Whenever there is a discussion of Yakuza or Shenmue in the context of Sega’s history it is most likely that a comparison between the games is going to be made. In a lot of ways this comparison is pretty unwarranted since a lot of the similarities are superficial, like how they both take place (at least in part) in Japan for example. Still, it is a pretty interesting comparison to make so that is what this article is about. The original Shenmue and Yakuza 0 will be the main focuses of this comparison since they are the most popular of their respective series and generally considered the best of their series too. They also happen to take place around the same real world time in place, with them both taking place in Japanese cities in the 1980s within two years of each other.
As for this superficial similarity in setting, Yakuza 0 definitely does a better job representing Japan at that time. Shenmue as a series mostly focuses its story on the connections between characters while Yakuza 0 also has a relatively big focus on the time period it took place in. Shenmue does have the advantage of being much more realized as a representation of its time period than Yakuza 0, mostly due to their relative budgets which will be discussed later.
The most important point of comparison between two games is really how they play. Once looking at this is becomes immediately clear that the developers weren’t going for the same thing at all. In Shenmue games most of the main game involves figuring out where to go. In Yakuza games you pretty much only do the things that you end up doing once you find where to go in Shenmue, which are watching cutscenes and fighting.
The cutscene part is usually pretty similar in both games. The difference that probably sticks out the most is that Yakuza 0‘s cutscenes play out much more smoothly, which is almost certainly a result of it coming out more than 15 years later. However, there are some big differences in the types of cutscenes. Shenmue is seemingly always rendered in real-time or at least its cutscenes were pre-rendered in the same engine. Yakuza 0 on the other hand has CGI cutscenes, in-game cutscenes with voice acting, in-game text cutscenes, and cutscenes that are not even animated with a filter over them. Shenmue games are also different since they are always fully dubbed, unlike Yakuza 0 which is mostly not dubbed. Shenmue games are also even dubbed in English in releases outside of Asia, which makes it much easier for people who speak English to appreciate the cutscenes since they don’t have to also be reading subtitles at the bottom the whole time. It is pretty safe to say Shenmue wins in this comparison, largely due to its budget of course, not that that is the player’s problem whatsoever.
The combat is actually surprisingly similar between the two games. Shenmue plays like a simplified Virtua Fighter game, while Yakuza 0 plays rather uniquely (aside from when compared to other games in its series). In Shenmue you always fight as the same guy with a set move set that grows throughout the game A single battle style in Yakuza 0 is a lot less complex, but you can play as two characters who both have a bunch of unique styles with player driven upgrade paths so Yakuza 0 definitely had a lot more effort put into its combat (especially when you also take into account the various special moves with short cutscenes attached to them). What both games fail at in general is offering especially interesting or difficult enemies to fight. You can mash through both games and easily beat both of them up until the final boss, even on Yakuza 0‘s “hard” mode, though Yakuza 0 is a lot more like an RPG in that you can make the game easier or harder depending on how much you level up your abilities, though the amount you can upgrade by just playing the main story is enough to soundly beat the entire main story. Yakuza 0 also has some problems like a frequently bad camera and some annoying enemies (usually they use guns) and missions where you have to protect someone where the lack of precision becomes extremely apparent. Still, Yakuza 0 overall wins in this area (not that either game does a particularly good job) based on how much more developed its combat is and how much more fighting you actually do to use this combat system in the game.
As for what else you do in these games, it mostly involves a bunch of minigames. Yakuza 0 also has side stories which are non voice acted quests that are pretty much all joke quests. Shenmue’s minigames are typically less developed and also the game has less minigames than Yakuza 0. Yakuza 0 rather clearly wins this area, though probably mostly due to the fact that its a PS3 game so they had a lot more storage space and power to work with.
Technically which game is better mostly depends on your idea of how this should be judged. Yakuza 0 obviously looks better most of the time, though there are a few rough spots where the budget clearly ran out and the game looks worse than Shenmue‘s mostly stable visuals. However, Shenmue is one of the best looking Dreamcast games, while Yakuza 0 is not very impressive looking for a PS3/PS4 game. Shenmue‘s obviously larger budget also allowed for a much more realized world as discussed earlier, with more places to visit and more interact-able stuff everywhere like shelves you can open and pots you can pick up and look in. Overall as a technical achievement its pretty much impossible to argue Shenmue doesn’t do a much better job than Yakuza 0.
In terms of music its obviously a matter of taste but in the author’s opinion Shenmue wins by far.
Pretty much the only area left is the story and world. Yakuza 0 easily has more emotional impact in its plot, but Shenmue‘s world is much more developed through the actual game itself (rather than being mentioned in cutscenes) so Shenmue easily wins in that department. Overall which is better depends on whether you want an experience or a good story. The author finds Shenmue‘s world building more enjoyable than Yakuza 0‘s plot overall.
Overall in the author’s opinion Shenmue edges out Yakuza 0 by quite a bit. Shenmue‘s presentation, music, world building, and exploration are all arguably better than Yakuza 0‘s. Shenmue also has combat and minigames that are about as good as you could possibly expect in comparison with Yakuza 0 considering Shenmue is a Dreamcast game. On the other hand Yakuza 0 has a better plot (arguably not especially important for a video game), and its music and technical aspects are arguably a lot worse than they could have been (worse than the Dreamcast game its being compared to, even).
This article isn’t really about which game is better though. It’s really about how Yakuza is not just “Shenmue but better” or even that much of a spiritual successor to Yakuza in many important ways. Both games are good in their own ways and one shouldn’t be dismissed in favor of the other.
(If you’re looking for scores Shenmue is a 9.5/10 and Yakuza 0 is an 8/10)
