Is this game worth mainlining for the story?

A couple of false starts aside, I hadn’t played a Yakuza game until last year when on a whim I picked up an OG PS2 and played through 1 & 2. I enjoyed them despite them (understandably) showing their age. I bought 0 a few months ago, but am only now getting around to playing it.

I’m not too far in yet – just hit chapter 4 – and I’m liking it for the most part. My problem is I just don’t think I want to bother engaging with much of anything outside the main story. Almost every side quest I’ve done so far has been really goofy, and I know that stuff is part of the draw of these games for a lot of people but, I dunno… it’s just not doing it for me. On top of that there are a bunch of other systems and side activities – like the agent/weapon crafting, and stuff I know about but haven’t actually got to yet like the phone dating and real estate management – that, again, I just don’t think I want to bother with any of it. All I really want is to see the stories of the main characters while beating the living crap out of a whole bunch people along the way :D (and occasionally pop in for the odd frame of bowling, or arcade games, or karaoke, or hit the batting cage…)

So, is the main story strong enough to make this game worth mainlining? (Also, will I be under levelled if I skip most of the side stuff?)

I put off watching Beast in the East before playing this game, but recently started watching it as I finished playing through each chapter. I’m thinking watching them play it will be a good way to see the other stuff this game has to offer without actually having to bother with it myself!

It's my first Yakuza game and I have completely fallen in love with it. Of course, I also like all the silly side stuff but I think the main story is pretty good too. Part of the reason I'm invested in the oddball side-quests is because of how different it is from the main story. They're as goofy as the mainline plot is serious.

Just an FYI - you'll probably want to do a fair amount of the real estate and cabaret management when you get to them. That's sort of the primary way of earning money to unlock new abilities.

I think some of the side-stuff contain some of the best moments in the game, but the main story is definitely strong enough to hold the game on its own if that's what you want. And if you watch Beast in the East you'll see a lot of the best stuff anyway.

I'm not really how sure how well the game is balanced in terms of money for leveling up if you ignore all the side stuff, but I will note it is possible to make lots of quick easy money from Mr. Shakedown and a few shotguns. You'll probably at least have to do the quest to unlock the weapon shop, but it's a lot less time commitment than the business mini-games.

As someone who only go the story from the endurance run i would have to say yes.

If you don't actually like the side stuff there's no real reason to do it. The main story is pretty easy and you get plenty of money to level up from the chapter completion bonuses.

That being said I think you're crazy for not liking the substories.

The side stuff didn't really grab me either, with a few exceptions. Krazy Kyo stole my heart.

I can't say that I'm too familiar with crime dramas as a genre, but I did think that the main story was a good one of those. So yeah, if you already have the game I think it'd be worth going through the it. If you aren't playing on hard, I don't think you'll find the game too tough to beat.

Sure, you *can* mainline the story and forget about the sidequests. The writing in the main story is pretty good, and it is not like you will be underleveled or miss out on story context, but you will be losing some of the best content the game has to offer...

I don't think you have to go in planning on skipping all the side stuff. You'll most likely end up doing a reasonable amount of side content without really trying. At least that seems to happen to me since I go in with a mindset of mainly focusing on the story then I get roped into doing some side story for a while somehow. But if you manage to avoid it all then the main story is certainly worth seeing.

The story is the strongest in the series, with Yakuza 6 in mind, alongsid the second game I found 0 to be the best story they've done (partially because Yokoyama wasn't involved in writing a lot of Majima's stuff).

One of my issues with the later Yakuza titles as of late, is that the substories have become a bit too goofy, there isn't this neat balance between goofy substories, and touching and dramatic ones. When I played Kiwami I was reminded of that neat balance between the goofy substories/lighthearted ones and those with real heart. Like that substory about a father who's lost his son in a war, and thinks Kiryu is him, and Kiryu sort of plays along to save him the pain. It's touching, there were plenty of those in Yakuza 4 as well with Akiyama and a few in Yakuza 5. But it's scaled down since 5 I feel.

I still recommend playing them, as they do add a lot of character to both Kiryu and Majima, there is even a side quest or two that ties 0 to Yakuza 1 and 2. So it's worth doing it for that alone. And Cabaret Club Management are among the most fun mini-games in the series, alongside Fighter Maker. Plus you get the Mad Dog Style as well. So, just do it!

@bakoomerang: Don't skip Pocket Racers!!!