We are who we are because of the events and people that come across in our lives. It's never one singular event or person that shapes someone, more like the snowball effect.
That's why it's hard to make a good prequel story. We all want to know how our favourite character came to be so prequel stories are always popular. The problem is prequel stories only have a window of a small time frame so everything gets distilled into one dramatic event. Often time, it's disappointing to fans as it cannot live up to their expectations.
Snake eater was a great prequel but did Snake truly learnt everything from one lady called the Boss? Let's not even begin with the Darth Vader origins.
Yakuza 0 is a great prequel because it isn't hamstring by the burden of telling how Kiryu and Majima became who they are. Kiryu isn't the dragon of Dojima yet and Majima isn't the mad dog we come to love. No one died in dramatic fashion that caused Majima to go bananas (which frankly would be pretty bad taste). It's just a story set in a time where Kiryu and Majima were young and totally unlike their current self.
The modern day Kiryu simply won't bust out moves at the dance floor or get date raped in old fashion telephone hook-ups. He also didn't have a pal like Nishiki at his side anymore, someone he considers his brother and equal.
The ending where they revert to their trademark outfit was the only bad point of the story. It felt forced and out of the blue. It didn't skipped ahead in time and I was just getting used to how charming Majima looks in a suit and ponytail. Prequel story like this are rare where the creators simply ignore the obvious route and focus on creating a good compelling a story.
