Yakuza 0 Fighting Styles: A Beginner Guide to Kiryu and Majima

In Yakuza 0, you walk around a Japanese city and sometimes a group of enemies stops you for a street fight. You do not pick a new character from a roster for each fight. The story gives you two playable leads, Kiryu and Majima, in different chapters. Each one learns three ways to fight. The game calls these fighting styles. A style changes how quickly you move, how you hit and what kind of attack works best. You can change style during a fight after the story has taught it to you.

The shortest answer: start with the balanced style, switch to speed when you need room to dodge, and try the heavy style when you can safely land a big hit or use nearby objects. None is the “correct” style for every opponent.

This guide uses the original Yakuza 0 names and gameplay images. The later Director’s Cut is a separate edition. If your game uses a changed controller layout or keyboard bindings, follow the button prompt and the Controls menu on your own screen.

When a fight begins, look at the upper-left corner, not at the money number on the other side of the screen. In the official screenshot below, a white figure and the word “Brawler” sit at the far upper-left. Directly beside them are Kiryu’s orange health bar and blue Heat bars. That word tells you which style is active right now. If it changes to another name, your style has changed even if Kiryu is still wearing the same clothes.

1. Start a safe street fight after the opening tutorial. Locate the current style name at the upper-left and say it aloud before pressing anything else.
2. On the default gamepad layout, tap D-pad up for the balanced style, left for the fast style or right for the strong style. Watch the upper-left name change. Do not use the left stick for this: the stick moves your character.
3. Try one short attack in the new style, then step back and switch again. You are learning the difference in movement and reach, not trying to finish the fight with a complicated combo.

If a direction does nothing: that style may not be unlocked yet, or your controls may be remapped. Keep playing the story until the game teaches the missing style, and check your own Controls screen if your input does not match this default gamepad map.

Kiryu is the man in the light suit with a red shirt or orange collar. His first style is Brawler. It is the balanced option: punches, kicks, grabs and throws. In the official image below, Kiryu is over a fallen enemy in a close street brawl. You can use Brawler while you learn where enemies stand, then change when the situation calls for more speed or power.

• Brawler — tap D-pad up. Use it to learn a new enemy, grab someone nearby or recover when another style feels awkward.

Rush is Kiryu’s fast style. In its image he is low and moving through a quick attack with a purple trail. It is useful when a slower enemy keeps swinging and you need to dodge and answer with short hits. It is not meant to be a heavy-object style: avoid standing still and trading blows.

• Rush — tap D-pad left after the story unlocks it. Try it against an enemy whose swings are easy to see, so you can practise stepping around them.

Beast is Kiryu’s strong style. The official scene below shows the clue that makes it easy to recognise: Kiryu has lifted a large motorcycle above a group. Beast can work with nearby objects and heavy hits, but it is slower. Check for a clear opening before you swing, and do not assume its power will protect you from being hit.

• Beast — tap D-pad right after it becomes available. Try it when the fight has enough space and a nearby object you can use.

Majima is the man with the eyepatch and darker suit. His chapter uses different style names, so do not look for “Brawler” on his screen. The balanced choice is Thug. The official image shows him striking at close range while other men stand nearby. It is a flexible starting place when you are still learning his timing.

• Thug — tap D-pad up. Use it to get comfortable with Majima’s normal movement and close-range hits.

Breaker is Majima’s speed style. Instead of Kiryu’s quick boxing-like movement, Majima spins and slides through dance-inspired attacks. In the image, his body is low to the street and the move leaves a pink trail. It can reach several people around him, but a beginner should still watch where the move ends before starting another one.

• Breaker — tap D-pad left once unlocked. It gives Majima a faster, wider-moving answer when enemies are close together.

Slugger is Majima’s power style. The baseball bat is its easiest visual clue. The official screenshot below shows him swinging it in a crowded street. It reaches differently from his bare-handed styles and can interrupt a nearby opponent, but you still need space and timing. Do not confuse this built-in style with picking up an ordinary weapon from the road.

• Slugger — tap D-pad right once unlocked. Use the bat’s reach when you can see a safe angle to attack.

1. Find an ordinary street encounter rather than a story boss. Before the first hit, look at the top-left style label so you know your starting style.
2. Fight for a few seconds with the balanced style: Kiryu’s Brawler or Majima’s Thug. Watch how close you must stand to land a hit and how long you need to recover afterward.
3. If your fast style has been unlocked, tap D-pad left. Circle away from one attack and throw only a short response. Look again at the top-left to confirm Rush or Breaker is active.
4. If your power style has been unlocked, tap D-pad right. For Kiryu, look for a loose object nearby before attacking. For Majima, watch the bat’s reach. Switch back to the balanced style with D-pad up if the fight becomes crowded or you lose control of the timing.

Money is part of the upgrade system in Yakuza 0. Do not spend it just because an ability is highlighted: read what the upgrade changes and whether it belongs to the style you are actually practising. The game teaches new styles during the story, so a missing style is not a puzzle to solve in a menu at the start.

Small goal, real progress: finish one street fight having deliberately changed style once and checked that the name changed on screen. That teaches more than memorising six names without testing any of them.

• I cannot find Brawler while playing Majima. That name belongs to Kiryu. In the original game, Majima’s balanced style is Thug.
• D-pad left or right does not change style. A style may still be locked by story progress, or your controller/keyboard binding may differ. Follow the game’s current prompt and check Controls before assuming the guide’s default gamepad layout applies.
• I pressed down and got a weapon. That is expected: D-pad down handles equipped weapons, not one of the three basic fighting styles.
• The blue bars are almost empty. Those are Heat bars. They are not the style name. Look to their left for the style icon and word; the orange bar above is health.
• Which style should I upgrade first? Start with the one you can use confidently in ordinary fights. Read each upgrade’s effect. You can learn the other styles later instead of spending all your money immediately.

Once you can recognise the top-left label, the names become much less intimidating. The official screenshots above show how each style looks in motion; the original diagram only maps the gamepad directions. When your version shows a different button prompt, the game screen wins.