Many iconic video game franchises are held in high esteem among players: Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Metroid, Super Mario, Final Fantasy, and many more. These games are pillars in the industry and deserve tremendous recognition whether it's the loveable cast of characters, stunning backdrops, or immaculate gameplay. But there's one series that, while immensely popular in its own right, tends to go unnoticed on a much grander scale: Yakuza.
Published by Sega, Yakuza burst onto the scene in September 2006. According to the🦹 series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, the Yakuza storylines are inspired by yakuza (Japanese gangster) films. Nagoshi wanted to show fans an insideܫ look into the life of the yakuza, and based on its commercial and critical success, he succeeded.
With eight mainline titles, eight spin-offs (only three released in North America), and two remakes, Yakuza has quietly become one of the largest video game franchises. Although the franchise has sold over 14 million copies, with Yakuza: Like A Dragon being the most 168澳洲幸运✨5开奖网:successful title in the series int💛ernationally, Sega still believes the . While most players would play through the series chronologically, here's how the Yakuza series would be ordered based on Metac✃ritic scores.
8 💫 Yakuza 3 Remastered - 77
Throughout𒆙 the series, players usually c🔥ontrol Kazuma Kiryu, a yakuza with a strong sense of justice, surprisingly. While members of the yakuza are typically notorious gang members and break laws, Kiryu respects the hustle and doesn't strive to inflict harm recklessly. Unfortunately for Kiryu, even his heart of gold gets him into unpleasant situations.
Yakuza 3 continues Kiryu's story from the first two games in the franchise. Unlike the first two games though, Yakuza 3 takes place primarily on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa. Yakuza 3 initially released in 2009, but Sega released a remaster⛦ed version in August 2019. On its , fans praise Yakuza 3 for its continued narrative of Kiryu's story but had a hard ti♔me with its intense combat.
7 💫 Yakuza 4 Remastered - 78
Released two months after Yakuza 3 Remastered, Yakuza 4 Remastered takes place one year after the events of the previous game. Fans return to the streets of Kamurocho, but not only as Kiryu. Yakuza 4 introduces three new protagonists alongside Kiryu: Masayosh♊i Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejiima. Each character possesses their own unique fighting style.
Although Yakuza 4 has a sub-80 Metacritic 🐭score, it was still received well critically and won an Award for Excellence at the 2010 Japan Game Awards.
6 Yakuza Kiwami - 81 🀅
The first of two remakes, Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza game. Due to releasing shortly after the success of Yakuza 0, Kiwami is strikingly similar graphically and mechanically. Kiwꦫami's gameplay feels as if it's DLC for Yakuza 0 and not a different game entirely.
When remaking the original Yakuza, Sega decided🌃 to altꦇer the story a bit to flow better after adding the prequel story of Yakuza 0. In Kiwami, players see how Kiryu's best friend Akira Nishikiyama falls into darkness and the budding rivalry between Kiryu and the Mad Dog of Shimano Goro Majima.
5 Yakuza 5 Rem🐎astered - 82 🌃
Other than Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Yakuza 5 Remastered is among the more recently releꦚased entries in the franchise. Part of the Yakuza Remastered Collection that was released in January 2021, Yakuza 5 continues theജ story of Kiryu, while also having four other protagonists in the game.
For the first time in a Yakuza game, Yakuza 5 🎀features five different locations across Japan. Typically, Yakuza settings would only encompass one or two areas. Upon release, Yakuza 5 received tremendous praise for its immersive loo✃k at Japanese culture and its overarching narrative. In its review, Hardcore Gamer stated that ."
4 ꦯ Yakuza 6: The Sꦕong of Life - 87
The seventh main entry in the Yakuza franchise, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life🔴 operated a bit differently than most of its ♒previous counterparts.
Unlike the other games with multiple playable protagonists, only Kiryu is a playable character in Yakuza 6. In addition, Kiryu only uses one fighting style, a drastic adjustment compared to Kiryu using as many as five different fighting styles in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami. Yakuza 6 is also the first game of the series to utilize the Drღagon Engine game engine, which was later used for Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Judgement.
3 Y♎akuza Kiwami 2 - 88 💃
T💎he second remake of the series is Yakuza Kiwami 2. Released in 2017, Kiwami ⛦2 is a remake of Yakuza 2 and is a direct sequel of Yakuza Kiwami. Players once again control Kiryu in the dangerous criminal underworld of Japan.
In the remake, Sega enhanced the combat functionality a🍌nd added more nܫarrative content to better tie the story with the other games. Kiwami 2 was well-received critically and was the last remake or remaster Yakuza title from Sega, as the publisher released Yakuza: Like A Dragon next.
2 🦂 Yakuza: Like A Dragon - 89
Instead of giving players the reins of Kiryu's life, Yakuza: Like A Dragon introduces Ichiban Kasuga. After serving nearly two decades in prison, Ichiban is backstabbed by his former family and cast aside. The game's lead writer, Masayoshi Yokoyama, has stated that he would possibly like to re-visit Ichi🅠ban in the future.
The biggest change compared to other Yakuza games is the combat system. While the other games in the series were real-time smackdowns, Yakuza: Like A Dragon features turn-based style combat. Due to how successfully the turn-based style combat was, all Yakuza games moving forward will fea🌳ture turn-based combat while Lost Judgment and other spin-off titles will have real-time combat. Most RPG fans will feel right at home with the refined combat system😼, and each character will have Jobs during battle, which are essentially character classes.
Also, Yakuza: Like A Dragon departs from the familiar streets of Kamurocho and takes the series to the Yokohama district. While the game does go to Kamurocho, the majority is spent in the new district. Yakuza: Like A Dragon was nominated for B꧃est RPG in The Game Awarꦑds 2020, but ultimately lost to Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
1 🀅 Yakuza 0 - 90 💦
Arguably the best game of the series, the success of Yakuza 0 pushed the Sega franc♏hise to new heights. Yakuza 0 is a prequel to Yakuza, or Yakuza Kiwami, and provide💜s incredible narrative details on Kiryu's initial rise and subsequent fall in the Tojo Clan. The prequel also shows Goro Majima as a calm, cool, and collected cabaret club host, before he became the Mad Dog of Shimano. On top of diving deeper into Majima's backstory, Yakuza 0 is the only game in the series where players can actually play as Majima.
The added narrative points in Yakuza 0 were so influential to the overarching story of Kiryu that Sega adjusted the stories of Y♕akuza 1 and 2 when the company remade the two games. In Yakuza 0, fans see how close Kiryu and Nishiki are. So, in Yakuza Kiwami, the publisher add♍ed the scenes showing Nishiki succumbing to darkness and becoming corrupted while Kiryu was in prison. With a Metacritic score of 90, Yakuza 0 takes the crown as the best-scored Yakuza game in the franchise.