It's official! From today you can now play every mainline Yakuza entry on Xbox and there's never been a better time to dive in. From the melodramatic intensity of Yakuza 0, all the way to the over-the-top nature of Yakuza: Like A Dragon - the series has something for everyone. Outside of the latter, they're all on Xbox Game Pass, too, meaning members of the service have hundreds of hours worth of incredible games to dive into. If you're not convinced still, we've compiled five reasons why you totally should be downloading the entire collection right now.
The Story
If there's one thing that keeps Yakuza fans invested, it's the story. Each entry builds upon the last with further world building, characters, and narratives filled with twists and turns. For series long fans, plotlines pay off in big ways in numerous entries down the line, but the self contained adventures are just as engaging. If you've never played one before, we recommend Yakuza 0. It's built as a perfect entry point for newcomers, introducing players into the seedy underbelly of Japan. But if you've seen the latest Yakuza: Like A Dragon gameplay and are more interested in that, then you can easily hop in there too. It acts as a soft reboot for the series, and we're hoping it's paving a long future ahead.
The Characters
Of course, these narratives wouldn't have long time fans returning if they weren't already invested in the characters. Luckily, the Yakuza series manages to perfectly construct many likeable protagonists, as well as antagonists you will want to strangle. The first time you step into the shoes of the main hero Kazuma Kiyru, you'll instantly want to see his story through to the end. Even other characters you embody, such as the eccentric Goro Majima will have you invested. When the characters stories intertwine, unravel, and connect with one another, you'll be pointing at your screen like the popular Leonardo DiCaprio meme, and we wouldn't blame you.
The World
When you first hop into one of the games, you may be disappointed in how small the map is - but don't be fooled. Inside these small environments is a city packed full of of personality, life, and things to do. Each area is filled with shops, arcades, bowling alleys, cafes, go-kart tracks, and more - the list is pretty much endless. You won't be able to walk more than ten steps without finding something to distract yourself with. We're embarrassed by the amount of times we've abandoned pivotal missions to go exploring. We should be ashamed - but we're not.
The Mini-Games
It wouldn't be a Yakuza game without some mini-games, and each entry has you covered by the bucket load. We could probably do a list based on the best examples in all the games, but we wouldn't be able to stop at five or ten. Each one could easily be fleshed out into its own game. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life even has a baseball management sim that made this writer care about the sport. If the game can do that, it can pretty much do anything. From Mario Kart clones, to retro games in the SEGA Arcade such as Outrun, you can easily double your playtime from these alone.
The Sub-Stories
If you've ever spoken to a Yakuza fan, there's one word they'll always use to describe the brilliance of the series - sub-stories. These small crafted narratives are basically side quests, but pack in so much of what makes the franchise so great. They're oozing with charm, humour, and heart, as you help out a variety of the locales in increasingly odd and unusual tasks. One minute you'll be helping a Michael Jackson knock-off on his latest music video, the next you'll join an underground cult to save someone's daughter. These are the heart of Yakuza, and finding each weird and wacky narrative to tell your friends to check out is one of its most unique quirks.
Are these enough reasons for you to check out the Yakuza series on Xbox? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 21
I am incredibly jealous of all those who get to experience the Yakuza series for the first time. Never before has a game had me laughing my head off at one minute to uncontrollably sobbing the next. There's nothing else quite like Yakuza so to whoever's playing these masterpieces for the first time enjoy the ride!
Just started Yakuza 0 - having a blast. It's everything I think I've ever wanted from an open world RPG action game - showing the lifestyle and sexism for what it is, with some proper 'comeuppances' . Also, I do love a game where I can build a little empire....
Ok - I've never played Yakuza games. Any of them. It sounds like I should. I like the sound it's an open world but only a small map. My biggest problem is where to start as there's just so many of them and I have no idea what the order is and they just seem like a complete mess of a series. I get the impression 0 isn't the first one in the series? Or is it?
Somebody tell me which one I should start with as it feels like I'm missing out on something big.
@Kurusu you sounds like the person to ask. Tell me which one I should start with to get me into the series and I'll finally bite the bullet!
0 is a prequel to 1-6. I started with 0 last year and it was absolutely incredible. The way 1 and 2 were remade makes them act like sequels to 0 (as if it was always meant to be like that) so @StonyKL I say start with 0. Once you get to chapter 4 or so the story really hooks you in. Really really good story.
I played 0,1,2 and Like A Dragon last year and they were all incredible but 0 and LAD especially. Completed 3 Remastered today and just starting 4 now. 3 was rough compared to the others but still not bad. Excited to play the rest.
I can’t actually think of any game Sagas that go on for as long as Yakuza other than Kingdom Hearts. There is Gears, Halo, Uncharted and God of war that are all ongoing but man Yakuza and KH are next-level.
I have to play this entire series ! But so little time to play... argh I have to find more time !
As a person who's played Kiwami 1 first and then 0 (because I wanted to experience the "weaker" title first), I highly advice against doing that. I barely cared about the characters in Kiwami 1 because I hadn't played 0 first. For example, Goro Majima is seriously the best character in the entire Yakuza series and every time I watch people react to him in Kiwami 1 after having played 0, they always get so excited to see him again (because he's one of the main characters in 0). However, I had no attachment to him because I didn't play 0 first and once I got around to 0, the entire experience of Kiwami 1 was basically ruined since you only get one shot at experiencing a game for the first time. So my advice is, start with 0 and don't do the same mistake as I did. Because like I said, Kiwami 1 is considered "weaker" than 0 but if you have an attachment to all the characters you've come to know in 0, you'll enjoy Kiwami 1 way more than if you didn't.
@K1LLEGAL I do agree with Kingdom Hearts being a series known for its longevity. Personally though, the only other series that comes close to Kingdom Hearts in terms of sheer lore is Metal Gear Solid. Every time I play a game in the MGS and KH series, I always have to brush up on my lore, lol. Yakuza is more straightforward since it's more self-contained, but there will definitely be times where you need to have played the previous games in order to fully understand everything.
Another series that I'm sure can be put on the same level as these three is Resident Evil. I'm just getting into this series for the first time and I'm amazed at how many games that there are. But whether it offers the same level of lore or not I have yet to see.
I played Zero back in January and liked it very much. I plan to continue with Kiwami 1 near future.
@LtSarge yea you are right with those 2 as well. I haven’t ever got into Metal Gear but played a good few of the Resi games. I’m sure there are others i’m missing too. I love these longer series.
And I agree with you regarding playing 0 first. Couldn’t imagine starting at 1 with that story then going backwards.
Good games, but the gameplay quickly becomes stale. I got bored to death by Kiwami 2. Don't make the same mistake that I made: don't play the whole series in quick succession. Maybe I'll finish Kiwami 2 one day and then try the sequels, but I highly doubt it.
I've only played 0, Kiwami, & Like a Dragon so far, but have loved every moment. Fantastic series
0 was brilliant, but one was less enamoured with next two iterations. Have downloaded next few games though as on holiday next week and looking fun!
Started Yakuza 0 on PS4 but only played an hour, had various reasons & sold the console. Veryyyyy happy to be able to come back into the Xbox family and see this set of games here. Bravo microsoft!
Through college, uni and after I have replayed all the games so many times cant recommend this series enough.
Credit goes to the team behind Shenmue for me though. I got into the first game as a substitute for Shenmue after the 2nd game. Not looked back since.
Excellent synopsis of the series so far, Daniel. Yakuza has been a life-changing experience for me.
Resident Evil is my favorite series of all-time but Yakuza is a close second and I'd argue it's been the most consistent series of games in recent years. Hell even the Judgment spinoff is a great game. What I love about it is RGG understands what video games are all about and this series is a love letter to the hobby. I've felt that way since I played the first Yakuza back on PS2 in 2006.
Yakuza is modern Shenmue. You owe it to yourself to play this series.
Yakuza is great! Started Yakuza 6 today! I have played from 0 to 5, all of them on Game Pass. It's one of the best series I've played.
@LtSarge I have played every Kingdom Hearts and Resident Evil game. Both have a lot of lore. Resident Evil more than most players know but if you read everything there is a fascinating meta-story plus the gameplay is brilliant in most games. Resident Evil is one of my favourite video game franchises. I liked Kingdom Hearts too in spite of some tedious gameplay sometimes. I haven't played any Yakuza game but I will and start with 0. I've played Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes, 3 and 5.
People should try Kingdom Hearts because it's wonderful but probably not try to get 100% if they don't feel like doing it. I bought a PS4 for playing it and now it's included in Game Pass!
@BlueOcean Yeah I'm very excited to play more of the RE series. I've already exhausted the MGS, KH and Yakuza games (I only have a couple left in each series) so exploring a long-running franchise like RE and reading about its lore is going to be so exciting. There really aren't many franchises like these ones.
But yeah, if you like franchises with a lot of lore like KH and RE, then you'll most likely like the Yakuza series as well!
I enjoyed these games until I got to 3, then it lost me with all the silly fetch quests and playing dad for the orphanage.
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