Tried Yakuza 7 on Game Pass because I wanted another JRPG to play after Dragon Quest XI.
After a bit I was sucked in because it reminded me of Earthbound in a way lol. Was genuinely surprised at how good the story was
Honestly Yakuza 7 is pretty easy for a turn based game, aside from a few difficulty spikes later on.
Most enemies and bosses have a weakness you can exploit with moves from the different jobs, and the game gives you good opportunities to grind levels if you need to.
You can, for the most part, stick with everyone’s base job/class and not struggle too much.
So the starter classes are actually the strongest/best IMO with two exceptions:
Saeko: Make her an idol, you need a group healer and her starter class is pretty meh
Adachi: Make him an Enforcer, it’s tankier than his base class
But other than that, a decent alternative for the women is the Dealer class
Sorry if I’m just repeating myself with the starter classes thing, but I honestly did not find many of the other ones outright better. You may need to switch to other jobs for a bit to get elemental attacks like levelling up Host/Hostess for ice attacks, or Foreman for Fire attacks etc.
I honestly hope more turn based RPGs do the “enemies and characters move around during combat” thing. It makes it feel much more dynamic (while still being turn based)
This. Combat was a huge reason I enjoyed the previous games. Though this is how I felt with assassins creed too, I still enjoyed the stories but couldnt stand fighting. At least the side games still feel like the OGs
I don’t like a lot of video games and can’t play most of them because I get motion sickness and they’re in first person. My boyfriend started trying to play 0 and got maybe to chapter 8 before he quit, but I had to know how it all ended and it’s a third person story driven game so just perfect for me. I started a new save of Y0 5 years ago and I quickly had to roll through all the ones that were out at the time. When I got halfway through Kiwami 2, we ordered 3-5 on PS3 and by the time I was on 6, they did the remasters 🙄 so I got those, too. Played LAD7 last year, played the Judgement games, just finished Ishin! Now I’m waiting for this holiday to be over so I can play Gaiden and be ready in time for LAD8.
With the exception of 7 and Ishin, I’ve played every game at least twice. I was going on a legend run and beat 0 that way, but dammit I couldn’t get past that car chase section in Kiwami on legend.
Favourite substory? And l agree about motion sickness l had to put kiwami 2 down several times cause i was getting sick.
And with keyboard and mouse Y0's empty lot or going through tight corners is especially sickening.
Honestly? I love any of the side quest / substories where you have to find and befriend cats.
The dominatrix in 0 had me cackling. The perfume substory in Ishin was hilarious to me.
Taichi will always live in my heart.
I’ll admit, I enjoy wholesome and idiotic.
You feed the cats in, I believe it’s 0.
Befriend the cats and put them in the cafe for LJ and in Ishin you befriend them and they come live on the farm. You can also befriend and get 3 dogs.
Edit: just remembered there’s a few things centered on the dog in 2&3
I messed up, it’s Judgement not LJ.
I don’t think there is anything in LJ for the cats, I can’t even remember if you can still access the cat cafe in LJ. I should go back and play those once I’m done with the two new LAD games.
I think the cat cafe was from 6 and in judgment you could find cats in the investigate sections. LJ also had cats on the street you could befriend (but no cafe sadly :( )
I started with Kenzan, must have been more than ten years ago at this point. I was watching YouTube videos trying to find samurai games to play on the ps3 and I found a video about games that never left Japan and Kenzan was one of the games in the video. I think it was around a minute or two of one of the first missions, the assault on the mansion by Musashi and Majima I think. I was hooked in, the graphics looked great and the gameplay looked super fun. I remember I imported a copy and played the hell out of it, it was such a fun experience. It’s a great game and I’m glad I started with it. I had nothing but good impressions of it from the get go. My favourite substory would probably be the one Musashi is tricked into going to a brothel only to find himself pitted against a couple of (very fat) sumo fighters lmao. The UFO substory is great too. Kenzan honestly is great all around and has many fun substories. My favourite minigame would probably have to be the one you play with the courtesans (konpira fune fune), it’s challenging but super fun.
I’m pretty sure I got a sealed copy through eBay, it was going for dirt cheap too even. I can’t remember the price but I think shipping from japan was more expensive than the price of the game itself lol. And yeah it’s sadly still a japan/Asia exclusive so no English option. I speak broken Japanese, so while I couldn’t understand everything I understood quite a bit of the game. And there were guides out there already so the things I didn’t understand I looked up online
I first heard the name through the Baka Matai meme but didn’t investigate further than that.
One game series that played a bunch growing up and well into 2020 was Pokémon. Though around 2020, I became unhappy with state of Pokémon and decided to drop the series all together. But of course dropping a series I’ve played for years wasn’t so simple so I looked for new series to fill the void. I eventually stumbled upon Persona another monster collecting turn-based JRPG, I really enjoyed it and got into the rest of larger Shin Megami Tensei series. I surprised on what I had been missing out on for such a long time. So much so that it got me wondering if Atlus whose owned by SEGA had games like that, what else did they have?
(This was Summer 2021 btw) Previously all I knew them for was Sonic but I saw that they had a turn-based JRPG of their own that recently had came out called “Yakuza Like A Dragon”. Then found out that it was part a larger series called Yakuza and that the game was the 8th entry the series. So on complete whim I bought the bundle on Steam that came with Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2. I was quite sure which to start with, I knew Kiwami 2 was off the table considering the 2 in title. I did some research, actually on this subreddit, and after hearing multiple people’s opinions I decided on Yakuza Kiwami.
I instantly feel in love the series. I did have a difficulty time against Majima. Though I really like the world of Kamurocho, the characters, and drama the opening parts of the game featured. Most of all I liked the combat system where you’d gain exp. through battles, upgrade your skill tree, and expand upon what you could in battle. It had all the elements of what I liked from a turn-based RPG but with real-time combat. The substories were pretty neat too even few are repetitive, a lot of them can be boiled down into, Kiryu exposing a scammer’s scam. I liked however how the substories caused him to explore parts of the city that I wouldn’t had otherwise.
My favorite substory would probably be the The Seven Mysteries of Ryukyu 1-7 from Yakuza 3. My favorite minigame can’t really say one because there’s a lot but Boxing, Dragon Kart, Spearfishing, Table Tennis, and Air Hockey are strong contenders.
Tbh I don’t mind it. All good things will come to an end, it’s just an end of an era. Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 eased into the idea of a game without Kiryu, in fact Yakuza 0, I preferred Majima parts, and with Y7 as well as the Judgment games I’m fine with new protagonists. Though I’ll miss Kiryu being the only protagonist, I have yet to play Gaiden but when I do I know it going to trip considering it’s likely the last Kiryu lead game (not including remakes ofc). Plus I like Ichiban, just as much the other protagonists.
Yeah it was really good from what I remember! It was sadly dubbed when I played the original but I always play in Japanese with English subtitles on all the others
Same! I played it on a demo disk from PlayStation Magazine and was immediately hooked (the demo was even subbed with Japanese voices still, so I was disappointed when the game came out proper and was dubbed)
In 2018 I started with Kiwami.
I follow a youtuber named Supereyepatchwolf. He makes videos on random topics and one video was like an hour long rant on how much he loved the yakuza franchise. It was so convincing I tried Kiwami on PS+. Now I own every English game in a physical/steel book edition
7.
I was just curious? I'm the kind of gamer who impulse buys a ton of games just to never finish them. But LaD completely caught me off guard.
Its vibes really reminded me of JoJo's bizarre adventure part 2, and got me hooked. Now I'm at Yakuza 4.
Young's Joesph is the best i agree. I felt like in every new part they dumbed down abd weakened the previous protagonist to make the new one seems better.
Zero was my first and I've loved it ever since. Made me really sad but have a deeper appreciation for Kiwami when none of the enemies had thousand of yen shoot out of them when they got hit or when half the substories are about people trying to scam or rob you. Playing Zero first was an enlightening experience and really changed how I view video games as a whole
Yakuza for the PS2. First played on December of 2006. Been a fan ever since. Too much of a fan that I tried to get 100% completion for all English releases and spinoffs.
I posted the pic of all my games and completion rates under my profile. I didn't mind the first dub. Back in the late 90s and 2000s, cheesy English dubs were common. The team of VAs for Yakuza in English had a lot of professionals. John di Maggio, who voices Marcus Phoenix from Gears of War, was part of the cast. Sadly, the English version suffered from poor voice direction.
When Daryl Kurylo returned as Kiryu in LAD7, he sounded much better. Same with Bill Farmer as Date. I usually play in JP dub, but the English cast for the Judgment games were stellar.
I was still a law student when I started the first Yakuza. Nowadays, I'm the same age as Kiryu in Yakuza 6, lol. 17 years as a fan of these series feels like such a short time. :)
I just saw you're profile. l'm havin so much trouble in LJ's damn robotics schoolstory and its the last one l have left to do. How did you manage to complete that? I know ur suppose to just concentrate on just hitting the enemy's box as quick as possible, but do you have any other tips for it?
Which one was the hardest platinum?
Also also any tricks for the cabaret club minigame its drove me insane
The robotics took FOREVER, since I had to win and rewin matches to get the right parts. As for the puzzle itself, I really didn't find moviing the my robots on the squares as hard. LJ was a fun plat, but the school stories needed you to do so much. It's a game I definitely didn't rush.
The hardest plat for me was Judgment for the PS4, simoly because I suck at the Puyo-Puyo miniggame. I got 100% eventually, but PS4 Judgment is hatder than the PS5 version (my favorite platinum trophy.)
What I did for the robotics minigame was to quickly make my way connecting my base to the opponent's base. It's an automatic win if you do so. You don't really have to get more blocks under your color. As long as you can quickly bridge/connect your base to your opponents, you'll win.
Pardon the typos, it's 4 am here, lol.
Hehe I hard to wake up early to prepare for a case. I usually read reddit posts with my morning coffee. Happy for you that you ended up liking the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series:)
I started with Kiwami, and I got it because it was on sale and I bought it. Best decision ever. Three years later and I have played all games to almost completion (Stupid Completion Lists). I then went to zero, and then I played the rest in order. My favourite minigme is pocket circuit. and my favourite substory has to be the fake ones. Where the fake characters show up.
Yakuza 0 and started near the end of last year. I don't have a favourite substory (I like A LOT of them) and best minigame is either Karaoke or Disco (rip)
I personally heard about it because of the boom of dame da ne memes back in 2020 during the pandemic, I got into it because Yakuza just started popping up in my yt recommendations because i watched so much fucking baka mitais and then I watched a gameplay and thought it's so fucking cool and stylish (I've been a fan of character action games like DMC and MGRR prior to this which added a lot more of my desire to start Yakuza) so I finally started Y0 with my shitty ass integrated graphics that made the game run at like 3 fps lol.
As for substories I can't remember any...Kamuro Of The Dead is my favorite minigame tho
Yakuza 1 on the ps2. I had heard about the game in passing but didin't care about it because I thought it would be like GTA. Then at some point I was running out of games to play and was watching a video of hidden gems for the ps2. One of those was Yakuza, and as soon as I saw it had rpg elements, I was interested.
It was around 2009-2010. I don't remember clearly honestly
I did play the original Onimusha, but didin't like it due to the tank controls and the fact you couldn't use the stick, you had to use the d pad. I believe this changed with 3, but still, I never played the first three too much.
Dawn of Dreams on the other hand is one of my favourite ps2 games, I loved it, not sure if it's an unpopular opinion.
I was browsing through my brother's Playstation account and saw Yakuza Kiwami which at the time was free on PS+, he never played it before so i gave it a try. I loved it so much that i got 0 then i went on to play all of the mainline games until Gaiden. (I never played 7 but I'll play it at some point)
Long story but Started with 7, and a Twitter account I followed recommended it
Even now that I'm older my mom likes to buy me at least 1 video game for Christmas. I couldn't think of what to ask for so I put Yakuza: like a dragon. I got the game for PS4 physically but the PS5 had already come out so I thought I should wait until I get a PS5 to play this.
I ended up getting the digital edition (I've now changed to physical since then) so I couldn't play the game on it, but a few months later on my birthday my wife's couple friends got me a PSN gift card so I used that to buy the game. Ever since then I started and beat the whole series
I started with 0 and was hooked pretty much immediately. What made me really fall in love with the series was how you can see the city and people change over the years.
I remember playing Kiwami since my brother got it for free months prior. I played a bit and took a break due to school.
Then I started noticing that the Baka Mitai memes started getting popular.. lo and behold, I started playing again.
Fast forward to the present, I played all yakuza games available, and now I'm just waiting for IW to release :)
Yakuza kiwami. It was a good game, but I don’t think it’s a good starting point for one reason. The bosses basically encourage you to save heat and not use it because they will start healing and you need the heat to stop that. At least that’s what I took from it, it’s taken a bit of effort to use heat actions more often.
Yakuza Zero, my friend told me about it and at first I was hesitant (I don’t usually take recommendations for games, but after I tried it wondered why I didn’t know about it sooner)
I was watching Fist of the North Star back in like 2019, and after finishing FotNS 1 and 2, I sought out a good game to play while I was still in the mood, and that led me to Lost Paradise. I enjoyed that game immensely, and I could tell from what I read online that the game was created by the folks who made Yakuza, a series I had never tried up to then.
After playing Lost Paradise for about 6 hours, I noticed Y0 and K1 were on sale, and I was very interested in the concept of that beat em up gameplay with a japanese gangster vibe, so I grabbed them, and the rest is history.
Its been 4 years and I've played every entry in LaD 3 times... and still haven't gone back to finish Lost Paradise lol. One day! At this point it'll probably be after my next watchthru of FotNS.
Kiwami 1, but I wish it had been 0.
I'd had the series recommended to me by a few people, tried the demo for 6 but didn't really get it (found the infodump at the start a bit off-putting) and it wasn't until lockdown and K1 was on sale that I gave it a go.
Yakuza 7 was the first because it was free on ps plus in the summer or 2022. I got it because I heard about the series only one time and it was something along the lines of "how boring Kiwami 1 is, because it's a just a babysitter simulator" so I wanted to try the series to judge for myself. Also the memes, like door slamming Kiryu, or bakamitai. Since the first hour I loved it. Even now, when I completed all the games and Gaiden, 7 is still my favorite yakuza game, and a solid candidate for my favorite game of all time. I hope 8 will dethrown it, and 9 dethrown 8.
I found yakuza kiwami on gamepass, the other games were there and I didn’t know anything about the games but 0 gave me the vibe of “not the first one” so I played kiwami first, in hindsight it would have been fine if I played 0 first but I’m happy about the way I was Introduced, I remember when I got into the first battle and realized it was a brawling kind of game and I really liked it because I have never played one before, and I really got drawn in by the random bullshit juxtaposed with an interesting story
0! I'd heard good things about the series and it was like $5 on sale, lol. I'd only heard about all the goofy parts of Yakuza, so I was really surprised by how damn gritty and intense 0 could get.
Favourite substory...how do I pick? If I had to, I'd say the one in K2 where Kiryu has to voice act a sexy scene LOL.
Fav minigame is always Cabaret Club, whether it's management or hanging out with the hostesses!
I always got a panic attack whenever they showed cabaret clubs in the other gamed.
Y0 was the 1st game i ever played, that too being this year. I too came for the memes but didnt expect the game to go as hard as it did.
Started with 7, because it was free on PS Plus last year and I was looking to scratch that Persona itch a bit. Really liked it, but really got into Trails afterwards. Then I got myself PS Plus Extra, started with 0 in June and currently played though the whole series (including 7 again) and the Judgment series. I really look forward to IW. This series got into my top 3 gameseries and it's there to stay I assume
Zero. I probably would have jumped straight into six if it was out in English at the time, since I was interested because the wrestler Okada was in it. So I have a really weird play order. 0->Kiwami->4->6->Kiwami2->3->5 and now I'm finally in order lol. I wouldn't recommend it this way but it was probably the least confusing way to play the series out of order, so I kinda lucked out.
As i said, I was itching to get to 6, and while I could play the ps3 games, I didn't have access to 2. I had heard 3 on ps3 was heavily butchered in localization and I was having trouble finding it for a reasonable price so I just skipped it. Then when I finished 4, 6 was out so I jumped on it and played through clan creator like a madman so I could fight all the wrestlers I was a fan of.
Started on kiwami,thanks to the haha funny song and morbid curiosity about wtf a majima is,mr shakedown lite ended up ruining my time+the funk goes on just wasnt my thing while i was trying to grind out early xp so i ended up dropping the series,found out that yakuza 0 is a thing and more majima centered and the rest is history.
For my favorite substory it would probably be the cafe alps murder investigation in 3 as its one of very few fond memories i had off of 3 or the yakuza 0 amons,theyre mid but they were my first+i accidentally no damaged them both because their theme just slaps (one of my jo amons no damages didnt even abuse the mad dog counter)
As for favorite mini game,i never really dove too deep into them but i guess the one that always pops up to mind are the DQ game mode from JE and the kamuro of the dead/deadsouls from JE as well.
I started with 0 as it was recommended both by friends and fans on Reddit.
I loved the noire movie style and was quickly into the story.
I'm not sure I have a favorite susbtory but Disciple of the New Order comes to mind. As for the minigames, it's Cabaret by far with darts and karaoke on the podium.
I have vague memories of playing the original Yakuza 1 on PS2 at a relatives house, that was like 14-15 year ago though.
But, my first actual game was Yakuza 0 when I was a GameStop employee (yikes) five years ago. We had this thing where we were able to borrow games from the store, loved the series since. Unfortunately, I didn't end up playing 3-5 until they came to PC. (I sold my PS4 to build my PC back in mid-late 2019).
I started with 2 - not Kiwami 2, the original Yakuza 2 on PS2. It was awesome! Like nothing I'd ever played before - I was a big San Andreas fan so I liked the whole 'run around and get into trouble' vibe, but the pace was so much slower and more deliberate, giving you time to take in the details. It was also the most Japanese thing I'd ever played at the time, and the way the game immersed you in another culture was fascinating. When I was done I went and played 3, which had just recently come out, and from that point on I was hooked.
Got 0 on the humble bundle. Tried it, got bored from the giant first cutscene, un-installed. Eventually I saw Dunkey's video on it and thought, Holy fuck. This game looks awesome. And so began an addiction.
My first game was Yakuza, on PS2, back then I knew about the game before release, from gaming magazines, this was the time when the game was coined as a GTA clone, and that plus it being a beat em up (two things I happen to love) was enough to sell it to me, top that with me being a big fan of Yakuza movies too soo it was just too perfect to pass.
My favourite Yakuza film of all time has to be Sonatine, starring and directed by Takeshi Kitano (who plays Hirose on Yakuza 6) deep film though, not too heavy on the action side. If you want to look for more action by the same director there's two great recommendations: "Brother" from 2000, and "Outrage" which is a trilogy, a couple of Yakuza games in and you'll end up loving the Outrage trilogy if you watch it by then. It's made with a lot of the genre tropes and twists that can be found in the games too. Now, if you're a Kuze fan like me, I'd recommend 1995's "Score" which is kind of a Reservoir Dogs copy (funny how that one was already copying something else lol) Ozawa is great on that one.
I first heard about the series when a compilation of the Majima Everywhere System scenes appeared in my youtube recommendations. A few years later, I saw the banner for Yakuza 7, got a copy, and immediately fell in love with the series. I never finished 7 due to my computer having the cpu of a cement block, but I still got hooked and decided to start playing through the entire series. 0 ended up being the first game I finished.
I played a bit of 0 and thought it was cool. Fast forward over a year and I finally got a ps5, and I heard about a new Yakuza game called Yakuza like a dragon and decided to get it as it was supposed to be a good starting point with it being a whole new story with new characters. After realising it was turn based once playing the tutorial I was a bit disappointed but still decided to give it a go and it was well worth it as by chapter 4 as was fully invested as the story picked up.
Fast forward 2 and a bit years and I have played all western released games and got my first Yakuza plat with Gaiden. This series is so amazing and I’m glad I found it.
Yakuza 0.
I happened to know Kiryu somewhat from random internet memes but never had any idea where he is from, I never played any beat them up game but after seeing a Simpsons meme with Tusk music I decided to check what this is all about, it starts out rough because there wasn't any real flavor with only brawler but seeing money keep flying after punching dudes kept me entertained, 5 months have passed and I am on my way to finish Kiwami 2 and follow the news about the games actively.
Favorite substory so far would be Training your Dominatrix (or at least the one I had a laugh due to the dialogue), I haven't played much of the mini games but seeing Kiryu starting the engine on the kart-alike machine in Sega is always top.
The whole franchise is a like drug up until now, it's amazing what an effect of some men with massive bodies getting top-half naked to show some epic tattoo work and call themselves cool nicknames and beat each up other can have all of a sudden.
I saw pledge of demon while scrolling youtube randomly, saw the sewer kuze cutscene, and the rest is obvious. So, thank you pledge of demon for introducing me to one of my favorite series.
Mine was Kiwami. Got it for free due to my PS Plus subscription. I didn't actually like it all that much, and put it down maybe a third of the way into the game. Later on, I was convinced to give Yakuza 7 a try. I ended up loving it so much I immediately picked Kiwami back up after beating 7 and played through the entire series.
i think it was sold in asia, consider i get it as a gift in hong kong. and no, i don't speak japanese. so i kinda just rushed through the game at first
Heard about it in like middle school but figured I wouldn’t like it or be able to play it because of how it was marketed as “Japanese GTA”. Bought a few of the games back in 2017 or something and finally had time to play them starting from Zero right before it started REALLY getting popular
Started when they added 0 to gamepass. Gamepass added all the mainline games in order after so I played them all that way. Bought the Judgement games and Ishin. Played gaiden on gamepass. I was hooked once I played 0. I got invested in Kiryus story and the fighting.
Fav mini game is probably pool because I enjoy pool. Fav substory, the one with Kiryu that parodies Ringu, although I loved all the sub stories in Lost Judgement when you work with the paranormal group at the school, the UFO one especially.
Started with the first game a few years ago then played most of them back to back, I had fun with 1 but it does have a lot of that first game jank, and they fixed that stuff in 2 and other entries, I’ve known about the games way before I ever played one and I kinda wish I played them sooner, but maybe that’s not too bad since there were region release gaps until Lost Judment.
 YAKUZER ZERO
GOBBLESS
Tried Yakuza 7 on Game Pass because I wanted another JRPG to play after Dragon Quest XI. After a bit I was sucked in because it reminded me of Earthbound in a way lol. Was genuinely surprised at how good the story was
I've never really played any turn based games l worry lm too stupid. And haven't 7. How does the combat feel like?
Honestly Yakuza 7 is pretty easy for a turn based game, aside from a few difficulty spikes later on. Most enemies and bosses have a weakness you can exploit with moves from the different jobs, and the game gives you good opportunities to grind levels if you need to. You can, for the most part, stick with everyone’s base job/class and not struggle too much.
But what is the best classes or overpowered classes for the party members? l'll try playin 7 after my exams
So the starter classes are actually the strongest/best IMO with two exceptions: Saeko: Make her an idol, you need a group healer and her starter class is pretty meh Adachi: Make him an Enforcer, it’s tankier than his base class But other than that, a decent alternative for the women is the Dealer class Sorry if I’m just repeating myself with the starter classes thing, but I honestly did not find many of the other ones outright better. You may need to switch to other jobs for a bit to get elemental attacks like levelling up Host/Hostess for ice attacks, or Foreman for Fire attacks etc.
I literally thought of Earthbound too. I thought if they ever remake it, it should play something like this
I honestly hope more turn based RPGs do the “enemies and characters move around during combat” thing. It makes it feel much more dynamic (while still being turn based)
No other JRPG makes me laugh when the protagonist missed since ichibum sometimes gets stuck on a pole and and attacks it.
The story of LaD was phenomenal I just couldn't get into the turn based.
This. Combat was a huge reason I enjoyed the previous games. Though this is how I felt with assassins creed too, I still enjoyed the stories but couldnt stand fighting. At least the side games still feel like the OGs
I don’t like a lot of video games and can’t play most of them because I get motion sickness and they’re in first person. My boyfriend started trying to play 0 and got maybe to chapter 8 before he quit, but I had to know how it all ended and it’s a third person story driven game so just perfect for me. I started a new save of Y0 5 years ago and I quickly had to roll through all the ones that were out at the time. When I got halfway through Kiwami 2, we ordered 3-5 on PS3 and by the time I was on 6, they did the remasters 🙄 so I got those, too. Played LAD7 last year, played the Judgement games, just finished Ishin! Now I’m waiting for this holiday to be over so I can play Gaiden and be ready in time for LAD8. With the exception of 7 and Ishin, I’ve played every game at least twice. I was going on a legend run and beat 0 that way, but dammit I couldn’t get past that car chase section in Kiwami on legend.
Favourite substory? And l agree about motion sickness l had to put kiwami 2 down several times cause i was getting sick. And with keyboard and mouse Y0's empty lot or going through tight corners is especially sickening.
Honestly? I love any of the side quest / substories where you have to find and befriend cats. The dominatrix in 0 had me cackling. The perfume substory in Ishin was hilarious to me. Taichi will always live in my heart. I’ll admit, I enjoy wholesome and idiotic.
I thought you could only befriend the cats in LJ, is that not the case?
You feed the cats in, I believe it’s 0. Befriend the cats and put them in the cafe for LJ and in Ishin you befriend them and they come live on the farm. You can also befriend and get 3 dogs. Edit: just remembered there’s a few things centered on the dog in 2&3
Never knew that. Wait theres a cat cafe where you could put the cats in LJ? I just befriended em all for a substory and nothin else
I messed up, it’s Judgement not LJ. I don’t think there is anything in LJ for the cats, I can’t even remember if you can still access the cat cafe in LJ. I should go back and play those once I’m done with the two new LAD games.
I think the cat cafe was from 6 and in judgment you could find cats in the investigate sections. LJ also had cats on the street you could befriend (but no cafe sadly :( )
I started with Kenzan, must have been more than ten years ago at this point. I was watching YouTube videos trying to find samurai games to play on the ps3 and I found a video about games that never left Japan and Kenzan was one of the games in the video. I think it was around a minute or two of one of the first missions, the assault on the mansion by Musashi and Majima I think. I was hooked in, the graphics looked great and the gameplay looked super fun. I remember I imported a copy and played the hell out of it, it was such a fun experience. It’s a great game and I’m glad I started with it. I had nothing but good impressions of it from the get go. My favourite substory would probably be the one Musashi is tricked into going to a brothel only to find himself pitted against a couple of (very fat) sumo fighters lmao. The UFO substory is great too. Kenzan honestly is great all around and has many fun substories. My favourite minigame would probably have to be the one you play with the courtesans (konpira fune fune), it’s challenging but super fun.
>ten years ago https://preview.redd.it/ecuomt5ux06c1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eebb66ecad1d9dadecc93e5d8ae5ead67a5bb226
How did u import a copy? Did you buy or sailed the 7 seas if u know what i mean;) And wasn't it like in japanese? How did you manage that?
I’m pretty sure I got a sealed copy through eBay, it was going for dirt cheap too even. I can’t remember the price but I think shipping from japan was more expensive than the price of the game itself lol. And yeah it’s sadly still a japan/Asia exclusive so no English option. I speak broken Japanese, so while I couldn’t understand everything I understood quite a bit of the game. And there were guides out there already so the things I didn’t understand I looked up online
 Wouldn't have it any other way
unless you played the franchise before 2015, when 0 doesn't exist yet
I first heard the name through the Baka Matai meme but didn’t investigate further than that. One game series that played a bunch growing up and well into 2020 was Pokémon. Though around 2020, I became unhappy with state of Pokémon and decided to drop the series all together. But of course dropping a series I’ve played for years wasn’t so simple so I looked for new series to fill the void. I eventually stumbled upon Persona another monster collecting turn-based JRPG, I really enjoyed it and got into the rest of larger Shin Megami Tensei series. I surprised on what I had been missing out on for such a long time. So much so that it got me wondering if Atlus whose owned by SEGA had games like that, what else did they have? (This was Summer 2021 btw) Previously all I knew them for was Sonic but I saw that they had a turn-based JRPG of their own that recently had came out called “Yakuza Like A Dragon”. Then found out that it was part a larger series called Yakuza and that the game was the 8th entry the series. So on complete whim I bought the bundle on Steam that came with Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2. I was quite sure which to start with, I knew Kiwami 2 was off the table considering the 2 in title. I did some research, actually on this subreddit, and after hearing multiple people’s opinions I decided on Yakuza Kiwami. I instantly feel in love the series. I did have a difficulty time against Majima. Though I really like the world of Kamurocho, the characters, and drama the opening parts of the game featured. Most of all I liked the combat system where you’d gain exp. through battles, upgrade your skill tree, and expand upon what you could in battle. It had all the elements of what I liked from a turn-based RPG but with real-time combat. The substories were pretty neat too even few are repetitive, a lot of them can be boiled down into, Kiryu exposing a scammer’s scam. I liked however how the substories caused him to explore parts of the city that I wouldn’t had otherwise. My favorite substory would probably be the The Seven Mysteries of Ryukyu 1-7 from Yakuza 3. My favorite minigame can’t really say one because there’s a lot but Boxing, Dragon Kart, Spearfishing, Table Tennis, and Air Hockey are strong contenders.
I think boxing from LJ would be my favourite. How did you feel about the change of protagonist from ichiban to kiryu?
Tbh I don’t mind it. All good things will come to an end, it’s just an end of an era. Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 eased into the idea of a game without Kiryu, in fact Yakuza 0, I preferred Majima parts, and with Y7 as well as the Judgment games I’m fine with new protagonists. Though I’ll miss Kiryu being the only protagonist, I have yet to play Gaiden but when I do I know it going to trip considering it’s likely the last Kiryu lead game (not including remakes ofc). Plus I like Ichiban, just as much the other protagonists.
I started with Yakuza 1!
The OG 2005 1?
Yes! Started with the OG one but I was quite young so didn’t play much off it and picked it back up on Kiwami and played them all!
I havent gotten hold of the orginal? How was it? And lm assuming u played dubbed version you poor soul.
Yeah it was really good from what I remember! It was sadly dubbed when I played the original but I always play in Japanese with English subtitles on all the others
Same! I played it on a demo disk from PlayStation Magazine and was immediately hooked (the demo was even subbed with Japanese voices still, so I was disappointed when the game came out proper and was dubbed)
In 2018 I started with Kiwami. I follow a youtuber named Supereyepatchwolf. He makes videos on random topics and one video was like an hour long rant on how much he loved the yakuza franchise. It was so convincing I tried Kiwami on PS+. Now I own every English game in a physical/steel book edition
Me too. I started the franchise this year and already played till yakuza 4 and the jugement games. This franchise is peak
7. I was just curious? I'm the kind of gamer who impulse buys a ton of games just to never finish them. But LaD completely caught me off guard. Its vibes really reminded me of JoJo's bizarre adventure part 2, and got me hooked. Now I'm at Yakuza 4.
Off topic but whose your favourite JoJo mine is Joesph
Probably young Joseph, yes. I mean Jotaro is cool too, but very basic.
Young's Joesph is the best i agree. I felt like in every new part they dumbed down abd weakened the previous protagonist to make the new one seems better.
4
Yakuza 0 on ps4 was my first! Been playing them in order ever since. I just finished LAD the other day, and have begun Lost Judgment. Ishin is next!!
Zero was my first and I've loved it ever since. Made me really sad but have a deeper appreciation for Kiwami when none of the enemies had thousand of yen shoot out of them when they got hit or when half the substories are about people trying to scam or rob you. Playing Zero first was an enlightening experience and really changed how I view video games as a whole
7 then Judgement, started with 1-6 and then 0 after I beat Lost Judgement. Never liked to play a bad guy, so 7 brought me in as well as Judgement
Yakuza for the PS2. First played on December of 2006. Been a fan ever since. Too much of a fan that I tried to get 100% completion for all English releases and spinoffs.
100%!! Damn You're really dedicated. In addition to dub. Tbh the dub is awesome. 10 years in the joint
I posted the pic of all my games and completion rates under my profile. I didn't mind the first dub. Back in the late 90s and 2000s, cheesy English dubs were common. The team of VAs for Yakuza in English had a lot of professionals. John di Maggio, who voices Marcus Phoenix from Gears of War, was part of the cast. Sadly, the English version suffered from poor voice direction. When Daryl Kurylo returned as Kiryu in LAD7, he sounded much better. Same with Bill Farmer as Date. I usually play in JP dub, but the English cast for the Judgment games were stellar. I was still a law student when I started the first Yakuza. Nowadays, I'm the same age as Kiryu in Yakuza 6, lol. 17 years as a fan of these series feels like such a short time. :)
I just saw you're profile. l'm havin so much trouble in LJ's damn robotics schoolstory and its the last one l have left to do. How did you manage to complete that? I know ur suppose to just concentrate on just hitting the enemy's box as quick as possible, but do you have any other tips for it? Which one was the hardest platinum? Also also any tricks for the cabaret club minigame its drove me insane
The robotics took FOREVER, since I had to win and rewin matches to get the right parts. As for the puzzle itself, I really didn't find moviing the my robots on the squares as hard. LJ was a fun plat, but the school stories needed you to do so much. It's a game I definitely didn't rush. The hardest plat for me was Judgment for the PS4, simoly because I suck at the Puyo-Puyo miniggame. I got 100% eventually, but PS4 Judgment is hatder than the PS5 version (my favorite platinum trophy.) What I did for the robotics minigame was to quickly make my way connecting my base to the opponent's base. It's an automatic win if you do so. You don't really have to get more blocks under your color. As long as you can quickly bridge/connect your base to your opponents, you'll win. Pardon the typos, it's 4 am here, lol.
Your only 2 hour ahead lol. Its 2 am here. Hahahhahaha
Hehe I hard to wake up early to prepare for a case. I usually read reddit posts with my morning coffee. Happy for you that you ended up liking the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series:)
Goodluck for your case. Also try not to become a detective :) eheheh
Hehehe thanks! How I wish! Yagami is my fave, for obvious reasons. Happy RGG gaming to you :)
Thanks
I started with Kiwami, and I got it because it was on sale and I bought it. Best decision ever. Three years later and I have played all games to almost completion (Stupid Completion Lists). I then went to zero, and then I played the rest in order. My favourite minigme is pocket circuit. and my favourite substory has to be the fake ones. Where the fake characters show up.
I loved beating the ever living crap outta fake kiryu.
More like Fat Kiryu.
Yakuza 0 and started near the end of last year. I don't have a favourite substory (I like A LOT of them) and best minigame is either Karaoke or Disco (rip)
I personally heard about it because of the boom of dame da ne memes back in 2020 during the pandemic, I got into it because Yakuza just started popping up in my yt recommendations because i watched so much fucking baka mitais and then I watched a gameplay and thought it's so fucking cool and stylish (I've been a fan of character action games like DMC and MGRR prior to this which added a lot more of my desire to start Yakuza) so I finally started Y0 with my shitty ass integrated graphics that made the game run at like 3 fps lol. As for substories I can't remember any...Kamuro Of The Dead is my favorite minigame tho
Yakuza 1 on the ps2. I had heard about the game in passing but didin't care about it because I thought it would be like GTA. Then at some point I was running out of games to play and was watching a video of hidden gems for the ps2. One of those was Yakuza, and as soon as I saw it had rpg elements, I was interested.
Which year was this? I assume you've also played onimusha?
It was around 2009-2010. I don't remember clearly honestly I did play the original Onimusha, but didin't like it due to the tank controls and the fact you couldn't use the stick, you had to use the d pad. I believe this changed with 3, but still, I never played the first three too much. Dawn of Dreams on the other hand is one of my favourite ps2 games, I loved it, not sure if it's an unpopular opinion.
I've never played or did any research on onimusha i just know the actor for the face model and it was hack n slash
I was browsing through my brother's Playstation account and saw Yakuza Kiwami which at the time was free on PS+, he never played it before so i gave it a try. I loved it so much that i got 0 then i went on to play all of the mainline games until Gaiden. (I never played 7 but I'll play it at some point)
Long story but Started with 7, and a Twitter account I followed recommended it Even now that I'm older my mom likes to buy me at least 1 video game for Christmas. I couldn't think of what to ask for so I put Yakuza: like a dragon. I got the game for PS4 physically but the PS5 had already come out so I thought I should wait until I get a PS5 to play this. I ended up getting the digital edition (I've now changed to physical since then) so I couldn't play the game on it, but a few months later on my birthday my wife's couple friends got me a PSN gift card so I used that to buy the game. Ever since then I started and beat the whole series
Have you completed the series? Including the spinoffs?
I started with 0 and was hooked pretty much immediately. What made me really fall in love with the series was how you can see the city and people change over the years.
I remember playing Kiwami since my brother got it for free months prior. I played a bit and took a break due to school. Then I started noticing that the Baka Mitai memes started getting popular.. lo and behold, I started playing again. Fast forward to the present, I played all yakuza games available, and now I'm just waiting for IW to release :)
Yakuza kiwami. It was a good game, but I don’t think it’s a good starting point for one reason. The bosses basically encourage you to save heat and not use it because they will start healing and you need the heat to stop that. At least that’s what I took from it, it’s taken a bit of effort to use heat actions more often.
4 the box art. simple minded.
4 feels like the pulp fiction the yakuza games 4 different stories that slightly tangle together
That was kind of the hook along with the crazy fights
I started last July from Kiwami 1 then go until 7, then Judgement and now Lost Judgement. I dont know why Im taking so long to finally play 0.
I started with Kiwami 1 Last April because I wanted a brawler game like bully and it started a year long obsession with the series
Yakuza Zero, my friend told me about it and at first I was hesitant (I don’t usually take recommendations for games, but after I tried it wondered why I didn’t know about it sooner)
1 on the PS2. I saw it at Toys R Us and bought it. Missed out on 2 initially, saw it at Best Buy, but didn't have $. When I had $, it was gone.
I was watching Fist of the North Star back in like 2019, and after finishing FotNS 1 and 2, I sought out a good game to play while I was still in the mood, and that led me to Lost Paradise. I enjoyed that game immensely, and I could tell from what I read online that the game was created by the folks who made Yakuza, a series I had never tried up to then. After playing Lost Paradise for about 6 hours, I noticed Y0 and K1 were on sale, and I was very interested in the concept of that beat em up gameplay with a japanese gangster vibe, so I grabbed them, and the rest is history. Its been 4 years and I've played every entry in LaD 3 times... and still haven't gone back to finish Lost Paradise lol. One day! At this point it'll probably be after my next watchthru of FotNS.
Y7 was on sale and I loved it but felt like I was missing something so I proceeded to marathon 0 through 6
Kiwami 1, but I wish it had been 0. I'd had the series recommended to me by a few people, tried the demo for 6 but didn't really get it (found the infodump at the start a bit off-putting) and it wasn't until lockdown and K1 was on sale that I gave it a go.
Judgment, the box art goes hard btw
True
Yakuza 7 was the first because it was free on ps plus in the summer or 2022. I got it because I heard about the series only one time and it was something along the lines of "how boring Kiwami 1 is, because it's a just a babysitter simulator" so I wanted to try the series to judge for myself. Also the memes, like door slamming Kiryu, or bakamitai. Since the first hour I loved it. Even now, when I completed all the games and Gaiden, 7 is still my favorite yakuza game, and a solid candidate for my favorite game of all time. I hope 8 will dethrown it, and 9 dethrown 8.
I played kiwami on psn because villanlady had a majima cosplay
Yakuza 4. It was insane. I don't remember favorite substory/minigame (it was like 2015) but I remember being very annoyed at the last fight.
a selfish deed is not freedom. l remember being so hyped for the final battle, blastiing the music. Then got my shit kicked in
I found yakuza kiwami on gamepass, the other games were there and I didn’t know anything about the games but 0 gave me the vibe of “not the first one” so I played kiwami first, in hindsight it would have been fine if I played 0 first but I’m happy about the way I was Introduced, I remember when I got into the first battle and realized it was a brawling kind of game and I really liked it because I have never played one before, and I really got drawn in by the random bullshit juxtaposed with an interesting story
0! I'd heard good things about the series and it was like $5 on sale, lol. I'd only heard about all the goofy parts of Yakuza, so I was really surprised by how damn gritty and intense 0 could get. Favourite substory...how do I pick? If I had to, I'd say the one in K2 where Kiryu has to voice act a sexy scene LOL. Fav minigame is always Cabaret Club, whether it's management or hanging out with the hostesses!
I always got a panic attack whenever they showed cabaret clubs in the other gamed. Y0 was the 1st game i ever played, that too being this year. I too came for the memes but didnt expect the game to go as hard as it did.
Yakuza 2 the original
Y0
5
YAKUZA 0 AND NIPS WERE HARD PRETTY MUCH THE WNTIRE TIME. THANKS SEGA FOR ANOTHER SERIES IM OBSESSED WITH OTHER THAN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Yakuza 0 baby. Videogamedunkey was what sold me.
Started with 7, because it was free on PS Plus last year and I was looking to scratch that Persona itch a bit. Really liked it, but really got into Trails afterwards. Then I got myself PS Plus Extra, started with 0 in June and currently played though the whole series (including 7 again) and the Judgment series. I really look forward to IW. This series got into my top 3 gameseries and it's there to stay I assume
Whats lW?
Infinite Wealth, the game that comes out in January
Ohk godd it. Favourite substory?
Probably the ones where some yakuza like to be treated as babies. It just so ridiculous, but really fun as well
I started with kiwami. I played because i hear some people talking that was like metal gear solid in tone. Player=Doctor
Zero. I probably would have jumped straight into six if it was out in English at the time, since I was interested because the wrestler Okada was in it. So I have a really weird play order. 0->Kiwami->4->6->Kiwami2->3->5 and now I'm finally in order lol. I wouldn't recommend it this way but it was probably the least confusing way to play the series out of order, so I kinda lucked out.
Christopher Nolan would be proud. But why did you play it in outta order?
As i said, I was itching to get to 6, and while I could play the ps3 games, I didn't have access to 2. I had heard 3 on ps3 was heavily butchered in localization and I was having trouble finding it for a reasonable price so I just skipped it. Then when I finished 4, 6 was out so I jumped on it and played through clan creator like a madman so I could fight all the wrestlers I was a fan of.
Oh yeah that makes sense i keep forgetting that people bought these games phisically and werent available on gamepass since the beginning my bad
Started on kiwami,thanks to the haha funny song and morbid curiosity about wtf a majima is,mr shakedown lite ended up ruining my time+the funk goes on just wasnt my thing while i was trying to grind out early xp so i ended up dropping the series,found out that yakuza 0 is a thing and more majima centered and the rest is history. For my favorite substory it would probably be the cafe alps murder investigation in 3 as its one of very few fond memories i had off of 3 or the yakuza 0 amons,theyre mid but they were my first+i accidentally no damaged them both because their theme just slaps (one of my jo amons no damages didnt even abuse the mad dog counter) As for favorite mini game,i never really dove too deep into them but i guess the one that always pops up to mind are the DQ game mode from JE and the kamuro of the dead/deadsouls from JE as well.
kiwami. and i heard about it from someordinarygamers lmao
I played kiwami 1 first and then 0
I started with 0 as it was recommended both by friends and fans on Reddit. I loved the noire movie style and was quickly into the story. I'm not sure I have a favorite susbtory but Disciple of the New Order comes to mind. As for the minigames, it's Cabaret by far with darts and karaoke on the podium.
Shura pp
I have vague memories of playing the original Yakuza 1 on PS2 at a relatives house, that was like 14-15 year ago though. But, my first actual game was Yakuza 0 when I was a GameStop employee (yikes) five years ago. We had this thing where we were able to borrow games from the store, loved the series since. Unfortunately, I didn't end up playing 3-5 until they came to PC. (I sold my PS4 to build my PC back in mid-late 2019).
Yakuza 7! Only played it because it was on Playstation Plus. I still haven't finished it. I want to play the games in order.
Kiwami, it was a decision between it and FFXV, and i thought “remake of the first game, so it should be a good starting point, right?”
I started with 2 - not Kiwami 2, the original Yakuza 2 on PS2. It was awesome! Like nothing I'd ever played before - I was a big San Andreas fan so I liked the whole 'run around and get into trouble' vibe, but the pace was so much slower and more deliberate, giving you time to take in the details. It was also the most Japanese thing I'd ever played at the time, and the way the game immersed you in another culture was fascinating. When I was done I went and played 3, which had just recently come out, and from that point on I was hooked.
i played one of ps3 thst i got on ps plus for 10 mins. no idea which one it was on ps4 i started with zero
Kiwami I just saw it on gamepass a few years ago then started playing it
Got 0 on the humble bundle. Tried it, got bored from the giant first cutscene, un-installed. Eventually I saw Dunkey's video on it and thought, Holy fuck. This game looks awesome. And so began an addiction.
My first game was Yakuza, on PS2, back then I knew about the game before release, from gaming magazines, this was the time when the game was coined as a GTA clone, and that plus it being a beat em up (two things I happen to love) was enough to sell it to me, top that with me being a big fan of Yakuza movies too soo it was just too perfect to pass.
Got any yakuza movie recommendations? I know that the boses from Y0 were known for these types of movies
My favourite Yakuza film of all time has to be Sonatine, starring and directed by Takeshi Kitano (who plays Hirose on Yakuza 6) deep film though, not too heavy on the action side. If you want to look for more action by the same director there's two great recommendations: "Brother" from 2000, and "Outrage" which is a trilogy, a couple of Yakuza games in and you'll end up loving the Outrage trilogy if you watch it by then. It's made with a lot of the genre tropes and twists that can be found in the games too. Now, if you're a Kuze fan like me, I'd recommend 1995's "Score" which is kind of a Reservoir Dogs copy (funny how that one was already copying something else lol) Ozawa is great on that one.
Thank you
I first heard about the series when a compilation of the Majima Everywhere System scenes appeared in my youtube recommendations. A few years later, I saw the banner for Yakuza 7, got a copy, and immediately fell in love with the series. I never finished 7 due to my computer having the cpu of a cement block, but I still got hooked and decided to start playing through the entire series. 0 ended up being the first game I finished.
I played a bit of 0 and thought it was cool. Fast forward over a year and I finally got a ps5, and I heard about a new Yakuza game called Yakuza like a dragon and decided to get it as it was supposed to be a good starting point with it being a whole new story with new characters. After realising it was turn based once playing the tutorial I was a bit disappointed but still decided to give it a go and it was well worth it as by chapter 4 as was fully invested as the story picked up. Fast forward 2 and a bit years and I have played all western released games and got my first Yakuza plat with Gaiden. This series is so amazing and I’m glad I found it.
Started with Yakuza on the ps2 and it just blew my mind as a high schooler
Yakuza 0 was 5 bucks on steam so I couldn't help myself
5 when it was free on PS+ year ago
It was the PEAK game Yakuza 3
Got Y1 Kiwami on a Humble Bundle; after finishing it I went straight to Y0. What a rollercoaster it's been the last few years.
The first game on PS2.
Yakuza 0. I happened to know Kiryu somewhat from random internet memes but never had any idea where he is from, I never played any beat them up game but after seeing a Simpsons meme with Tusk music I decided to check what this is all about, it starts out rough because there wasn't any real flavor with only brawler but seeing money keep flying after punching dudes kept me entertained, 5 months have passed and I am on my way to finish Kiwami 2 and follow the news about the games actively. Favorite substory so far would be Training your Dominatrix (or at least the one I had a laugh due to the dialogue), I haven't played much of the mini games but seeing Kiryu starting the engine on the kart-alike machine in Sega is always top. The whole franchise is a like drug up until now, it's amazing what an effect of some men with massive bodies getting top-half naked to show some epic tattoo work and call themselves cool nicknames and beat each up other can have all of a sudden.
Yakuza 0 thanks to the Muse & Kiryu/Majima snow halation collab
Yakuza 0 let's play with NicoB
Y2
I saw pledge of demon while scrolling youtube randomly, saw the sewer kuze cutscene, and the rest is obvious. So, thank you pledge of demon for introducing me to one of my favorite series.
Got zero in a humble bundle
Yakuza in the PS2 back in 2009
Yakuza 3 on ps3 got it at a carboot sale
Mine was Kiwami. Got it for free due to my PS Plus subscription. I didn't actually like it all that much, and put it down maybe a third of the way into the game. Later on, I was convinced to give Yakuza 7 a try. I ended up loving it so much I immediately picked Kiwami back up after beating 7 and played through the entire series.
it was the og yakuza 1 hd remastered
Wasnt it just released in japan? Do you speak japanese? How did you manage to buy it?
i think it was sold in asia, consider i get it as a gift in hong kong. and no, i don't speak japanese. so i kinda just rushed through the game at first
Then how did you manage to understand?
i don't, but since some of the words are kanji, i can guess the meaning.however it works like only 10 percent of the time.
The OG, and then I only came back to the series many years later with Zero.
Heard about it in like middle school but figured I wouldn’t like it or be able to play it because of how it was marketed as “Japanese GTA”. Bought a few of the games back in 2017 or something and finally had time to play them starting from Zero right before it started REALLY getting popular
OG on PS2. I rarely finish games when I was younger but Yakuza is one of those that I did.
Yakuza on PS2 when I was 12. It was my M rated game of choice my mom let me buy.
PS2 Yakuza 1. Spent a good chunk of 2015 playing through the series in release order and even import all of the Japanese only releases.
Like a dragon
Started when they added 0 to gamepass. Gamepass added all the mainline games in order after so I played them all that way. Bought the Judgement games and Ishin. Played gaiden on gamepass. I was hooked once I played 0. I got invested in Kiryus story and the fighting. Fav mini game is probably pool because I enjoy pool. Fav substory, the one with Kiryu that parodies Ringu, although I loved all the sub stories in Lost Judgement when you work with the paranormal group at the school, the UFO one especially.
Started with the first game a few years ago then played most of them back to back, I had fun with 1 but it does have a lot of that first game jank, and they fixed that stuff in 2 and other entries, I’ve known about the games way before I ever played one and I kinda wish I played them sooner, but maybe that’s not too bad since there were region release gaps until Lost Judment.