Support NeoGAF

[SCB3]

So at the moment I want to jump back in before the next installment is out in January but not sure where to go next, so far I've played

• Yakuza 0
• Judgement
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

And with the new one out this week it seems like a good bridge between the main entries, but also Lost Judgement has been on my PS5 for ages now, so that leaves me with a choice of

• Yakuza Kiwami
• Lost Judgement
• Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man who Erased his Name

Which would you go for next?

 

[Skifi28]

Lost Judgment has the best combat in the series for me so I'd go with that. It's also older so you can find it for much cheaper than a new release. The school stuff can be a bit boring, but most of it can be ignored if you don't like them.

 

[Orbital2060]

Yakuza 6, then LAD Gaiden.

 

[SCB3]

Lost Judgment has the best combat in the series for me so I'd go with that. It's also older so you can find it for much cheaper than a new release. The school stuff can be a bit boring, but most of it can be ignored if you don't like them.

Sorry I forgot to mention, I own them all already, well on Game Pass for the last one, so access is no issue

 

[Beer Baelly]

 

[mrmustard]

I absolutely loved Yakuza: Like a Dragon for the combat. Put easily 70 hours into the game. But on the other hand this is the only Yakuza game i liked, so better wait for people who played them all.

 

[Gurgeh]

suggested ( by the internet ) story order is Yakuza 0, followed by Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, Yakuza 5, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

 

[RavageX]

Lost Judgement's story i didnt like as much as the first. I still need to do the dlc. Most ppl seem to like the flippy fight styles but i do not. I did like the boxing though.

Laziness shows and has for a while. Weapons just fall out of the players hands at the end of a fight....looks cheap. I still liked the game overall of course.

Id probably go with Kiwami.

 

[mejin]

Go to Gaiden and then, the next Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth.

Yakuza Kiwami to 6 is a complete arc and you can play slowly or don't...

Lost Judgment is fun, but we don't even know if the series will continue. Play It after Infinite Wealth.

 

[Kurotri]

It really depends on what your goal is. Do you want to work your way through the series? Next stop would be Kiwami, then Kiwami 2, 3,4,5,6. Since you already played 7, Gaiden you could do afterwards and then you are ready for Infinite Wealth.
In my honest opinion, if you aren't familiar with Kiryu's journey there's not much of a reason to go with Gaiden anytime soon. In that case you can play something else while you wait for Infinite Wealth. In that regard, Lost Judgment is your best bet.

 

[protonion]

Having played them all, I would only skip 3 and Ishin.

 

[Nankatsu]

If you want to jump back in before Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth drops the logical answer is Like a Dragon, because the one coming out in January is a direct sequel of that.

But Yakuza 0, Judgement and Lost Judgement don't deserve to be missed at all.

Lost Judgement personally, for me, is peak RGG combat and story telling.

I just want them to announce Judgement 3 already.

 

[SCB3]

If you want to jump back in before Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth drops the logical answer is Like a Dragon, because the one coming out in January is a direct sequel of that.

But Yakuza 0, Judgement and Lost Judgement don't deserve to be missed at all.

Lost Judgement personally, for me, is peak RGG combat and story telling.

I just want them to announce Judgement 3 already.

Yea thats what I was thinking, I am familiar with Kiryu and Majami from 0 anyway so he's not completely lost on me, Judgement is my favorite followed by LAD, so different but both so so good

Wait, is it only really this long:

That seems short

 

[Chukhopops]

I would do Lost Judgment first, insanely good story, combat, acting, everything except the minigames really. Kiwami I didn’t enjoy at all coming from Y0 when I started playing the series.

I’m only at the beginning of LADG:TMWEHN so I can’t judge it.

 

[Nankatsu]

Wait, is it only really this long:

That seems short

Yeah, it's more like a DLC / Expansion rather than a full game.

Think of it like Yakuza's Ground Zeroes.

 

[Beechos]

Which yakuzas have turn based combat? I thought all yakuzas after like a dragon would have turn based combat. I was disappointed when ishin and man with no name still had the real time combat.

 

[FingerBang]

Which yakuzas have turn based combat? I thought all yakuzas after like a dragon would have turn based combat. I was disappointed when ishin and man with no name still had the real time combat.

Only Yakuza Like a Dragon. The new one coming out early next year should have a similar system.

 

[StereoVsn]

I would go for Kiwami 1 and 2, but keeping in mind that it’s still a remake or older games so don’t expect as clean gameplay as say Judgment.

Personally I find Kiryu‘s story more interesting so I would go that route. Then you can play Lost Judgment or the new Turned Based game, play 6 somewhere in there and perhaps Like a Gaiden.

For 3,4,5 it’s a harder recommendation. Personally I actually really like 3, but a lot of folks are not a fan. Then 4 and 5 are quite lengthy (and good) and have different characters. Plus all 3 are remasters so they are older titles and controls/QoL won’t be the same as in Remakes or newer games.

 

[SCB3]

I would go for Kiwami 1 and 2, but keeping in mind that it’s still a remake or older games so don’t expect as clean gameplay as say Judgment.

Personally I find Kiryu‘s story more interesting so I would go that route. Then you can play Lost Judgment or the new Turned Based game, play 6 somewhere in there and perhaps Like a Gaiden.

For 3,4,5 it’s a harder recommendation. Personally I actually really like 3, but a lot of folks are not a fan. Then 4 and 5 are quite lengthy (and good) and have different characters. Plus all 3 are remasters so they are older titles and controls/QoL won’t be the same as in Remakes or newer games.

I don't mind that, I play/replay a lot of older games

So I've decided to go with Gaiden: The Man who Erased his Name, just due to the fact its leading into the newest one, after that I think it'll be

Lost Judgement
Infinite Wealth
Kiwami

I will be playing them all eventually but I figured I'd do Ichiban's and Yagmi's stories first before diving fully into Kiryu's

 

[StereoVsn]

I don't mind that, I play/replay a lot of older games

So I've decided to go with Gaiden: The Man who Erased his Name, just due to the fact its leading into the newest one, after that I think it'll be

Lost Judgement
Infinite Wealth
Kiwami

I will be playing them all eventually but I figured I'd do Ichiban's and Yagmi's stories first before diving fully into Kiryu's

It’s certainly not a bad choice. Personally I find the older games more interesting but that could also be nostalgia talking .

 

[SCB3]

It’s certainly not a bad choice. Personally I find the older games more interesting but that could also be nostalgia talking .

Yea I did think about it, I like 0 a lot, but theres a lot more to go through with Kiryu so it'll be a treat, especially if I play them on Steam Deck as well, they'll run fine lol

 

[ArtHands]

You won't have time to play through all of them before Infinite Wealth come out, and Yakuza 0-6 is essentially a saga on its own.

I will say play Gaiden next since it take place alongside Yakuza LAD, and bridge Yakuza LAD with Infinite Wealth.

 

[SCB3]

You won't have time to play through all of them before Infinite Wealth come out, and Yakuza 0-6 is essentially a saga on its own.

I will say play Gaiden next since it take place alongside Yakuza LAD, and bridge Yakuza LAD with Infinite Wealth.

Oh go no I wasn't planning on doing so, more of a "which should I play now that makes the most sense to before its release"

 

[El Muerto]

I couldnt jump around like that, i would have to play the mainline games first. You'll probably only have time to complete Gaiden and Lost Judgment anyway before Infinite Wealth releases. If you game on pc then go to Fanatical.com, all the mainline Yakuza games are on sale for $6.39ea.

 

[graywolf323]

Kiwami or Lost Judgment

do NOT play Gaiden without having played through Kiryu’s story or it won’t be nearly as impactful IMO (at the absolute very least you should play 6 first)

 

[brian0057]

The one where Yong Yea isn't in it.

 

[Nankatsu]

The one where Yong Yea isn't in it.

 

[SCB3]

I heard itsagundam talk about this new VO and I then decided JP dub from now on, even if LAD had great English dubs

 

[DeVeAn]

I would say from what you have played go with Kiwami next. If you’re afraid of burnout and really want the new game read or watch the story up to 6.

 

[poodaddy]

Yeah, it's more like a DLC / Expansion rather than a full game.

Think of it like Yakuza's Ground Zeroes.

This is extremely high praise for me as Ground Zeroes if my favorite MGS by far, and I think it was much better than The Phanton Pain. I really need to dig into this, love short high quality games.

 

[SCB3]

This is extremely high praise for me as Ground Zeroes if my favorite MGS by far, and I think it was much better than The Phanton Pain. I really need to dig into this, love short high quality games.

Yep, a bit of a hot take, TPP wasn't all that good outside of the gameplay, the story was pretty bad aside from a few good bits, and clearly unfinished, I personally thought what they should have done is had 4 sections/areas like GZ and had them have missions like how GZ was set up, I think that's what they were going for at some point but only got Afghanistan and West Africa done

 

[Jigsaah]

Hey is the original Judgement on PC anywhere?

I wanna play both but I feel like going with Lost Judgement without playing the first one is not a good idea.

Nevermind found it on Steam.

To the OP, never got too into Yakuza myself, but the Like a Dragon turn based games were pretty fun.

 

[poodaddy]

Yep, a bit of a hot take, TPP wasn't all that good outside of the gameplay, the story was pretty bad aside from a few good bits, and clearly unfinished, I personally thought what they should have done is had 4 sections/areas like GZ and had them have missions like how GZ was set up, I think that's what they were going for at some point but only got Afghanistan and West Africa done

Completely agree, the game would have been much better with more direction and bespoke design.

 

[Majormaxxx]

How about Dead Souls on ps3

Or, yakuza 1 on ps2. Great dub

Ok, for a modern take, Fist of the North Star on ps4

 

[SCB3]

Hey is the original Judgement on PC anywhere?

I wanna play both but I feel like going with Lost Judgement without playing the first one is not a good idea.

Nevermind found it on Steam.

To the OP, never got too into Yakuza myself, but the Like a Dragon turn based games were pretty fun.

I fairly newish to them, Started on 0 and then tried Like a Dragon on Game Pass when it was released and loved it, I then went and grabbed Judgement on Sale on PS5 and was hooked, I played that pretty much non stop, it is that good, I cannot wait to finally play its sequel

LAD Gaiden: TMWEHN has been pretty damned good so far, even got used to the JP dub now, a good hour or so into Chapter 2 and damn I need to see who does the face for Akame, shes a babe lol

 

[Jigsaah]

I fairly newish to them, Started on 0 and then tried Like a Dragon on Game Pass when it was released and loved it, I then went and grabbed Judgement on Sale on PS5 and was hooked, I played that pretty much non stop, it is that good, I cannot wait to finally play its sequel

LAD Gaiden: TMWEHN has been pretty damned good so far, even got used to the JP dub now, a good hour or so into Chapter 2 and damn I need to see who does the face for Akame, shes a babe lol

Glad you liked Judgement. I'll take this as a recommendation. I'll most likely play through Judgement and Lost Judgement then hit up Like a Dragon Gaiden myself. Though I played through most of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I have not finished it yet. Just got distracted this year with so many good games. JP dub definitely the way to go.

 

[WitchHunter]

Lost Judgment is not bad, but there are dialogue, pacing and storytelling issues. Like when they repeat back the same thing you already saw with your own eyes... At least you can skip the unnecessary dialogues. Side quests are so-so, after 10s of hours you gonna just skip them. Combat is a bit like early 90s brawling games. You press this, that, everything and eventually succeed. You only need to use your brain in the very late fights.

 

[adamsapple]

If you've played 0, Kiwami 1 is the next logical step.

 

[Fwackoboingo]

So at the moment I want to jump back in before the next installment is out in January but not sure where to go next, so far I've played

• Yakuza 0
• Judgement
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

And with the new one out this week it seems like a good bridge between the main entries, but also Lost Judgement has been on my PS5 for ages now, so that leaves me with a choice of

• Yakuza Kiwami
• Lost Judgement
• Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man who Erased his Name

Which would you go for next?

In what order did you play them? I would chose the next installment of the series you played first. So if you played Yakuza 0 the earliest, then go for Kiwami 1. At least that is how i do them, so it always feels fresh, not just the next episode of what i've played last time. So basically i would avoid grinding through the same series in order.

My order currently: Judgement, Kiwami, Like a Dragon and the next will be most likely Lost Judgement, then Kiwami 2.

 

[SCB3]

In what order did you play them? I would chose the next installment of the series you played first. So if you played Yakuza 0 the earliest, then go for Kiwami 1. At least that is how i do them, so it always feels fresh, not just the next episode of what i've played last time. So basically i would avoid grinding through the same series in order.

My order currently: Judgement, Kiwami, Like a Dragon and the next will be most likely Lost Judgement, then Kiwami 2.

Swap Kiwami and Judgement around and that was mine

 

[SCB3]

So finished Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man who Erased his Name and my god what a great game and story, even without all the context with Kiryu that ending got me

Also for such a "short" game its packed full of content, I managed to 100% the Akame network without it feeling like busy work, which in a RPG is fucking rare

Lost Judgement is definitely next and I cannot wait for the next LAD now

 

[keefged4]

Gaiden is basically 6-2, so if you're not bothered by spoliers or missing context, then play that next. But I'd reccomend starting from Kiwami and going through them in order.

 

[keefged4]

Having played them all, I would only skip 3 and Ishin.

Nah I'd say at least fire through the main quests of each. 3 still has a charm to it even if its the worst playing of the whole series, Ishin is a perfect pallate cleanser imo