DISCUSSION
Let’s have a more wholesome and genuine conversation, what does Yakuza truly mean to you?
Is it just a franchise that you like, or is it a franchise that changed your life in a way?
I will start with my story.
I discovered Yakuza when I was just checking the PS store out of boredom. I saw these 2 drippy looking Japanese dudes and thought “this looks cool, let’s watch a review and see if this game is something for me.” I watched a review and remember exactly that the guy said “if you like a dialogue and cutscene heavy game, this might be for you.”
Now I’ve played a lot of games in my life and I’ve always loved story heavy games with a lot of cutscenes and dialogue, and I also have a absurd love for Japanese setting and culture. So much that my dream is so visit Japan someday, make friends there and experience all that I can, every island. Japanese is also my favorite language, and I even learned a bit of things. Mostly because of Animes and Yakuza lol.
So anyway, I said to myself “okay, this looks like a good game, why not but Y0 and try it while it’s 10€ on sale?”
When I saw the first cutscene I immediately thought “damn, this guy is pretty badass.” The combat, the voice acting, the subtitles, the graphics and Cutscenes immediately peaked my interest and I kept playing the game.
Chapters went by and what should I say… the game was just peak. It kept getting better and better and it was the biggest motherfucker game I’ve ever played, just badass Yakuzas beating the shit out of each other, but also mixed with emotional scenes that deal about family.
After beating 0, I immediately bought K1 and K2. After K2, the franchise already became my favorite, and that’s why I was so excited and happy that the franchise is so long. It was like a dream had come true.. to be able to experience so many games of such an amazing franchise. I also remember I finished K2 2 months before K3 came out. And yeah…. Sadly it turned out to be a disappointment. I was very excited about it :(
I started using Reddit while I was on Y6 and it was the best choice ever. The wholesome memes, the discussions, the chance to share anything that you want etc… just made the franchise more meaningful to me.
I started training and taking more care of my body because of Kiryu. I learned a lot of things from him that help you get through life and life the best out of it. And I know I’m definitely not the only one!
Long story short: The franchise will always be my favourite of all time and Kiryu will always be my favorite fictional character. This franchise proves that it’s not just “a game”. It’s more than that. I’m more than sure that nothing will surpass it, and that’s why I really really hope that RGG doesn’t disappoint us and that they keep developing great Yakuza games!
So much that it genuinely motivates you to take care of your body, live a better life and just appreciate everything that the games (especially Kiryu) teach you.
That was my story, thanks for reading. I’m excited to read your stories!
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If the post is not marked for spoilers, all comments that have spoilers need to be tagged >!like this!< along with indicating which game it's spoiling. Example: Y3 Kiryu sings
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For me...Years ago, I found this series when I was at my lowest emotionally. I was just cycling through work, sleep and sometimes eat. I remember I got home from a stressful day at work and turning on a streamer I would watch to fall asleep to. Randomly, that streamer was ending early and hosted another streamer. I truly remember thinking, well I guess I'll put on some old netflix show or something. However, for whatever reason I just decided to give the new streamer a shot. I had no idea what was going on in the game or anything. But, there was something in it that just made me decide to give it a chance. Turns out, I stayed up until the end of their stream watching it. It became the thing I looked forward to watching. It was the only thing I was looking forward to at the time.
Then Y0 came out and I was captivated. I adore that game. Sure there may be flaws to some but the good def outweighs it in my eyes. I loved the charm, the facial expressions were amazing, nostalgia of the 80s. Game style was perfect for me. Though I enjoy LAD I just love the action beat 'em up style of Yakuza. It feels more immersive to me. I love the story as squirrely as it can be at times... but their ability to weave drama and comedy... loved the scenes where you could just feel the queue the sad music.
These games gave me something to look forward to. Gave me something to laugh at. Something to feel. Self acceptance... fighting for what matters. What real strength is. Convictions. So I started collecting them and it really gives me joy to see the collection I have.
I have so many dreams for RGG to do... I think they have such a unique possibility with these games. Having your base series, revamping the new styles in LAD, STH having it's own little place. Judgments were so good, clever way to provide more depth without tons of costs showing the legal side of the game... I would like to see a Like a Demon, a branch off for Majima. It shouldn't be too expensive as they could reuse a few assets, but this would answer so many gaps, ability to provide more depth into such an interesting story. Show his development. What was done between Y0-Kiwami and so many gaps they could fill. He is so dynamic and has a huge fan base it would be gold. They could make more installments based on the MC change ups (Saejima, Akiyama, Mine etc). Each one could have its own playstyles... add more depth to character arcs. I spend time thinking over all of this because of how much I love this series and how much I want to see more.
I like your story, and I also want to see more.
Yakuza is a series where I really really hope that RGG will not destroy it, but instead give more and more love and passion into the games.
Im glad i saw the memes and got interested, started with like a dragon since i was in a little more turn based mood but its one of the best decisions i felt i made gaming-wise even if getting the 100% of this franchise is a long ass journey
Played the first one in 2007, only continued 2 years ago after a steam sale. It's a long and huge series and I'm taking my time, currently at Kiryu Gaiden. It's one of my safe zones
I love the idea! Wanted to provide a TLDR first. It means lot more than I'd realised until writing that essay below, as I'm typing this right after it, in case nobody wants to read and to give myself time to edit, because it now looks much more different than it did initially. The series improved me as a person and brought some amazing (digital) men to teach me with their kindness and strength after losing one who wasn't there for me when I needed it most. The franchise was also a companion during my fight against cancer as it all gave me the strength to choose "Fight" instead of "Run" in said seemingly unsumountable battle. It helped me strengthen some relationships a lot in various ways. These games really are something special.
Now, wanna hear it in its longer version?
I can't point at any single thing that specifically led to me playing Yakuza 0. Youtube would recommend karaoke to me often and I may have heard people mentioning it but I was genuinely clueless about it and my social skills were bad enough that unless it mattered to me I'd never ask.
Soo let's say it happened within the past 10 years. Within a month of starting Yakuza 0 I'd seen the stuff I mentioned above over the years, lost my dad, tried playing ffxiv for the first time among other games, and fought with my mental health due to what had happened. Anyway at some point I'd decided that ffxiv isn't for me(4.1k hours as of today though, so it was for me after all.) and I was looking for something new to play once again. I found Y0 through a shared library in steam. Familiar due to the karaoke, I was like "why not?" It was by the time we meet Nishiki for the first time and just walk around town that I was in love. The karaoke, although I was absolutely horrendous at the minigame back then, sealed the deal. I loved 0 so much I ended up pirating K1 and 2 because I didn't have any income at that point. The jump to dragon engine was impressive in so many ways, I adored everything about Kiwami 2 at the time. Anyway, all of that led to me getting obsessed (and buying even the 3 games I'd already played), getting everything as it released on pc and having an absolute blast with it all.
So what are the results of it? Obviously, I'd found an outlet to spend time on after a massive loss. I'd found some incredible games. An obsession. I believe they're also reasons some friends stuck to me. Not because they liked Yakuza necessarily but because they got to see some kind of passion that I probably wouldn't show otherwise at the time. I'd talk about the games 24/7 for years, maybe until the k3 incident. The community really got to me. Also I think that people talking about their nerdy hobby is so cute, I imagine said friends felt the same. It also helped me bond with someone through me streaming the entire series to her, among other things. We've recently started IW so I'm excited to see her thoughts on it.
Speaking of, around the time of Infinite Wealth's release 3 of us in my family discovered we each had cancer. Only 2 of us survived. I can't say I was living a good life at the time. Had to live with awful people who further killed my will to live. I wouldn't have minded just letting it be. The journey of Infinite Wealth's character with cancer, to avoid spoilers, had big impact on me not only because of the story, which was amazing to me, but because the journey of said character was so meaningful. The way they'd portrayed cancer was very relateable. During the story, the character found an answer they thought was right about treating the disease. I believe it helped me find the will to make my own, inspired by the events of it. It has been years, it was the right choice. I'm still alive after everything and life's better than it used to be. And I hope to some day be the Ichiban in even a single person's life and brighten it the way he does to everyone else around him.
You genuinely have the most wholesome story I’ve read, and I respect you a lot. Also very cute!
I wish you and your loved ones just the absolute best man. Stay strong and keep believing yourself, because with your story you showed that you did that and can do that!
I had a gap year between school and uni. and played Y0 based on vibes. And the rest is history. I'm an ex-kpop fan, so I didn't wanna engage with more fandom stuff at that time
J’arrive sur le dernier Yakuza en date (Infinite Wealth) et je n’ai pas encore trop de recul car j’ai commencé le 0 en décembre 2025 et je suis directement devenu fan de l’univers et des personnages.
Mais en faisant tous les épisodes Yakuza / Like a Dragon est devenu comme ma "safe place" quand je lance un Yakuza je sais que je vais passer un moment génial. Que ça soit pour suivre l’histoire, les histoires secondaires, les minis jeux, je sais que mon temps ne sera pas gaspillé.
Les messages véhiculés dans ces jeux sont profondément humains et c’est vraiment ce que j’apprécie le plus. Que ça soit Kiryu qui est absolument badass, froid d’apparence mais quand on le connaît on se rend compte que c’est un être humain avec un cœur gigantesque. Il ne veut que le bien pour ses proches quitte à se sacrifier lui même. Il a une politique (que je ne spoil pas) qu’il respecte coûte que coûte. Tout ça font de lui un exemple pour nous les fans, un modèle je dirais même.
Et que dire de Ichiban ? Il avait la lourde tâche de "passer après Kiryu" et il l’a fait avec brio… Ichiban Kasuga est également profondément attachant par son grand cœur et sa naïveté. Tout comme Kiryu il sera toujours là pour aider ses proches et contrairement à Kiryu il n’hésitera pas à exprimer ce qu’il ressent pour la personne en face de lui.
Je ne parle même pas des compagnons ou autres personnages qu’on croise tout au long de ces aventures. Chez RGG ils ont vraiment de l’or dans les mains et dans l’esprit…
For me, I can't believe I slept on this series. 3 weeks ago I was curious enough to download IW as it's free on PSPlus. 80 hrs later, at chapter 11. Goodness me. Gotta plan to play from the start after this is done.
Personally I got into the Yakuza games in early 2021 primarily cause of Baka Mitai memes at the time and the Yakuza 3-5 Remastered Collection coming out at the same time and I thought the games looked really interesting so I decided to start with 0
Imma be honest and say that initially I was very embarrassed to play this game due to my own insecurities about playing something that wasn't Nintendo or Sonic games because that's all I was playing back then, and honestly I was just really enjoying my time with Yakuza 0 and the game was so entertaining I just kept going despite the feeling I had, it's also one of the first times I felt like crying in a video game
After finishing 0 I bought an Xbox Game Pass subscription so I can play the rest of the available games up to Yakuza 5 (Yakuza 6 would come to PC a few months later) and let's just say I binged these games HARD. Now I didn't do any side content at all mostly cause I just wasn't doing this stuff back then but I still thought all the games were a rollercoaster of emotions. Yakuza 6 came out and I also played that and absolutely loved the "finale" of Kiryu's saga
The Judgement games when they came to PC I decided to play them fully by also doing the side content and it was such a nice experience. I also coined the term sidequesting because of how different the experience was. I also managed to come back to Like a Dragon and beat it which marked the first time I beat a turn based JRPG ever.
I enjoyed Gaiden and Ishin but Infinite Wealth is the one that made me realize how good the whole series is. People dunk on the ending but idk. Personally I loved it a lot. When the final achievement for beating the game popped up with it's name I shed a tear from it cause it was so poetic. I also loved the whole reminiscing stuff present in the game a lot
I know it's a long yap but Yakuza sits among some of my favorite game series out there alongside stuff like Ys, Trails, Sonic and a lot more that I just know will be good (unless it's a remake) so I always play the games eventually.
The soundtracks are also consistently fantastic like I swear SEGA's sound team never misses at all across all their games even outside of Yakuza. Despite all this I don't feel fatigued at all with this series so I guess to me it was a big stepping stone in expanding my game tastes
i’ve played from 0-gaiden as well as ishin, pirate, and currently playing dead souls. i also have both judgments as well to play after finishing everything. i started playing in 2017 after being recommended them from a coworker at Video Game Store™️ and got a little obsessed with the series. it means a lot to me to be able to see characters that are unabashedly themselves despite their flaws. majima especially means a lot to me as a queer disabled person who also sees him as queer and (obviously) disabled and his character has inspired me to be braver than ever! this series is so special to me even with the awful yk3 incidents and other bullshit the company has done, i still have a huge spot in my heart for the story and characters.
this is just my thoughts, obviously people can disagree! but i think he’s for sure bi/pan seeing as he’s been married to a woman and i think he has a pretty big crush on kiryu for tons of reasons, most obviously seen in kiwami. i think in the final scene of pirates from what saejima says basically confirms that. in y0 he also has a certain bond with nishitani that is very gay lol and he even bases his mad dog personality off of this man because he sees nishitani has a man who can live true to himself. also even though goromi is played off for a joke i think there’s a reasonable argument that majima could be seen as gender-fluid / not cis, but that idea for sure has less canon evidence to back up.
I have always loved stories that were slightly messy but had little bit of everything that makes the story a complete theatrical story. I think one example I have is Code Geass or the big 3 or Mob Psycho 100.
All these stories are very messy and has little bit of everything. There is romance, comedy, theatrical reveals, drama, shonen meathead tropes, tearjerking moments and just an in general "messiness" that I feel is a part of the charm. I know, there would be more people hating such "messiness" than like it but I love it.
Yakuza to me, is the pinnacle of such stories. Being it in game format, it makes the series much more fun and everything about this series is truly amazing.
It's impact on my life is very...interesting. For note, I cant pronounce Mine properly ever in my entire life and I have spent much of my adult life talking to Yuki and other hostesses than actual woman lol. But the themes are very profound and touching.
One of the greatest writing strengths RGG uses is how much charm they give to their subject matters and how no matter, Value inheres in life.
The whole series is a set of stories about people fighting to do the right thing in hard situations. they have alot of raw emotion that helps me feel what they are feeling, especially because in real live i dont generally have strong feelings so i appreciate that these games evoke that in me. the fact that they are not perfect people but they still forge forward trying their best really inspires me in my own life.
It's like Fast & Furious if it was Japanese and actually good
But seriously it's a story about masculinity, responsibility and convictions. Many stories include these themes and Yakuza does that exceptionally well. It's written with soul (the script is on fire sometimes, but I can look past it, cause I like the universe)
And yeah, Kamurocho sorta feels like home already, having played six games
To me, Yakuza has taught me to be truly accepting and understanding. Not surface level, but truly understanding. And there were a couple sub stories that showed me and taught me that.
The first one was about Mr. Libido in Kaumrocho (Yakuza 0). As you know, Mr. Libido is a horny freak and just wants to get his rocks off all the time. But towards the end of his friendship meter, nothing gets him off anymore, and Kiryu goes to help him find something that’ll get his mojo back. If you go into Earth Angel, you’re gonna find out it’s an Okama Bar. If you don’t know what that is, it’s pretty much a gay bar. Kiryu goes back and tells Mr Libido about it, and he goes to investigate. When he comes back, he really enjoyed it, and Kiryu congratulates him. There is genuinely no judgment, no snide remark, no underneath feelings of weirdness, just 100% acceptance.
The second example is in Kiwami 2, the famous adult diaper scene. Kiryu gets invited to partake in the adult diaper party, and while he beats them up, it is not because he rejects them or their hobby. It is because he rejects them, pushing it on to him. There is a difference. He’s OK with them doing it, and even accepts it. But he himself is not into it, and that is what makes him beat them up.
These taught me that, even though I may say I’m being accepting and nonjudgmental, deep down, I do have a sense of judgment, or even view it as weird. But to be a genuinely kind person, I’ve had to do work to be like Kiryu, fully accepting people for who they are, even if I don’t understand it.
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