Yakuza 0

This strange adventure game is amusing for its setting and humor, but eventually, it devolves to a bunch of repetitive gameplay that can become boring. Although it mostly plays like Grand Theft Auto, the series as always tries not to take itself too seriously except for the story moments when it does. While all the plotlines are dark, heavy, standard video game fare, there's also a bunch of silliness on display. This is shown both in the over-the-top button-mashy combat (you can pick up a bicycle and wield it as a club or even find a stray salt shaker to season people's eyeballs) and the goofy side quests (like helping Miracle Johnson, a clear stand-in for Michael Jackson, shoot a music video while you punch "Thriller"-style zombies away from him). Regardless of the tone, just like in any open-world game, it's only a matter of time before the repetitiveness starts to set in. Whether the game is worth seeing through to the end will depend on how much the game intrigues or charms, which it tries hard to do. 

The other thing about Yakuza 0 is that as the seventh entry in the series, it seems content to be somewhat on autopilot. There isn't a ton here that's new or that hasn't been done before by this or any other series. The different sort of setting -- Japan in the '80s -- only goes so far when you're doing the same things over again in a confined space. New wrinkles are attempted in allowing both main characters to run their own side businesses (the only way to possibly earn and unlock upper-level character upgrades), but even then you must decide whether running a pretend business in a game where you're trying to clear your name for murder is something that interests you. It's hard to wholeheartedly recommend because, as mentioned, there's so little that's new here. But what it does that's been done elsewhere is solid nonetheless. It's worth a shot, but only with tempered expectations.