Yakuza 0 (2015)
Yakuza 0 is a 2015 role-playing (rpg) video game made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios and Sega Games.
Tokyo, 1988. Kazuma Kiryu is a low-level yakuza errand runner who finds himself framed for a murder over a vacant lot in Kamurocho, the district his clan controls. In Osaka, Goro Majima runs a cabaret club under a watchful eye that keeps him from returning to the life he knows. Yakuza 0 alternates between their stories across Japan's bubble economy, mixing brutal street combat with an enormous range of side activities: disco competitions, real estate management, and late-night karaoke. The serious crime drama and the absurd distractions coexist without either undercutting the other.
Quick answers
What is Yakuza 0 about?
Tokyo, 1988. Kazuma Kiryu is a low-level yakuza errand runner who finds himself framed for a murder over a vacant lot in Kamurocho, the district his clan controls. In Osaka, Goro Majima runs a cabaret club under a watchful eye that keeps him from returning to the life he knows. Yakuza 0 alternates between their stories across Japan's bubble economy, mixing brutal street combat with an enormous range of side activities: disco competitions, real estate management, and late-night karaoke. The serious crime drama and the absurd distractions coexist without either undercutting the other.
When was Yakuza 0 released?
Yakuza 0 was released on 12 March 2015.
Who made Yakuza 0?
Yakuza 0 was made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, Sega Games and Sega Corporation.
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Yakuza 0 in our writing
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- Companion guide: Street Gangs
- Companion guide: Undercover & Deep Cover
A few thoughts on Yakuza 0
The TV series Like a Dragon: Yakuza is a live-action adaptation that takes the franchise seriously as crime drama. For authentic Japanese yakuza cinema from the era the game lovingly recreates, Violent Streets is a landmark of the genre.
Crime sagas about men trapped by codes of honor and debt
Yakuza 0 splits its story between Kiryu, framed for a murder he didn't commit, and Majima, held to a life he wants to leave, both bound by codes stronger than their wishes. Like a Dragon: Yakuza adapts that world for television, Violent Streets and The Godfather trace crime families with the same binding loyalties, and The Outsiders puts that code of honor in the mouths of teenagers.
Games that let a heavy story breathe with pure absurd distraction
Yakuza 0 asks players to swing from a murder frame-up straight into karaoke contests and cabaret management without either tone undercutting the other, a balancing act these open worlds also pull off. The Witcher 3, Grand Theft Auto V, San Andreas, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Skyrim all let a heavy central story sit alongside side content built purely to make players laugh or waste an afternoon.
Comics about the smartest person in the room being the only way to survive
Yakuza 0's side stories reward players who read a room and play every angle, whether that's a real estate turf war or a hostess club negotiation. Kaiji and Liar Game turn high-stakes gambling into psychological chess, Largo Winch has its heir out-maneuver rivals through corporate warfare, and The Punisher: One Last Kill follows a man calculating exactly how far to push before the people below him push back.