New to this series and love it so far 😊

The final boss fights were amazing with how (we as the players experience) these men became (/becoming) legends. Kiryu will always be my favorite main character but Majima's story hit me the hardest with his decision at the end. I'm glad you shared your journey through Yakuza, thanks Son.

Its easily the best one

I literally just beat this game last week I didn't enjoy the mini games like I do in other games tho son. Glad disco never came back in style and I always got ghosted in the telephone club. Enjoyed the story and I got slightly more use out of breaker than ya but I also didn't enjoy it very much.

@@Kris-wo4pj i think the hostess club is a lot of fun and kiryus business battle is great to maybe its 1st game syndrome but I still think its the best only rivaled by 7 for me

Geezer

I literally just played it for funny bakamitai and it was on an insane sale (only like $5) and now I own all the games on steam, apart from Judgment which I still have yet to get

That was Like A Dragon for me. Now I’m playing them all through in chronological order.

FACTS! I’m replaying 0 and Kiwami after I beat Kiwami 2 and started 3, sooooooo good!

Found randomly on a PS Sale and deep dived 😂

It is quite sad to see how in 0, Majima's Mad Dog persona was a mask to cope with the mad world of a yakuza but by the time we see him in Yakuza Kiwami 1, he became the mask with hints of the original Majima from 0 popping up every now and then. It does make it pretty heartwarming that he starts letting his Mad Dog persona slip off in games past 2 onwards where his calmer side shows up more and more while still maintaining that persona. I like to think his reunion with Makoto in Kiwami 2 and seeing her live happily reaffirmed to him that his choices were not a mistake and along with having Saejima post Yakuza 4, back it made him more at peace with himself which led to him being saner again.

For me he chooses to behave like that. It's not like he went mad for what I understood playing.

@@ViniZiello As WY puts is, the sad part is knowing he's doing it while being aware of it, rather than actually being crazy and not even aware. Making me wonder, if he had a choice between a more stable sane life, would he have taken it?

I would like to say that the Majima in 0 that we see is a Majima who has heavily restrained himself in order to be presentable to the general populace. He needed to be likable and have his club meet all the necessary quotas or else his chances of getting back into the Shimano family crumble to dust. Whoever he really was back then has been pushed way down in order to meet what was expected of him. This isn’t to say that Majima going “crazy” by the end is his real personality, but my case is that I don’t think we’ve ever seen his true self, and the fact that he’s never really gotten the chance to live genuinely is tragic. It’s just my interpretation though. No matter which way you slice it, his story is sad.

@@rubyy.7374 Very interesting point actually. I saw his later years as him not being himself while you make a great point. In a sad way he always wore some mask because of his weird environment.

I played through Kiwami 2 last week and was sobbing after playing Majima's Saga

I cried but still chuckled that she got the character treatment of "We're not sure what they're supposed to do next, so they will now move to America"

Immediate self edit for clarity: I know she can't exist in the other games since they were made before she came to be, therefore she really can't be done more with, BUT I just thought it was a little silly since she's not the first character to get done that way

Haven't played those 2 yet. Good work spoiling them.

This and Snake having to kill The Boss are the only two moments in videogames that have made me cry.

I had this exact same experience. It was my first Yakuza game, and I get it.

Also Kiryu's styles are generally a lot better than Majima's. Beast is way bettwer than Slugger, hitting much harder and more effectively tanking damage

It's kinda useless against bosses and stronger/bulkier enemies though which I guess balances it out

Drunk Kiryu with a knife is the most broken in the game though. Farming Mr. Shakedown is so easy, the kinfe heat action basically takes down an entire bar.

I legit sent Awano to the Majima Blender because of it and it was satisfying to do so on hard

​@@cryguy0000honestly I hate beast it's great for weapons but after that it's not exactly useful unless you want to get hit and not go to the ground

I cried too, you're not alone

Thank you!

Really wish they would release the samurai spin offs in the west I think ghost of tsushima proved it would be popular esp since all the yakuza other spin offs are also popular.

@@Kris-wo4pj no, they really wouldn't. I've played Kenzan! and I can assure you that it would tank the Yakuza series' reputation here in the west. It's one of my favourite Yakuza games, but toes along the historical accuracy of 1600s prostitution and pre-modern red-light districts more than people would like. People are too soft for this game, it would demand they make some rational criticisms of Ancient Japanese approaches to sex culture. I wish Ishin! and Kenzan! got releases but they won't because western audiences find sex terrifying, and the rape of children to be an evil beyond evils. Japan's modern approach to pedophilia is still far too relaxed for western tastes. After people freaked out that Saejima leered over Haruka for a few seconds in Y3, think about how people would freak out about this scene from Kenzan!... An elderly man takes Haruka, who has already sold herself to an ageya (definitely a brothel, but that has many non-sexual services, kind of like hostess clubs in other games) and the implication is he is taking a ten year old girl to rape. The ageya burns to the ground before this point, but he specifically states that grown women are not attractive to him and tells all the adult women to leave the room, whilst almost carrying Haruka off the floor like a toddler... to go rape her.

@@AdamOwenBrowning so you're saying the game websites would freak out but it would still sell well cuz no one cares what those websites think. Also yes pedos are evil beyond evil but they existed. Most people aren't going to hate the devs for showing shit that's historically accurate. The ones that due are the people that don't play it. People also got over the that scene in yakuza 3. It's uncomfortable but makes sense it happened and shows that sajima despite being in prison for so long and supposedly killing 15 people is still a moral good person. Cuz killing 15 gang members is meh but sexually assaulting a child is evil. Japan does need to get better at dealing with sex crimes esp their pedo issue but it's a game that'll be rated m the rest of them. I don't see an issue. Also Japan can't handle western tropes that are considered childish in the west. The west isn't soft for thinking pedos are evil. This weird need to say everyone in the west is soft now is fucking stupid.

@@Kris-wo4pj Unironically yes, killing 15 gang members is more acceptable in our culture than raping a child. No, I am not saying that rag "gaming journos" would tank the series' reputation - I am saying that it is too graphic for the modern mainstream fan. They are OK with watching violence, but not sex between an old man and a ten year old. No, people didn't get over "that scene in Y3" that's why we both know exactly what we're talking about and that people got pissy about it, over 10 years later, without even needing to name it. Yes, people are too soft for Kenzan! and if you aren't offended by its themes, emulate it alongside me. Pedophilia is simply not depicted in video games - just as we don't commit pedophilia into film. Violence, sure. Gang violence, sure. Multiple murders around gang violence, yes. Pedophilia, no.

I sadly couldn’t get into like a dragon, idk if it was yakuza burn out or the new combat but I just couldn’t enjoy it :( story seems good though from what I played.

It's not the end you still have Lost judgment and by the time you play It yakuza 8 news Will probably drop out

@@pocketcircuitfighter6291 I played the judgment series already. Good games but I like the bombastic nature and political roller coaster of the mainline yakuza games. Judgment has them too but I guess for me at least Yakuza has more grit.

Welp 8 got announced with a kiryu spin off. Crazy how the main character of the series gets a spin off. And a remake of ishin. After binging these games I can say that they are getting my money for sure

@@q-tipps3854 We Yakuza fans are getting spoiled and eating well. I have no idea how RGG put out so many games while maintaining such a high level of quality

I played 7 first, just finished 0 and am starting Kiwami

you're welcome Dad

Im literally on the same journey as u bruh I just finished yakuza 0 and I started it about 2 months ago now I got the rest of the games to go wanted to start from the start of the game timeline and man it only gets better

It's interesting seeing someone around maybe half way or whatever through already putting it in their top 5. The game gets so much better as it keeps progressing. I was reduced to tears at one point.

I am so sorry you had to go through mahjong in all of those

@@AutumnRivers it was confusing at first but it’s not that bad once you sit down and learn it lol

Especially with Majima referencing it in two ("if you don't watch out he'll steal the pants right off ya")

To be fair the 4th styles kinda suck in the game. Like they feel like a novelty at best and outright unfinished at worst.

From what i remember majima's is really good. Super fast unblockable attacks. I remember basically exclusively using it once i unlocked it.

@@unnamed_protagonist same. Dragon style for kiryu is only good in the fact that you can limit break it to a broken level, but majimas mad dog move set is at least as good as his other 3

Problem is they kinda made a better version of Majima, and the "original" now just has me longing for how he was in Yakuza 0.

Sleeping Dogs... yeeeeesssss!

Its just a phase but it took me a year to get out from

I loved Yakuza 3, but I loved it DESPITE the combat lol. I appreciate that it was still early in the series’ life, but man it was so rough and tedious that it was just barely bearable for me.

And Ogita, Haruka's dance instructor from 5.

Just the shop itself and repairs. Only Majima can do the equipment searches