Every Yakuza Game Ranked

We start off this list with perhaps the most bizarre one of them all. This non-canon entry in the series sees Kiryu and the rest of the gang suddenly dealing with a zombie outbreak in Kamurocho. This results in the entire battle system changing, instead of hand to hand combat you’ll be running and gunning with whatever firearms you can get ahold of. Critics hated this game at the time of release, but if you can get past the incredibly janky gameplay you’ll be in for a very unique take on the Yakuza franchise, with quite a refreshing story to back it up. Plus there’s nothing like seeing Kiryu take on Resident Evil-like bosses!

After the gritty crime stories featured in Yakuza 1 and 2, the third entry in the series took the narrative in a very different angle. A huge chunk of the game's story is dedicated to Kiryu leaving Kamurocho and running an orphanage in Okinawa, and all the drama that comes with that. Quite frankly it’s not very interesting at all, and when the game finally starts getting into the serious stuff, the story is over before you know it. Gameplay wise the game is pretty much the same as the first two entries, but despite all of its shortcomings, Yakuza 3 is still a good game.

Following on from Kiryu allegedly stepping down as the series main protagonist at the end of Yakuza 6, this spin-off had players take on the role of private investigator Takayuki Yagami. This former defense attorney turned detective is tasked with finding out the true identity of “the Mole”, a serial killer who has been murdering Yakuza members throughout Kamurocho and removing their eyes. On paper, this game sounds very different from the rest of the franchise, but it borrows many elements such as the combat, setting as well as having ties to the Tojo Clan. New to the series is the investigation mode, where you must explore an area for clues, and a tailing sequence where you must follow your suspect without getting caught.

This very unique entry in the franchise sees you trading the modern day streets of Kamurocho for 1860s Japan. There’s a whole new cast of characters here, but they’re all played by very familiar faces of the Yakuza franchise, with the protagonist Sakamoto Ryōma essentially being played by Kazuma Kiryu. The gameplay also takes a very different direction, with both Swordsman and Gunman styles added to the more traditional hand to hand combat. For those of you who love the Yakuza franchise but want something a little different, you absolutely cannot go wrong with this latest release.

A direct sequel to Judgement, it continues the story of private detective Takayuki Yagami. While not exactly a huge leap from the previous game in terms of new features, the game improves upon the first in many ways and boasts impressive side content such as the “School Stories” system, a separate plotline where Kaito finds himself sorting out a lot of troubles at Seiryo High School. The game is also the first in the franchise to have a proper story DLC expansion, the Kaito Files, where you play as the muscle of Yagami Detective Agency, Masaharu Kaito.

After the disappointment for many fans that was Yakuza 3, the fourth entry in the series sees Kiryu’s return to Kamurocho in dramatic fashion. Yakuza 4 is notable for that fact that it is the first game in the franchise to feature more than one playable protagonist, as you’ll take on the roles of police officer Masayoshi Tanimura, death row convict Taiga Saejima and the much beloved loan shark Shun Akiyama. The game expands greatly on Kamurocho, adding a new rooftop area as well as an underground. It also features a very intriguing plot that weaves together all of the protagonists’ stories all before giving us one of the most badass finales we’ve ever seen in the franchise.

As the first game in the franchise, Yakuza laid the groundwork for what was to come with excellent storytelling and atmosphere, along with a very fun combat system. The remake “Yakuza Kiwami” builds upon the original with many more modern updates and quality of life features. The story of Kiryu’s return to Kamurocho after being imprisoned for ten years and dealing with what's happened to his former Yakuza group the Tojo Clan is one of the most memorable parts of the franchise. And his dynamic with former friend turned enemy Nishiki leads to an incredible final battle.

Billed as the conclusion to Kiryu’s story in the Yakuza franchise, “The Song of Life” takes away the focus on the other protagonists that was seen in the last few games and instead solely focuses on the Dragon of Dojima as the only playable character. After once again returning from jail, Kiryu finds out that not only is his adoptive daughter Haruka in a coma after a hit and run incident, but she also has a son named Haruto. The search for this child's father lands him in all sorts of tricky situations with the Onomichi Yakuza, which results in major consequences to the franchise as a whole. The game is also notable for featuring the legendary Beat Takeshi, who plays the patriarch of the Hirose Family, Toru Hirose.

Building from the foundations of the previous game, Yakuza 5 brings back the multiple protagonist aspect and has by far the most content of any game in the series. Taking place in five different cities, the game has tons of minigames and very ambitious substories. Saejima’s mountain village sidestory alone could feasibly be a small standalone game. The combat is arguably the most polished in the franchise, sitting somewhere between the dragon engine and the original PS2 games. Each character has a bunch of moves and unlike in 0 you don’t need to be constantly swapping styles to access them. The only slog for some may be Haruka’s sections, as the whole Idol storyline isn’t very interesting.

The seventh numbered game in Japan not only featured a brand new protagonist, but also huge changes to the way we played Yakuza. The folks at RGG Studios completely abandoned the franchise's real time beat-em-up combat in favor of a more traditional turn based JRPG battle system, and the results were shockingly great. As for our new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga is an excellent successor and doesn’t come off as a Kiryu clone in any way. Being a JRPG he’s obviously going to need party members, and each one of them fits their roles perfectly, you get a real sense of friendship between them all. The game also features some of the most bizarre enemies in the franchise, think of your typical JRPG enemies but with a touch of realism.

The original “Yakuza 2” was already one of the best games in the franchise, improving on the original in almost every way, but “Kiwami 2” elevates it even higher. The game’s plot has you stuck in the middle of the Tojo Clans war against their Osaka-based rivals the Omi Alliance, with the main antagonist "The Dragon of Kansai" Ryuji Goda serving as the perfect foil to Kiryu. The game utilizes the Dragon Engine first seen in Yakuza 6, but makes huge improvements to the combat to make it feel more streamlined, as well as featuring some of the best graphics the series has to offer.

For those of you looking to get into the Yakuza franchise, 0 is quite possibly the perfect starting point. The game serves as a prequel to the first one, taking place all the way back in 1988. Here you’ll be playing as much younger versions of Kiryu and Majima, who are very different characters from what we’re used to, the later especially so as he’s a lot more subdued. In addition to the two playing very differently, Yakuza 0 introduced the brand new fighting style system, where you can switch between them mid battle to gain an advantage over certain opponents. The game also boasts a compelling narrative that sees Kiryu framed for murder and leaving the Dojima Family.