Summary

• Yakuza series, a cult hit in the West, changed with Yakuza 0, becoming a global success with Game of the Year nominations.
• Yakuza 2 improved over the original game, featuring faster combat and more side content, but is showing its age compared to newer titles.
• Yakuza: Dead Souls, a spin-off with zombies, offers fun gameplay but suffers from performance issues.

Yakuza, also known as Like a Dragon, is a semi-open world action RPG crime series developed in Japan. It shares many similarities with Sega’s Shenmue series and is loaded🐭 with pop culture and side distractions. In the West, the series has mostly been considered a cult hit, and the crime series has stayed under the radar since it was first released to Western audiences in 2006.

However, this all changed with the launch of Yakuza 0, with the ga🀅me selling far better than expected and earning several Game of the Year nominations. The various instalmen🌠ts are now launched simultaneously worldwide, and the IP has become Sega's biggest franchise aside from Sonic the Hedgehog. Most of the games are really good, as well.

Updated on March 13, 2025, by Dominic Allen: With the release of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, it's a great time to update this list. There are several changes that have been made to keep it up to current standards, plus the new Pirate Yakuza game has been included as well. The Yakuza/Like a Dragon series won't stop anytime soon, so this list is bound to be updated many more times in the future.

17 Yakuza

The Rusty Original

The first game in the Yakuzaꦓ series was released in 200𝄹5 in the West, and its crime story is as compelling now as it was back then. However, being the first in the series, it is seen as a diamond in the rough, especially now with the Kiwami remake available.

The game was also fully voiced in English, and despite not being bad performances, the dialogue has been accused of being overly Westernized compared to its original Japanese launch. Additionally, it’s the only game in the mainline series to be localized in this way, and it feels awkward as a result. On the plus side, you do get 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mark Hamill voicing Majima, and that's pretty cool.

16 Yakuza 3

The First Tropical Entry

Yakuza 3 was the first game in the series to be released on the PlayStation 3 and told a fantastic story that let us peek at a softer side to the lead character Kiryu as he tries to leave behind the life of a gangster and run the Morning Glory Orphanage. The tropical setting of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ryukyu is a refreshing one.

Unfo🧔rtunately, this entry is held back by the awkward transition in development to the newer hardware. Worse still, there is a significant amount of side content that was cut from the game, such as the hostess clubs sections and a large chunk of substories. Shortfalls aside, Yakuza 3's story is still a gripping one. Additionally, most of the cut content was added back in for the remastered version!

15 Yakuza 2

A Good Follow-Up

When played back to back, the improvements to Yakuza 2 over the original are far more noticeable than they seem on the surface. The combat is faster and smoother, and the game is filled with even more side content to keep players busy for 🅺hours.

The second entry has arguably one of the best-developed stor꧒ies in the saga and featured one of the series🦩’ best villains in Ryuji Goda. Sadly, it is starting to show its age, especially compared to the more recent titles.

14 ꦫ Yakuza: Dead Souls

Yakuza With Zombies

Japan has had several Yakuza spin-offs over the years; however, Yakuza: Dead Souls was the first to make its way to Western audiences (th🎃ere are still many that need to be localized over here). This game is set a year after Yakuza 4 but is not canonical to the rest of the series, and understandably so, as it features a zombie outbreak.

Look no further if you ever wanted a fun zombie shooter featuring four of your favorite characters from the Yakuza series. Kiry𒅌u, Akiyama, Majima, and Ryuji are all playable characters in this title, and there's plenty of comedy alongsid❀e the zombie slaying.

It's fun for what it is, but the performance drags down the game immensely. If you have t🍰he horsepower, you're better off playing it through RPCS3 for a more consistent framerate.

13 ♎ Like A Dragon: Pirate Y💛akuza In Hawaii

Should Have Been Better

While Goro Majima first became playable in Yakuza: Dead Souls, his first solo game arrived in 2025 with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Introducing sea traversal and ship battles to the series, the melee and ship combat are both a lot of fun. The doppelganger move, especially, 🦩is one of the best Super moves in the franchise.

However, since this is not a mainline title, the side content pales in comparison to what was offered just a year prior in Infinite Wealth. Exploring islands can also be repetitive, with many being little com🎶bat arenas where you fight 100 enemies.

12 Like A Draܫgon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

An Amazing Side Story

Like a Dragon Gaiden is essentially the prologue for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, similar to Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. It sets the stage for the eighth installmentꦫ, and as such, it doesn't offer a lot. You get only one real location to delve into being Sot🍃enbori, and there's nothing really new in terms of side activities.

Even 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Hell Team Rumble matches are essentially⛄ a bigger version of the tag team bouts you'd have in previous games. That said, it's still a really good Yakuza game with a great story. Writing continues to be stellar, and the ending might have you cry. It j🍃ust doesn't bring anything new to the table, which is why it's quite low.

11 Yakuza 4

When The Franchise Went Big-Time

Yakuza 4 was one of the better entries to the series that launched on the PlayStation 3. The city of Kamurocho 🔜was expanded and improved upon from Yakuza 3 in every way, and no side content was cut, with exploration far more enjoyable as a result.

What some players may find jarring is that the game’s story is told from the perspective of four characters. In addition to Kazama Kiryu, there’s Masayoshi Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejima. Players may take some issue with the game not opening with Kiryu and the focus on the new characters, but Yakuza 4 is still a great title in the series. (And op🔜ened up a whole new fandom crush when it came to Akiyama.)

10 Yakuza 5

The Biggest Yakuza Game

Expanding on the fourth entry’s iꦿnterweaving stories and perspectives, Yakuza 5 features five characters. While this may sound like overkill, the overarching sꦿtory is expertly crafted and so well put together that each character's path feels both unique and familiar.

Each character not only offers engaging gameplay and combat variety, but the expanded viewpoints also place your characters in five distinct locales. Returning are Kamurocho🐠 and Sotenbori from the first two games and three new cities to explore, which are so packed with content andꦿ self-contained that they could pass as individual games in their own right.

9 Judgment

A Great Start To The Side Series

Judgment is a Yakuza spin-off series, giving 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:players a detective drama set in the same famili𝔉ar Kamurocho district. However, unlikᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe the Yakuza: Dead Souls spin-off launched in 2012, Judgment is canon to the Yakuza universe. Despite being its own self-contained story that stands apart from the mainline series, with its detective mechanics and new characters, Judgment is a Yakuza title in all but name.

Though some of the features felt a little clunky at times — namely tailing people and the seemingly point🦩less key mechanic — there's a lot to love about Judgment, and it offers an enticingly dark story to sink your teeth into. Plus, it features popul⛎ar Japanese singer and actor Takuya Kimura in the lead role; what more could you want?

8 Yakuza Kiwami 🧸

The Remake Yakuza 1 Needed

Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the first game and sets the bar for how remakes of classic games should be handled by developers from now on. Remade from the ground up with re-recorded lines from the original cast and added scenes; this is the absoluඣte best way to experience the first game in the series.

Yakuza Kiwami was built on the same engine as Yakuza 0 and packs in many new features and content. A standout addition is the 'Majima Everywhere' side quest, which sees Go🉐ro Majima stalk Kiryu throughout the game in a variety of ways, such as using disguises and hiding spots throughout the story and initiating fights.