Ranked Yakuza games
Nothing here!
15 Games
I can forgive Y4 thanks to this game.
Absolutely massive behemoth of a game where pretty much everything just clicks.
Huge variety of gameplay styles, cities, side activities to accompany an equally massive and engaging story that just keeps on building up to a huge payoff.
This is the game that actually made me fall in love with the series, its world and its characters to a personal level
Ending could've been better but I've warmed up to it too
Absolutely massive behemoth of a game where pretty much everything just clicks.
Huge variety of gameplay styles, cities, side activities to accompany an equally massive and engaging story that just keeps on building up to a huge payoff.
This is the game that actually made me fall in love with the series, its world and its characters to a personal level
Ending could've been better but I've warmed up to it too
1
A bold new direction for the series that works even better than I anticipated.
One of the best stories in the series, fun side content and a great new cast of characters.
Not everything sticks the landing, but what doesn't is usually justified with some other positive stuff so it's still fine.
Not a big fan of the way the game looks tho
One of the best stories in the series, fun side content and a great new cast of characters.
Not everything sticks the landing, but what doesn't is usually justified with some other positive stuff so it's still fine.
Not a big fan of the way the game looks tho
2
Another great entry to the Judgment series with easily the best combat system of the whole series. It tones down a lot of nitpicks I had with the first game while fleshing out what was working.
Very engaging narrative, strong cast of characters and a lot of fun side activities.
The story felt a bit too urgent to actually enjoy these during my playthrough but they make for a good post-game content.
The DLC breathes more life to Kaito and is a very welcomed addition.
Very engaging narrative, strong cast of characters and a lot of fun side activities.
The story felt a bit too urgent to actually enjoy these during my playthrough but they make for a good post-game content.
The DLC breathes more life to Kaito and is a very welcomed addition.
3
A very cozy and cinematic chapter for the series
Narration and especially the presentation are at an all-time high and the story delivers for most of its run with references to the whole series while weirdly enough also ignoring most of the legacy cast.
Dragon Engine looks and feels insanely good and the activities are pretty fun despite it having a bit less content.
The new town feels incredibly warm and I really love the whole cozy vibe it's going for.
Ending sucks a bit.
Narration and especially the presentation are at an all-time high and the story delivers for most of its run with references to the whole series while weirdly enough also ignoring most of the legacy cast.
Dragon Engine looks and feels insanely good and the activities are pretty fun despite it having a bit less content.
The new town feels incredibly warm and I really love the whole cozy vibe it's going for.
Ending sucks a bit.
4
Another massive game with some of the most engaging e fulfilling side content and character interactions. The game looks phenomenal minus some animation hiccups and Hawaii is incredibly charming and full of life.
This game finally gives some much needed closure to Kiryu's whole legacy in both main and side content and it's a mostly great parting gift even though it kinda fumbles the last bits. It also gives a great evolution of Ichiban's character and story, firmly establishing him as a perfect successor, although I wish his side of the story could've been more captivating.
A lot of quality and a lot of quantity and while the main story is solid with a lot of great bits, it kinda fails in actually hitting where it counts and as a result it can feel somewhat messy despite its qualities.
Absolutely loved the improvements to the combat system. It feels like a huge leap from the previous turn-based game in pretty much every aspect. The music is also great, loved the inclusion of peculiar instruments and choir types based on the bosses' origins.
I would've loved it more if it was scaled down though, for a more cohesive narrative and to avoid having so many characters with such a limited party.
This game finally gives some much needed closure to Kiryu's whole legacy in both main and side content and it's a mostly great parting gift even though it kinda fumbles the last bits. It also gives a great evolution of Ichiban's character and story, firmly establishing him as a perfect successor, although I wish his side of the story could've been more captivating.
A lot of quality and a lot of quantity and while the main story is solid with a lot of great bits, it kinda fails in actually hitting where it counts and as a result it can feel somewhat messy despite its qualities.
Absolutely loved the improvements to the combat system. It feels like a huge leap from the previous turn-based game in pretty much every aspect. The music is also great, loved the inclusion of peculiar instruments and choir types based on the bosses' origins.
I would've loved it more if it was scaled down though, for a more cohesive narrative and to avoid having so many characters with such a limited party.
5
Goes back in time to a period where I didn't care for a lot of the characters, main ones included, to give a fresh new start using the years of experience from the previous 5 main games. To do so it unfortunately tries way too much with the boring tutorials and the meme-y side of things, which are sometimes forcefully presented within the main story. Once again the sense of urgency of the main story and the random unrelated substories clashed too much and I didn't care much about the secondary content.
Luckily once that's discarted the story delivers and it goes hard. Great worldbuilding that really ties the whole series together, while also being really emotional.
It relies a bit too much on the story bits of the first game but its release being so separated from it made it a bit easier to forgive.
And for once the ending is actually good too
Luckily once that's discarted the story delivers and it goes hard. Great worldbuilding that really ties the whole series together, while also being really emotional.
It relies a bit too much on the story bits of the first game but its release being so separated from it made it a bit easier to forgive.
And for once the ending is actually good too
6
Very cool spin-off with a completely new set of characters and different approach to storytelling altogether.
The story is great and constantly engaging, the new effects are gorgeous and the side content is surprisingly deep breathing a lot of life into the city, which already felt very alive in the previous iterations.
A lot of experimentations going on and a lot of small changes to the usual formula making the fact that Kamurocho is the only city not that big of an issue this time around, but some of its content still falls flat, mainly the tailing missions
The story is great and constantly engaging, the new effects are gorgeous and the side content is surprisingly deep breathing a lot of life into the city, which already felt very alive in the previous iterations.
A lot of experimentations going on and a lot of small changes to the usual formula making the fact that Kamurocho is the only city not that big of an issue this time around, but some of its content still falls flat, mainly the tailing missions
7
Small upgrades to the first game in terms of gameplay but huge ones regarding the presentation and storytelling.
Ending fucking sucks
Ending fucking sucks
8
Very PS2-ish game but pretty enjoyable nonetheless
Great atmosphere and personality, the story is kinda meh but entertaining enough, with a lot of cool world-building
Great atmosphere and personality, the story is kinda meh but entertaining enough, with a lot of cool world-building
9
Very fun combat and engaging side content despite its unnecessary reuse of the Pocket circuit.
Awkard introduction to the various secondary stuff and the story was pretty weak and very thin at first but the final section alone made it all worth it.
Awkard introduction to the various secondary stuff and the story was pretty weak and very thin at first but the final section alone made it all worth it.
10
A lot of improvements with the leap to a new gen and a pretty great chill vibe.
Would've loved to just have the game as is with no main story forcefully attached to it cause it was pretty generic and kinda unnecessary due to its mood? The sense of urgency really didn't work with the chill side content.
Suffers from early PS3 look which is the worst the series has ever looked imho and it's also where the series' personality kinda lost its edge to settle with a more grounded but meme-able feel. I don't mind it that much but I do prefer the old vibe, especially with the music becoming a lot more generic going forward
Would've loved to just have the game as is with no main story forcefully attached to it cause it was pretty generic and kinda unnecessary due to its mood? The sense of urgency really didn't work with the chill side content.
Suffers from early PS3 look which is the worst the series has ever looked imho and it's also where the series' personality kinda lost its edge to settle with a more grounded but meme-able feel. I don't mind it that much but I do prefer the old vibe, especially with the music becoming a lot more generic going forward
11
An interesting spin of the formula to allow for a more diverse cast and a more varied gameplay, but it fails in almost everything due to its limited reach.
Being back to only one city is really disappointing, the new areas are boring and bland and the story is just awful using tired tropes and dumb plot twists
Being back to only one city is really disappointing, the new areas are boring and bland and the story is just awful using tired tropes and dumb plot twists
12
Fun stupid little game with more bad than good.
The story is bland, the gameplay repetitive and the framerate horrible.
It's still Yakuza at its core, the side content is pretty fun and most of the substories are pretty entertaining but being based on my least favorite game shows pretty much the same problems but worse.
The story is bland, the gameplay repetitive and the framerate horrible.
It's still Yakuza at its core, the side content is pretty fun and most of the substories are pretty entertaining but being based on my least favorite game shows pretty much the same problems but worse.
13
Really cheap remake of the first game where its content is just lazily applied to Y0 and unnecessarily bloated with its style and sidecontent.
The combat styles that worked in 0 don't work as well here, the bosses are spunges with a frustrating healing mechanic, it keeps most of the jank from the PS2 game without its qualities.
Majima's characterisation from Y0 clashes really hard with the one from Y1 and it's made a lot worse with the Majima Everywhere gimmick that's just annoying after the first couple of times
The combat styles that worked in 0 don't work as well here, the bosses are spunges with a frustrating healing mechanic, it keeps most of the jank from the PS2 game without its qualities.
Majima's characterisation from Y0 clashes really hard with the one from Y1 and it's made a lot worse with the Majima Everywhere gimmick that's just annoying after the first couple of times
14
Like Kiwami but worse
15