The serious narrative combined with wacky side missions shouldn’t work because they are opposing in tone, but somehow, it merges them for a unique fun and experience.
Let’s see how the other games stack up in the series, with Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth coming in a year.
The prequel to the series marks the peak of the mountain. It depicts the story’s beginning of the main character, Kazuma Kiryu, and portrays Gojo Majima’s descent into madness and his eventual title, the Mad Dog of Shimano.
Firstly, a new protagonist, Kasuga Ichiban, is the complete opposite of Kiryu, even down to his outfit. Ichiban is a super goofy and unserious Dragon Quest superfan, and the battles take place through the scope of his imagination.
The game has you playing through the stories of four different characters. When the patriarch of the Tojo clan disappears, it sets off a domino effect that leads to a power struggle in the city of Kamurocho.
This game features one of the best antagonists in the series: Ryuji Goda, dubbed the Dragon of Kansai, who believes there’s only room for one true dragon. Epic clashes between Ryuji and Kiryu ensue, even though they are similar.
Yakuza 5 follows the same style of storytelling as the fourth game. In this entry, you play as five main characters, three of which are returning from Yakuza 4: Kazuma Kiryu, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejima.