Yakuza 0 News

Yakuza 0, Kiwami 1 & Kiwami 2 are back on Game Pass and balance has been restored

In the dead of night I've been hearing things. At first, I thought it was the neighbours next door enjoying a bit of karaoke. Maybe some twigs banging off a discarded Tesco trolley, creating a beautiful tune. No, I'm convinced it was the dulcet tones of Kiryu singing "Dame da ne dame yo dame na no yo!", as a signal from the nether that Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 would be back on Game Pass having been removed last year. And by God, they're there! They're live! That's rad!

Today I made a life-changing discovery. Takaya Kuroda, the man who voices Yakuza's beloved protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, is also the lead singer of a band. They're named Takaya Kuroda & Goodfellas and they have a Christmas song out. Not only is this excellent news, I can't get over the fact it straight up sounds like Kiryu delivering some festive cheer. So get comfy, bang this on, and let Kiryu's warm tones wash over you like mulled wine.

Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 are leaving Xbox Game Pass on 31st December. If you need time to absorb this news, please, take it. Back? Okay, so actually we don’t have much time left now. You must play these beat 'em ups before they disappear into the realms of non-free (sort of; you know what I mean). Here’s why.

Yakuza's Kiryu roasting Franklin is a GTA meme at its sweetest

The hot meme in Los Santos right now is replacing character models with folks from other games and across pop culture, giving Grand Theft Auto V cutscenes a very weird energy. Folks are focused on the scene where Lamar roasts Franklin, swapping in all sorts of characters and voices for silly effect. But in a video game full of dickheads, the one that most warms the cockles of my heart is Yakuza‘s Kiryu popping up to serenade Franklin with a song. Even in sweary memes, Kiryu is the goodest boy.

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The 9 worst neighbourhoods in PC games

One Off The List is our monthly list feature. Is there something you think doesn’t deserve to be on this list? Comment with your reasons why, and next month it may be struck off.

Many of you are by now bathing in twinkling neon ravelights and swooning into the metal arms of Cyberpunk 2077‘s humourless unhunks, who stalk the streets of Night City like animatronic pizza restaurant mascots gone feral. That is fine. There are worse places to find oneself in the labyrinthine hell of video games. Places such as these. Here are 9 neighbourhoods you wouldn’t want to bring up your children in.