This article has a talk page!Yakuza 0 is the story of two really nice, law-abiding citizens who win UFO catcher prizes for children, give chickens jobs in real estate advisory, and possess exceptional karaoke skill. They can also whip off their suits at a moment's notice.
To put it another way: it's a prequel to the rest of the series, set near the end of 1988 and featuring lots of 80s style and cheese. Club Sega, a frequent side location in the series, is appropriately swapped out for Sega Hi-Tech Land and features Fantasy Zone, OutRun, Space Harrier, and Super Hang-On.
It should be noted that A LOT, and not exaggerating, maybe 30% of the game files are unused in Yakuza 0. They were carryovers from previous games, but since they appear in other games they aren't as interesting to see. You can see most of them by playing thru yakuza 1-5 naturally.
A Director's Cut version was released in 2025 featuring an English audio track, a multiplayer mode and new story cutscenes of...questionable quality.
Unused Character Models#
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Character models stored in /data/chara/w64/adv are used in the Adventure portion of the game. By copying the contents of other folders, it is possible to load other models in the place of existing ones, provided they use the same skeleton type (i.e. Male, Female).
- c_cm_dummy
A bald-headed male wearing a suit.
- c_cm_far_man
A low-polygon human-like figure, presumably intended for NPCs a great distance away from the player.
- c_aw_C01_caster
The newscaster who announces the murder of the salaryman at the very start of the game. This is a pre-recorded video, and as such, this model goes unseen in normal gameplay.
- c_aw_catfight_test
A nude test model for the Catfight mini game. The face here is based on Ishin's Anna Konno, who herself was the base for the other catfight girls, and more notably, Makoto Makimura.
- c_az_CIayaka
JAV actress Ayaka Tomoda, in a bikini. Never seen outside of Telephone Club pre-recorded cinematics.
- c_az_CIminato
JAV actress Rika Minato, in a bikini. Never seen outside of Telephone Club pre-recorded cinematics.
- c_az_CIharuki
JAV actress Haruki Sato, in a bikini. Never seen outside of Telephone Club pre-recorded cinematics.
- c_az_CIchika_out_famitu
Despite the file name, this is Yuki, not Chika Arimura. Appears to be a placeholder, potentially for a review copy?
- c_az_CImana_out_famitu
Same as the Chika model; still Yuki.
- c_cw_far_woman
Same as c_cm_far_man, but using the female armature.
- c_cw_CIdummyA
Seemingly a test cabaret club model. It's worth noting this reuses Anna Konno's face textures from Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin.
Unused Models#
UFO Catcher#
In files for UFO Catcher minigame there are leftover models from Yakuza 5
Unused Textures#
There are unused .dds (image) files for the inventory in Yakuza 0, which are carryovers from Yakuza 5 and Ishin respectively. They vary from cheat items, to armor, to general items. 
Cabaret Club UI#
Two placeholders can be found with the rest of the portraits of the hostesses - one of Kiryu on the cover of the original PS2 release, and another of Hinata Osaki from Yakuza 5.
Ishin Karaoke UI#
The ever present karaoke minigame has leftovers from the original release of the samurai epic, Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin. 
Yakuza 5 UI#
The UI in Yakuza 5 that was probably going to be reused for Yakuza 0 before opting for the style that was used in Yakuza 0 and later on Yakuza Kiwami. 
Figures#
Karaoke has a little figure in the corner to highlight how well the player is doing; in Yakuza 0, it's a kappa with a CD on its head named "Kara Kappa". Ishin had men in kimonos; which appear in 0, unused.
Unused Casino UI#
Titlecard#
A title card for the song "Samurai Ondo". It does not appear in Yakuza 0 despite being sung by "Goro Majima" (or rather in this case, Okita Soji.) 
Dummied Content#
Walkman DLC#
Watch on YouTubeThe Japanese PS3 version had exclusive DLC: a key item in the form of a Sony Walkman. The player, at their home base, can choose up to 10 tracks to put on their Walkman to listen to at any time in-game. There are 22 included tracks: 10 classic J-Pop and J-Rock songs from the 1980s, and 12 songs from across the Yakuza series (some of which are licensed songs).
All the DLC materials (including the songs!) are still in the files for the PC version, but the feature has been disabled entirely.
Dummy Karaoke Audio#
karaoke_bakamitai_inst_majima and karaoke_bakamitai_vo_majima are duplicates of Kiryu's Bakamitai tracks, implying Majima was at one point intended to sing the song too.
karaoke_judgement_cho_kiryu and karaoke_judgement_cho_nishiki are completely empty files that may have at one point been separate backing tracks for their versions of Judgement -Shinpan- instead of being baked into the vo_nishiki and vo_kiryu files respectively.
karaoke_mermaid_vo_vas is another empty audio file, being a dummied default vocal track for Heartbreak Mermaid.
Unused Audio#
Karaoke#
karaoke_cinderella_vas
A version of Majima's 24-Hour Cinderella vocal track that is mixed differently. It lacks backing vocals and the "ko" in "atarimae iko" is a different note than the used version. This audio is also different from the audio used in a substory where he sings the song.
karaoke_bakamitai_inst_vas
The Bakamitai instrumental at its original pitch, equivalent to Yakuza 5's karaoke_bakamitai_inst_saejima. Also present in Yakuza Kiwami, separate from the sorrow version of the song.
karaoke_bakamitai_vas
Placeholder vocals, which go along with the above file, for Bakamitai. This is also present in Yakuza 5 and Kiwami.
While these vocals of Bakamitai are heard in-game, in establishments and when selecting the song in the karaoke menu, those are baked mixes of this version, the formers being the "Full Spec" version with the second verse (but with these vocals) and the latter being a 20 second snippet of the mix.
karaoke_judgement_vas
Placeholder vocals for Judgement -Shinpan-, vocals themselves used in the karaoke_judgement_select menu audio snippet but unused as standalone karaoke engine vocals.
Unused Moves#
Kiryu#
Brawler#
There is an unused reversal move for this style (P_KRS_SYNC_guard_sabaki).
Dragon#
Kiryu's Yakuza 5 wall throw is leftover in this style (P_SYNC_lapel_wall_crash). Also leftover are four Komaki techniques integral to Kiryu's moveset in later games:
- Knockback (P_KRL_guard_reverse),
- Parry (P_SYNC_counter_f),
- Tiger Drop (P_KRL_ATK_counter), and
- his 4 quickstep attacks (front: P_KRL_ATK_sway_f, back: P_KRL_ATK_sway_b, left: P_KRL_ATK_sway_l, right: P_KRL_ATK_sway_r).
The first three - Knockback, Parry and Tiger Drop - are replaced with Body Counter, Dragon Twister and Iron Fist Counter, but he has no quickstep attacks in 0 at all.
Majima#
Thug#
Thug style has an "unused" move: Breaker style's Elbow Counter. This was determined because the Thug version of it has its own filename (P_MJA_ATK_counter).
Homare Nishitani#
Nishitani has 2 unused moves stolen from Souji Okita in Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!, those being
- a quick spinning getup (E_KIS_ATK_standup_DNB) and
- a longer breakdancing getup kick (E_KIS_ATK_standup_DNF).
Okita himself takes these moves from Yakuza 4 Majima.
Keiji Shibusawa#
Beast#
This style has Kiryu's Beast style dodge roll (E_SBC_kaihi) and a piledriver grab (E_SBC_SYNC_nage), both of which go unused by Shibusawa himself. However, Masaharu Kaito uses the piledriver in his Bruiser style in Lost Judgment: The Kaito Files.
Lao Gui#
Gun & Sword#
This one of Lao Gui's styles has many unused moves:
- E_LAO_double_guard_aim_shot - a triple shot from a guard
- E_LAO_double_guard_walk_shot_f - a slow walk, followed by a forward double shot
- E_LAO_double_guard_walk_shot_b - a slow walk, followed by a backward double shot
- E_LAO_double_ATK_3kaku_en - a quadruple shot done out of a spinning jump
- E_LAO_double_ATK_dodge_b - a series of backward jumping shots
Takamori Saigo?#
The entire moveset of Kichinosuke/Takamori Saigo from Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! is leftover in the files, completely unused. The only thing missing is his stance.
Regional Differences#
Removed Songs#
The English releases are missing two licensed songs which play during the intro and the credits sequence, "Bubble" and "Kurenai" by Japanese band Shōnan no Kaze, regardless of the language the game is played in or system locale. These tracks were replaced by original instrumental tracks. They would eventually be restored for all regions in the Director's Cut rerelease.
Intro
Japan |
International |
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Credits
Japan |
International |
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Lao Gui#
Watch on YouTube
In the Chinese version, Lao Gui's model and voice were completely changed, giving him the face and voice of Hong Kong-based actor Sam Lee.
Style Names#
Kiryu and Majima's styles have some differing names in Japanese and English.
Kiryu#
Brawler is called チンピラ (Chinpira, lit. "Thug") in Japanese.
Beast is called 壊し屋 (Kowashiya, lit. "Destroyer") in Japanese.
Majima#
Thug is called 喧嘩師 (Kenka-shi, lit. "Brawler") in Japanese.
Breaker is called ダンサー (Dansā, lit. "Dancer") in Japanese.
Revisional Differences#
Patch 2#
Released September 14, 2018.
- Removes the SaveAnywhere function from the settings.ini file found in appdata/roaming/sega/Yakuza 0/, which when enabled made the Save option available under System on the pause menu.