Gematsu writes that a new entry has been made into the Yakuza Zero Video Series with the introduction of Kiryu “Chapter One.” For those who are unaware, Sega is periodically releasing approximately half-hour long videos centered on certain important aspects of Yakuza Zero leading up to the game’s release. This video is about the early parts of Kiryu’s scenario in Yakuza Zero.

The game itself starts roughly at the 2:30 mark, opening with the oft-promoted cutscene of Kiryu roughing up an indebted client that seems to exemplify the Dragon of Dojima’s rough and complicated past. Viewers will also be watch to watch a random encounter from start to finish, with new special effects in tow. There’s also a karaoke segment that follows shortly after encountering Akira Nishikiyama. Towards the end of the video, reference is made to the Yakuza Zero-themed Hot Dog Press cover art – for more information on it, check out this Yakuza Fan link.

It’s worth noting that certain dialogue segments seem quite stylized, in a way that I personally think looks cool. One such example can be seen with Nishiki and Kiryu talking after the karaoke segment.

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Last week a seven-minute trailer for Yakuza Zero was shared with fans on the internet. We wrote about it here.

Kotaku East published an article this week containing that same trailer but with English subtitles added on to the video. The same writer has previously published another article featuring English subs for a different Yakuza Zero trailer.

The trailer is embedded onto a video player on the Kotaku article. Be sure to check out the trailer with subtitles here!

Sega has posted a new video for Yakuza Zero that focuses on showing the game’s story and characters. Most of the footage featured in this promotional video is new and showcases new dialogue exchanges. You can watch it below:
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The Yakuza Zero video series continues with a video focusing on the game’s characters. The cast looks to be fairly large, if at least the official website is any indication. There will be new and old faces spread amongst Kiryu and Majima’s campaign.

Interestingly enough, early on the video we see comparisons between Akira Nishikiyama’s likeness in Yakuza 1 (in all his PS2 glory) and his graphically spruced-up and younger look. In fact, around the first half or so of the video covers previously-introduced characters, while the latter half shows off newer characters. There are short dialogue clips for the characters shown off.

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Yakuza Zero is set to release in Japan in around two months. Ahead of its looming release date, Sega put out Yakuza Zero’s first commercial, also viewable through the Ryu ga Gotoku Youtube channel. It’s quite short (15 seconds!) but it does signify that Sega should be escalating their advertising for the game. As it stands, Yakuza Zero is already receiving some interesting and nice promotion with their weekly video series and Sega has generally advertised Yakuza well in Japan, in my opinion.

No word on Yakuza Zero’s localization prospects yet, but sales of Yakuza 5’s European and American releases could catch Sega and Sony’s attention.

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After a break last week, the Yakuza Zero video series continues with a focus on money. This is the video to watch if you want to be a Money Master, as the awesome intro to the video shows. Seeing as how Japan’s economy is currently in a recession, perhaps printing some yen bills with Majima and Kiryu faces on them may be the key to boosting consumer spending?

Money is given more focus in Yakuza Zero than previous Yakuza games. When enemies are defeated, they “bleed” money that players use to level up their characters. Besides that, Yakuza Zero is a prequel game that takes place in the late 80’s in Japan: a time noted for Japan’s asset bubble economy, or a period of economic boom preceding the Lost Decade of the 90’s. Viewers can expect to see coverage of Kiryu’s Money Island sidequest and Majima’s Cabaret Club sidequest here too. In fact, they take up a rather large portion of the video, so if you’re looking to familiarize yourself with how the sidequests may operate, be sure to take a look!

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