It was only a matter of time before I wrote about Yakuza / Like A Dragon in this space. So here we are.
Like A Dragon, called Yakuza in most territories worldwide until earlier this year, is a unique blend of serious, dramatic central stories, intense, violent action sequences, and truly absurd, silly side content couched in an open-world RPG taking place in one or more real Japanese cities. In a typical Like A Dragon game, you could be smashing gangsters' heads with car doors, singing karaoke with your friends, and playing matches of Virtua Fighter 2 at an arcade within the same 20-minute period. It's tonal whiplash and often convoluted or even contradictory, but almost always super fun. Like A Dragon games have been Sega staples since 2005, and their core developers united under a new name, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, in 2011. I didn't play an RGGS game until 2019 but dove DEEP into Like A Dragon in 2020 and have since finished twelve (!) of them in that span. So naturally, I have a few Thoughts.
The first seven Like A Dragon games star Kazuma Kiryu, a retired gangster who's trying to retire peacefully, but is great at street fighting and awful at actually retiring. The eighth Like A Dragon game stars a largely new cast, centered around the optimistic Ichiban Kasuga. There are several Like A Dragon spinoffs (two of which I've played) that bring in Like A Dragon actors and likenesses into new settings for a change. And lastly, there are the two Judgment games, which share a setting with the Like A Dragon main series but focus on Takayuki Yagami, a do-gooding lawyer / detective enacting justice on his own terms. I'm super-excited for Gaiden (a side story starring Kiryu that comes out in November of this year) and Infinite Wealth (the ninth main-series game starring both Kiryu and Ichiban, which comes out in early 2024).
Today, I shall rank the twelve I've played. I played all of the Like A Dragon titles in the list below on PS4 or PS5, so those are the versions I'm reporting on. In general, I would advocate that interested parties play ALL of these games other than the game I ranked 12th, heh. Kiwami, Zero, and YLAD are all fair starting points, but in general these are all good games that build on each other with every new title. But enough bullshit, here it is:
Sollosi's Top Ten Twelve Yakuza Like A Dragon Video Games
Number Twelve
(PS4 2018, Hokuto Ga Gotoku in Japanese) The only RGGS game that I would call a flat-out disappointment, Lost Paradise is a pretty underwhelming interpretation of Hokuto No Ken, one of the most iconic action manga/anime of the 1980s. It's a perfect property for a Like A Dragon adaptation, but the city is boring (borderline unforgivable for one of these) and the narrative is just a mess. The story takes place in a new town but condenses characters and situations from the anime weirdly into a single narrative that hardly makes sense, even if you're familiar with Fist of the North Star. The combat is decent, with some cool finishing moves, and the minigames are a mixed bag (there are some good ones, like drink mixing and the rhythm clinic), but overall, I can't recommend Fist of the North Star unless you already know the original story and have played every other game in the list below.
Number Eleven
(PS3 2010, PS4 remaster 2019, Ryu Ga Gotoku 4 in Japanese) This is not a bad game! I enjoyed Yakuza 4, but it happens to finish 11th among my series ranking. Yakuza 4 stars four protagonists instead of only Kiryu; Akiyama and Saejima went on to become series favorites, while Tanimura has never been seen since (lol). Regardless, Yakuza 4's story is a convoluted mess (which is true of most of them, so I won't harp on it) and has some truly bad and/or uncomfortable moments that tinge the experience negatively for me.
But weakest of all, Yakuza 4 takes place only in Kamurocho, Tokyo, while every other Yakuza game after the first one has multiple cities to explore. Each character has unique sub-stories and gameplay interactions in town, but these systems weren't executed gracefully. Also, the final battle is one of the worst in the series. Sure, this is a good version of Kamurocho, but Yakuza 4 is below-average in story, characters, combat, and exploration, so it finishes last among the Yakuza games.
Number Ten
(PS2 2005, PS4 remake 2016, Ryu Ga Gotoku Kiwami in Japanese) The first Yakuza game (and its remake) gain points for being the series progenitor and setting the stage for important character motivations and relationships that define the entire series, but then lose most of them for being an inferior version of what was to come. The only space to explore is the iconic Kamurocho, Tokyo, but this is the emptiest and least-interesting Kamurocho of the series. Which I suppose is acceptable for the first game out of many.
The combat in the remake (an adaptation of Yakuza 0's) is pretty good, but the Majima Everywhere encounters overshadowing many of the open world elements are... not. You'll end up fighting Majima at least twenty times over the course of the game if you want to level up Kiryu's fighting styles. Kiryu's falling out with his former best friend, Akira Nishikiyama, and first meeting with his future ward Haruka Sawamura are CRUCIAL, but the sub-stories are boring, several of the boss fights are awful (Nishikiyama's is pretty good though), and the story setup starting with an offscreen sexual assault is in poor taste. Yakuza Kiwami would've finished 11th or 12th if it wasn't a remake of what started it all.
Number Nine
The plot isn't perfect (especially one infamous lore dump near the end), but Yakuza 3 has strong dialog and some of the best sub-stories in the entire series (Murder at Cafe Alps! The new bar mama at Serena!). Unfortunately... then there's the action. Defense-heavy unforgiving combat, awful chase sequences, and a few rough boss fights really drag Yakuza 3 down. And a few of the mini games like billiards, darts, and hostess clubs are poorly done this time around. Yakuza 3 is a fascinating game with great writing but is held back by multiple gameplay hang-ups.
Number Eight
Kiryu is great in Yakuza 6, especially now that he has an adoptive grandson to take care of, but the central villains are both deplorable and unimpressive (at least they get what they deserve?), and a few of Kiryu's just-this-game allies are annoying or unlikeable. I love Beat Takeshi's performance as Patriarch Hirose and the baby is cute, but I would throw most of the rest of the new cast directly into the trash. I like several parts of Yakuza 6's open world, but I find its characters the most problematic of any Like A Dragon game since the first. Yakuza 6 finishes towards the middle.
Number Seven
It's a little disappointing that Judgment takes place in only one city (something I strongly disliked about Yakuza 4) but makes up for that by telling a very solid story with several fun diversions. I love most of the new characters in Judgment (especially Kaito and Shirosaki), and its gameplay is mostly good (combat is better than average, but I don't think anyone likes tailing suspects). The side content isn't as fleshed-out as other Like A Dragon games of the 2010s, sadly. Judgment is not one of the best Like A Dragon games, but it's a very worthwhile entry that makes strong foundation for future games (Please give us a Judgment 3 eventually).
Number Six
(PS3 2014, PS5 remaster 2023, Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin Kiwami in Japanese) If I was ranking these games by story alone, Ishin! would finish in the top three at the very least. It's a riveting samurai tale full of mystery, intrigue, and historical revisionism, with some interesting new roles for familiar performers (Mine is on your side! Yuki is your love interest! Daigo is a minor antagonist!). Ishin's setting, a lively version of 1860s Kyoto, is a blast to explore and feels different from any other Like A Dragon city (other than perhaps the Kyoto of Like A Dragon: Kenzan!, which is still a Japan-only title).
Ishin! also has some pretty fun open-world elements and overall good writing, plus four combat styles of swordplay and gunplay that are cool to execute. Ishin's main problem is tedium. The difficulty curve is brutal if you don't upgrade your sword regularly (which takes a lot of resource-grinding); the dungeon missions are decent but super-repetitive; and the sub-stories are a preponderance of item harvesting, fetch-questing, and foot-racing that feels a cut below the best Like A Dragon side content. Ishin! is a great Like A Dragon game, but not one of the very best.
Number Five
(PS4/PS5 2021) Unless you have character- or story-specific hangups about Lost Judgment (which is fair), it's a marked improvement over the first. Being able to explore both Kamurocho (Tokyo) and Ijincho (Yokohama) is a blast, with both neighborhoods as vibrant as ever. Lost Judgment's side content is a delight, with special attention to the School Stories, in which Yagami serves as an advisor to multiple school clubs and resolves student drama that ends in a connected narrative. WAY better than the Keihin Gang-busting from the first Judgment, which School Stories replaces.
This is also perhaps the best overall combat in any Like A Dragon game, with four fighting styles containing lots of fun combos and tricks native to each, and excellent boss fights. Lost Judgment's main weakness is probably its overall story, which has some good moments and characters but also unnecessary suffering (a problem I have with several Like A Dragon games), and a very clumsy handling of bullying and institutional corruption. Lost Judgment could have done a few things better, but it's one of the better Like A Dragon games and a must-play if you liked the first Judgment.
Number Four
That story, however, isn't always as good as the side stuff. Ryuji Goda is an excellent antagonist, and Kaoru Sayama is one of the very few (possibly ONLY) love interests for Kiryu that isn't a disposable club girl. That's pretty good. There are a few excellent, even subversive scenes, but... the Korean Jingweon Mafia are a somewhat-contrived, slightly-racist group of antagonists, and there are a few too many twists that boil down to "they were secretly Korean!" But I won't deny that Yakuza 2 is really cool and the side content is great. But there are at least three others that deliver better on both story and gameplay.
Number Three
(PS3 2012, PS4 remaster 2019, Ryu Ga Gotoku 5 in Japanese) Yakuza 5 is *the most* Like A Dragon in any one game. Five protagonists to meet, five cities to explore, and individualized side quests, sub-stories, mini games, and character motivations. Yakuza 5 feels like an improved version of Yakuza 4; there are a bunch of playable characters, and the narrative is often a convoluted mess, but this time I love it instead of feel let down. Don't ask me to explain why on earth [spoiler] is the final boss, but the journey getting there is a hell of a ride.
I really can't overstate how much I liked these cities. Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Sapporo are great new spaces to explore, and they feel distinctly different in a way that makes Yakuza 5 stand out. The hunting mini game in Sapporo is a bit much, but the taxi driving and drift racing in Fukuoka and all of Haruka's idol mini games in Sotenbori, Osaka are a delight. And on top of these great cities and side content, the gameplay rules too! Saejima has one of the most satisfying fighting styles in any Like A Dragon game (also a great version of Kiryu), and Yakuza 5's excellent boss fights set a new series standard after some clunkers in Yakuzas 3 and 4. Yakuza 5 is not only the biggest Like A Dragon game, but one of the best.
Number Two
Yakuza: Like A Dragon embraces its new JRPG identity to silly extremes. You can change jobs at the unemployment office, increase your stats by taking courses at an adult education center, and "recruit allies to your base" by turning a struggling candy store into a super-corporation worth trillions of yen. But for all its changes, this game never abandons its Like A Dragon identity. The main narrative is an intense crime epic, the sub-stories never fail to delight and surprise, and the open-world shenanigans are wilder than ever, from the two secret casinos to the full-on kart racing game located in a neighborhood park.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon suffers from pacing issues and a weird difficulty curve - both the XP grind and the money grind can bite players in the ass at inopportune times - but it's also my favorite turn-based RPG of the entire 2020s. I cannot wait to join Ichiban on a new adventure in 2024, but his first game is not the greatest Like A Dragon tale ever told....
Number One
(PS3/PS4 2015, Ryu Ga Gotoku 0 in Japanese) It is downright SHOCKING I have written this much about Like A Dragon here today without mentioning Goro Majima. A fan-favorite sometime-foe sometime-ally of Kiryu in Yakuzas 1 through 5, Majima finally gets his chance to shine in Yakuza 0, a prequel taking place in 1988 Tokyo and Osaka. This time, Kiryu and Majima are young gangsters seeking their fortunes during Japan's economic boom and their places within the Tojo Clan, and they both get caught up in schemes and conspiracies about to spiral out of control.
Yakuza 0 has two of the best Like A Dragon characters as its protagonists, but also one of the best Like A Dragon narratives. Kiryu and Majima's personal journeys in Yakuza 0 are riveting and inform their character motivations for the rest of the series. The villains are awesome (especially recurring mid-boss Daisaku Kuze). Multiple characters from earlier games have memorable turns in Yakuza 0 as well, especially Yakuza 1's Nishikiyama. But the gameplay! Yakuza 0 takes the multiple-styles gimmick of Ishin! and the character-specific side quests of Yakuza 5 to new levels, with EIGHT dope martial arts styles to mess with and a host of awesome open-world elements, including Kiryu getting into real estate development (really), Majima managing a struggling cabaret club, and both men cutting a rug at the disco in addition to Yakuza staples like karaoke, darts, and batting cages.
Look, Yakuza 0 is the game that got me hooked on Like A Dragon, and while it's not perfect (the story is hard to follow at times and every female character is either a throwaway or a damsel needing rescue), it's so wild and completely unforgettable. The 1980s setting, the absurd and varied sub-stories and side activities, the excellent writing, the brutal combat, and a few powerful scenes that are among the best in any video game of the 2010s. Even if you never play any other game on this list, please give Yakuza 0 a chance.
So that's that! My first blog post in well over five months was fun to write, and I hope you had fun reading it. I was ITCHING to write about Like A Dragon on this blog someday, and today was the day. See you in 2024!
…except not quite. I'm working on another piece that will hopefully post in October, plus I'll have something ready for January 1st, like I do every year. Happy gaming, everyone!
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