Yakuza, also known as Ryu ga Gotoku in Japan, is a long-running television series that follows the exploits of Kiryu Kazuma, a member of one of the most significant yakuza families (the Dojima family, under the Tojo Clan), in the fictional city of Kamurocho, Tokyo, where the game is set. He tries to stay out of the fights and schemes other strong mob organizations are hatching with the help of his numerous allies and friends.
Years passed before the Yakuza franchise began to enjoy the praise and acclaim it does today outside of Japan. With so many localized re-releases and new games, its reputation only seems to grow. If you want to play each installment in order, you can find a chronology of the series in this article.
Since the first Yakuza game was released in 2005, Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku studio have produced eight original Yakuza games and two remakes. Since Yakuza: Like a Dragon, every new game has been released simultaneously on all platforms except for Nintendo Switch. Originally PlayStation-exclusive games, they were later ported to Xbox and PC.
Here is the series in chronological order for you to get the story right: –
Yakuza 0 (2014)
When it comes to its chronology, the sixth game to be released is the first Yakuza. We play as two protagonists in Yakuza 0. The first one takes place in the late 1980s with a young Kiryu Kazuma who is being set up for murder by one of his Dojima family lieutenants. The ‘Empty Slot’, where the alleged murder occurred, is the cause of this. For the individual or group that owns it, this parcel of land will be a valuable asset.
Yakuza (2005)
As the sole protagonist of the first Yakuza game, Kiryu Kazuma is imprisoned for taking responsibility for a murder that he did not commit. The murderer was Akira Nishikiyama, the closest friend of our main character, and the victim was Sohei Dojima, Kiryu’s boss. Sohei attempted to rape Yumi Sawamura, a friend of both Kiryu and Nishikiyama, which is why this crime was committed.
Ten years after Kiryu’s release from prison, the Tojo Clan has expelled him, someone has stolen ten billion yen from the clan’s account, and Yumi is nowhere to be found. In the midst of this, Kiryu meets Haruka, a woman named Mizuki’s daughter. An important component of the missing money appears to be a pendant that Haruka is wearing. Nishikiyama also kills Kiryu’s adoptive father and former captain, turning him into an enemy.
Yakuza 2 (2006)
In the opening scene of Yakuza 2, Terada, the Fifth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, begs Kiryu’s assistance in stopping a conflict between his family and the Omi Alliance, their enduring foes. Terada appears to be dead after being shot in an ambush, and Kiryu searches for Daigo Dojima, the son of Sohei Dojima, to make him the new clan chairman.
As a result of Ryuji Goda’s opposition to a truce with the Tojo Clan, who Kiryu meets while assisting Daigo, the two become rivals. Detective Kaoru Sayama, who also appears in the story, tries to assist Kiryu while also learning about her parents, who vanished when she was a young girl.
Yakuza 3
Yakuza 3’s unusual beginning, with Kiryu far from the yakuza lifestyle, is presented in the first game to be made available on the PlayStation 3. Instead, he is looking after the Morning Glory Orphanage in Okinawa. Haruka helps him out, and he takes care of many of the new residents’ children. Sadly, tranquility doesn’t last very long. In addition to dealing with new yakuza families, numerous shootings, betrayals, assassinations, and other crimes, our protagonist also has to deal with the CIA.
Yakuza 4
Yakuza 4 raises the stakes and introduces a new kind of story to follow one year after the events of the previous game. This story still involves families, betrayals, and crimes, but it is now being told through the eyes of four main characters.
Three other fresh faces join our well-known Kiryu Kazyuma on the streets of Kamurocho. The first character is a loan shark named Shun Akiyama who runs his own company called Sky Finance and gets caught up in a feud between the Tojo Clan and the Ueno Seiwa Clan. A mysterious woman named Lily has also requested a loan from him for 100 million yen.
Yakuza 5
Yakuza 4’s plot became convoluted due to the multiple protagonists’ points of view, and Yakuza 5 fully pursued the same path. This game is the biggest in the series because you get to choose from five different protagonists to play in various situations.
You start by following Kiryu, who abandoned his orphanage and left Kamurocho to relocate to Fukuoka without Haruka. As per usual, the peace between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance is about to end, and he won’t have much time to relax before finding out that Daigo is missing.
When Saejima learns that his blood brother Majima has passed away, he plans to leave prison with his cellmate Shigeki Baba. Haruka, who is already a teenager, is pursuing her goal of becoming a J-Pop idol in the interim. When Mirei Park, the head of her talent agency, is discovered dead in what appears to be a staged suicide, things become complicated. Haruka appears to be assisted by returning protagonist Akiyama in discovering the true cause of Park’s death.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
The final chapter of Kiryu Kazuma’s life is depicted in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Once more, our protagonist serves time in prison, but this time it is for his crimes rather than being falsely accused of them. Haruka revealed that Kiryu was her father and an ex-yakuza member in a concert broadcast after the previous game.
Kiryu returns to Kamurocho briefly after being released from prison. He finds out that Haruka had a son named Haruto and that she is reportedly in a coma as a result of a car accident. Kiryu travels to Onomichi to find out what happened and who is Haruto’s father because Haruka spent a significant amount of time there before the accident.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Yakuza: Like a Dragon marks a significant series of turning points with a brand-new beginning. For the first time, Ichiban Kasuga, a Tojo Clan member who spent 18 years in prison for defending Jo Sawashiro, his captain, serves as the main protagonist instead of Kiryu. When he leaves, he discovers that no one is looking for him because the Omi Alliance has finally overthrown the Tojo Clan.
Masumi Arakawa was plotting with the Omi and betrayed the Tojo Clan. He is the head of the Arawaka family and the one who asked Ichiban to take the blame and go to jail rather than Sawashiro. When they finally meet after almost 20 years, he also shoots Ichiban.
When Saejima learns that his blood brother Majima has passed away, he plans to leave prison with his cellmate Shigeki Baba. Haruka, who is already a teenager, is pursuing her goal of becoming a J-Pop idol in the interim. When Mirei Park, the head of her talent agency, is discovered dead in what appears to be a staged suicide, things become complicated. Haruka appears to be assisted by returning protagonist Akiyama in discovering the true cause of Park’s death.
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