Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 alongside the console’s launch on June 5, will feature a host of new content. In a new video, voice actors from the game Takaya Kuroda (Kazuma Kiryu), Hidenari Ugaki (Goro Majima), Kazuhiro Nakaya (Akira Nishikiyama), and Hitoshi Ozawa (Daisaku Kuze) spoke about how the extra cutscenes in the Director’s Cut feel “refreshing” and bring “closure” to a few of the characters, according to Automaton Media.
Ugaki, speaking about some of the new scenes, spoke about how the new cutscenes portrayed to him “how dearly Majima holds Makoto and how much he wants to protect her.” For context, a lot of Majima’s story throughout Yakuza 0 revolves around him trying to figure out why Makoto is in danger from the various yakuza families. Ugaki said that the new cutscenes from the Director’s Cut go further in exploring the relationship between Majima and Makoto.
Ozawa similarly spoke about how the new scenes added to the game further explore the relationship between Kiryu and Kuze. “There are things Yakuza 0 mentioned but didn’t delve into very deeply – Kuze’s new lines gave me a sense of Oh, so that’s how things are between them,” he said. Kuze acts as an antagonist force for Kiryu throughout much of this storyline, which largely revolves around Kiryu trying to figure out the importance behind a vacant plot of land in Kamurocho.
The new scenes in Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut also likely offer a better transition from the title’s end to the start of the next game in the timeline – Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami. Whereas the story in Yakuza 0 primarily takes place in 1988, the next game in the timeline fast forwards to 1995, before then starting its story in earnest in the year 2005. Since Yakuza 0 is a prequel, it also gives us a lot more characterisation for several members of the game’s cast, including protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, as well as others like Akira Nishikiyama and Goro Majima.
Alongside additions to the story through new cutscenes, Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut will also feature a new multiplayer mode dubbed Red Light Raid. The new mode allows players to take on waves of enemies after picking their character of choice from a vast roster that covers essentially the entirety of Yakuza 0.
New trailers for Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut were released earlier this month, showcasing the new english voice acting – featuring Yong Yea as Kiryu and Matthew Mercer as Majima – as well as giving us a look at the main opening theme for the game. Check them out.
Yakuza 0 was originally released back in 2015, and focuses on telling us two main stories: how Kiryu became known as the Dragon of Dojima, and how Majima because known as the Mad Dog of Shimano. Both stories also intersect at various points, with both Kiryu and Majima trying to figure out the secrets behind seemingly-mundane things, like a vacant plot of land and a blind girl.
The most recent game in the franchise was Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
