Yakuza Games In Order

After sneaking early development footage of the first game into a preview of upcoming Sega games so that then CEO Hajime Satomi would see it, Super Monkey Ball creator Toshihiro Nagoshi was given the begrudging go ahead from his superiors to create Ryū ga Gotoku (Like a Dragon), which would go on to be called Yakuza in international markets. Thankfully, the gamble paid off and the beat ‘em up RPG went on to become one of SEGA’s most successful franchises.

One of the major themes of the series is a desire from Yakuza’s leading protagonists to leave the pain of the Yakuza life behind and instead live out a regular life peacefully as a civilian. Unfortunately, they’ve lived a life of secrecy and violence — and things are never that simple.

There have been many Yakuza games released by SEGA and RGG Studio since 2005, including remakes, spin-offs, historical dramas, a prequel and even one based on an 80s anime, so knowing where to start can be tricky. Thankfully, we’ve written this list, so you’ll be able to put the Yakuza games in order from now on.

Just want to play the story the best way possible? Then this is the list of Yakuza games in order you’ll want to follow.

Main story Yakuza games in order:

Yakuza 0 (2015)

Yakuza Kiwami (2016) (Remake of Yakuza)

Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017) (Remake of Yakuza 2)

Yakuza Remastered Collection (2020) (Remasters of Yakuza 3, 4, 5)

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016)

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020)

 

Judgment spin-off Yakuza games in order:

Judgment (2018)

Lost Judgment (2021)

 

Black Panther spin-off Yakuza games in order:

Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (2010)

Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura-hen (2012)

Yakuza (2005)

If you want to play the Yakuza games in release order, then this is where you begin. Set in Kamurocho, a fictionalised version of Kabukichō (Tokyo’s red light district), Yakuza is our first encounter with The Dragon of Dojima. In 1995, Kazuma Kiryu takes the fall for his best friend Nishikiyama after the young man murders Sohei Dojima (patriarch of the largest and most powerful family in the Tojo Clan) in revenge for kidnapping their friend Yumi and attempting to forcibly have his way with her.

After spending 10 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Kiryu returns to a very different Kamurocho and finds that Nishikiyama may not be the man he remembers. With ten billion yen of the clan’s money missing and a young orphan called Haruka somehow tied up in the situation, Kiryu must fight to protect both her and stop a hostile takeover of the Tojo Clan at any cost.

An instant classic, Nagoshi’s “powerful, gritty drama where you feel the sense of humanity” sold over a million copies. The western release has a bit of a mixed reputation due to it’s questionable voice acting. Fan favourite character Goro Majima is strangely played by Mark Hamill, though the actor has said more than once that he doesn’t even remember doing the performance.

 

Yakuza 2 (2006)

Released only one year later, Yakuza 2 adds Sotenbori (based on Dōtonbori, Osaka) and Shinseicho (based on Shinsekai) to the mix, telling its story both in those places and in Kamurocho. Although he has at this point left the Yakuza, Kiryu is asked by his ex-clan to help avert a war with Osaka’s Omi Alliance. While in Osaka, he encounters another Yakuza named Ryuji Goda, who is also known as The Dragon of Kansai.

Goda hates the idea of there being more than one Yakuza “Dragon” and takes the continued existence of Kiryu to be a bit of a personal insult, which only makes him want a war even more. While Kiryu recruits old allies and attempts to prepare the Tojo Clan for a battle that seems to be unavoidable, he also falls in love with hard-boiled Detective Kaoru Sayama as the pair work together to learn the secrets of the Jingweon Mafia massacre that happened in 1968 and how it relates to what is going on in the present day.

Yakuza 2 had a more limited western PS2 release and came out with subtitles instead of an English dub, which would be the new (cheaper) standard for series releases until 2018.

 

Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! (2008)

In the first of many odd side-steps for the series, Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! does not continue the story of Kazuma Kiryu, but instead uses the fictional cast of the games like actors in a Japanese historical drama.

Set in Kyoto, Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! tells the story of Miyamoto Musashi, a samurai that lived in the Edo period. Though set in the past, the game still has the minigames and interesting substories that the series is famous for. Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! was the first game in the series to use Cyberware’s color 3D scanner to put the voice actors’ real faces on their characters. It was never released outside of Japan, though fans have continued to ask for it for over ten years.

 

Yakuza 3 (2009)

This entry is the first mainline title for the PlayStation 3. It uses the enhanced capabilities of what was then a new console to tell a story mostly set in Ryukyu, Okinawa (based on Naha) with less than half the game spent in seventh-gen Kamurocho.

Though he has moved far away from his old life and now runs Morning Glory Orphanage, Kiryu and his new friend Rikiya are dragged into more violent drama when the Tojo Clan and the Ryudo Family are attacked by the CIA and a secret organization called “Black Monday”. Things get more complicated when Kiryu finds out the attacks were perpetrated by a man that looks exactly like his supposedly deceased adoptive father Kazama.

This one had content censored and removed when released in the west on the PS3, but it was restored as part of the Yakuza Remastered Collection release on PS4, Xbox and PC. So basically, you should play the newer version.

 

Yakuza 4 (2010)

The first game in the series to have multiple playable characters. Yakuza 4 lets us step into the shoes of loan shark Shun Akiyama, convict on the run Taiga Saejima, morally grey cop Masayoshi Tanimura and returning star Kazuma Kiryu as their paths intertwine. At first working alone and then teaming up together, they’ll put a stop to a conspiracy that involves both corruption in the police force and the aspirations of the Ueno Seiwa Clan.

Tanimura’s actor Hiroki Narimiya retired from show business after being treated badly by both his agency and the press when he was mistakenly implicated in a drug scandal. Because of that, Tanimura was recast and has a new face and voice in all subsequent re-releases of the game. Despite his new actor, the character has never reappeared since.

This one is also a part of the Yakuza Remastered Collection release on PS4, Xbox and PC so we suggest you play that version, with it’s nicer textures, higher frame rate and faster loading times.

 

Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (2010)

With a title that roughly translates to “Black Panther: Like a Dragon’s New Chapter”, Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō was released exclusively on the PSP. It is set in Kamurocho and tells the story of Tatsuya Ukyo, a young man framed for an assault that left someone in a coma. This game has a focus on 1v1 fights and martial arts. It’s a bit like Def Jam except it has Yakuza’s heat action special move system.

A fan translation for this game is in progress and can be played on a modded PSP that supports homebrew, but you’ll have to find that for yourselves if you’re interested.

 

Yakuza: Dead Souls (2011)

Set in an alternate timeline where Ryuji Goda lives on to get himself a sweet robot arm. Yakuza: Dead Souls is a game where Kiryu, Majima, Goda and Akiyama try to save their loved ones, help the people of Kamurocho survive a zombie apocalypse and discover the reason for the outbreak. While this one is a lot of fun, it is distinctly non-canonical.

 

Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura-hen (2012)

A sequel to spin-off Black Panther. This one wasn’t released outside of Japan either. Tatsuya Ukyo returns and teams up with other fighters from underground tournament Dragon Heat to protect it from another group called Asura.

 

Yakuza 5 (2012)

Toshihiro Nagoshi described Yakuza 5 in an interview with the now defunct 1UP.com as a “massive expansion on the core concept that takes the franchise to new heights” that could be compared to Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. We can see what he meant. With a story that follows Kazuma Kiryu, Taiga Saejima, Haruka Sawamura, Shun Akiyama and newcomer Tatsuo Shinada —sorry Tanimura, we miss you— across Kamurocho and Sotenbori as well as new areas Nagasugai (Nakasu), Tsukimino (Susukino) and Kineicho (Sakae), we can confirm that the scope of this adventure is massive.

There’s a traitor in the Tojo Clan and it’s leaders have either been killed or gone missing right before crucial alliances can be made. With a clan war once again on the horizon, will the now estranged Kiryu and Haruka ever just get to live peaceful lives?

Because Yakuza 5 came out so late in the PS3’s life, it was a digital only release outside of Japan. As such, The Yakuza Remastered Collection (2020) is the only way to get a physical copy of the game in English. Early copies of the collection even included an English language Yakuza 5 game case for the PS3, but sadly there was no disc inside of it.

 

Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! (2014)

The second samurai outing for the Yakuza series. Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!

The cast of Yakuza take on the roles of historical figures once again, although the story is not connected to the one presented in Kenzan! as it takes place around 200 years later. This time, they’re reenacting events from the Bakumatsu period and Kiryu takes on the role of Sakamoto Ryōma, a man searching for the people who killed his mentor on the streets of Kyoto.

This was the first series entry made for the PlayStation 4. Western fans were sadly set to be disappointed as once again SEGA made the decision to keep Yakuza Ishin! a Japan only title.

 

Yakuza 0 (2015)

A prequel set in 1988. Yakuza 0 tells the stories of Kiryu and Majima in the days before they had ever even met. In Kamurocho, Kiryu is framed for a murder and must clear his name, while he and Nishikiyama must also struggle protect their adoptive father Kazama’s place in the Tojo Clan. Elsewhere in Sotenbori, Majima wants to be let back into the Shimano Family, but only gets into more trouble when he can’t bring himself to kill the innocent Makoto Makimura for them.

Yakuza 0 is one of the best entries in the series. It was staggeringly popular around the world and definitively propelled the series to new heights in the western market. It’s because this one did so well that there is no longer any doubt on whether mainline Yakuza games will come out in English.

 

Yakuza Kiwami (2016)

A remake of the very first Yakuza game, done in the newer engine. It basically has the same story, but some things have been changed or expanded upon to better connect it with it’s prequel Yakuza 0. Kiwami means extreme, or ultimate, and most people agree that this is the best way to experience the original Yakuza’s story.

 

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016)

This game is the last in “The Dragon of Dojima Saga” and tells the story of Kazuma Kiryu after he comes back to his life in Kamurocho after another 3 year stint in prison. There’s a brief detour trip to Onomichi, Hiroshima, but it’s largely a return to the roots of the series, with only the one playable protagonist and a heartfelt and somewhat tragic story that largely wraps things up for the series’ original hero.

 

Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017)

Much like Yakuza Kiwami, this remake is the best way to experience Yakuza 2. This one was made with the same tech as Yakuza 6, which means it gets a lot of fancy Dragon Engine enhancements and advantages, like being able to hop over short fences or go into shops without a loading screen. Shinsekai is no longer in this version of Yakuza 2, so the plot beats that took place there have been moved to Sotenbori.

The visuals on Yakuza Kiwami 2 are sometimes so stunning, that if you play the series in narrative order (Yakuza 0, to Kiwami, to Kiwami 2) you’re going to be more than a little disappointed by Yakuza 3’s old PS3 visuals. Kiwami 3 anyone?

 

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (2018)

In a side-step even odder than the two times RGG Studios have just made samurai games starring their characters playing roles, this one is even weirder. It’s a RGG Studios game, but it’s also based on 1980s anime Fist of the North Star (also known as Hokuto no Ken).

While the world, characters and action from Fist of the North Star are all here, the performances are provided by the cast of Yakuza and the gameplay is more or less in the usual Yakuza style. While it seems like that would be rather weird, there’s a large amount to like here. Alongside it’s main story, the game includes not only new substories and minigames exclusive to the anime’s post-apocalyptic setting, but the ability to go out in the desert and collect classic SEGA games to play whenever you feel like.

If you want this one to feel even more like Yakuza, there’s a DLC skin that replaces main character Kenshiro with Kazuma Kiryu. It was free around the game’s launch, but now costs $3.99.

 

Ryū ga Gotoku Online (2018)

This game, which was exclusively released in Japan, turns the series into a free-to-play collectible card battle game. It’s on both Windows PCs and iOS and Android mobile phones, but hasn’t come to traditional home consoles or the Nintendo Switch.

With stories that follow both Ichiban and Kiryu and an anime inspired art style, we think it looks fun enough, but we don’t think it will be released in English any time soon.

 

Judgment (2018)

Takuya Kimura (or Kimutaku, as fans call him) plays the lead role of ex-lawyer turned private detective Takayuki Yagami as he tries to solve a serial killer case in Kamurocho.

This game was the first since 2005’s Yakuza to have a full English dub. It did exceedingly well in Southeast Asia, largely due to the popularity of the former Japanese boy band SMAP star and film actor playing Tak.

Judgment was briefly removed from shelves after Hamura actor Pierre Taki was arrested for drug use. His performance was quickly patched out and replaced with a new one by Miō Tanaka, with the original never to be seen again in future re-releases of the game. This means that the original PS4 discs are likely to become prized collectors items.

 

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020)

This one is called Ryū ga Gotoku 7 (Like a Dragon 7) in Japan, but dropped the entry number to be more friendly to newcomers to the series upon release in the west. It was very popular, so when the sequels and spin-offs to this one come out, we’re sure we’ll have to make a list of Yakuza: Like a Dragon games in order too.

Yakuza 7 follows outcast ex-criminal turned local hero Ichiban Kusaga and his ever-expanding adventuring party of friends as they try to protect Ijincho (based on Isezakichō) from the encroaching threats of both the Omi Alliance and puritanical organization Bleach Japan. Not content with having multi-faceted villains and compelling mysteries to solve, it also has a deep, powerful story that tackles social issues like homelessness, unemployment and even the reasons people might choose to work in Japan’s grey zone ‘adult’ industries.

In a series first, Yakuza: Like a Dragon plays more like a JRPG and features turn-based combat. While it has been compared to games like Earthbound, it actually takes so much inspiration from Dragon Quest that they gave DQ series creator Yuji Horii a game design credit.

 

Lost Judgment (2021)

Takuya Kimura returns as the lead in this sequel to 2018’s Judgment. Lost Judgment reunites players with private detective Takayuki Yagami, as the Yagami Detective Agency tries to solve a murder case that will take him to locations in both Kamurocho and Ijincho. In this entry Yagami learns a third type of martial art called the snake style, which will allow him to perform counter-attacks for the first time.

When this game was announced, Toshihiro Nagoshi explained that from this point on Judgment will be the series that delivers fans classic Yakuza action-brawler RPG gameplay, while mainline Yakuza games with Ichiban Kusaga as the lead will continue to be turn based JRPGs.

 

Did you enjoy this trip through the Yakuza games in order? Almost all of the entries that have come out in the west are on Xbox Game Pass at the minute, which is the best way to get caught up before Yakuza 8 inevitably comes out. You can also play them on Steam or on a PlayStation.  Like Japanese franchises? Well we recently put all of the Pokémon games in order, too.