And as Kuze’s raucously charged rock-riff is substituted for the more melancholic tones of the piano, he falls for the fifth and final time, never again to rise the same man. But as he so readily admits, he’ll keep getting back up, just because he has to. He’ll lose to Kiryu again, that much is known. That is until their final clash, when Kuze’s usual fire is instead dulled by the solemn acceptance of his failure. Kuze’s lust for the captaincy was based only on a longing for respect above all else, which is why with every defeat at Kiryu’s hands he becomes increasingly enraged, and aimlessly desperate. For Kuze, it was not about furthering the goals of the yakuza or even a desire to come to the aid of Dojima when called upon. And it’s in his successive defeats that his selfishness becomes glowingly apparent. Kuze is the established order, the status quo. The sergeant-at-arms of Zero’s damnable quartet of antagonists personifies exactly what Majima – and in particular, Kiryu – set out to uproot. Kuze’s saga, like that of Kiryu and Majima, drew from defiance, though perhaps not for the most righteous of reasons. Yet not the ritualistic yubitsume nor a quintet of beatings was ever enough to keep the old man down for long. By the time that the two square off for a final bout within the neon heart of Kamurocho, Kuze is shy a finger and an unrecoverable amount of pride, each loss sullying his reputation in the eyes of his fellow cohorts that little bit more. It was Daisaku Kuze to first put himself between his masters and the burning fury of one Kazuma Kiryu. Yakuza Zero’s conclusion begins as it means to go on – with a wail of the guitar and a cracking of knuckles. Though for every rung of the ladder overcome on the way to the top of the emperor’s domain, another baying loyalist awaits. It’s a war of defiance against a dominion as assured in its own nepotism as it is in the sycophantic game of power that it perpetuates. It’s not just a prevailing desire to understand the cause and motives of the old guard that sets the tinder ablaze, but also the pursuit of raw vengeance when it comes to each of the four architects of Kiryu and Majima’s collective strife. And with such an intricate level of detail paid to every weave and thread of the yakuza-centric underworld and the darkly figures that control it, the game’s conclusion – like its core – is multi-faceted in its appeal. With or without the lingering context of an established series at its back, the story told within Yakuza 0 is a rich, thrilling tale with more than enough clout to be able to stand on its own. It’s in Zero that the pieces of the yakuza masterwork are first purposefully sewn together the power-grabs hemmed in place, the martyrs cut free entirely. ![]() ![]() The coming of the war is unavoidable, but Zero doesn’t ever shirk its emphasis on the bold and the brilliant as the game turns the corner into its final act. Entangled by the pull of his strings, it’s Kiryu and Majima’s mutual decision to sever them entirely that serves to propel a tumultuous finale, with every last swing of the fist and lunge of the boot steeped in suitably befitting spectacle. Every crack in the foundation offers renewed perspective into an organisation beset by a corruptive rot, though as the puppet master’s grand scheme threatens to reach a successful end, his will remains absolute. ![]() A tempered, delicate pacing is employed in order to unfurl the many revelations central to the Yakuza 0 plot: the position of Makoto Makimura, the ascension of Masaru Sera, the deception of Jun Oda.
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