Yakuza/Like a Dragon Megathread

[Yousef Yousef]

I've wanted to jump into this series for a long time, but there are so many games and it seems like they are all a big time sink.

They kind of are, won’t lie. I’m mostly at where I am now because I played them as they come out, rather than binging them all at once.

 

[Stare best girl]

I only played 1 and 2, 1 was good and 2 was very good, I wish play later games but... I don't have something to play them

 

[Klonesixfour]

I love the Yakuza/Like a Dragon Series so much. I started off with 0 and just started playing in order. (Just finished Kiwami 2 so this new release is perfect.) Out of all the ones i've played so far I really enjoyed 0 the most. (Maybe because it was my first lol) but I love 80's settings, especially during the 80's economic bubble on japan at that time.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I only played 1 and 2, 1 was good and 2 was very good, I wish play later games but... I don't have something to play them

That's a shame. They are mostly on GOG, but I don't know what PC specs you would need

They kind of are, won’t lie. I’m mostly at where I am now because I played them as they come out, rather than binging them all at once.

That is a good point. I did the same, and I replay some here and there but I've never binged them either. That'd probably cause some burn out..

 

[Yousef Yousef]

That's a shame. They are mostly on GOG, but I don't know what PC specs you would need

That is a good point. I did the same, and I replay some here and there but I've never binged them either. That'd probably cause some burn out..

Yeah, I did also try to do my fair share of completion. I’ve at least 3 Yakuza plats.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Yes, and no. The main stories themselves aren't terribly long. Although, I guess that depends on your perception of "long" hehe They can be 100+ hours if you go for completion, but 20-30 hours if you focus on story and maybe do a bit of side stuff

I might give the series a shot, it's just hard to find time to play long games these days. It's one of the reasons I play more indies and retro stuff. Even when I'm posting here it's usually while I'm at work LOL.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

Yeah, I did also try to do my fair share of completion. I’ve at least 3 Yakuza plats.

I only have the plats for Infinite Wealth & Pirate Yakuza because they made them a lot easier to get

 

[Yousef Yousef]

I only have the plats for Infinite Wealth & Pirate Yakuza because they made them a lot easier to get

Those are my next. They seem pretty straightforward but I’ve hit a huge burnout point last year cuz Y8 came out during Ramadan and it was hard to play it while fasting. Took too much energy.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I might give the series a shot, it's just hard to find time to play long games these days. It's one of the reasons I play more indies and retro stuff. Even when I'm posting here it's usually while I'm at work LOL.

That's fair. I mean, I'd always recommend someone to try one but I can understand if they don't have the time, or the money, or the patience. Or just aren't interested in some cases hehe If you get around to it, cool. If not, that's also cool

Those are my next. They seem pretty straightforward but I’ve hit a huge burnout point last year cuz Y8 came out during Ramadan and it was hard to play it while fasting. Took too much energy.

Infinite Wealth was straightforward, but a bit of a grind for me, because I have the base version with no DLC. So getting Ichiban to level 70 without the bonus DLC dungeon or extra level boosting items took forever!

 

[bjork]

I might give the series a shot, it's just hard to find time to play long games these days. It's one of the reasons I play more indies and retro stuff. Even when I'm posting here it's usually while I'm at work LOL.

For what it's worth, you can save often outside of big story events, and in most cases there's a big spot on the map so you can see where that will trigger. It might take a long time collectively, but the only long play sessions (depending on what you consider long) would be the big event progression.

As for me, I saw the original trailer and a guy hit another guy with a bicycle and I was sold. Got it that a few days after it came out in 2006 and played through it, that US dub was not what I would call the best. Missed a couple of coin lockers (I only know this bc I recently found a printed out list of them, which I had marked off as I went, and somehow still messed it up), but otherwise thought it was fun.

I own physical copies of 2, 3, 4, and Dead Souls, but have never played them. I have 0-6 and the first Like a Dragon on Steam, but I've only ever poked around for awhile at Zero, and it's really good. You can just go beat guys up, or challenge a girl's score in the arcade, or go knock the shit out of some little kids at this toy car racetrack. There's a lot of stuff to do. I don't know if it continues in the later games, but every time I find a girl's card in Zero, I google her name with "jav" to see the titles of the pornos she was in. It's never normal shit. It's always like, "my lactating tits shot all over the principal's wife's ass? omg" or something. So funny.

I intend to sit down and play through them all at some point, but I get too sidetracked by deep dives into other stuff. In Zero, I was up to the point where the focus shifts and there's a minigame that I think you only need to do once, but it's better if you do it a lot, and then something else came out and I forgot about Yakuza. But one day, I'm gonna do it all. Mahjong and all that.

 

[sneakyguts]

i cant wait for kiwami 3

 

[Yousef Yousef]

i cant wait for kiwami 3

Same yeah

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

For what it's worth, you can save often outside of big story events, and in most cases there's a big spot on the map so you can see where that will trigger. It might take a long time collectively, but the only long play sessions (depending on what you consider long) would be the big event progression.

As for me, I saw the original trailer and a guy hit another guy with a bicycle and I was sold. Got it that a few days after it came out in 2006 and played through it, that US dub was not what I would call the best. Missed a couple of coin lockers (I only know this bc I recently found a printed out list of them, which I had marked off as I went, and somehow still messed it up), but otherwise thought it was fun.

I own physical copies of 2, 3, 4, and Dead Souls, but have never played them. I have 0-6 and the first Like a Dragon on Steam, but I've only ever poked around for awhile at Zero, and it's really good. You can just go beat guys up, or challenge a girl's score in the arcade, or go knock the shit out of some little kids at this toy car racetrack. There's a lot of stuff to do. I don't know if it continues in the later games, but every time I find a girl's card in Zero, I google her name with "jav" to see the titles of the pornos she was in. It's never normal shit. It's always like, "my lactating tits shot all over the principal's wife's ass? omg" or something. So funny.

I intend to sit down and play through them all at some point, but I get too sidetracked by deep dives into other stuff. In Zero, I was up to the point where the focus shifts and there's a minigame that I think you only need to do once, but it's better if you do it a lot, and then something else came out and I forgot about Yakuza. But one day, I'm gonna do it all. Mahjong and all that.

I played through Zero recently. Can confirm was weird and good Nearly 20 years of playing these games and I still have no idea how to play Mahjong. I had to do it for a side quest in one of the spin-offs and I spent like 8 hours straight just trying to wrap my head around it

 

[Gabrinius]

i'm currently playing kenzan... i don't know if there are diferences in the pc version to the original ps3 game, but i'm enjoying it so far. and it have an "ancient style(?)" baka mitai... it was....incredible.

i prefer the old yakuza style, the beat em up. i personally didn't like the rpg style of like a dragon.
well, i hope i can play the majima pirate game someday. it is very expensive now.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

i'm currently playing kenzan... i don't know if there are diferences in the pc version to the original ps3 game, but i'm enjoying it so far. and it have an "ancient style(?)" baka mitai... it was....incredible.

i prefer the old yakuza style, the beat em up. i personally didn't like the rpg style of like a dragon.
well, i hope i can play the majima pirate game someday. it is very expensive now.

I never played the PS3 version of Kenzan or Ishin. I've only played the western release of Ishin on PS5. Good fun though!

Considering their big switch to an RPG style in the mainline games, it does feel like they still put out more 3D brawling games.

 

[Nelson2001 Nelson2001]

I have played the Yakuza Franchise both the First and Second on PlayStation 2 in 2023 through emulation on PC (PCSX2).

 

[Gabrinius]

i played these when i still had my PS2 using OPL (run the game from a pendrive). the loading times was terrible, but i got through.

did you like them?

Post automatically merged: Oct 3, 2025

I never played the PS3 version of Kenzan or Ishin. I've only played the western release of Ishin on PS5. Good fun though!

Considering their big switch to an RPG style in the mainline games, it does feel like they still put out more 3D brawling games.

the last game released, the pirates something, is a brawler one. that's why i liked it (played only the demo)

and it have naval battle, like black flag.

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[csanjuro]

what means Kiwami?

 

[Beellucizarus]

what means Kiwami?

 

[Doomsday519]

I have been a fan of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series since Yakuza 0 but it wasn't my first Yakuza game or RGG Studios game. First RGG Studios game was Binary Domain and first Yakuza was 5. I tried 5 but didn't "get it" so I returned it and I've regretted it ever since. I have played most of the games in the series since that released in the US and recently found physicals of the original 1, 3, & 4. The only games in the main series I don't have physical are 2 & the aforementioned 5. It is my favorite series but I did state in a different thread that I need to finish Pirate Yakuza.

Would love to play a fan translated Kenzan one day and forever grateful for the translation of the PSP Kurohyou games which I'm still holding out hope that syn Sophia come out of purgatory and start making those types of games again.

 

[Heinzu]

Yes Yakuza best like GTA game ever. But I didn't know it had anything to do with SEGA.

 

[Tonberry]

I love him so much.

 

[Lod 10]

only played the demos and I fell in love with the combat, the minigames, and the jokes.

 

[here4outbreak]

i went through all the games that were out easily accessible back in like 2021-2022 and they were some of my favorite games made period for a while
kazuma kiryu does still stick as one of my favorite protagonists though and i can see why its been hard to really let him go but i feel like thats what 8 was for
ichiban took a while but he won me over and i do wanna see something completely removed from kiryu and his friends moving forward

however i am kind of wary of kiwami 3 since we already remastered the original and ive come to appreciate the orphanage as it is
i do like that were getting something mine related but it runs the risk of flattening his character and i honestly cant get 100% behind

Spoiler

giving him and kanda a positive history since it undermines his betrayal later in the game cuz i never felt like they had any interest in being anything more than business partners at best (kanda lacked the maturity/self awareness to realize mine was more than a resource and mine saw no value in kanda due to that fact yet made little effort to connect with him on any real level which is ironic considering thats the only reason hes even a yakuza)

at they very least i still have judgement (maybe?) and hopefully stranger than heaven to look forward to if dark ties or kiwami 3 drop the ball for me