. The long-running action thriller found itself in a lengthy dormant period after the release of the fourth entry, save for the odd horror-themed spin-off Yakuza: Dead Souls in 2012.

Yakuza 0 is the origins story of Kazuma Kiryu and details his ascension into the ranks of the Yakuza – the name given to members of notorious Japanese crime organisations.

A hallmark of excellence. It may have some flaws, but they are negligible to what is otherwise a supreme title.

There are so many games available that gamers are prone to making comparisons. These range from some very simple and innocent comments to game-defining labels like "it's Skyrim with guns".

So many activities! | Incredible stories | Varied combat

Dated visuals | No English voice overs | Archaic save system

Thanks to its outstanding writing, acting, cinematography and animation, Yakuza 0 tells an effective and surprisingly nuanced story of one man and his early journey through the complex world of organized crime.

Fight with two balanced fighters as you attempt to clear their name. Explore regions of Tokyo and its underground. Use your side businesses to generate a constant stream of income. Gain special abilities and items through specific objectives. Released only on PS4 (outside of Japan).

Amazing storyline – Great introduction to franchise

Graphics are average and dated

Sandbox games, by nature, generally offer a lot of content. There are a series of challenges scattered around the map, giving the player a large playing field with things to do. Yakuza 0, however, goes far beyond the average sandbox game in that it actually feels like it takes place in a real city.

Two interesting playable characters with differing playstyles; Brutal; challenging melee combat; Tons of side activities and challenges; The cities you play in are some of the most fully realized you'll see in a video game

Map system gets a little irritating at times; Great art direction doesn't fully make up for the dated graphics

Concept: Help two different heroes navigate Japan's criminal underworld while participating in a staggering amount of side content in this prequel to the long-running series Graphics: The cities and most characters look good overall, though occasionally you see a face or model that looks like a...

I've written a few reviews for the Yakuza series at this point, and I still find it difficult to figure out how to start them. See, there's really not much else like Yakuza out there.

New fighting styles to ease up repetition; tons of stuff to do; new completion point system to reward hitting goals in various areas; much-improved engine

Slightly uncomfortable approach to sexuality; economy is off-balance due to massive amounts of cash inflow

Plot is the key element of all the Yakuza games but trying to describe it is would make them sound either insanely boring or like a soap opera heavily mixed with a kung-fu movie. Instead it is more akin to what Die Hard would have been if it married Grand Theft Auto and made every character on the...