Kralamoonard
Member
N.B - Please bear in mind this is a participatory thread; I have laid everything out so that people can discuss each game and give beginners some options on where to start and what to do. The OP below explains in more detail. I hope you enjoy and find this thread helpful.
Hey all,
So this thread is a guide for any newcomers to the Yakuza franchise (including me) who have never played a Yakuza game before and feel so overwhelmed. It's going to be a participation thread with Yakuza fans helping each other and new people with tips and tricks on where to start (a bit different to the community thread) and I was actually inspired by this thread to do so. By doing this however, I can allow all opinions/helpful tips to be concentrated here.
It's a bit odd for me to do this considering I have never played a Yakuza game before, but actually, the thread started off with me asking on where to start, after researching all the Yakuza games and spin-offs but feeling overwhelmed. As a result, I thought I could turn it into something more inclusive, productive and helpful as a starting point with all Yakuza games shown so that people know what they can or cannot play, thereby not just helping me but other gaffers too. I hope you can see where I am coming from
Why am I suddenly becoming interested you ask? Well in the light of the very recent Yakuza 6 gameplay footage and Yakuza 0 localisation announcement, both targeting a 2016 release, my interest peaked quite a bit for the Yakuza franchise. I downloaded Yakuza 4 from PS+ earlier this year, but haven't gotten round to it, simply because I have too many games to play at the moment, and I don't know whether I should play the previous ones too. I own a PS3 and a PS4 so the PS2 versions are a no go for me.
So I did a lot of research Yakuza series including the main series entries, the spin-offs, and portable games, and whilst it was overwhelming at first, I finally got my head around the franchise, even the ones released only in Japan. So here are all of them and hopefully this well aid you guys in telling me where to start and which games to purchase or avoid if necessary.
On a side note, I also noticed that the games have 1 year development cycles (with the exception of Yakuza 5) and are released annually if they are on the same consoles. However, if the next game is being made on the next succeeding next-gen console, they are on 3 years development cylcles and so the games are released 3 years apart e.g. Yakuza 1 and 2 released 2005 and 2006 on PS2, but Yakuza 3 on the PS3, was released in 2009, which means it was on a 3 year cycle. The same rings true for Yakuza 5 on PS3 to Yakuza 0 PS4 with a 3 year cycle for the next generation console.
Localization gaps were typically 1 year, with the exception of Yakuza 2 which took 2 years, and Yakuza 5 which took 3 years (mainly due to SEGA's reluctance to localize it in the west after being unhappy with the performance of Yakuza 5). However, because of the success of the PS4 in the West, we can hopefully infer that SEGA will be willing to release both Yakuza 6 and hopefully Yakuza Kiwami in 2017 at the very latest.
Additional Information
Hey all,
So this thread is a guide for any newcomers to the Yakuza franchise (including me) who have never played a Yakuza game before and feel so overwhelmed. It's going to be a participation thread with Yakuza fans helping each other and new people with tips and tricks on where to start (a bit different to the community thread) and I was actually inspired by this thread to do so. By doing this however, I can allow all opinions/helpful tips to be concentrated here.
It's a bit odd for me to do this considering I have never played a Yakuza game before, but actually, the thread started off with me asking on where to start, after researching all the Yakuza games and spin-offs but feeling overwhelmed. As a result, I thought I could turn it into something more inclusive, productive and helpful as a starting point with all Yakuza games shown so that people know what they can or cannot play, thereby not just helping me but other gaffers too. I hope you can see where I am coming from
I also spent my whole Saturday doing this thread and putting all the pictures/fonts/titles/editing stuff etc, so I hope this thread doesn't go to waste either 
!
!Why am I suddenly becoming interested you ask? Well in the light of the very recent Yakuza 6 gameplay footage and Yakuza 0 localisation announcement, both targeting a 2016 release, my interest peaked quite a bit for the Yakuza franchise. I downloaded Yakuza 4 from PS+ earlier this year, but haven't gotten round to it, simply because I have too many games to play at the moment, and I don't know whether I should play the previous ones too. I own a PS3 and a PS4 so the PS2 versions are a no go for me.
So I did a lot of research Yakuza series including the main series entries, the spin-offs, and portable games, and whilst it was overwhelming at first, I finally got my head around the franchise, even the ones released only in Japan. So here are all of them and hopefully this well aid you guys in telling me where to start and which games to purchase or avoid if necessary.
On a side note, I also noticed that the games have 1 year development cycles (with the exception of Yakuza 5) and are released annually if they are on the same consoles. However, if the next game is being made on the next succeeding next-gen console, they are on 3 years development cylcles and so the games are released 3 years apart e.g. Yakuza 1 and 2 released 2005 and 2006 on PS2, but Yakuza 3 on the PS3, was released in 2009, which means it was on a 3 year cycle. The same rings true for Yakuza 5 on PS3 to Yakuza 0 PS4 with a 3 year cycle for the next generation console.
Localization gaps were typically 1 year, with the exception of Yakuza 2 which took 2 years, and Yakuza 5 which took 3 years (mainly due to SEGA's reluctance to localize it in the west after being unhappy with the performance of Yakuza 5). However, because of the success of the PS4 in the West, we can hopefully infer that SEGA will be willing to release both Yakuza 6 and hopefully Yakuza Kiwami in 2017 at the very latest.
- Yakuza 1
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Original Japanese Release Date December 2005
Western Release Date September 2006
- Yakuza 2
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Original Japanese Release Date December 2006
Western Release Date September 2008
- Yakuza 3
Platform(s) PlayStation 3
Original Japanese Release Date February 2009
Western Release Date March 2010
- Yakuza 4
Platform(s) PlayStation 3
Original Japanese Release Date March 2010
Western Release Date March 2011
- Yakuza 5
Platform(s) PlayStation 3
Original Japanese Release Date December 2012
Western Release Date December 2015
- Yakuza 0
Platform(s) PlayStation 3 & PlayStation 4
Original Japanese Release Date March 2015
Western Release Date January 2017 (PS4)
- Yakuza 6
Platform(s) PlayStation 4
Original Japanese Release Date Fall 2016
Western Release Date 2018
- Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!
Platform(s) PlayStation 3
Original Japanese Release Date March 2008
No Western Release
- Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō
Platform(s) PlayStation Portable
Original Japanese Release Date September 2010
No Western Release
- Yakuza: Dead Souls
Platform(s) PlayStation 3
Original Japanese Release Date June 2011
Western Release Date March 2012
- Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura-hen
Platform(s) PlayStation Portable
Original Japanese Release Date March 2012
No Western Release
- Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!
Platform(s) PlayStation 3 & PlayStation 4
Original Japanese Release Date February 2014
No Western Release
- Ryu Ga Gotoku 1&2 HD Edition
Platform(s) PlayStation 3 & Wii U
Original Japanese Release Date March 2012 (PS3), August 2013 (Wii U)
No Western Release
- Yakuza: Kiwami
Platform(s) PlayStation 3 & PlayStation 4
Original Japanese Release Date January 2016
Western Release Date 2017
Additional Information
- Ryu ga Gotoku: Kiwami is a full remake of the first Yakuza game, Yakuza 1, which was originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2005.. The remake utilizes Yakuza 5's engine and will also being the final Yakuza game to do so. Let's hope this remake releases west!
- Ryu Ga Gotoku 1&2 HD Edition's are HD remasters of Yakuza 1 and Yakuza 2, released exclusively in Japan on the PS3 (2012) and Wii U (2013).
- Yakuza 0 was released for the PS3 AND PS4 in Japan in 2015, however, only the PS4 will see a Western release. This should come as no surprise considering the difference in performance between last gen consoles between the west and Japan. Of course with the west, most people have upgraded and the PS3 is pretty much dead but in Japan, the PS3 is still going strong and is seeing considerable software sales to see a cross generation release in 2015. However, bear in mind, this is set to change in 2016 where most Japanese developers are moving to PS4 only with their sequels and new IP's, such as the release of Yakuza 6 and Ni-Oh being PS4 only.
- If you look carefully at the release dates of each main series entry, you'll see that there is a Yakuza release every year with two exceptions. The release of Yakuza 4 ----> Yakuza 5 because that was done on a new engine, and the release of a new Yakuza on a new console e.g. Yakuza 2 (PS2, 2006) ----> Yakuza 3 (PS3, 2009) took 3 years. The same thing is true with Yakuza 5 (PS3, 2012) ---> Yakuza 0 (PS4, 2015) which took 3 years when put on a new 'next-gen' console.
- Localization gaps are also typically 1 year, with the exception of Yakuza 2 which took 2 years, and Yakuza 5 which took 3 years (mainly due to SEGA's reluctance to localize it in the west after being unhappy with the performance of Yakuza 5). However, because of the success of the PS4 in the West, we can hopefully infer that SEGA will be willing to release both Yakuza 6 and hopefully Yakuza Kiwami in 2017 at the very latest therefore going back to the traditional one year localisation.
