Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut as well as updated versions of Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 have all received mixed reviews on Steam.
The PC versions of Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut and the new versions of Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 have been released to mixed reviews (via Reset Era member Mocha Joe) on Steam. The original versions of all three titles received over 90% positive reviews, while their updated releases have all launched to far less favorable reviews on Valve’s digital platform.
To put the situation into perspective, the original Yakuza 0 maintained a 95% positive rating across roughly 76,000 reviews, while the Director’s Cut currently sits at just 57% positive from 465 reviews. A similar pattern applies to Yakuza Kiwami, which previously held a 93% positive score from around 23,000 reviews, compared to only 48% positive from 146 reviews for the updated release. Yakuza Kiwami 2 saw its original version reach 94% positive across approximately 17,000 reviews, whereas the newer edition currently holds a 50% positive rating from 128 reviews.
Furthermore, as of writing, SteamDB data shows (see below) that around the same number of players are actively playing the older, legacy versions as the newer releases, bringing to question the purpose of releasing separate editions rather than delivering the changes through patches or downloadable content.
- Yakuza 0 – 868 players vs Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut – 1,048 players
- Yakuza Kiwami (Legacy) – 297 players vs Yakuza Kiwami – 261 players
- Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Legacy) – 229 players vs Yakuza Kiwami 2 – 292 players
Given that the original versions of these Yakuza titles have been delisted, those who visit their respective Steam store pages will be greeted with mixed user reviews instead of the very positive or overwhelmingly positive impressions that they previously had. The situation appears to have been handled rather awkwardly by Sega and RGG Studio.
SEGA and RGG Studio released new editions of Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza Kiwami 2, and Yakuza 0 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Like a Dragon and Yakuza franchise. The updated versions are now available across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and Windows PC.
