Yakuza

[Ginkasa]

Anybody else play this series? Its great and I'm kinda sorta working my through it again in between my Dragon Quest playthrough.

If you're unfamiliar, the series if kind of like an open world brawler RPG with a heavy minigame and sidequest element. Imagine a more gamey and better paced Shenmue.

There are 8 main series games, plus two remakes. Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 are ground up remakes for the first two games. Other than that you have Yakuza 2-6, Yakuza 0 (which is, surprise, a prequel), and then Yakuza: Like a Dragon which is kind of a reboot with a new protagonist and turn based battles.

You also have a few games with the same gameplay style. Judgment is sort of a spin-off; takes place in the same setting and same gameplay, but you play a private detective rather than a former yakuza. A sequel was just announced: Lost Judgment. There also a Fist of the North Star game by the same developers. I haven't played it, but my understanding is it plays basically the same. There are also some older spin-offs that have the same characters kind of recast in historical Japanese roles and take place in medieval Japan. Unfortunately, those haven't been brought over to NA.

I love the series. I remember first trying the original game on PS2 when it was compared to Shenmue, but it didn't speak to me at that point for some reason. I hopped on with Yakuza 0 and Kiwami and have been onboard since. This was before the HD remasters of 3-5, so I'd been meaning to go back through again and play through those as well. Playing Like a Dragon last year got me going on it, but then Dragon Quest distracted me about a third of the way through Kiwami 2. Picked it back up while I pause DQ while waiting for Mass Effect.

Anyone else play the series?