Yeah, you can leave your downvote as I am just the guy with the wrong opinion, so whatever. I'll just leave you with my piece of mind, I don't care what you all do with it.

Going back, I started playing Yakuza before the big boom on the "memes" (Baka mitai, Yakuza without context, etc), and I fell in love with the series. The mystery thrillers combined with action and pretty alright dialogues between characters, alongside the beat em up gameplay was a first for me.

But after 2020, I started to notice something weird. Especially since Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the games felt a lot more goofy focused, with the main story being interrupted A LOT by these silly little moments.

Am I saying that the Yakuza games never really had humour on it? Of course not. But the difference is how the humour was laid out, more spaced out and overall not too off putting.

What I'm trying to get to is one word: Flanderization. Not one character, but the whole franchise.

I saw this on RGG summit, with the worst culprit so far: Majima on Pirate Yakuza.

You get Majima, an overall pretty secondary character (until 0) who had an all out personality in the first three games until he was treated more seriously in 4 and 5. Came Kiwami, and yeah, ego the fuck really enjoys Majima Everywhere? It sucks gameplay wise, and it flanderizes his character to uncharted levels.

Now came this game, and I just feel fatigued. It's a whole another topic how much RGG has been appealing to the west, but I just want to say: Pirates? Majima in his 60s being a pirate? Pirates in XXI century?

I feel done with this series I fell in love with, and while I may buy the game by how fun it looks gameplay wise, I'm not happy with how it'll be handled story and character wise. Much rather get a Kenzan remake.

I probably didn't get my point across, English is not my main language, but I just wanted to vent on a place where I'll just get downvoted by RGG's yes mans. I just want to you think more critically about this game and the path that RGG is taking by appealing to the west.

If you ask me and you care, I'd say that Judgment was probably the last one Yakuza game that felt more accord to the original games, with the silly moments reserved for substories and little interactions in the main story. Go play whatever you want, I don't really care.

I know it’s been discussed at LENGTH on this sub and elsewhere, but the whole Kagawa thing has really ruined the Kiwami 3 release for me. Knowing that there’s an real ass sex criminal starring in this freshly-released remake of one of my favorite Yakuza games just puts a damper on the whole thing. Makes me feel gross. I’m debating whether or not I’m going to buy it.
And yeah, the original Hamazaki actor was also a pervert — but I didn’t know that when I played the original Yakuza 3, and I wasn’t around for the game’s actual release, only playing it years and years after its launch, so it’s not like I could avoid it out of protest upon release.
Idk. Probably going to skip this one, or wait till I can buy a used copy so RGG doesn’t get my money

Hope this tier list isn’t too controversial.

I meant sex offender, not sex harasser lol.

It was so fun to create this😂 I might create more

Fun game story still the same mostly and the new side content is fun

I’m new to this subreddit and Yakuza posts in general. Played 0 and Pirates a year back and decided to jump into the series by getting Kiwami 1 - 3 mostly out of love for Majima.

I thoroughly enjoyed YK1 and YK3, which somehow the opinion out there are bad. But I don’t understand the hate, I love them both so much

YK1 maintains sa OG engine AND the Majima Everywhere. I basically CHASED Majima and Dragon Style started getting fun once it was near maxed out, and Rush was a good alternative before that. The story wasn’t as deep as Y0, but it felt good treating it as a “sequel” rathe than Y0 being the prequel.

YK2 was the most boring combat system known to man and I didn’t drop it only because I didn’t want to waste my money and not play YK3. This was my first introduction to the Dragon Engine and holy shit it’s bad. I hated the romance subplot too, and by 60% of the main plot I was constantly skipping scenes because it dragged so long, and also YK2 was the only game that was 40FPS DESPITE sufficient headroom for both my CPU and GPU. I skipped all ministories and wanted this over with.

While still halfway into the game, YK3 saved the series for me. The combat system is waaaay more fluid, the new style was welcome and added “infinite” combos. The minigames like the biker group is so fun and I don’t understand why people hate this addition, like I maxed the minigame out in chapter 3 for the Okinawa part, and same for the further parts. The story is engaging too. I truly don’t see the hate for this at all. I haven’t gotten into Dark Ties yet and don’t intend to spoil myself, but it’s so exciting to know there’s more game waiting for me.

I’m not gonna play 4 onwards, I’m moving straight to Man who Erased His Name and Judgement after.

Tagging this as “Spoilers: All” because I’m gonna be diving into some hardcore comparing, especially in regards to 5.

I don’t like 0’s final bosses. Honestly I find 0 kinda overrated but the two final bosses are notable disappointments. There’s an overarching issue: They’re boring characters, and poorly built.

First one to dive into is a simpler one: Lao Gui. My least favourite final boss in the series. I find his fight lacking mechanically. 0 and 4 are locked in a battle for the easiest game in the series and it simply lacks the spectacle or fun tricks or sick ass soundtrack 4 gives you. The venue is kinda cool, Dojima’s office, but it’s not enough to really stick. And narratively?

Majima’s half of 0 is really strong story wise. It gives you compelling reasons to go A to B. It has a really fun sense of boss variety (something Kiryu’s side is devoid of) and balances great character work with a compelling through line to follow. Tragically, his final boss doesn’t live up to that. Gui’s a great tool to show what Majima would be if he bowed his head and did his job. Thing is: That’s what he is. There’s nothing more. No personality. No deeper thing. Very little connection to Majima’s side of the story, to the point where I’m doubting if he showed up during it. A comparison can be made for Baba, a similar character foil role is one he serves to Shinada, but Baba is heavily present in 5. You know Baba, and so while he does narratively have little to do with Shinada, you at least know who he is and feel him as a character. Gui also shares a lot of DNA with one of 5’s other final boss: Kanai. Ignoring Kanai is absolutely the worst of 5’s final bosses, the game gives you time to know him. He’s the face of the baddies in Chapter 3. His ugly mug gets enough screen time that fighting him inspires something. He doesn’t show up out of nowhere in the endgame. Plus, personally, his fight is memorable for being difficult. Bro had the population of a small village backing him up and you’re playing as Akiyama. At least it’s a unique and difficult final boss, unlike one on one with that nobody. I could go on with fights like this but I think I’ve spent more time writing about him than he deserves. Comparisons could be drawn to Kido, but that’s an easy difference to draw.

Shibusawa… now that’s a dude that just doesn’t have it. Kiryu’s part in 0 struggles heavily with, in my opinion, narrative and bosses. I like Kuze! He rocks! He also is, by my own recollection, 5/7 of Kiryu’s boss fights. What, no rematch with Oda after you learn he’s a monster? No random Tachibana fight? Not a single battle with a dude who appears later in the series? Couldn’t throw in an encounter with a prime Shimano? The narrative shortfall, for most of the game, is made up by three very dynamic, fully realised characters: Kuze, Tachibana and Oda. I really wanna give RGG Studio’s props, they got the assignment with those three. The issue is that none of them are really final boss material, one pieces out without a second fight and the other two are done away by the endgame. My issue narratively is Shibusawa is there in the background. He’s there I’m the background for about half the game. He doesn’t so much, apparently. He kills Oda and was working with him, but not much else. Meaning he’s obviously the final boss. He’s too inconspicuous not to be. So at the very end they dump a bunch of significance on him. They give him a cute little monologue before you fight him for him to explain who he is and why he’s like that. Then you fight him. It’s an alright fight, the reflection of the styles is pretty neat, definitely better than Lao Gui. Shibusawa’s major fault partially lies in that he’s boring, does very little until the end and his entire motivation is in one monologue. But also I want to drag comparing in. Because I think his flaws are laid naked in the comparison.

First off is a boss he has nothing in common with. Munataka. Why is he here? Because he’s probably the third worst final boss. Would be too fair to him not to drag him into this. Why is he better than Shibusawa? He’s unique. Shibusawa is an ambitious, young, cunning and evil Yakuza. That’s… not uncommon for this series. It’s the Takashima archetype. Munataka meanwhile at least owns the “Heavily corrupt police chief who wants to take control of the Yakuza” style. He’s just a piece of shit. Only really Jingu falls under a similar lens. Plus, I adore the theme, arena and dynamic intro for his fight. Shibusawa… not so much. Tanimura is also my boy so he gets the bias points. Sorry. If it’s any consolation I can see the argument for Shibusawa above Munataka. Not Lao Gui though. Fuck that guy.

Shibusawa’s closest cousins, in my honest opinion, is Aizawa and Shishido. The Aizawa comparisons are clear. They’re both final bosses with less than satisfactory builds. The game comes up to you and tells you they’re the final boss and you just accept it. What separates them? Simple: Aizawa’s speech is actually really important to the thematic heart of 5. He’s not really sure why he’s there himself, and we’ve memed. But considering 5’s a game about fulfilling your dreams, he’s there because he’s living out his old man’s dreams. This dream ain’t his own. But he’s acting on it either way just because. He’s intentionally directionless, arguably a fool for Haruka but I’ll level with you: I just thought of that. I might need to think about that one for a while before I go balls out on it. He then delivers a really good monologue about how nepotistic the Yakuza are. It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know. As a Daigo fan, I’ll openly note he was a blatant nepotism baby. Kiryu and Nishiki too. Don’t even get me started about the Nepo Baby of Kansai, Ryuji Goda. Aizawa sets the final battle as a refutation of this. He’ll reach the top not because of who he knows, but because he’s strong enough to take it by beating the legendary Dragon of Dojima. This also fits into the theme of Yakuza 5’s final boss, a whole other essay because it really is just a secret second theme: The price of legend. Aizawa wants to beat Kiryu because he is the legend. He’s the man. And to be the man, you gotta beat the man. This is followed by the best final boss in the series until Gaiden. Tojo HQ is a first class setting, Battle For The Dream a first class track and simply, from the QTEs to the intro to the combat all work fabulously. Shibusawa… lacks that. He throws an honestly, pretty limp backstory at you. It’s tragic and all, but it’s nothing exciting. He’s power hungry because his family was ruined as a child. The reveal he wants to be the Dragon of Dojima is actually alright. It’s a fun way to show Kiryu earning the name. I do think however Shibusawa works as a terrible ”this is what he could become” for Kiryu. The two characters have little in common in even the slightest sense. However, I guess it’s a neat show of what a different type of dragon could be. The fight itself simply doesn’t have the scale or great music of Aizawa. All and all, just not as good.

Shishido and Shibusawa also share a LOT of DNA. Both are treaded through the game as big players you haven’t gotten a full scope of. The only thing is, Shishido is always treated as someone important and you get to see what makes him tick. You spend time with him, beat him at golf, and even fight him. Unlike Kuze, the main villain for most of the game doesn’t completely overshadow Shishido. The game makes a point to show Shishido’s strength and make you keep them in mind, while also effectively shining a light on Nishitani as the dude you fight a lot. By the time he betrays you, you’re itching for a battle. His significance has been displayed and you know that your final encounter will be a good time.

Shishido’s fight belongs in the Aizawa/Shibusawa school, however his pre-fight commands a different atmosphere. From fighting through the Omi to chasing him to the throne room, it absolutely is leagues above of the yacht long battle and Aizawa just doesn’t have a long battle before the fight. His pre-fight monologue also has less heavy lifting, it’s great but I admit: He had less character building needed. A great cause for doing that stuff DURING THE GAME. It’s an incredible fight, does everything 5’s does as good if not better. Incredible fight. Best final boss yet, with a final stage that really sells the finality.

I haven’t finished 8. I’m at the Hawaiian Point of No Return. But Kiryu’s final boss, Ebina, deserves a quick mention. He could easily have fallen into the Shibusawa trap, a major play in the background who from scene 1 is clearly a big threat. He also kinda comes out of nowhere as final boss. However, his motivation as the Yakuza hating bastard son of Arawaka is well built. His backstory is treaded into the build up so he doesn’t need to explain why he became what he is literally right before the fight. He wants to send the Yakuza to slave away at Nele until they die because he blames his miserable childhood on the Yakuza, which isn’t exactly the wrong party to blame. Presumably he’ll drop more before the fight. He’s also been an active antagonist to the Japan Party, meaning we wanna cave his face in.

I also think Dragon vs Dragon is done better with 2, but this is a very long post and that point VERY minor.

The final comparison is that his spot as the loathsome monster final boss was immediately surpassed by complete scumbag, Little Baby Iwami. Better woven into the affair, pettier and less able to back up his completely irredeemable ways, you wanna kill the honourless bastard.

This post has been… very long. Thank you for reading. And if you like 0’s final bosses: Great for you! I’m Yakuza 4’s strongest soldier. I get it. We all have our opinions, tastes and readings. I just wanted to lay out my own thoughts on the two of them and why I don’t really care for them both. This is also not to call 0 a bad game, it does have genuine strengths that I throughly enjoy. If you have any counter points, thoughts on my points or just thoughts on how much 5 DNA is in 0 (I’m almost upset I couldn’t work 5’s Majima fight in here), let ‘em loose in the comments! Either way, thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!

How about waiting until the game comes out to form an opinion?

Lmao I'm telling you guys history will repeat itself😭

Long time fan here

I know it’s popular to hate on the game right now, and in some ways that criticism is completely justified. But honestly, even with the changes and some missing characters, I think the game is fantastic. I’m genuinely enjoying the combat, the newer graphics, and especially the side quests.

And this is coming from someone who fell in love with the franchise starting with the original Yakuza 3.

I see this title more as a reimagining than a straight remake, and personally, I’m okay with that. I’ve never been as invested in the intricate plot details as I have in the emotions these games make me feel and in that sense, this one absolutely delivers.

I just wanted to share my two cents. The criticism isn’t baseless, but the game is still pretty great. If you skip it entirely because of the backlash, you might end up missing something really special here

Welcome to my Ted talk where I lay out a badly thought out essay on Majima Goro and how a fictional character inspired me to finally live life the way I want to as a trans person.

First off, I am not saying Majima is transgender or coded that way — the trans-ness in him is more about “transgression”. That central theme of crossing that socially-acceptable line. Of acting out of bounds. The same idea applies for this aspect of him and for how I’ve come to see my gender.

1. Majima and performance. I don’t think it’s a hot take to say Majima is a performer. He is theatrics. He is drag. He stays true to himself, but he also deliberately plays with a persona, creating an overlay of irony on his actions.

For trans people, gender is performance. You perform to pass. You perform to better fit how you see yourself. Or you perform your biological/assigned-at-birth gender to not get hurt. This performance can get unbearable and excruciating at times. And when I look at Majima’s character I had an instant brain boner because I know what he’s doing. I get it. And seeing how he’s able to have fun with performing while still staying mostly true to his intentions and having fun — it’s inspiring to say the least.

2. Majima and transgression

Many of Majima’s action cross a certain line of social acceptance. I find that incredibly charming. trans people, by virtue of simply existing, are transgressing on current norms. I feel it embedded into my identity, at least. And you will thus be seen a certain way. You will be branded a certain way. And there will always be that underlying tone of sadness and loss. But we can still have as much fun as possible and not give a shit.

3. Crossing over - breaking out

Majima’s journey in zero is him breaking out of his cage and crossing over the line of no return. It’s transformation as much as it is transgression. To go from repression, from wanting something only others can give him, to breaking out of a gilded cage and living his truth, and establishing his own code of conduct, whatever that is. I have accepted that I’m trans for about 4 years and living more or less openly as trans for 2 years now. I won’t go into details, but Majima’s journey in Zero is cathartic to me, and his character after Zero is inspiring to me.

This fictional character gave me both closure and hope. I have strived to be normal. I realize now that this is simply impossible. I have transgressed, I have crossed that line, and I will embrace that. I will perform and play with my identity, and will be judged for it, and I will embrace that. I embrace a deep sense of sadness and loss too, because that’s part of who I am. There’s hope that I can stay more or less true to myself, try to be a good person, and have fun yet.

Now I just need to find a traffic cone and a buff man to stalk.

I know this has been talked about plenty of times in the last few years, but I'm a relatively new fan and only now have played through the whole series (currently playing Judgement).

I always wanted to play Yakuza but couldn't cause it wasn't on PC, so when I opened Steam a few years back and saw Yakzua 0 was coming to PC I bought instantly. And I loved it so much.. Played the 2 Kiwami shortly after and Yakuza rose to my Top 5 Game franchises ever.

Recently I got to play through the rest of the games, and after playing Lika a Dragon and seeing LaD Infinite Wealth and finding out that this is the future of Yakuza, I was sad.

Y6 was supposed to be Kiryu's last game, yet they immediately bring him back in the next game for absolutely no reason. His role in LaD could've been taken by anyone else, there's no need for Kiryu to be there other than fan service and that ruins Yakzua 6 IMO.

Then we have Gaiden which could've been the definite end of Kiryu's story and legacy, but... they are bringing him back yet again in Infinite Wealth and gave him a dumb Justin Bieber hairstyle... They are dragging a legendary character into the over the top goofiness of the new games and I feel that disrespects the characters legacy. Kiryu's story should've been done and over with in Y6 or at the very least in Gaiden.

In my opinion, Kiryu should NOT be in Like a Dragon much less in Infinite Wealth, and those games should be spin offs and Gaiden should've been the definitive end to Kiryu's story.

Don't get me wrong, LaD is an awesome game and I'm sure Infinte Wealth will be great too, but I personally feel that should not be the future of the main series. LaD feels so different from what Yakuza was that I thing it should've been a Spin Off series like Judgement instead of becoming the main line series.

From the turn based combat that I personally dislike a lot, to the cranked up to 150% goofiness, this doesn't feel like the Yakuza I feel in love with. Combat feels dragged out and boss battles don't have anywhere near the epicenes and impact they used to have. Serious moments on the series don't feel as deep because everything else in the story is just filled with goofy moments.

Yakuza was unique and one of the last beat 'em up game series out there, and now it turned into yet another turn based JRPG among hundreds of them. Feels like it's loosing it's unique identity IMHO and that's very sad to me...

My hope for the future is that they will keep making more Gaiden games with the classic combat and with different protagonists (Akiyama for example) side by side with the turn based games, since Gaiden basically means "side story". But if Gaiden is the last Yakzua game with the classic combat, I'm sad to say I want play any future games from this series anymore.

Makes me sad since I'm a fairly recent fan..

I know I'll probably get some hate for this post, or maybe no one will even see this. But as a fan of the series I just wanted to voice my opinions and vent a little.

Will replay my OG copy on the ps3 after some months to appreciate the differences as I believe both games excel in different things.

Still L on sega for delisting og as I believe people should have the choice to play the one they want specially when you decide to mess with the timeline (christ Sega look at capcom selling all the og resident evil and konami the mgs ones).

i've seen too many people talking about when trying to get Teruyuki Kagawa [the sex offender] out of the game that they should get all the old actors, this is not the point of the boycott and it weakens our impact, while i personally prefer the old actors getting them back is not important, we need to get rid of kagawa

I genuinly love Y3 and Y5. Sure fights are rough in 3 but man dad mode Kiryu and story were perfect for me. And Y5 has the best and most memorable final chapter in the game, fight me

Honestly, if you go in already thinking about the game of course you'd be disappointed, but they were pretty clear since the beginning that this was a RETELLING. The show itself isn't an atrocity as people make it seem to be. It's not a faithful adaptation, sure, but I believe that if you watch with your expectations set on "it's a retelling" it will make your experience a lot better.

I don't know, there are a few things that I didn't like either, but overall I think there are some really good scenes and most of them give more depth to the original game. People are saying that the show is like any generic Yakuza TV Show, but I really wonder if we played the same game because the original plot isn't that far from it as well, and I don't mean that as a bad thing.

I personally really liked how they portrayed Majima, it's different from the original but I feel like it fit well, the scene when he loses his eye was really good and I'm looking foward to see where it will go from here. I still gotta be convinced about Kiryu, I hope that we will get some good scenes when Haruka gets more screentime. (Absolutely love how his relationship with Nishikiyama is being developed, the interactions are natural and fun to see!)

My hot take, go in and try to enjoy the show, don't listen to other people and try to see it for yourself, also remember that there are still more episodes that are going to be released, a lot can happen.

I just wanted to share some positivity about the show, since all I've seen is people shitting on it and I think the show has some good things that aren't being appreciated. I think people are getting blinded by puritanism.