I've seen a lot of footage from various Yakuza games, and have liked everything that I've seen and I really want to get into it, but I don't know how.

Basically, as far as I can tell, here are my options:

• I can play from the beginning, with Yakuza 1 and 2 on the PS2 before moving to the PS3 games
• Start with Yakuza 3, the first game on the PS3
• Start with Yakuza 4, which I already own because it was a PS+ once upon a time
• or just jump right into Yakuza 5 and read some wiki or something for backstory

I'd normally just jump into the latest instalment if it was a recent release and I was interested enough, but I know Yakuza has a long and complicated story that spans over a great number, if not all, of the games, so I'm a little weary. I'm also worried about getting fatigued on the franchise if I start at the beginning, but I have really no idea of the length of these games and whether or not the gameplay stays consistent or mixes it up from game to game to keep it interesting.

Can you help me? Can you give me some advice as to the best jumping off point?

2, 3 and 4 all have recap "movies" of the previous games included, and I'd recommend clearing an hour or so to watch them and then jump right into 4. It's got a good cast of characters, and there are 4 playable characters with their own playstyles/movesets which helps to keep the gameplay fresher over the long run time. I wouldn't recommend playing either of the PS2 ones since they haven't aged nearly as well as the PS3-era ones, but the first game does have the best story in the series if that matters more to you.

You could jump into 5, but there's no recap included so you'd have to read a wiki for 4 at the very least if you wanted to start there. I don't think it'd be too difficult to get into this one as your first game, as the stories are self contained (it's mostly the character backstories you need to go from game to game-- and even fans don't keep track of every little thing that's happened in those games). Also, 5 is probably the best gameplay in the series (at least, of the ones that've been released outside of Japan), so there's that too.

I'd still recommend 4 over 5 as a starting point just because you already own it, and it comes packaged with those backstory movies. Just be weary that whatever you end up choosing, they all have very slow starts.

I'd actually recommend starting on 3 rather than 4. 2 is going to be hard to get, even more so with 1. Also the gameplay in those is...on a much older engine. Also playing 3 will make you appreciate quite a few things in 4 a lot more. Like a lot of characters and other things introduced in 3 become recurring characters for the next 2 games, not necessarily story characters either, side quest characters too. Not to mention 3 is the last one where you play as just Kiryu, and this will change the way you'll feel about not playing as him in 4 from the start.

Play Yakuza: Dead Souls, fuck everything else.

(seriously though, start with 3 and watch the recaps. Also play Dead Souls at some point, it's really silly.)

I'm currently doing this, started with 3, watched the recap movies for 1-2 they're pretty good at getting you up to speed.

I started with Yakuza 1 on PS2, and while it was quite an endevour, it skyrocketed my appreciation for the series.

Seeing it evolve and shift in tone is awesome, and you become so familiar with the characters after 5 games.

Yakuza 3 is a good starting point, but has a very tedious start that doesn't feel like the rest of the series : with Kazuma running an orphanage. After 2 games of gang wars, though, it was a nice change of pace for both the player and the war-weary protagonist.

+ Yakuza 2 has the best story in the series in my opinion.

Hello! Sorry for the thread necro, but...

The recent news about Amazon making it a little easier to get my hands on Japanese games made me think about the Yakuza series. I only own a PS4, no other Sony consoles anymore.

Also, though, the year of Japanese I took in 1998 ain't gonna help me play the game much. I actually enjoy English subtitles if it has them, but is there any chance this game has a setting for the menus to have them be in English? I assume not, but I thought I'd ask.

Just go right to the fifth one. you can watch recaps of the others. Then go back and play 2, since that's the next best one. then 4. then if they ever bring kenzan out here you can play that.

and no, none of them have english voice acting except the first one, where it's bad in a funny way, but the japanese voice acting is seriously top tier. koichi yamadera (spike spiegel, the mostly human guy from ghost in the shell, and other stuff) voices one of the main characters, for one thing.

edit:

oh i read what you said more carefully @inspectorfowler. yakuza zero is pretty much confirmed to be coming our way soon iirc (2017?), and that will be on ps4, and features 1980s kiryu and majima :]

They just released a PS4 complete remaster of the first game in Japan, it looks fantastic enough to import and play, but sadly I don't think there are English subtitles. I was recently thinking of starting this series too, maybe with that game. It's called Yakuza Kiwami, somebody more knowledgeable than me would have to fill you in on whether or not we'll get it.

I really liked the first two, but there isn't shame in starting 3 or 4 and watching the backstory videos.

I can't imagine playing all five at once.

Thanks for the info! I'll wait for any US Yakuza releases. I like original voice acting because that way, I can't tell if the performance is good or bad (insane exceptions aside, I guess, but you get what I mean).

But when it comes to menus, mission text, inventory, etc...I'd be totally hosed.

It's too bad. I don't know why, but I'm a sucker for any kind of mob story. Irish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, English, etc. I have always liked good mob movies and games. I'll wait it out for these.