Here are my thoughts on every game that's part of Kiryu's saga, one of the greatest I've had the chance to experience in my gaming life. I've ranked from my most disliked game to my most liked. Spoilers for each entry, beware!
#7 - Yakuza Kiwami 2
I've read a lot of people on this subreddit saying Yakuza Kiwami 2 was a bad remake. While I've never played Yakuza 2, I do feel like some parts of the story were simply not very good. The ending, with three different BBEG's standing in line and waiting to stab each other in the back before explaining their motives, is especially ridiculous, a symptom of the game's bloated narrative. Terada coming back from the dead to reveal he was Korean all along was an incomprehensible twist: the game wants you to believe that it was easier for this man to destroy the Tojo Clan by faking his own death... when he was the acting chairman of the Tojo Clan without anyone suspecting a thing.
While I enjoyed Kiwami 2's gameplay with the Dragon Engine, it is, for me, the weakest game because it just wasn't very memorable. The only two things I remember from playing it were Ryuji Goda being a great but poorly used antagonist - a foe worthy of being Kiryu's rival that becomes overshadowed by all the weird mafia subplots - and the return of the Cabaret Club minigame. Kiwami 2 is so unneccessary in the grand scheme of things that Kaoru Sayama simply disappears for the rest of the franchise, as if the writers simply didn't want to have to deal with whatever they established during that game.
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#6 - Yakuza 4
I was very thrilled to go back to a Yakuza game with multiple protagonists, especially after hearing so many good things about Saejima and Akiyama. And they didn't disappoint! Both characters were great in their own right and they really make the first half of the game work... and then, the pacing takes a huge hit with Tanimura. While I quite liked his character, his story took a very personal turn that simply made me wonder where the rest of the game was going, and Kiryu's arc simply felt rushed. I felt like it was there for the sake of having Kiryu in the game.
And then, the disappointments with the story began to pile up. I groaned at the rubber bullets. I banged my head against the walls as the good guys' great plan to lure the villains in was to put a huge pile of cash on top of a building and to just wait for them to show up all at once. The whole finale, while very hype in its own, Yakuza way, tried to have you believe that Kiryu beating the crap out of Daigo to make him keep his role as chairman made any sense. Saejima got terribly handled in that final portion of the game, too: with his sister's death and her murderer killed by another character, it seems all he has left is to stick around until the final boss, and his fight with Kido made me feel like they just matched him with whoever was left after the other fights happened.
Yakuza 4 tries to have multiple, interesting protagonists and mostly succeeds, but fails at tying them together into something coherent. It did not make me want to spend time with the characters past its first half, it did not have memorable minigames or side content. However, it introduces important elements that the series was going to pick up on in later installments, and I do feel like it's a lot more memorable and enjoyable than Kiwami 2.
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#5 - Yakuza 3
A lot of people believe that Yakuza 3 is the worst game in the Kiryu saga, and I can understand why. It looks dated, has a combat system in which enemies are annoying instead of being hard to beat and its story features an evil CIA twin of Kiryu's dad. However, Yakuza 3 did two things that no other game did in the past for me.
Its first greatest achievement is its Okinawa setting. Yakuza 3 was set somewhere I had never visited, in a videogame or otherwise. It brought back this idea of virtual tourism that had been so magical in the first game I had played in the series. Also, hawaiian shirt Kiryu.
Its second greatest achievement was the way it presented Kiryu's new fatherly role. Yakuza 3 is still a game about beating the shit out of baddies with the power of screaming and justice, with a convoluted plot and crazy side content, but it also tackled the task of raising children. In how many games do you get to raise children? Or even just one child? Not a lot, and certainly not in a very narrative, deep way the way Yakuza 3 did it - only the first season of Telltale's The Walking Dead or God of War on the PS4 come to mind. And those games featured fathers that had to raise children in terrible, nightmarish conditions. They weren't about raising children to become people, they were about training children to turn them into survivors. Yakuza 3 isn't about that. Yakuza 3 is the game in which you play baseball with kids. In which you organize wrestling matches for them. In which you see them struggle with their feelings and fears and help them get back up and become better people.
And even with that said, the other aspects of the story are also pretty great! Rikiya was possibly the most fun sidekick in the entire franchise, and Mine still felt like an antagonist with fairly deep motivations whose actions, while not entirely coherent, were his way of express the disgust he felt with his life, the world and himself. His final fight with Kiryu felt almost like a dialogue, at the end of which I was left with the feeling that, had they met earlier in life, Mine could have become a great person.
More than any other game in the series, Yakuza 3 establishes Kiryu as a fundamentally good person that changes the world not only through his fists, but also through his heart.
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#4 - Yakuza Kiwami
I played Yakuza Kiwami as a sequel to Yakuza 0 and some of the things in the game, like the Kamurocho setting, the combat system or the minigames, simply felt like they had been reheated. While I now know nearly all Yakuza games share very large similarities in terms of mechanics and settings, this was a surprise for me when I started Kiwami and it affected the way I experienced the game a bit negatively.
But everything else? It was pretty good. Sure, the story was a bit dated and all over the place, but it truly felt like a game that was about Kiryu and that established who he was and how he got there. Nishiki was one of the franchise's greatest villains, if not the greatest, and they managed to turn the sweet, loyal character I had grown to love in Yakuza 0 into a complete monster that had to be put down for everyone's good, and to make the transition believable despite the original game's story being considerably older than Yakuza 0. With those dear to Kiryu dying left and right, leaving him to fend for himself in what's left of his life, Yakuza Kiwami is bittersweet until the end, and it's truly great in a lot of ways.
And Majima everywhere? Hoooooly shit. Probably the greatest system in the series, giving new life to a beloved character and turning him into this meme-worthy, larger than life challenge the way only the Yakuza series can. Truly, Kiwami felt like an improvement over the original Yakuza that made its story more coherent and in line with the prequel, and that also dropped little treasures here and there like the continuation of the Pocket Racers drama from 0's minigame. It wasn't the best Yakuza, but it was certainly the best remake.
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#3 - Yakuza 5
Yakuza 5 is what Yakuza 4 should have been. Saejima's arc feels a lot more climactic now that his nemesis isn't outright killed by someone else during a cutscene, and while Akiyama kind of walks into the middle of another character's arc, he's still a fun, charming character I was glad to play as. Haruka's arc is completely unique and unlike anything the franchise had ever done, and Shinada was also a goofy breath of fresh air that, while a bit unnecessary and way too centered around baseball, was a lot of fun to see evolve. Even Kiryu's new life as a taxi driver, purposefully removing himself from those he loved for their own good, felt like a believable and interesting development, and his inability to truly drag himself from his loved ones and the world of crime and violence he grew up in bringing him back into the fray were absolutely believable. Truly, every character had something going on for them, and the way their stories tie up at the end felt believable, and not forced.
The side content was also the best I had seen in the franchise since Yakuza 0, with the deep taxi, hunting, dancing and baseball minigames being engaging and not feeling like recycled or tacked-on content. Yakuza 5 was truly the largest game, and its only flaw, to me, was being a little too grindy and "too full". With that aside, I loved it, and felt like they had done Akiyama, Haruka, Kiryu and Saejima justice as characters after the uneven Yakuza 4.
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#2 - Yakuza 6
Boy, did I love this game, and I didn't expect to. Yakuza 6 is often treated as the black sheep of the Yakuza family, and here again, I can see why. The first game with the Dragon Engine did feel a little too easy or simplified when it came to combat, and the complaints about important characters like Majima, Saejima, Daigo or the florist of Sai being pushed aside of completely forgotten are very justified. But Yakuza 6 was meant to be the conclusion to Kiryu's saga, and as such, is a game about Kiryu, who he is, and what he fights for. Placing him into a completely new setting to have him interact with new faces, to uncover a deeply personal mystery, felt like the right decision to me.
From there, it was one memorable character after another. The mystery does not let up, the plot twists feel just crazy enough to take you by surprise and to fit the tone of the Yakuza franchise while not being completely unbelievable. It felt great, after the convoluted previous games, to have a game that wasn't afraid to be about Kiryu, his interactions with other people and complex, driven villains that would stop at nothing to stop him.
I have read and understood some criticism about the ending as well, and I can understand how some people could be disappointed by it. However, I do believe it's a fitting end for Kiryu's, whose tragic flaw is and always has been that he can't help but sacrifice himself for others. Disappearing from the surface of the world to ensure his loved ones can live in peace felt like the most Kiryu thing to do, and it was no more different than taking a bullet to protect his family, only it was a conscious decision rather than a spur of the moment thing. As the rule of Asian soap opera wills it, Kiryu cannot have the happy ending he truly deserves, but he can at least move on, knowing he made all the difference he could, and go towards other adventures.
There's also a baby. The baby is very cute. I love you, Haruto.
#1 - Yakuza 0
Yakuza 0's only true flaw is how good it is, because it sets up unhealthy expectations for the rest of the franchise. Starting with this game made me fall in love with the series, and 0 will always have that "first time" magic for me.
However, even if I look at it from a less personal standpoint, it's arguably the best game they've made. Both protagonists are fun to play as and have several fighting styles that add a lot of depth to the combat. The story feels focused and personal for both characters, and while Kiryu's story isn't as good as Majima's, they both have unforgettable moments like the Kuze sewer fight. The minigames were fantastic and featured a lot more depth than in most Yakuza games, especially the disco minigame. Cabaret Club Royale might be the best "game within a game" ever. And what makes Yakuza 0 so special is how it oozes style, with the 80's setting and dollar bill-filled enemies and disco music and just... holy shit, the music in general.
Yakuza 0 was the beginning of my love story with Yakuza. No matter how great the ride was, I can't help but look back to where it all began, and think "Man, was that a great game".

So with the Yakuza Remastered Collection making it's way to PC today, the series has never been more easy to get to now. I know this sub are huge marks for the series, yet I still see a decent amount of posts/comments asking what the best way to get into the Yakuza series. So I figured why not just make a post about it that can serve as a quick guide on where to start. Let's just jump right into it.

Playing Order

I'm going to assume everyone has the necessary platform to play these games and jump right into the question most people have when wanting to start playing Yakuza. I'm going to do something crazy here and suggest two playing orders here, since most of the time people will only ever mention the one. I understand why people suggest one over the other, but for the sake of having a complete picture, I'll also be suggesting the less popular option. I'll also be marking down the pros and cons for each of the options as I feel there is a trade off when choosing any one order over the other. With that out of the way, let's start off with the most recommended way to play the games:
Option 1: Chronological Order
Order: Yakuza 0 > Yakuza Kiwami > Yakuza Kiwami 2 > Yakuza 3 > Yakuza 4 > Yakuza 5 > Yakuza 6 > Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Pros: Most people recommend this order when people ask where to start and for good reason; this is the easiest way for people to get into the series. All these games can be played on the same platform, so one doesn't have to jump around several different consoles to get the full experience. It also means players will get to start with Yakuza 0, which is often seen as the fan favorite and one of if not the best game in the series, which can make a very strong impression on someone just starting off.
Cons: So I'm going to have my bias show a bit here, but I've never been a big fan of starting off with Yakuza 0. What makes Yakuza 0 so great is how it's informed by the entire series by that point, which when it came was five mainline titles deep. I feel you lose a lot by starting with 0 and someone who started with 0 won't necessarily get the same experience as someone who's played it after five games. This is relatively minor issue mind you and is entrenched in bias. What isn't as minor an issue is the quality whiplash one might experience. The issue with starting with Yakuza 0 is for some the quality of the games drips drastically in comparison. Yakuza 0 is a dizzying high for the franchise, so going from that to Kiwami can be deflating. It also doesn't help that the player is going to experience three different engines in three games with Kiwami, Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 3, with each of those games having very different playstyles. It can be disorienting and might take some people out of it if they decide to go with this option, so be warned.
Option 2: Release Order
Order: Yakuza 1 > Yakuza 2 > Yakuza 3 > Yakuza 4 > Yakuza 5 > Yakuza 0 > Yakuza Kiwami > Yakuza 6 > Yakuza Kiwami 2 > Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Pros: You might have noticed that this play order is longer than the first one and for good reason, this one includes the original PS2 releases. The benefit of this order is that one can see the evolution of the franchise as they play it. Each game adds a little more content and is more refined with each game moving forward, so the experience might be more gratifying for some. It also has the benefit of having the engine jumps not be nearly as jarring, keeping the aforementioned smooth experience.
Cons: The biggest caveat with this order is that you will have to play Yakuza 1, which is pretty janky by today's standards coupled with an English dub that is not great (some instances can be so bad it's good). It also means that people who really want to get into 9 are gonna have to go through a ton of games to before getting a chance to play it, so if you aren't patient this option might not be for you. There's also the caveat of how to go about playing the first two games. Unlike the rest of the series, Yakuza 1 and Yakuza 2 never got an HD re-release in west, and the one that it did get was relegated to the WiiU for some inexplicable reason. Your only options are to play it on the PS2 (or a BC PS3 if you're fortunate enough to have one), or to emulate it. This option might not be available to everyone, so be warned.
Spinoffs
Admittedly I'm not as well versed with the Yakuza spin offs as I'd like to be but I'll write a quick blurb for each of them here.
Dead Souls is basically "what if Yakuza had zombies in it?" I've never played it and from what I heard it's not all that great.
Judgment takes place in the same universe but follows a former attorney now detective Takayuki Yagami as he tries solve a serial killer case. This game doesn't require any knowledge of previous games in the series and can be enjoyed as a standalone title.
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is a Yakuza game with a Hokuto no Ken skin. Haven't played this one either but I've heard some good things about it from fans of both franchises. If you're a bug fan of Fist of the North star this game is probably worth checking out.
Kurhyo: Ryo ga Gotoku Shinsho is a fighting game spin off developed for the PSP. It never got a western release but I heard a fan translation is in the works for the first game, so maybe it'll be worth checking out later down the road.
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan and Ishin are often times the games fans talk about when talking about spin offs. They're basically samurai games set in the Edo and Bakamatsu periods respectively with characters taken from from across the franchise and put into these time periods with completely different context than there original counterparts. These never saw the light of day in the west, despite fans begging from them to be brought over here. Maybe one day we'll get an official western release, but for now we can only hope.
Conclusion
Hopefully this little guide can help you decided how you want to tackle the franchise, or maybe you just wanted to see a slightly different take on where to start the games. Regardless of your motives, I hope you were able to get something out of this, even if it was just to slightly alleviate your boredom

WELCOME TO MY LONG ASS REVIEW OF THE YAKUZA SEIRES! This will include a shortened version of all of my thoughts and feelings towards all 8 (*note: this review will only cover the main series, so no dead souls, ishin or other spinoff's (tho I might play them in the future)) games and some of their inner aspects. So not reading all of it is completely understandable I just wanted to share them with someone but sadly none of my friends played it so i have nowhere else to do so
one them suggested posting it here and tbh i have nothing better to do so here they are
TLDR; 10/10 franchise I really like the characters, stories, music and gameplay.with that being said, HERE WE GO!
(*note: like I said these are MY opinions and MY lists, if you think otherwise, youre welcome to write it down in the comments I would love to hear your thoughts :))(*note: this review might contain spoilers, with that being said I will try to hide everything that I think might be considered a major spoiler and will put it between [ ] so if you see these be careful)(*note: this review might be a bit scattered and not understandable at times, that's because of 3 reasons: 1.english is my second language, although I like to think im at least conversational, spelling and sentence building aren’t my strong suits. 2. Like I said this is a review of all 8 games so I might scramble stuff in the middle or forget something completely. 3. I first wrote this on word and after transfering it here i noticed there are problems with the spacing and enters, so if you see a lack of space when there should be most likely there was supposed to be a shift+enter, i tried fixing it multiple times but appreantly having every enter where it should be makes it over 4000000 characters long.) So forgive me for those)(*note: if for some reason you would like to see my opinion on something that I didn’t include, you're welcome to ask me to write it :) I might not be able to answer everything but ill do my best to check the comments every so often for a while)
first of all I would like to say that my entry to the series is that a friend of mine bought me a copy of yakuza 0 for pc, little did he know, that would evolve into a crippling yakuza addiction (I bought a ps4 off another friend just to play 3-6). (*note: I know I said "none of my friends play it" that was a tiny lie, I have 1 friend who for 2 years now "is in process" to 100% yakuza 0, so I have no one to talk to about 7/8 games of the series) I came into the series thinking what I believe almost every player thinks before they start playing "oh it looks similar to gta/saints row but Japanese" but, say it with me now! "YAKUZA IS NOT JAPANESE GTA!" what I discovered is a beat'em-up, tear-jerking-story based adventure game, lucky me these are some of my favorite genres! I feel like yakuza has a very sad story not because its actually like sad sad but because kiryu is human, you see him go through life having to go through all kinds of crisis's and problems and its kinda feels like seeing a child grow? Idk, at least for me it sometimes does
now for my top 8 yakuza games (*note: the scores I give them out of 10 and their place on the top 8 might seem weird and "incorrect" because I give some games of lower place higher score then stuff of higher place. That's because when I decide their place on the top 8 I only consider how much I enjoyed it overall. when I give them a score out of 10 I try to give them what I think is a more objective score that includes everything of how fun it was, how much I liked the characters, the mechanics, the story, ect….)
(*note: if I don’t include a character in my reviews that doesn’t necessarily mean that I hate them, it just means that I generally don’t have too much to say about them. Overall I like basically all the main and side cast)
1.Yakuza kiwami 9/10
Lets start with the story,
Imma be real with ya chiefs, I have a pretty small smooth brain. That's why I like simple-semi complicated stories
And here we have a very basic story to follow, 10000000 yen missing, parent of this child missing, find them both. I love that simple, short and to the point but still interesting enough that I spent half my playthrough on the edge of my sit
This game also has the best side-quests of the entire series which are easily pocket circuit & majima everywhere
from the gameplay and mechanic side I also feel it’s the most fun and tight, nothing feels slow, every punch packs a punch and I actually really love (and prefer) the 4 fighting styles and was really sad to find out they were only in 0&kiwami. It has my favorite level up system (I will also include my top 7 level up systems later)
And now for some character reviews
Kiryu-CHAN!- he's by far my favorite character in the entire series, until now I only saw him as a brooding, badass, powerhouse that fucking breaks, shoots, and destroys (god forbid kills nothing like that here) but this was the first time I got to see that he actually has a soft side too and it’s the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen in my entire life. It was the first time I realized yakuza is one of those series that can make me sound like a kettle when I "aawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" seeing his interactions with haruka, yumi, nishiki and others was almost heart melting. Speaking of which
Majima-I have what I think is a very controversial opinion, which is I don’t like majima in 0 (and I will get to that later). So I really didn’t expect much considering I came to this series blind. And OH BOY! Majima quickly became one of my favourite characters and its really sad for me that I believe they kinda toned him down in later games. [half of my playthrough was running around looking for him and doing all of his stuff, having to fight him as a cop, zombie, idol, hostes in all sorts of different situations was one of the best things about this game]
nishiki-*ahem*,Im gonna fucking cry.
Like I said I came from 0, seeing the journey he went through from #1 jobro (which he will forever be btw) to head of a family he has no idea what to do with, to madness, to evil mastermind was one of the saddest stories of this series. Every head of the nishikiyama family after him only brought shame to his name. [every scene that contained both him and kiryu in the same room made me want to cry. From the moment he declared they are not brothers anymore to the final scene when he shot the bomb]
Haruka-B A B Y
My first thought after seeing her was "ughhhhh fuck an annoying child character to take care of, that's not what a yakuza game should have" but what ended up being is that if anything happened to her I will ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ hit everybody in this room very hard until all their bones break and leave them unconscious with no way of calling an ambulance or any kind of help and then do that to myself only to protect her.
She is precious, and if you for some twisted, evil, disgusting reason think otherwise you are wrong
[Yumi/mizuki- when Im writing this its been like a year since I played kiwami so I don’t remember every little detail about this character (not that there's too much to remember to begin with) if anything the twist at the end was pretty surprising and her backstory is kinda sad]
[rena/shinji-they both serve kind of the same role so I don’t have too much to say on them separately. Their death (by the hands of the most annoying boss in the series) is kinda sad and like anything else relating to nishiki in this game, rena's death speech about how she always really loved him and wanted to help him in any way possible made me want to cry]
2.yakuza4 7.8/10
This game could’ve easily been an 8.5/10 but there're some stuff that just annoy me a bit and makes me have to retract from its score, let me get into it
First of all,
Although at the start the story didn’t really make sense to me and I thought it was very confusing, now after I played everything and saw how stuff connected together, I realized how amazing it actually is
From akiyama's little relationship with lily
To kiryu helping a refugee
To a laid back cop who gets in to something bigger than himself
And finally back to the actual main character of this series
initially It was very annoying when I found out I only get to play as kiryu at the end of the game but I got over it
On the gameplay side
in the overworld everyone felt really slow to me,it didn’t feel like they were running (like their animation showed) it felt like they were always at the speed of a start of a jog but you kinda get used to it so its fine overall.In the combat side of thingsI really liked how akiyama, tanimura and kiryu controlled. Fast&strong which is why I really like the combat of this series to begin with (I also found it kinda funny that swords in this game are sometimes considered "blunt objects" for some reason so when you use a heat action with them you just smack an enemies head again and again with the blade)
I will use the fact I didn’t include saejima in the list of the gameplay I like as a perfecet Segway to my character reviews
Saejima-although his story really is interesting, kinda sad and heartwarming at times I grew to not like him just because his gameplay is sooooooooooooooooo slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
I don’t know why but I also felt that he was weaker than the rest of the characters? It kinda felt like when the rest of the crew took down 10 enemies in 1 second he took 1 enemy in 10 seconds
I get that hes supposed to be a tank and he has a lot of hp but usually tanks also do lots of damage to make up for their lack of speed
Here its just a "very healthy", slow and weak tank so its just annoying to play [if anything his sister is hot]
Akiyama- his gameplay is kinda like the "brawler" of the game, similar enough to kiryu's gameplay but different (because kicks) also his personality is cool, i would categorize it kinda like a happy go lucky guy but not really
His story is interesting about this mysterious girl named lily who apparently really looks like his ex and he has a picture from his past that shows her. Anyway she asks for 100000000 yen a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶p̶ and because he really wants to help her, he gives her a challenge.
Tanimura- the counter option was kinda cool ig. His character is cool enough and his story about wanting to find what happened to his father is kinda sweet
I don’t have too much to say about him because he's kinda forgettable in the sense that his story was kind of an open and shut case
He was definitely one of the playable characters of the series but that's honestly the most you can say about him
If anything its kinda sad they swapped him in yakuza 5 but understandable because his story is 100% finished and he has nothing to draw him back considering he isn’t really related in any way to the rest of the cast
Date-I like him but his character rarely changes. In the rest of the series it seems the story writers forgot he quit being a detective
[yasuko/lily-seeing her story unfold was kinda sad, all she wanted for the last 25 years was to see her brother again. At least she got to that 1 last time before she did the bullet walk thing this series lovesssss to do]
One last thing about this game that really annoyed me, the game ends with a happy ending, [saejima is proven innocent, kiryu seems to return to the tojo clan and they all live happily ever after]. When I saw it I thought "oh wow, I wander how they're gonna build upon this?" well, they didn’t, like at all.
This series has 1 annoying problem that the writers team usually completely forget how the previous game ended
3.yakuza3 7.4/10on the story side-
Kiryu only wants to keep his goddamn orphanage leave him alone ffs.BUT NOPE!It’s the yakuza series so every few years it’s always the same thing: something something TOJO something something MONEY something something BROTHER something something REVENGE, oh godly kiryu san mr.dragon of dojima please help me!
The gameplay in the remastered collection stays more or less the same throughout so I don’t really have anything to say here
The characters of this story are a weird bunch
The children of the orphanage- if anything happened to any of them I will ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ hit everybody in this room very hard until all their bones break and leave them unconscious with no way of calling an ambulance or any kind of help and then do that to myself only to protect them.
rikiya- at the start of the game I thought he was just gonna be one of those bosses that you beat thrice throughout the game and never hear from them again afterwards, what ended up happening is that I discovered just a lovable, loyal, dork of a character [and when he got shot and kiryu started crying I was almost crying with him, definitely one of the saddest deaths in the series because it’s a very unexpected one]
4.yakuza 6 8/10
HOLY SHIT MY BABY HAD A BABY but who is the father? Let's go to Hiroshima to find out! [If only yuta put on a condom]
Jokes aside this is one of the most amazing stories the series ever told
I was originally dreading playing this game because I don’t really like the dragon engine that much (that might be because I played kiwami 2 right after 0&kiwami and was just kind of overwhelmed by it although the graphics of it are amazing, the gameplay feels a lot more wonky to me, I either feel very weak or too strong (usually weak) I got used to it but I actually prefer anything else in the series)
But man did the story really bump up its place in the top 8
Nagumo- im sorry but speaking by role-serving terms rikiya is just kinda the cooler Nagumo (or technically speaking Nagumo is the worse rikiya) he's just a hot headed simp who's the captain of the hirose family but also kind of sweet in a way
If anything he has one very memorable line "yesterday's enemy is today's aniki"
Yuta-[BOI LOOKS LIKE LIVE ACTION KOICHI FROM THE DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE MOVIE AND MY BABY STELLED FOR HIM?!
jokes aside I see why haruka chose him, one of the best character's in the series for sure
tho the twist where he's actually the father was kind of apparent from the start]
Kiyomi- she looks like sayama's mom. Like I was 200% sure it was her for like the entirety of the first chapter she was shown in
[Also the thing in the end about kiryu saying he considered daigo as a son is stupid and forced in as hell]
5.yakuza0 7/10
(*note: I think I got a little more to say about this game then the rest cause like I mentioned it was my entry to the series so this may be a little bit of a garbled mess)
So let's start by saying, hands down it has the best overall soundtrack (*note: I will get to my top 15 songs later) consistently very high quality while the rest of the games have like 1-3 outstanding songs in them this one has: the intro, judgement, the best version of baka mitai (*note: I only discovered that the meme originated in yakuza like half-way through its life span) (*note: I saw on here some time ago that one of the top posts is a screenshot of a tweet from kiryu's VA that says he's very pleased that people are singing his song and I find that very heart warming and wholesome), 24-cinderella and so, SO many more.
Now… from the story side of things…..
Im sorry to say this but I don’t really like majima's story in this game. Out of every other playable character in this series majima's story in this game felt the most like a filler to me. The first like 4 of his chapters could've easily been skipped with nothing of value to the overall story lost. Having to switch to him every 2 chapters was very annoying. Actually It annoyed me so much that in the middle of zero I kinda just dropped the game for like half a year+ because I just didn’t feel like playing as majima [it was after the cutscene where nishiki betrays kiryu but doesn’t want to shoot him]. Tho his relation-ship with makato is easily the saddest, most tragic thing to happen throughout the entire series. But like… idk I really preferred playing as kiryu 100% of the time
On the gameplay side of things tho
Definitely one of the better, like I said I really like the fighting styles so having 8 of them (well 6 technically since I basically didn’t touch the real estate nor the cabaret) was really fun
Brawlethug-very basic, close enough to the dragon fighting style if that's what youre looking for but very boring nonetheless
Rush/breaker-rush fucking sucks, on the other hand I find breaker to be very funny and I used it most of my time playing majima
beast/slugger-beast is easily the best fighting style in the game, it’s a tiny bit slow but it gives back by being a fucking powerhouse being able to lift giant object's and using them as very fast hard hitting weapons (*ahem* *ahem* thisiswhatsaejimashould'vebeen*ahem* ahem*) on the slugger side I only switched to it when I saw that I couldn’t just style on my enemy to win and had to actually "play the video game"
now for the character's
makoto- I A M G O I N G T O F U C K I N G C R Y
nishiki- [ kiwami spoilers>>R.I.P best jobro, once again im going to fucking cry everything in this game makes me want to cry], his relationship with kiryu is easily one of the best parts of this game, from the little comments he makes about kiryu's wardrobe to [him saying he's not interested in climbing up the ranks without kiryu] everything that makes him easily the best follower in the entire series.
majima- I didn’t know what was coming so I just assumed this was kind of his character.looking back at it im kinda disappointed they didn’t try to do something else with him and instead they just kinda made him a simp to the yakuza [also it was kinda stupid to me how they didn’t find a way to bridge him into the crackhead he is in the rest of the series (they totally could've btw) instead making him just choose to "live crazier than any of 'em" (but thinking about it again honestly I feel like making majima choose to be a crackhead just because he wants to kinda fits his character)]
kuze- *insert how many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man meme*
6.yakuza LAD 8/10"YOU BITCHES EVER HEARD OF PERSONA 5?"was probably the first line shouted by the director of the series in the first boardroom meetingthe story of this game follows ichiban kasuga trying to prove his loyalty and powerand goddamn smashing those goalsits kinda weird because I feel like I have nothing yet so much to say
Gameplay wisefor some reason they decided to change it to an rpg probably after the director played P5R for too long because like I indirectly said… almost everything here is persona 5,the ui, combat, life skills and so on and so forth. There are even social links for crying out loud.
this game might've been a 9/10 if only there wasnt 2 giant grind moments in the latter half of it
[specifically before the majima&saejima boss fight and kiryu boss fight]
Character review
Ichiban- I saw a meme somewhere that said ichiban is "cooler nishiki", HELL NAHthose 2 are completely different characters each with their own reasons to make me depressed. Defiantly in the top 3 protagonists of the series which goes like 1.kiryu 2.majima 3.ichiban [before i started the game i was 200% sure he was gonna die, luckly he didnt, yet]
Adachi- before I started this game and only saw the art I was 100% sure it was the guy who taught slugger to majima in 0 (the weapon maker from the noodle shop).he's not.Good follower tho
[Joon-gi han- imma be real with ya chief, I forgot he died. And until kiryu said it was a double I was sure it was the same dude, he's not, still cool tho]
[kume-LITTLE SHIT SHANKED MASATO AND DIPPED WHY DONT I GET TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM AGAIN!?]
I feel like I should have more to say about the rest of the MC's, but I got nothing. I love all of them but I don’t have anything outstanding to say.
also this game has the top 3 best girls of the series which are: 1.seong-hui 2.sumire sawa 3.saeko mukoda don’t @ me
7.yakuza5 thekomakitigerdropisbrokenasallhell/10
Once again with 4 different character's, each with their own story that finally combines into one somehow
on the gameplay side
Like I said kiryu has the best moves in this game then the entire series
The counter allowed me to cheese out enemies I couldn’t really fight. And the komaki tiger drop allowed me to delete half a bosses health bar in one hit So usually a boss would last about 2-6 tiger drops
His story revolves around just being A NORMAL GODDAMN TAXI DRIVER LEAVE HIM ALONE FOR FUCK SAKES and going through a midlife crisis
Akiyama stays mostly the same
They did fix saejima a bit but still it was a drag to play him, not only that but the entire thing where he stayed in the small village for like a full chapter was very annoying and was clearly made just to drag out his story
HOLY SHIT MY BABY IS A PLAYABLE CHARACTER, when I originally saw haruka on the splash screen when you open the game she kinda has a fighting pose so I thought that she maybe learned a thing or two while watching kiryu
NOPE, I HOPE Y'ALL LIKE RYTHEM GAMES CAUSE THAT'S ALL SHE DOES!, personally im ok at them but not that good so I played only the stuff I had to do with her
[tho the twist at the end of her story about majima being park's ex husband, MAN I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING]
And then there's shinada....
I honestly don’t know what to think about him.
He's an ok character overall but his story seems so unrelated it kinda seems to me like they just shoved him in there because they had some problem with having only 3 character that can fight. His gameplay is fine enough but sometimes it kinda felt weaker then it should be? Idk. His normal punch and grab combo is mediocre+ - ok- nothing more than that. His staff doh allowed me to cheese enemies and getting them into an infinite loop of being knocked down again and again
Another thing I can say about this game is that the character models eyes always look on the verge of tears and it seems very funny to me that at any given moment most of the cast looks like its about to cry cause im sitting here ready to do the same
8.yakuza kiwami 2 6.9/10
Man what a disappointment.
I came to this thinking its gonna be as good as 0/kiwami and my hopes were crushed
Like I said I don’t like the dragon engine that much so moving to it after the engine of the 2 previous games felt really weird
The story of this game although very heart warming at the moment youre playing it, is quickly forgotten about and basically un-canonized in the rest of the series [at the start of yakuza 3 sayama departs to America and never returns, in yakuza 6 it is mentioned that yumi is the only woman kiryu ever loved and that he never killed anyone (although ryuji goda died by his hands)]
Don’t get me wrong its still a very good game just not as good as the rest of the yakuzas
Now for the characters
Sayama- although story wise it seemed very sudden that they started dating, it was apparent from the start that something is gonna happen between them. Once again it was a sign that yakuza is one of those series that can make me sound like a kettle when I "aawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"
Ryuji- one of if not the best villain of this series. That's because he's not actually evil but he knows there can only be one dragon so hes gonna fight for it. He actually has honor and some sense of justice. [the ending tho where sayama is crying because she finally discovered she has a brother but now he and her lover need to fight is very depressing, good thing it was all forgotten amirite? (pleasekillme)]
Now for my top 7 level up system's because this series cant ever just stick to 1
1.yakuza kiwami
It’s the only one I managed to fully complete so I might be a bit biased, but I feel like the exp/level system that is different for each fighting style is perfect. Unlike in the rest of the series where there's only the dragon fighting style that separates into body, soul, heat and tech.
2.yakuza 3
it’s very simple and doesn’t really lock out any abilities that you really need
3.yakuza 4
it locks some stuff out on the start but you can get them pretty easily
4.yakuza 5
Kinda just a worse version of 4
5.yakuza LAD
I actually like the fact every battle upgrades everything at once and I don’t really have to think about if something is better than anotherthan again you can make the case that it removes any sense of choice from the game (at least speaking in level up terms)
6.yakuza 0
Although you get like 500000 yen per basic group of enemies, I still feel that money and levels shouldn’t corelate, especially when I need hundreds of millions for some of the side-quests (*ahem* *ahem* pocket circuit *ahem* *ahem*) also, tho it makes sense canonically, I feel like the trainer system of this game specifically is kinda stupid and annoying, never really bothered with it doh considering how much beast is a powerhouse even when its only upgraded with the stuff you don’t need to unlock
7.yakuza 6 & kiwami 2
Its too separated, having all those different exp points is stupid, I always had like 2 sections that were lagging behind the rest.
I would like now to give a quick shout-out to the top 4 side-quest's in the series1.pocket circuit 10/10
I got too addicted to it both in 0 & kiwami, 95% of all my early game money was either spent/saved for pocket circuit
#pocket_circut_fighter_forever
[when I saw kiryu reminiscing on being kamurcho's fastest in kiwami's baka mitai I fucking died laughing]
2.majima everywhere 10/10
Basically doubled my playthrough's length because I always wondered what kinda whacky ass shit majima is gonna pull next. He's the best character in that game 100%
3.taxi racing 10/10
I did it all in the same game day so I like to think that in 1 night kiryu beat all the devil killers.
Shock that it reminds me of intial-d, who would've thought right? Jokes aside the car controls in this game are really fun
4.dragon kart 10/10
I would like to believe someone ran in the idea room and was like "GUYS, SO UNTIL NOW WE PLAYED PERSONA 5 100% OF THE TIME, GET THIS, WHAT IF, MARIO KART?!"and then everyone clapped
Now…
There's 1 aspect that I pretty much barely mentioned in this review and you might even be asking yourself where is it?
So without further ado
My top 15 songs from the yakuza series
Why 15? Cause that's how many songs I personally find to be fucking bops and the number of songs that I put in my playlist
(*note: don’t take it too much as if its in numerical order, I kinda tried to do it as such but that's kind of a lot of songs (the longest section in my playlist at least) and I really love all of them so it was hard to choose. Maybe try to look at it more of as a list then a top 15)
1.get over it-yakuza kiwami
It’s the only REALLY good song in this game (*note: not the only good one, the only REALLY good one)
Man that fucking guitar section in the middle, you know the one im talking about.I apologize for bringing jojo into this but I feel like if kiryu was a jojo this would easily be his theme (and that guitar section is like giorno piano)
2.destiny-yakuza 6
V I O L I Ncoming in in a VERY close second is destiny from yakuza 6I originally thought someya to be one of those bosses you just beat like 3-4 times throughout the events of the game then never hear from again and just remember him as that one asshole from that yakuza game. But MAN then this theme hits in his final fightand O O F[and right after the fight when he begs you to kill him to save kioymi, I have yet to actually cry during the events of this series but its really trying to make me do it and im 100% sure eventually I will]
3.machinegun kiss-yakuza4&5
I have a story with this song that the first couple of times that I listened to it I thought it was very mediocre, then one day I just got a vibe to listen to it 1 more time, at which point it got stuck in my head for about 3 weeks-month and it shoved its way up here.
4.judgement-yakuza 0
In case you haven’t noticed I really like buttrock
[I read a comment somewhere that said kiryu can no longer sing this after 0 because its not the same without nishiki, excuse me when I UGhhhHhHhHhhhhhhhHHhhhHHhhhHHhhHhhhhHhhhh]
5.clay doll on the cradle-yakuza 3
It has a pretty weak start but becomes really good really fast
6.comin'at ya, my girl-yakuza 5
As much as I don’t really like haruka's gameplay in 5, this is the best song in the game, sue me

1. 24-hour cinderella-yakuza 0

Started listening to it because it’s a funny meme song
It got stuck in my head for 2 weeks
8.tears of a father-yakuza 3
When the credits hit after THAT cutscene and this song starts to play, "the father" is almost not the only one to shed tears
I only found out its called "tears of a father" while I looked it up after, and that was the point my heart had to get replaced because the previous one died
9.baka mitai-yakuza 0/kiwami/5
Do I really need to explain?
10.speed star-yakuza 4
A really pumped up default fight theme
11.intro-yakuza 0
I have a meme with some of my friends about the first 4 notes you have to hear before being able to skip it
(*TA NA, NA! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*)
12.infinite handcuffs-yakuza 4
Another pumped up normal battle theme
13.today is a diamond-yakuza 6
*insert funny kiryu thumbs up*this song seems so happy and upbeat until you realize that according to it the singer is singing it to his lover that is in a coma[kinda fitting doh]
14.Friday night-yakuza 0
Once again, started because of a meme, continued because it’s a bop
15.[majima construction anthem]-yakuza kiwami 2
All rise for our national anthem.
One of the best things to come out of this game.
Surprisingly enough there weren't any outstanding songs in lad
​
AND THAT'S IT!
As a little conclusion, I would like to say I would've never imagined I would be as much in to this series as I am now, definitely one of the best game series's of all time and im really sad its not popular as it should be
Overall 10/10 series
So many good memories were formed and I can 100% see myself replaying it in the future
If you actually read all of it,
Holy shit thank you I wouldn’t be able to do that myself :)
And even if you just schemed through it and only looked at specific sections,
Thank you as well
Like I said if you wanna ask me about something I didn’t already write or wanna give your own opinion on one of my opinions youre 200% welcome to do so in the comments, ill try to answer most of the stuff i see
Well, I have nothing to add, see ya!

Now, dont get me wrong, this sub is fucking awesome! Never seen such a welcoming comunity for such a niche franchise like Yakuza!
But spoilers are everywhere right now, Youtube is a fucking landmine field, with every video you see on Kiwami, Kiwami 2 or 0 you increase the chance of getting spoiled the whole damn thing in the thumbnails/title of some new videos posted by those who got the game earlier.
This sub does an excelent job protecting those who didnt experience ALL the games, but even minor things slip through the cracks every now and then, let me give you an example:
Let´s say im playing 0 for the first time, not knowing anything about the franchise, and then i decide to join this sub. Bad move: There´s plenty of fanart/shitposting involving Majima in his crazy outfit, leaving me wondering what the hell is that deal. Or in some cases there´s stuff about Makoto, talking about the ending of 0 and her future... poor me if i decided to lurk here. Yes, i know, its a 2014 game, but still, some people (Xbox players mostly) just recently got to play it, and i dont want to ruin their engagement!
And one last thing: There´s always that one person that posts stuff about the ending of any game. WITH the spoiler tag, but spoiling the thing in the title of the post... I´ve seen that happen plenty of times with Kiwami and Kiwami 2, and i dont exactly mind it because i already finished those games, but if i was a new player i would have been screwed. Im not angry or anything, its just what happens when a sub gets bigger and bigger.
These games have wonderful stories that need to be enjoyed blind during one´s first playthrough of a game, atleast that´s what i think...
Yakuza 0 was my first game, and it made me feel things i´ve havent felt in a story driven game for a long time, and i believe EVERYONE deserves to enjoy the feelings i got from it during my first time playing it.
Once again, i have no intention of attacking you guys! Trust me that i love this subreddit more that any other game related sub im in right now! Im just speaking my mind right now. It´s what i will do for the sake of enjoying this fucking game lol, so see you later everyone!

Warning: long and detailed post. Please read it all if possible before commenting!
Introduction:
Originally, this was going to be a much bigger post, detailing how RGG studio is really good at making games when they don't need to worry about continuity, but they simply refuse to take into consideration past events and characters, for the sake of telling the story they want to tell. However, for the sake of getting across the message I want, I rather just focus on my biggest frustration with the studio and Yakuza 6 as a whole.
I love this series, Yakuza 6 will not change that. But the more I think about the story of the latter, the more frustrated I get.. The more these glaring flaws I could ignore before, become too big to set aside.
What I'm trying to say is that Yakuza has nearly always been used as a vehicle to tell a singular story. It's like a toy box, where the people in charge can use all the toys that are already there or bring their own. Most of the time, the most "important" toys are used again when creating a story, while some others are taken away. This WORKED in most games, they could mostly stand on their own without having to worry about the disappearance of certain characters or ignoring other events.
Most of the time, we could just roll our eyes collectively:
- Where did Yayoi Dojima go? Why is she nowhere to be found when she kept things together in the events of Yakuza 2? She already proved herself to be capable, why was she never called again when shit hit the fan in future entries? We never even got a reference regarding what could've happened to her.
- Why would Kaoru from Yakuza 2, literally feel like dying for and with Kiryu, but as soon as she gets a job, she goes away the next game?
- Why on earth does the FBI twin brother plot line exist and why on earth is he never even mentioned once more?
-Why in the absolute universe, is nearly every single villain and their lackeys, never mentioned or seen in past games, when they are part of the Tojo clan? There is absolutely no justification for this.
- Why does Hana from Yakuza 4 disappear? Why is Tanimura never given a proper send off? Even just having the characters say where he went?
The list could go on, but the answer is always the same: Were they to accept this continuity and these characters, the story they want to tell would need to be INCREDIBLY adapted or wouldn't work.
But THAT is the issue. If you play the games separately, they are all great. They all have incredible stand-alone stories, even Yakuza 6. But if you play them ALL in order (like I did) it's clear they rather defy canonical logic than accept the world they've created, in full.
​
Yakuza 6 or How to completely solidify the lack of care for continuity in this franchise
I've beaten Yakuza 6 a few days ago. I had time to sit down, think about it and reach a proper conclusion. And boy.. Is there SO MUCH WRONG with the story of this game. I will focus on the story and characters in its entirety. I'm not here to write a critique about the gameplay and whatnot. That said, I will be a bit nitpicky, so keep it in mind when reading. Let's begin:
From the get go, Yakuza 6 is flawed and disappointing. As a fan who's been following the games for around 3-4 years and played them in time-line order (started with 0 then went forward with the Kiwami games) I think it's needless to say that the expectations about the last game in Kiryu's story were high. Yakuza 0 proved how good the studio was when they wanted to give protagonism to someone who wasn't Kiryu.. And Yakuza's 4 and 5 proved it further. To me, 5 is one of my top 3 in the franchise, easily.. But at the core of it all, Kiryu's there.
I say this because Yakuza has always been a game about characters and their stories. We meet an incredible cast throughout the games, even those silly substories that seem to keep a continuity of sorts (I'll touch on them later) Kiryu is a good man, and it's this goodness in his heart that earns him so many allies. But.. Where are these allies when the story most needs them? Ignored for the sake of the story they want to tell.
Yakuza 6 begins with Kiryu going to jail so he can finally get the Yakuza stain off his back. This technically works because we know that spending 3 years there, things will happen in the clan and he won't be bothered, until he's forgotten. Haruka is left at the orphanage to take care of the other kids in his absence. Now: I understand Haruka feeling guilt about what's happened and the paparazzis coming around.. What I don't understand is where Mikio and Nakahara are.
Remember them? The little family that took care of Okinawa? Rikiya's death? The fact that Nakahara's left with a huge debt to Kiryu for saving his adoptive daughter, Saki? How Mikio (Rikiya's friend) ends up hanging out with the rest of the kids and Haruka, when the game is over? HOW THEY LITERALLY PROTECT EVERYONE IN THAT GAME AND RISK THEIR LIVES?
Are you actually going to tell me that these important characters from Yakuza 3 aren't just gone, but if they were there, they could've stopped the paparazzi from annoying Haruka and would've kept an eye on her?
Okay, fine. Let's accept they are gone for whatever reason and Haruka uncharacteristically leaves and goes to Kamurocho, despite knowing better. It is never explained why or how she ends up in Onomichi of all places, but again: Let's just accept it and move on. She hangs out there and, despite knowing the issues that hanging out with Yakuzas brings, she befriends this little Yakuza family.
Now we are to assume that she falls in love (?) with Yuta? And just fucks him without protection? THIS MATURE GIRL WE'VE KNOWN FOR YEARS, JUST DOES THAT, DESPITE KNOWING BETTER. And what's the only flashback we get? A scene where Haruka finds Yuta punching in a paparazzi's face for taking pictures: A civilian. This should be further reason for her to not hang out with this crowd, yet she just fucks him unprotected and gets pregnant, right after witnessing this.
Okay, let's accept this happened and move on. Kiryu is out of jail while all of the characters that should've been around this game, are sent to jail for the sake of the story they want to tell. No longer will this game be the epic conclusion we've been craving, where all the bonds Kiryu made, come back to support him in this amazing, deep and personal story we wished it would've been. But fine, let's accept these characters are gone and Kiryu's on his own. Haruka's gone, not where she should be and he sets off to Kamurocho to find her.
We find out that Chinatown was burnt to the ground and has since been rebuilt. Hmm.. I wonder which character had a deep connection to that place and would've been around to help Kiryu solve this issue? \cough* Tanimura *cough** Okay, whatever, he's not around.. Let's accept it yet again. We find out that Haruka WAS around! She got hit by a car and is in a coma!! Where did the hit and run happen? It happened in Kamurocho! Okay, okay. Do we know who did it? doesn't seem like it.
Okay! Kiryu and Akiyama have teamed up to find out who did this to Haruka. Time to go talk to The Florist, a character who's been used in every game except for Yakuza 0, a character who has hidden cameras all over Kamurocho, with a secret web of homeless men who are the second set of eyes for the city. Similar things have happened in the past and the answers were always there! They can just ask him, he'll probably just ask Kiryu to fight at the coliseum and the info will be theirs!
...
What? Sorry.. I've just received word that the florist is not only missing from the game's story.. But he's never even mentioned or brought up as an option. ... Oh? We are going to spend 40% of the game's story looking for clues as to who was driving the car? O..Kay. let's.. Let's just accept it and move on.. Yet again.
It turns out, there's been a guy all along. A guy who's been an advisor for the chairmen in the Tojo clan since the second one. That's right, folks: this important character in Yakuza 6 has supposedly been around since at least Yakuza 0 but he's never even mentioned ONCE. NOT ONCE. THE ADVISOR OF THE CHAIRMEN.
What follows is a chore of a story where you go back and forth between Kamurocho and Onomichi, with Kiryu making new pals along the way as usual and making the five thousand' sworn brother, finishing up with calling these folks his "family". Uh.. Did you forget your other "family" from Yakuza 3..? You know.. That family where Rikiya sacrificed himself to save you? Alright then.
In the end, every little story beat is either gone or dumbed down. Even the substory stuff. The only substories that get a proper ending are the ones from Yakuza 0, since 6 was made afterward. Jo amon's last fight is the easiest in the series and the ending ends up being an excuse for him to join the Kiryu Clan for the fighting minigame. The crazy scientist who was connected to the Amon clan and made that virtual fighting game doesn't ever show up. Also.. Correct me if I'm wrong: but wasn't Kiryu the one who defeated the color gangs? Or they were gone after defending purgatory? Because the guys from JUSTIS say THEY were the ones who got rid of the color gangs. ???
Anyway. The game ends with Kiryu "dying" and Date being the only one to know the truth. (PS: Date is the only character that was treated the best in this series). Kiryu writes a letter to Daigo saying that he was like a son to him..? Uh.. Am I the only one who felt this was super out of place? As far as I know, Daigo was old enough to have considered Dojima as his father. And he even had a mother who disappears. Kiryu forces him to be the chairman and that's that. The relationship between them is just Kiryu constantly keeping him in his place, but they never even share a personal moment aside from that fist fight at the end of Yakuza 4.
Most underused characters Saejima and.. Majima, are just hanging out with him. We see Haruka now in Okinawa with Yuta. (Remind me where their chemistry is?) and little Haruto just hanging out there with them.
All in all: Yakuza 6 decides to throw away continuity for the sake of telling the story they want to tell. Characters behave non-sensically and make stupid choices just for the sake of the plot, while other characters or entire groups of characters.. Heck, even entire plot points from last games, are ignored just for the sake of the story.
And for what? A game that can stand on its own but serves as a pethetic waste of potential? A lackluster ending to Kiryu's protagonism? The destruction of any respect I had for Haruka?
I'll play Judgement next. I heard very good things about that game! And I'm not surprised: They excell when they don't have to care for continuity. But Yakuza 6? It's just proof of badly placed their priorities are.

• The main villain of Yakuza 7 is a politician. In Yakuza 1, the greater-scope villain and the man behind Nishiki was none other than Jingu, also a politician (or at least up-and-coming, but still.)
• The (de facto) final boss of Yakuza 7 is Tendo, a man with a dragon tattoo on his back. In Yakuza 0, Kiryu's final boss was Shibusawa, another man with a dragon on his back.
• The final boss theme between Kiryu and Nishiki takes on a very sad and tragic tone, especially the Kiwami version. The final boss theme between Ichiban and Masato shares elements of For Whose Sake and is also the first sad boss theme we've gotten since An Eternal Moment in Yakuza 2.
• In his debut game, Kiryu loses the man that he considered to be his father, who dies in his arms. Likewise for Ichiban, he loses the man that is revealed to be his actual biological father and the latter's adoptive son also dies in his arms.
• Both Nishiki and Masato are finished off with a well-placed punch to the face via QTE. Masato even falls through a glass balcony not unlike how Kiryu punches Nishiki through a glass wall in Ares.
• Nishiki's clean black and white suit is somewhat of a contrast to Kiryu's gray and maroon suit. Ichiban's red and white suit is also an actual contrast to Masato's blue and white suit.
• In Yakuza Kiwami, Kiryu usually has to switch to his Dragon (in other words: default) style to do a Climax Heat Action against Nishiki. In Yakuza 7, Ichiban will always default to his Freeter class regardless of what class you had before.
• Kiryu gets put away for 14 (ten in the gap between Y0 and Y1 and 4 in the gap between Y5 and Y6) years. Ichiban spends 18 years in prison. Both for crimes that they didn't commit to falter the blame for someone in their Family (Kiryu for Nishiki and Ichiban for Sawashiro.)
• Kiryu was in prison during Ichiban's time with the Arakawa Family. Similarly, Ichiban was in prison while Kiryu was helping to keep the Tojo Clan afloat.
• Much like Nishiki becoming a changed man while Kiryu was put away, so too does Masato go through a significant change in character while Ichiban was behind bars. So much so that he goes under a different identity altogether, too.
• Nishiki stabs Jingu to death and sacrifices himself to save Kiryu and Haruka. Masato gets stabbed by one of his own supporters as Ichiban stood there and watched, not unlike how all Kiryu could do was watch as his best friend detonates the bomb inside the vault.

And the kicker about Masato? His life began in one Arakawa's arms and ended on another's (since Ichiban is Masumi's true son.) Best bookend I've ever seen. Nagoshi be hitting us hard with them feels, man. 😭😭😭

I’m looking for a song from Yakuza Kiwami,
the one that plays when the Nishikiyama family ambush Kuryu at Serena after his talk with Nishiki. The song that plays while Kiryu is beating them inside the bar.
Anyone know what it’s called? I’m not talking about “For who’s sake”

In a word? Good. I enjoyed it. Put simply it's just more yakuza, you've got Kiryu being Kiryu, you've got a pretty good story, you've got your nice detailed cities to explore, you've got your wacky side content, and you've got that head-smashing combat.
Let's talk story first. It ranks pretty decently among yakuza stories I've played. The development of the plot from Kiryu protecting his orphanage to a full blown political conflict about the Okinawan resort/ military base had me hooked to see what happened next. That being said, I felt this kinda fell a little flat at the end. We never get much satisfying conclusion with the death of Richardson and the impact of that on the Black Friday, much less details about the resort and Tamiya. Hell, you don't hear anything about Tamiya and the resort past the fight with Joji. Considering this was a main part of the plot, I wish there was a bit more development on, well, the resort/military base development. Onto a more positive note, the areas of the story which focused on Kiryu, the orphanage and the Ryudo family were immensely charming, especially the more slice-of-life side stories with the kids (the wrestling match for instance between Kiryu and Rikiya was so dorky and fun). This is also where the story carried its most emotional moments, like the destruction of Morning Glory and Rikiya's death, and where I was most invested, given the chemistry between Kiryu, the orphans, and the Ryudo family (I don't think I've seen Kiryu so heartbroken than when Rikiya died, you could even argue it was slightly out of character, given how he was less emotional when Kazuma died in his arms for goodness sakes, but I digress).
A yakuza story wouldn't be complete without it's villains, and Mine was one hell of a villain. The contrast between initially seeing him as the confident, polite, yet stern businessman and the total fucking crazy violent side of him made his character really endearing. His backstory, while pretty simple, was still a good motivation for his actions, and the scenes after his fight were satisfying as we saw his character turn face at the end.
Moving on, substories. Not much to say. Yakuza has it's fun substories. Yakuza 3, funnily enough, is a Yakuza game, and so had a great selection of substories (that being said, the early honeymoon substorm needs to be purged from existence).
I've saved the most controversial until last, the combat. Before I rant, I should preface that I played on hard. Now, I was excited to get back to the more arcade-like style combat, after Judgment and Kiwami 2's Dragon Engine. While the combat was still fun, despite showing its age a bit, playing on hard quite frankly soured the mood for my playthrough. In the yakuza's that I've played (which is now every main entry bar 4 and 5) hard difficulty was never super challenging, but was a way to make the game a bit less of a cakewalk, and offered a fun balance of feeling like a badass and having to actually focus in fights, rather than button mashing. In Yakuza 3, hard difficulty might have some of the most artificial difficulty I've played in a game for a long time, and it's the combination of these shit mechanics that make long combat sections (especially bosses) tedious as fuck. So enemies block most of your attacks, ok then. This forces you to punish opponents more, watch their moves, hit their backs for big combos, and utilise the grab. This would be the case, if it weren't obnoxiously hard or impossible on many bosses. The recovery on some bosses meant that you can barely get hits in, as either their chain of attacks would have short recovery, meaning you can't smack them in the back easily for a big combo. Sometimes they recover so fast after being hit in the back, you can barely get more than. a 2 or 3 hit combo without a follow-up being blocked. This, combined with the pitiful amount of damage you do means that boss fights last for way, way too long, and go from tense encounters to chores. 'oh, but you can grab bosses' backs to get some damage in right?' that would be the case if bosses weren't either so big that they push you off when you grab them, or just counter the grab naturally, so that damage is lost. 'oh, can't you use the wide amount of heat moves at your disposal to whittle the bosses health down?' again, not really. With how hard it is to keep up consistent damage, and therefore heat, you can barely do any heat moves on bosses. Combined with the fact that you can't grab bosses for more than a second without being thrown away, and the fact that weapon heat moves barely work because this requires the enemy to be in a neutral position (if they are moving too fast or attacking the heat move won't activate) this means the main heat move I spammed for most late game bosses was grab into head stomp, because I literally couldn't do anything else.
Now I hate to be negative, I love this series to pieces, but the boss fights in this game (save for Mine, who funnily enough, despite being the final boss, could actually be comboed slightly and grabbed, meaning he was pretty fun) are some of the least fun I've had in this series. Now, I understand that I did have the option at any time to swap to an easier difficulty. But that doesn't change the fact that hard mode is awfully designed, and is undeniably unfun. That being said, I did mess around on normal difficulty in Premium adventure and it was remarkably easier and more fun, because I could, you know, do more than square square square triangle triangle because that move string can do the tiniest bit of damage through someone's guard. When I do play this game in the future, I will most likely play it on an easier difficulty, and that would likely make the game much more fun (Jesus, take a drink every time I say fun in this paragraph alone).
To conclude, while I have my gripes about this game, and it is one of the weaker entries in my humble opinion, I still had fun with it, and I hope that the issues that I have will be fixed somewhat in Yakuza 4 and 5. I'm sure there's stuff I've missed, but oh well. It's late and I need sleep. I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about this game, I do know some older school fans rank this game very highly, so please don't hurt me too much. Also, congrats on reading this bulky wall of text too. :)

This is a repost from the one I made loooong ago when the PS4 game was new... Figured I'd post it here as well for the sake of our friends who are new to the game.
The game doesn't cover this that well so I figure I'll add some info here as going into Extreme Heat mode actually adds a LOT to Kiryu's movelist that isn't reflected in game. Most of these moves are available in Yakuza 6 so its odd why they aren't officially listed here as they were listed in 6. Move names taken from Yakuza 6 where possible.
The activation has a splash AoE effect and will knock down any common thug level enemy around Kiryu. It can also knock down some stronger enemies but usually the stronger ones are simply staggered. Once in Ex Heat mode, the following become available:
Essence of Knock Out = During any Finisher move after a standard combo, tap Triangle repeatedly to increase the damage. After the first 10 or so taps, each additional tap will do IMMENSE amounts of damage as the increase appears to scale via percentage. I experimented with a controller with auto/turbofire and was able to wipe out 5 entire lifebars from an opponent in the Collosseum.
Essence of Knock Out Throw = Triangle when standing over a kneeling or slumped over opponent. Kiryu will pick them up and powerbomb them onto the ground. Essence of Knock Out applies to this move.
Essence of Knock Out Suplex = Triangle behind a kneeling or slumped over opponent. Kiryu will make like Okada and do a German Suplex on the opponent. Essence of Knock Out applies to this move.
Heat Rush = Tap Square repeatedly after the first 3 attacks. Kiryu will do huge left/right hooks for as long as you keep tapping Square. You can transition into a Finisher (Triangle) at any time. Unlike the Yakuza 6 version, this move will continue infinitely if you keep tapping Square, whereas in Y6 the move will eventually transition into the Extreme Heat Rush heat action.
Essence of Demonic Spiral = Grab and tap Circle to begin swinging an enemy near two others, then Triangle when the prompt appears. The throw transitions into the Heat action where Kiryu will knock down up to 3 enemies.
Essence of Raging Dragon = Dash toward an opponent and tap Triangle when prompted. Kiryu will smash the opponent twice in the knees, once in the balls then transition into a rising uppercut in rapid succession.
Essence of Repeating Knee = Front kick an opponent and tap Triangle when prompted. Kiryu will grab the opponent by the head and repeatedly knee them in the face for as long as you nail the follow up prompts.
Essence of Fast Footwork = Dash backward/away from an opponent and tap Triangle when prompted. Kiryu will perform two kicks into an overhead flip kick. Dashing to the left or right of an opponent will trigger a dodge into a kick and haymaker.
Essence of Tornado Throw = Grab an opponent from behind (Grab, then L1) and tap Triangle near another. Kiryu will swing an opponent around his shoulders then throw them like a missile at another foe.
Extreme Heat Rush = Tap Triangle after the third full charged attack in the chain (Must unlock the ability to do 3 charged light attacks in a row first). One of the most powerful unlisted Heat moves without a name even in Yakuza 6... Kiryu will perform repeated left right hooks to the opponent up to 6 times then finish with a violent uppercut. Unlike in Y6 this move is no longer activated from the Heat Rush.
Essence of Diving Upper = This one is new. Tap Triangle after a fully charged Strong attack lands cleanly. Kiryu will dive forward as the opponent staggers back, punch them squarely in the gut then transition into a violent uppercut. Damage is HUGE. The charged Strong attack must land cleanly and NOT knock down the opponent, so you won't be using this versus weaker trash mobs. Generally will see the most usage in the Collosseum.
It also needs to be mentioned that Ex Heat gains some properties from Beast style (from Y0/Kiwami). Kiryu will automatically pick up any object near him while attacking and seamlessly transition into attacking with the object. Large/heavy objects can also be used during Ex Heat.
Finally, another unlisted feature/tactic in the game is the ability to double charge both Light and Strong attacks at the same time, and then cancel one with the other in order to break open any guard. Once you get the skill that increases Strong charge attack damage... this tactic becomes the unofficial de facto go-to in the game for big damage. With the upgrade, full charged Strong attacks do MORE damage than Tiger Drop.
With this method you use a charged Light attack to open em up and immediately pop the charged Strong while they're guard-broken... If they get knocked flying by the attack, they've taken more damage than fishing for a single TD would have given you. If they're a powerful enemy that doesn't go down with the charged Strong, they're now open to a full combo.
Alternatively do the above while in Ex Heat and if they don't go down from the charged Strong, they're now open to an unlisted Heat move. Either way you get HUGE burst damage in chunks with this tactic that far exceeds the value of fishing for a TD, effectively rendering the move useless in this iteration of the game seeing as it still has its Y6 damage nerf.
There's a video here by the guy who initially discovered this on GFAQS, full credit to him: https://twitter.com/KhayyaamButt/status/1037023288374034433

After playing each Yakuza series, from original to Judgment, how would you rank each Amon fight?

1. Isshin Amon Unless you’re cheesing with Double shot fast bullet golden gun and have the best armor, this guy can one shot you. This happened to me on my first attempt and seriously got my ass stomped, crushed and fed to Majima.
   
2. Yakuza Kiwami 2 Amon Jou He seriously got my heart bumping fighting him. Managed on my first attempt but this is one of those fight you have to learn everything from your previous matches with his underlings. But because of that, he was a bit easier compared to Isshin Amon for that reason.
   
3. 5 Amon Jou I never knew Umbrellas hurts this much....
   
4. Yakuza Kiwami 2 Amon Jirou He’s only up top here compared to his brothers is because of those damn stun grenades and bullets of hell. First time I died when I played Kiwami 2 was against this crud.
   
5. 0 Amon So His lasers and cannon are the only thing that made this guy difficult. I was able to beat him my first attempt when I played 0 a few years ago in the Japanese version but recently I played 0 on the English version and got my ass handed 3 times in the beginning phase. He’s easier after the helicopter shows up but those chairs can kill you faster than the car that crashed into Haruka.
   
6. 6 Amon Jou He does hit hard even with max stats. But he’s more annoying than difficult due to the drones and bombs. Ultimate Mode is the serious saving grace since it stops you from getting killed when those drones explodes.
   
7. Kiwami Amon Jou He’s not hard until he hits phase two’s last 5 bars. I’ve only ranked him down here due to the fact that he’s easier to Tiger Drop here than any other of the series. But his spinning top move can destroy you so fast.
   
8. Kiwami 2 Amon Kazuya and Sango I couldn’t decide on which was tougher. Honestly, both of them weren’t too difficult in all honesty. Especially with Kazuya since you can decimate him with Tiger drop. Sango on the other hand was just bait his rocket launcher and come in for the kill.
   
9. Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise Amon Jou He takes the best gimmicky Amon fight in the series. I had more fun fighting him compared to his other counterparts. Although the last phase was a bit tough with him doing Musou Tensei and whatnot but until that phase, it was fun making words from big guys and smacking him in the shin.
   

From here on the list, these are Amon fights that were just bland or easy imo.

1. Judgment Amon Shin He’s more patience rather than hard. Sure, he may steal your phone so you can’t get access to you items but you can stop him from stealing it by kicking his ass enough so he can hit phase 2(or phase 3). It’s his phase 3 is where all the trouble starts. Switching from one style to another just so you don’t take damage from his ridiculous attacks. Just one false move and you get bombarded by his sickle and lasers.
   
2. Kenzan Amon Unlike his other samurai counterpart, Amon on this one is rather slow and more predictable. I had more difficulties against the Tengu boss since he was really fast. Maybe because I had the best equipment besides the katana you get from him I had no difficulty but still.
   
3. 3 Amon Jo He didn’t hit hard and with the right equipments, you can negate his sword and guns. And here’s the thing. He moves just like Arase or people from the Arena, so you can be prepared for his moves. Rather, I think Komaki was the hardest in the game.
   
4. 5 Kazuya Jiro and Sango Saejima destroyed everything due to his new moves. Akiyama just had the “who can trip their opponents more” match with Kazuya. The only thing I had to prepare was with Shinada. Just give him extremely sturdy weapons and honestly, he was good to go. But seriously, these guy were just outshined by Amon Jou with his goddamn umbrellas. Only thing why they were tougher than the latter was because they had a lot of health....unlike the next entry.
   
5. 4 All the Amon fights. It’s because of all the main characters, Kiryu, Saejima, Akiyama and Tanimura hits hard like hell, it’s makes the Amon clan look like they’re nothing. Seriously, having Tanimura with the bullet blocking set up will leave Sango in tears. What makes it even worse is that they had at max 2 bars with the exception of Amon Jo with 2 x 2 bars.
   
6. Original 1 and 2 Amon bosses Here’s the thing. My first Yakuza game was 3 and played on from that but when I played Yakuza 1 and 2 HD, they were just easy. Sure they did a lot damage but most of their moves were similar to some of the fighting style in 3 or 4 and so on. Not only that, you can Komaki counter their wake up moves so I literally had no problems.
   
7. 0 Amon Jou He was cake. Like I addressed before, I played Yakuza 0 Japanese version a few years ago and then English version recently. Majima’s legendary style with his own Counter just destroyed Amon really fast. Maybe because he used Dragon of Dojima and Mad Dog of Shimano style that I was able to read the hell out of him.
   

And with that I think I covered the notable Amon fights (I think). Here’s my personal honorable mentions.
HM1. 5 Noa Amon It was just a rhythm game. I had fun though.
HM2. Dead Soul Amon Rasetsu Where is he shooting that satellite laser from? We’re 50 floors down for Christ’s sake.
HM3 and 4. Kurohyo and Kurohyo 2 Gaia and Chaos. Ultimate Style and upgrade your heat and punches like crazy. It’s just extremely tedious to fight everyone on the list to get to them.
So how would you rank your Amon?

The first examples would definitely have been Snake followed by Bayonetta.
If we were to think up ideas for a character let’s have it go like this:

• Character (general ideas for moves, mechanics, final smash, etc)
  
• 1 Stage (possible bosses and hazards)
  
• What tracks in the OST could be incorporated?
  
• Assist trophies (maximum of about 2-3)
  
• If anyone cares enough, what about spirit ideas and their various evolutions.
  
• Bonus points if you can come up with a cool gameplay gimmick to reference their source material (think how when put in a 1v1, Ryu and Ken will always face their opponent similarly to how a tradition street fighter game works).
  

I’m gonna say it: Solaire of Astora could be perfect.
I want you to picture it: his dodge animation would literally just be ripped straight from DS1, lightning spear ranged attacks, estus flasks, sunlight blade weapon buff. His final smash would be one of two things: either we kill dark souls lore by having him conjure up a SUNLIGHT SPEAR AND YEETING THAT FUCKER ACROSS THE STAGE TO PENETRATE EVERYTHING INFRONT OF HIM or we play it safe and he just does a basic sword combo which transitions into planting a lightning stake in the ground which explodes in a wide cone around him.
His stage: Anor Londo. Ornstein and Smough would obviously show up as bosses, maybe throw in a Gwyndolin stage hazard or something.
Soundtrack: Sample tracks from various games from across the series, his trademark battle theme could be a battle remix of Gwyn’s theme (just because it is iconic really) followed with Ornstein and Smough theme, Artorias, Sif, and Asylum/Taurus demon remixes.
Assist trophy: “Jolly Cooperation”, a white summon sign appears at your feet and from it one of a few different phantoms are summoned (take various NPC invaders/summons like Beatrice, Kirk, Siegmeyer, etc). Added points has the usual message show up for everyone saying “White Phantom _____ has been summoned”.
EDIT: obligatory Kiryu post I just came up with:

• Kazuma Kiryu (he had Yakuza 1 and 2 ported to the Wii U). His unique mechanic would be switch fighting styles similarly to how Shulk swaps Monado. He would have full access to the Brawler, Rush, Beast and Dragon styles from Kiwami. He can accumulate HEAT through attacking and taunting (which is stored in his heat bar near his portrait) that can be unleashed for powerful attacks, using basic attacks in Dragon style consumes minor heat.
  
• Stage would be Kamurocho (surprising I know). Hazards can include various groups of thugs.
  
• Kiryu’s theme would be the original Yakuza 1 theme, think how it was used in 0 as the default theme when using Dragon style. Various tracks can include “Pray me revive”, “Outlaw’s Lullaby”, “For who’s sake”, “Bad Fortune Flower”, “For Faith”, “Way of Life”, etc.
  
• Assist Trophy: MAJIMA EVERYWHERE, when used large amounts of props and scenery clutter the stage background for as long as the trophy is active, whenever someone steps near specific locations a MAJIMA ALERT will appear above their head and they have a brief moment to react before a random style of Majima pops out from the scenery to attack.
  
• When in a 1v1 fight, as the match begins Kiryu’s opponent gets their own Yakuza boss title card, complete with a sub title that varies depending on the character. For example: THE VILLAGER Mayor of Animal Crossing, SAMUS ARAN Bounty Hunter, MEGAMAN Super Fighting Robot, you get the idea.
  

Snakebird Primer

February 18, 2019 | Windows/Mac/Linux

A vibrant, casual puzzle game about maneuvering snake-bird hybrids through twisted levels. Developer Noumenon Games's 'Snakebird' released in 2015 to Very Positive reviews, and this week's Snakebird Primer offers "more everything" while also serving as "a primer for the serious challenges of the original game".

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Website], [Developer Website, [YouTube], [Twitter]

Steins;Gate Elite

February 19, 2019 | Remake

'Elite' is a remake of the 'Steins;Gate' visual novel from 2009, with the most significant improvement being that 'Elite' is fully animated, using footage from the anime. The narrative, which follows students who alter the past by sending emails through a microwave, offers a branching storyline that resolves into multiple endings.

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Website]

Yakuza Kiwami

February 19, 2019 | Port, Remake

'Yakuza Kiwami' is a remake of the original PlayStation 2 game 'Yakuza' from 2006. Though 'Kiwami' originally released on the PS3 in 2016, and later the PS4 in 2017, only recently has SEGA warmed to the idea of bringing more of their catalog to PC. To that end, SEGA boasts the PC version as "optimised for PC with 4K resolutions, uncapped framerates, customizable controls and ultra-widescreen support"!
Last August saw the release of Yakuza 0 on PC, which served as a prequel to the original game (which is to say, a prequel to 'Kiwami'). As Kiwami is just an enhancement of much older entry in the series, while you can expect a similar feel to Yakuza 0, in terms of content and mechanics most will find '0' to be superior to Kiwami. Kiwami exists primarily for the sake of experiencing the full narrative of the Yakuza series for those who have enjoyed more recent entries but missed the earlier games. On that note, Yakuza 2 had it's own remake -- Yakuza Kiwami 2 -- released last year, though no current announcement has been made for PC (presumably it will be based on the success of Kiwami 1 on PC).

• Official Links: [Steam Store]

Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption

February 19, 2019

Released back in October on Xbox One and as a Discord exclusive (lolwat) this week 'Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption' has a proper PC launch. Sinner's appeal is laid bare with a mere glance -- it's a shameless Dark Souls clone. More specifically, it's a hack-and-slash action game set in a gothic dark-fantasy environment, wherein you play as a knight set out to defeat fearsome bosses.
The title of the game is quite literal -- you play as a sinner, who has set out to defeat the avatars of the Seven Deadly Sins, and must offer sacrifices (by leveling-down your character) in order overcome the weight of your sin and find redemption. 'Sinner' is a boss-rush game, and despite the highly familiar environmental art does visually differentiate itself by pulling the Third-Person camera further back and utilizes a sort of tilt-shifted miniaturized aesthetic.
Reviews have been overall lukewarm.

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Xbox Blog], [Publisher Website], [Twitter]
• Preview Links [Review]

Devotion還願

February 19, 2019

Taiwanese indie studio Red Candle Games released their sidescrolling horror game 'Detention' in early 2017 to Overwhelmingly Positive acclaim. This week they've brought forth another horror game, though with Devotion還願 they've made the leap to a full-3D First Person perspective.
Devotion還願 sees the player exploring the eerie apartment complex that once housed a family of religious cultists in 1980's Taiwan.

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Website], [YouTube], [Twitter]

Winkeltje

Entering Early Access February 19, 2019

Winkeltje ("shop" in Dutch) is a shopkeep sim where you expand, decorate, and manage the day-to-day business of your quaint medieval store. Developer Sassybot formerly made 'Fragments of Him' in 2016, an interactive narrative which received Mostly Positive reviews.

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? “We aim to have Winkeltje in Early Access for about a year or longer for as long as the resources to develop allow us.” How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? “The full version will have more content and features. We intend to add more objectives, furniture, items, decorations, walls, floors, events, and probably more. We already support community translations but we intend to translate if there is a significant enough demand to the most popular languages in the full release.” What is the current state of the Early Access version? “Winkeltje is already fully playable with dozens of furniture, items, structural assets, customers, events, seasons and three supported languages (Dutch, French, and Russian). Players part of the closed-alpha have reported enjoying the game for over 10 hours.” Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? “As the game grows in content, features, and entertainment value we may increase the price of the game.”

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Website], [YouTube], [Twitter]
• Preview Links: [AlphaBetaGamer]

Wraithslayer

Entering Early Access February 20, 2019 | Windows/Mac/Linux

A collaboration between programmedesigner Devin Cole and artist Sean Young, Wraithslayer is a 2D action game about battling a fearsome wraith in a single boss battle that sees 'procedurally generated A.I.' changing up its moveset to create unique fights every time.
Given that the Early Access goals are basically limited to mechanical polishing, it seems that Sean Young is likely to move onto other projects -- such as 'Littlewood', the pixel-art life sim he held a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign over the past couple weeks.

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? “1 Month.” How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? “Zero Bugs Game Balance Achievements Leaderboards Additional Polish” What is the current state of the Early Access version? “Wraithslayer is in the balancing and bug fixing stage. Currently there are 3 game modes: Normal, Endless, and True Wraith. Normal Mode: Battle the Wraith through 3 phases. Each phase has a separate pool of attacks to randomly choose from, forcing the player to adapt in order to overcome the challenge. All intended attacks are currently implemented. Endless Mode: See how long you can last against the Wraith's onslaught of attacks! In this mode, the Wraith will pull attacks from any pool, making it an extremely dangerous and unpredictable battle. True Wraith Mode: This is similar to Normal mode, but with each attack revisited and enhanced to further increase the difficulty. Warning, this is the hardest mode in the game! There are already In-game unlockables that are currently implemented in the game. Wraithslayer will be ready to leave Early Access once we squash any left over bugs, add polish to existing animations, and provide balance in each of the game modes.” Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? “The price will not change when moving from Early Access to the official 1.0 launch.”

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Sean Young YouTube], [Sean Young Twitter], [Devin Cole Twitter]

Bannermen

February 21, 2019 | Demo Available

A medieval Real Time Strategy game in the vein of Age of Empires and Starcraft, Bannermen offers a singleplayer campaign, solo skirmishes against AI, ranked and unranked online multiplayer PVP, as well as custom games for up to 8 players.

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Website], [Itchio], [IGDB], [Square Enix Collective], [Developer Website], [Twitter]

Devil Engine

February 21, 2019 | Demo Available

This sidescrolling pixel art Shoot 'Em Up by Protoculture Games looks highly promising. Not the least of which is due to the soundtrack by Hyakutarou Tsukumo, who notably scored Thunder Force V and other SHMUPs.

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Publisher Website], [Itchio], [YouTube], [Twitter]

Anthem

February 22, 2019 | Online-Only

Anthem is EA's attempt at competing in the sci-fi MMORPG-lite shooter space currently dominated by Activision's Destiny IP. Developed by BioWare since launch of Mass Effect 3 in 2012, Anthem is a Third-Person Shooter and Action-RPG built in the Frostbite 3 engine. The game is always online and intended to be played via 4-player Co-Op.

• Official Links: [Origin], [Website], [YouTube], /AnthemTheGame

Gunpowder on the Teeth: Arcade

February 22, 2019 | Demo Available

Gunpowder on the Teeth is a tough-as-nails arcade-style sidescrolling action platformer with a monochromatic pixel-art aesthetic. Interestingly, the developers actually include a disclaimer urging everyone to try the demo before purchasing:

It is a very difficult game. It is a challenge. Do not purchase the full version until you are sure the game suits you, try the demo version first.

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Website], [Steam Greenlight], [YouTube], [Twitter]

Koi

February 22, 2019 | Port

Koi made gentle waves in 2016 when it became the first game from a Chinese studio to release worldwide on the PS4. The first project by Dotoyou Games, Koi is a top-down exploration adventure that has drawn comparison to thatgamecompany's Flower, though Koi left critics unimpressed for being as shallow as the pond it's set in. Anyways, this past November Dotoyou Games launched their second title, 'Incredible Mandy', a 3D adventure game that Dotoyou described as "more game content and ambition" when compared to Koi.

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Developer Website], [Dev Blog], [IndieDB], [YouTube], [Twitter]

Rise of Legions

Entering Early Access February 22, 2019 | Free-to-Play

A 1v1 (2v2 to be added later) PVP or PVE deckbuildeRTS with a cheery cartoon artstyle.

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? “We plan to go full Release as soon as the core features are polished and the meta game is finished. This will approximately be at the end of 2018.” [sic] How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? “For the full version we plan to have an additional Legion (Robots! exciting...i know :) everybody loves them) We plan to have an experience system for all cards, which should unlock new abilities as you level them up. We also plan to further develop the PvE experience. Last but not least, new cards will be added to the game on a regular basis.” What is the current state of the Early Access version? “For now we are feature-complete regarding the core game. We are heavily focusing on bugfixing and polish. Everything is up and running but might be a bit rough around the edges at first. We apologize for that. The meta game is currently a boiled down version of the original concept, as we plan to add a lot more features to it. Most important among these will be an experience system for the cards, and unlocking new abilities for the units as you level them up. All of the features listed in the "about" section are implemented.” Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? “As soon as we go full release, founder packs won't be available anymore. Players will keep all of their unlocked content throughout the lifecycle of Rise of Legions, but many of the meta game features might change drastically towards full release (e.g. Card experience / leveling). We don't plan to change the pricing.”

• Official Links: [Steam Store], [Website], [Publisher Website], [YouTube], [Twitter]

Tonight I finally beat Yakuza 6. I somehow managed to stay spoiler free the entire time. From the original Japanese release, all the way up till now.
For those that know me from the sub, you know that I am what's called a "new fan" of the series. I started with 0 like a lot of us newbies did, then plowed through the entire US series from Kiwami on up to 6. From the start of 0, this series left an incredible impact on my life. Some of you may know, but for those that don't, earlier this year I decided to change my life forever; I got a full back tattoo based on Kiryu's. To say that this series changed me is an understatement.
Yakuza 6 may be my favorite of the series. I know that's controversial. From the gameplay, to the story, to the music, Y6 is an incredible experience. People say that the story of Y6 isn't as impactful as previous entries. I disagree. From the pain you see on Kiryu's face when he hears of Haruka's accident, to a man who is finally at peace at the end; the story is nothing short of exceptional in my opinion.
The music in the Yakuza series has always been a high point for me, and Y6 is no exception. DESTINY is right up there with "Two Dragons" and "For Who's Sake". The emotion that is conveyed through the violin. Someya is a man with nothing to lose. Kiryu is a man who is about to lose EVERYTHING.
The characters in Y6 are not just characters. The real emotion they invoke is nothing short of human. Nagumo grows on you the same way that Rikiya did all those years ago. Haruto in some ways feels like my own child at times. Haruka. What can you say about this girl who started off as just "some kid" in Yakuza? You've seen her grow into a woman. I don't know of any other series that can boast a cast like Yakuza.
I know this post is rambling. But in the end, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone on this sub for being so nice, and so passionate. Thank you to SEGA and ATLUS for developing a series that has had such a profound effect on me, not just as a gamer, but as a man. My life has forever been changed because of Yakuza, and I can't wait to see what's next.

Anyone feel the successors of the Nishiki Family feel off? Like, they're pretty much regular scumbags. You'd expect these guys to be influenced by their great Nishiki and try to uphold his philosophy to some degree, right? Yet Shindo and especially Kanda are sleazy lunatics more than anything. Which is not really what marked Nishiki at all. His dominant trait was ambition. He wanted to climb the ladders and be looked up to. He wanted to get out of Kiryu's shadow and prove himself to the higher ups within the Tojo Clan. Shindo and Kanda on the other hand are just violent meatheads that massacre their way up the hierarchy.
Kiryu also rarely mentions Nishiki when dealing with this family in 2 and 3. Which is odd since, well... it is the Nishiki Family after all. He never tells them that this isn't what Nishiki would want and that they don't understand the man who started the family, as Kiryu knew Nishiki far better as a sworn brother and all that. He just engages them like it's any old family. No awareness, no moment or cutscene where he's like: "Damn, this is what the Nishiki Family has become? If I ever set up a family of my own, I gotta watch not to leave bad apples anywhere near the patriarch's seat and risk them disrespecting my legacy like that after I'm gone." Guess not.
I mean, why would you bring back the Nishiki Family if it wasn't for some sort of narrative goal? I expected the writer to utilize Shindo and what remained of the Nishiki Family to do some interesting things with Kiryu story-wise. In 2, Kiryu is coming back from a shell shock after the dramatic events of 1 only a year prior. It would have been interesting to see if Kiryu couldn't get himself to crush the Nishiki Family again, considering how close he was with its patriarch. Last time he threw down, he lost just about everything that mattered to him. It felt to me like a golden opportunity to explore his post-Yakuza 1 Nishiki relationship a bit more and how it could potentially be a difficult subject for him. But sadly, none of that really happened in 2. The Nishiki Family is back. For any significant story reason? Nope. They're just back. For the hell of it. Okaaay...
As you can probably tell, I'm pretty unhappy with how they chose to handle the Nishiki Family post Yakuza 1. It's simply poor writing. There isn't something clever or slick going on. No 3D chess or anything like that. It's just poor. Would it have been better to just let the Nishiki Family collapse after he died in the Millenium Tower explosion and move on? I'd say so.
For argument's sake, let's just say a family after losing its patriarch still lingers around for a bit, as it does still hold some power until it inevitably vanishes due to lack of adequate leadership, disappearing into irrelevance. From that perspective, I can see them bringing back the Nishiki Family in 2 since it takes place only a year later. The family would probably still be around, still trying to reclaim some importance in the clan, but as we've seen, Kiryu eventually crushes that. That should have been it for the Nishiki Family as far as I'm concerned.
But nope, 3 brings it back and at this point Nishiki has been dead for 4 years and somehow the family is back at it again with Kanda and this guy couldn't be further from Nishiki as far as philosophy goes. He's an extremely sleazy and fat prick that has unwilling women sent up to him by his footsoldiers for some sort of fucked up massage in his room. Nishiki on the other hand was, despite certain actions, still a relatively honorable man. Sure, Reina had eyes for him, but it was always about power and status for Nishiki, never about women or other desires. And he gets real mad when one of his subordinates killed (the body double) of Yumi in 1. He doesn't want to achieve his goals by blindly massacring a path to the chairman's position. He's above that. Even when he does kill someone, it's out of revenge or setting an example or because of someone pushing him over the edge (like Matsushige in Kiwami 1). Which is why the people they chose to have succeed Nishiki in the sequels baffle me.
I really feel they wrote the Nishiki Family into the ground after 1. They could have wrapped a bow around it after Yakuza 1 and have a different family threaten the authority of the Tojo Clan chairmanship in the sequel, as happens every damn time in these games anyway. In the end, you're just left asking yourself: "Did the fact that it was the Nishiki Family that wanted to overtake the top spot in the clan change anything significant?" In other words, if any other family did what the Nishiki Family did in 2, would the story be any different? I wonder.
Why not leave the Nishiki Family behind after the dramatic events of 1? Everyone would accept that the family disappeared after that, since we literally saw its patriarch die in the ending. Couple that with the fact that Yakuza 2 was really about Ryuji Goda and the looming war between the Tojo and the Omi's and it becomes even more puzzling why they ever reopened this closed chapter to begin with.
They do something very similar with Kazama in 3. Pull Kiryu back in with a sketch of his pops, only to find out it's a long lost brother who's with the CIA of all people. Doesn't this make a mockery of a really esteemed character, especially to Kiryu? You choose to revisit a character who's story was concluded in 1 and come out of it further convoluting the story arch of an already secretive individual. And for what gain? Kazama died in 1, and in 2 there's a few callbacks and references, since it was only a year later and that was that. Just leave it there. Why bring back baggage from the first game and deceive you with it on top of everything? Not to mention Kiryu seemed way more concerned about his orphanage than this Kazama look-a-like throughout the game anyway, so it wasn't even a strong enough element to use as a motivator to begin with...
Anyway, just had to get that off my chest after reading a different post about the Nishiki Family earlier and realizing it's way too long for a comment. Let me know if you agree or disagree with this. Interested to hear some other views.
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At least Shindo shares a bit of charisma with Nishiki, but with Kanda we find ourselves in true wtf-territory...

So my Yakuza journey started less than half a year ago when I played Zero, then Kiwami, then 4, 5, then now and honestly, the ending hurts about as much as it would have had I discovered the series last decade.
Gameplay wise, I love the new Dragon engine and am not sure why it gets the amount of hate that it does. Combat is just as fun and challenging with it and the impacts and ragdolls make things noticeably more satisfying. The minigames were also addicting as always thanks because they always continue to reward you with either cute scenes, money, or more smut. Karaoke is also the best it has ever been with duet videos and back up that’s worthy for the OST release. Spear Fishing took me back to lightgun games in the best way possible as well. The only one that didn’t jive with me as much is Clan Creator cuz those things aren’t difficult in the slightest.
Subquests also had notable upgrades, especially with all of them being completely voiced. They’re all just as zany and crazy as before but compared to the other games’ substories, these are the very closest to getting me teared up. My favorite ones so far are the third Ono Michio mission, Haruka’s biggest fan, and the one where you help a girl decide between her idol career or her boyfriend. It’s so heartwarming because there are loads of people who still thought of Haruka as an inspiration to her and acknowledge that she’s still a person. In a way she does take after Kiryu. I am also a big fan of the bar sidequests because this is the type of shit adults need as opposed to more Shonen stories. I dug the angle of accepting your age yet not being afraid to live it up for the sake of the younger generation.
Now for the main story and ending. I really dug it but not as much as I dug Yakuza 0, Kiwami, or 5. 4 to me is the weakest overall story if I am being honest but that’s another post altogether. I understand the frustration that the main Tojo guys like Majima and Daigo are omitted almost completely from the story yet I also understand that for this type of story it’s all for the best. Besides, at least Date and Akiyama are still bros with him. I also love the development and bond between Kiryu and the Hirose family. Battle Royale is the only Beat Takeshi move I have seen but I’ve never seen the guy so vulnerable either.
As for the ending itself, It’s disappointing but not in the way that you think. I find the ending disappointing because it kinda ends the same way the whole franchise starts: kiryu throwing himself under the bus and sacrificing his own happiness for the sake of his loved ones who never asked for him to do it. I was honestly with Date when he was getting all pissed at Kiryu for going thru this. But then again, Kiryu wouldn’t have budged either way. I also think that Haruka turned out okay too. She’s developed to be similar to Kiryu in the sense that she never thinks about herself. Like, shielding your own baby from a car is still a very Kiryu thing to, which Kiryu DID do for her anyway late game.
Now stuff I didn’t like? Lack of weapons, the fact that Heat Mode is borderline useless against bosses, and the fact that overall it feels more like a testing ground for a new engine than anything. It’s stil a game I’m happy I paid $60 for but would have liked to see more as well.
Also, the actual ending did make me tear up enough that I had dreams about it when I slept afterwards. It’s such a downer that Kiryu condemned himself to stay out of Haruka’s life yet... it kinda was the only way to live out the rest of his life in peace. Besides. Knowing Kiryu he probably bro-d it up with another Taxi company or something. The guy knows how to make friends. Still tho, I do feel for Haruka and the Sunshine kids.
So yeah, contender for game of the year. Time to lift my spirits by finishing Ni no Kuni 2

One of my favorite things about the Yakuza series is the OST. It's a series that always has had some of the best soundtracks you can find in gaming.
However one of my many issues with Kiwami 1 was the OST. To say the least I thought it was awful, definitely the worst in the series outside of the remix of "For Who's Sake" and the theme they use for Jingu's boss fight, and it definitely did a disservice to the original Yakuza 1 OST which still ranks among the top 3 in the series today.
After Kiwami 1 I was worried they were headed in a bad direction with the music before I was once again blown away by the amazing OST of Yakuza 6 and I couldn't help but wonder what went wrong with Kiwami to make it the sole Yakuza ost I disliked.
So with Kiwami 2 just two weeks away, what can I expect? Does it butcher the original game's music composition like Kiwami 1 did to Yakuza 1, or can I expect a really good remastering/remixing of the original OST with the occasional additions that are really great?