Yakuza series
Yakuza | Yakuza 2 | Yakuza 3 | Yakuza 4 | Yakuza 5 | Yakuza 0 | Yakuza 6
Like a Dragon series
Yakuza: Like a Dragon | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Judgment series
Judgment | Lost Judgment
Other Spin-Offs
Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! | Yakuza: Dead Souls | Like a Dragon: Ishin! | Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
- Ascended Meme: Considering that this is a SEGA game, and one of Kiryu's speed perks is called Gotta Go Fast...
- Breakthrough Hit: After the disappointing performance of Yakuza: Dead Souls, Yakuza 0 was the game that fully broke out of Japan and established the Like A Dragon series as an international franchise, receiving critical acclaim and surpassing sales expectations. Subsequent releases on the PC and Xbox One further expanded the audience further, and subsequent entries of the series have enjoyed much greater attention and success internationally.
- Casting Gag: Hidekatsu Shibata voices the head of an influential organization with Tōru Ōkawa voicing one of his subordinates who would later succeed him, similar to their roles as King Bradley, the leader of the military and Roy Mustang, who wants to become his successor in Fullmetal Alchemist (2003).
- The Danza:
- The models in the Gandhara videos appear as characters in the side stories using their real first names. Also a case of Identical Stranger as said characters are mostly everyday people (e.g. college student, crosswords buff, convenience store cashier, game center staff) who happen to look exactly like AV idols of the same name, which is lampshaded in the sidestory "The Girl in The Video".
- Several other side characters, namely the four Mr. Shakedowns, the two Mr. Moneybags, and the two Mr. Libidos, are also named and modeled after their voice actors.
- Newbie Boom: Clearly the largest in the west for the series, due to the game being a prequel that doesn't require knowledge of the previous games or characters. The game was sold out in the UK
upon release due to short supply. In America, recognizing new players wanted to revisit the previous games, Sega of America ordered a limited reprint of the first four games that could be ordered online (including the rare PS2 games). The "Yakuza Experience" website was also launched to bring players up to speed with the entire series. Each game since has been localized overseas, showing that Sega clearly has faith in the series outside Japan once more. Yakuza 0 has also become a "Playstation Hits" title, a first for the series outside Japan.- The release on Steam further cemented this, being the first game in the series that PC-only gamers were able to play; Series director Hiroyuki Sakamoto directly cites Yakuza 0's PC release as what made them realize the series' potential overseas, leading to every previous game being ported to PC and future entries releasing on multiple platforms by default.
- It's not only the first Yakuza game to be released on the Xbox platform, but it was available on day one as part of Microsoft's Game Pass subscription service.
- The release on Steam further cemented this, being the first game in the series that PC-only gamers were able to play; Series director Hiroyuki Sakamoto directly cites
- No Export for You: The companion app was not released outside of Japan, nor was the PS3 port.
- The Other Darrin:
- Reina is voiced by the late Hiromi Tsuru, as her previous actress Junko Mihara had gone into politics. The role would get darrin'd again to Atsuko Tanaka in Kiwami.
- Masaru Sera is voiced by Tōru Ōkawa, replacing Ryuji Mizuki.
- Pre-Order Bonus: For the localized release, pre-orders of the game were automatically upgraded to “The Business” launch edition. It included a stainless steel business card holder decorated with Kiryu’s and Majima’s tattoo designs, business cards of Kiryu’s and Majima’s businesses, and a card of the Sunshine Club hostesses.
- Prop Recycling: A few rooms are recycled for different substories, such as the Maguro Enterprises office in The Tax Lady also being the hideout for some Jinsei family goons in A Shining Example, and the offices of both Tetsuya the Gigolo and Kinji the Antique Yakuza in Tatsu's debt collection missions.
- Role Reprise: The game sees the return of actors who have been absent from the series for years, although Kazuhiro Nakaya (Nishikiyama) and Shunsuke Sakuya (Kashiwagi) returned previously to voice their characters' expies in the original version of Like a Dragon: Ishin!!.
- Shintaro Kazama is reprised by Tetsuya Watari.
- Futoshi Shimano is voiced again by Naomi Kusumi, although Kusumi has voiced Nakajima in 5.
- You Sound Familiar:
- An easy to miss one but Yamagata is voiced by Kazuya Nakai who had previously voiced minor antagonist Hasebe in 3.
- Yoneda is voiced by Takahiro Fujimoto who had previously voiced Masaru Ihara in Yakuza 4 and Kubota in Yakuza 5.
