Heavens, the sheer lunacy of it all.

One minute you’re kicking the living plop out of some smart-mouthed street ruffians, the next you’re jabbing buttons in time to some so-horrific-it’s-superb karaoke pop nonsense. Then a badly disguised scarecrow starts hassling your combat skills in broad daylight.

All in a few hours’ work for this reasonably shonky but hilariously fun prequel.

The graphics aren’t great, the combat passable and animations frankly lazy.

But that’s not the point. To take Yakuza 0 seriously is to miss out on some grade A idiocy, with outlandish scenarios playing out in a 1980s Japan where crime bosses and their wannabe upstarts have everything thrown in their faces and laps.

And while most of the events on the periphery are very silly indeed, the main story is a pretty tense affair, with a lot of very angry Japanese mobsters who’ll stop at little to make sure their comfy life is maintained; it’s a juxtaposition that works surprisingly well.

Ignore the shortcomings, there’s more going on here than initial impressions would have you believe.