Bonus installment this week as with most of the franchise on offer at the moment it seems a well timed occasion to look over the long history of...
History in Games:
2005 - Yakuza
2006 - Yakuza 2
2008 - Yakuza: Kenzan
2009 - Yakuza 3
2010 - Yakuza: Black Panther
2010 - Yakuza 4
2011 - Yakuza: Dead Souls
2012 - Yakuza: Black Panther 2
2012 - Yakuza 5
2014 - Yakuza: Ishin
2015 - Yakuza 0
2016 - Yakuza Kiwami
2016 - Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
2017 - Yakuza Kiwami 2
2018 - Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
2018 - Judgment
2019 - Yakuza 3: Remastered
2019 - Yakuza 4: Remastered
2020 - Yakuza 5: Remastered
2020 - Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon
Overview:
Launching during the days of the PS2, the series was dogged in its early days by ill-fitting comparisons to GTA and Shenmue with the games neither featuring the explorative freeform antics of Rockstars series or the sedate, minute interactivity of Shenmue. Instead the series takes the traditional form of a greatly expanded walk a long beat em up with Kiryu, the series primary lead, walking the streets as he beats countless hordes of goons and bosses until facing down with that entries big bad - often at some point on top of Millennium Tower. The series is the definition of survival after disappearing following the beloved second entry. Sega catered the franchise more strongly to Japanese tastes with the arrival of the PS3 and left western markets alone but the vocal fanbase it had created wouldn't be silenced and eventually Sega braved the market again with the third and fourth games as well as the more easily marketed Dead Souls spin-off. The experiment still faltered and the fifth game stumbled out as a digital only release.
It was the dawn of the third generation of the franchise though that turned things around. The well received prequel entry Zero as well as the Kiwami remakes brought greater recognition to the franchise and over the last few years western markets are finally in a position where all but the more obscure entries are now available on one system with ports slowly making their way to PC and Xbox ahead of the genre swapping seventh mainline entry that lies as the next title lined up after the last two spin-offs - The mostly unrelated Fist of the North Star project and the much more related Judgment.
Are you inducted into the Yakuza?
History in Games:
2005 - Yakuza
2006 - Yakuza 2
2008 - Yakuza: Kenzan
2009 - Yakuza 3
2010 - Yakuza: Black Panther
2010 - Yakuza 4
2011 - Yakuza: Dead Souls
2012 - Yakuza: Black Panther 2
2012 - Yakuza 5
2014 - Yakuza: Ishin
2015 - Yakuza 0
2016 - Yakuza Kiwami
2016 - Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
2017 - Yakuza Kiwami 2
2018 - Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
2018 - Judgment
2019 - Yakuza 3: Remastered
2019 - Yakuza 4: Remastered
2020 - Yakuza 5: Remastered
2020 - Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon
Overview:
Launching during the days of the PS2, the series was dogged in its early days by ill-fitting comparisons to GTA and Shenmue with the games neither featuring the explorative freeform antics of Rockstars series or the sedate, minute interactivity of Shenmue. Instead the series takes the traditional form of a greatly expanded walk a long beat em up with Kiryu, the series primary lead, walking the streets as he beats countless hordes of goons and bosses until facing down with that entries big bad - often at some point on top of Millennium Tower. The series is the definition of survival after disappearing following the beloved second entry. Sega catered the franchise more strongly to Japanese tastes with the arrival of the PS3 and left western markets alone but the vocal fanbase it had created wouldn't be silenced and eventually Sega braved the market again with the third and fourth games as well as the more easily marketed Dead Souls spin-off. The experiment still faltered and the fifth game stumbled out as a digital only release.
It was the dawn of the third generation of the franchise though that turned things around. The well received prequel entry Zero as well as the Kiwami remakes brought greater recognition to the franchise and over the last few years western markets are finally in a position where all but the more obscure entries are now available on one system with ports slowly making their way to PC and Xbox ahead of the genre swapping seventh mainline entry that lies as the next title lined up after the last two spin-offs - The mostly unrelated Fist of the North Star project and the much more related Judgment.
Are you inducted into the Yakuza?
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