Just start with Yakuza 0. It's the first game chronologically and arguably the best in the series.

Start with 0 bro

i rushed it a bit because i needed to see what was going on in the story. the school stories aspect of it was really well done imo, so it's definitely worth taking your time and doing all of those. really wish i put more time into that

I know once I finish this and Like a Dragon I'm gonna be fiending for the next Yakuza game. Who knows how long that will be

hopefully this year. rgg has had yearly releases for a minute now. they revealed lost judgment in may 2021, so maybe we'll see somethin soon

Damn every year?

They really pumping these out, the quality has gotten better too

Wasn't there some drama with RGG and the Yakuza creator recently though

yup, every year for almost a decade now dunno how they do it, honestly.

if you're thinking of nagoshi, then kinda. he left the studio (along with someone else from there?) to create a new gaming studio under netease. curious to see what that means for the series going forward.

Would expect Yakuza 8 to be next up, wonder where they go for the beat em up version with Judgement probably being cooked due to the JPOP agency disagreements

Port or remaster of one of the PSP titles maybe Give some time to flesh out another beat em up series to replace Judgement. Did feel that they could do a spin off of Judgement with Kaito or the mask parkour dude.

I get it could look daunting from the outside looking in, but I'll break it down cuz it's not that bad.

There's 3 entry points that you start with.

Kiryu series: Yakuza 0 is where you would start, then 1-6.

Ichiban series: Yakuza 7 (Like A Dragon), is a turned based rpg which differs from all other titles in the Yakuza series. The Ichiban line at the least is expected to be turn based for the foreseeable future. There's some references or easter eggs to stuff from the Kiryu era, but it doesn't really matter and won't prevent any enjoyment of the title.

Judgement series: Has two games Judgement & Lost Judgement. Follows Yagami a detective. Also has some little references or lore to the Kiryu line of games, but nothing that's a spoiler or important.

Lost Judgement imo the best game RGG has made, Yakuza 0 and 7 are also very close, they're great games as well. If you want more modern control scheme and graphics then you could go ahead for 7 or Judgement. Yakuza 0 plays fine, but some of the Kiwami's will feel a bit dated, but nothing egregious.

it's a damn shame takuya kimura's agency is stuck in the past love the more grounded aspect of the judgment series and yagami is a fantastic MC. sucks we're prob gonna be losing that. i could also see sugiura getting his own game, if they still wanna stick with the detective/PI stuff, considering he's got his own agency now.

also definitely expecting 8 being the next game. would be really surprised to see something other than that being announced next.

Yeah y’all right, I need to play Yakuza 0 and 7 at least. Want to play Kiwami 2 and 6 as well

The writing in Lost Judgement is A1 so far. Even the slower moments.

saw they didn't have Kiwami 2 on game pass no more, just copped a steam key for 10

like a dragon 2 announcement incoming

Been playing kiwami 1 after beating 0, 11 chaps in so far and its aight story hasn’t captivated me as much as 0’s but its not bad just not as many strong side chars. I’ll see how it unfolds

Also whoever made the decision to give bosses a bullshit hp regen mechanic i wish a very nice death

This minigame is way more fun that I'd like to admit

Kiwami 1 is definitely a step down but Kiwami 2

I’ve only played 0 & Kiwami, so I don’t know if the rest of the games are like this, but so much of the game design in Kiwami is constantly running around to the other side of the map for a 1 minute cutscene just to go back all the way you just came from. 0 never felt like this at all

Not a bad game in the slightest, but I don’t think I’ll ever replay it