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What are the best gangster games?

10

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Considered

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Recs.

May 12, 2020

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Updated

10 Games Considered

Best gangster games	Price	Genre	Platform
-- Yakuza 0	$19.99	Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'em Up	PlayStation 4, Windows
-- Yakuza 6: The Song of Life	$59.99	Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'Em Up	PlayStation 4
-- Yakuza Kiwami 2	$59.99	Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up	-
-- Yakuza Kiwami	$29.99	Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'em Up	PlayStation 4
-- Yakuza 2	$38.99	Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up	-

Yakuza 0

Top Pro

Intriguing crime drama story with exciting twists and turns

Yakuza 0's story is genuinely gripping and well-written, showing the lengths people will go to in order to gain power and status or to protect the ones they care about. The story is set in 1980s Japan during a high point in the economy, with the plot kicking off with Kazuma Kiryu, a young twenty-something yakuza who gets caught up in his clan's internal battle to claim a lucrative plot of land in the middle of downtown Tokyo. He has a strong sense of honor to do what's right by his sworn yakuza family while getting to the bottom of the scheme against him from the higher-ups in his clan. And then the story shifts every two chapters to Goro Majima, who's the manager of a fancy cabaret club as a way to pay off his debt and get back into the yakuza. He soon gets thrown into an impossible situation where he has to murder someone for the first time to get back in the business, but this of course doesn't go as planned. The way Kiryu and Majima's stories intertwine and branch off from each other is filled with several shocking plot twists that feel natural and organic. It's definitely worth experiencing at least once. See More

Top Con

Graphics aren't that impressive

Yakuza 0 has weak textures, stiff character animations outside of cutscenes, and too many repeat copies of NPCs around the city. Invisible walls also block off the city's boundaries. Thankfully the characters and facial animations look great during story scenes, helping to make up for the poor visuals elsewhere. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza 0 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. You can hear your opponent's bones crushing as you smash your fist or foot into them, with successive hits building your heat gauge over time. Once your heat gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. The best part is getting to play as either Kiryu or Majima and experimenting with their different playstyles. Kiryu has three battle styles that he can switch between: Brawler, which is his standard and balanced style, Beast, his slower and tankier build that lets him charge up powerful attacks and carry the heaviest makeshift weapons like whole motorcyles, and Rush, his lightning-fast style with speedy chains and combos. Meanwhile, Majima has three completely different styles: Thug, his equivalent to Kiryu's Brawler, Slugger, a fun yet overpowered style where Majima wields a baseball bat like a sword and nunchaku, and Breaker, a cool style where Majima chains stylish breakdancing moves in succession to keep his enemies stunlocked. The combat here is intense and varied, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

Top Con

Starts off a bit slow

The first couple of hours or so are a little slow, with quite a few cutscenes that set up the story in between a tutorial for the controls. It's mixed in with decent exposition and a solid introduction to the characters as Kiryu spends the night out with his best friend Nishiki, so it's something of a slow burn that builds up to the more action-packed story. You need to know these foundations to help you appreciate the story, though, making the lengthier start a necessary evil. It's worth it for the rest of the story, so it pays off to stick with it and try to find some enjoyment. See More

Top Pro

Tons of side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza 0, with plenty of quality and polish to keep you entertained for hours. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. There are dozens of side quests, some of which land Kiryu and Majima in hilarious and wacky situations that never seem too far-fetched. And there are a bunch of other mini-games, like singing karaoke, bowling, golf, gambling at mahjong, "watching" racy videos, managing a cabaret club and a real estate business, disco dancing, and many more. It's hard to get bored with Yakuza 0's plethora side content. See More

Top Con

Not for players who dislike long, involved story cutscenes

If you don't like games that have a lot of story cutscenes, then Yakuza 0 might not be for you. The story shares the spotlight with the gameplay, so you can't really escape the long cutscenes that weave the narrative together, unless you decide to skip all of them. Even though the cutscenes are long, they make sense and they keep you engaged, though players who just aren't into this type of thing may get turned off regardless. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan

Yakuza 0 takes place in the districts of Kamurocho and Sotenbori, both of which are painstaking recreations of the actual Kabukicho and Dotenbori districts in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively. They're not huge locations, but they're packed with details that make them seem much larger. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho and Sotenbori are filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. The districts are realistic enough that they make you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Pro

Incredible English localization

Yakuza 0 is fully voiced in Japanese with an amazing English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Pro

Perfect for newcomers to the Yakuza series

If you've never played a Yakuza game before, this is the best place to start. Yakuza 0 is a prequel to the other games, and it assumes that you don't know who any of the existing characters are, so it introduces you to everyone in a way that's welcoming to new players. There are a lot of winks and nods to veterans of the series, but they're not done in a way that will confuse newcomers -- in fact, they add some replay value to the game since you can go back after playing the rest of the series in order to understand these little inclusions. This game also has one of the best stories and gameplay in the franchise, with the Yakuza staples of memorable characters, and wacky side stories mixed in with serious crime drama as you get to know Kiryu and Majima when they were younger. It's an excellent introduction to the Yakuza games as the best of the best of the franchise. See More

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

Top Pro

Improved graphics from the previous games

The jump in graphics from Yakuza 5 on the PlayStation 3 to Yakuza 6 on the PlayStation 4 is astounding, giving characters and locations more vibrant details than they had before. Kiryu in particular looks great, with just enough wrinkles on his face to show his age, along with protruding muscles and veins running down his arms that make him true-to life. The game's two main districts are also incredibly detailed, with Kamurocho's neon lights and bustling city life, and Onomichi's romantic view of the sea and cloudless skies at night. It's a stark contrast to the bland environmental textures and less-detailed character models from the previous games. The Dragon Engine improves on the graphical fidelity, making everything look incredible for the current generation. See More

Top Con

Noticeable animation issues with faces and combat

Even though the Dragon Engine significantly improves the graphics, the stiff facial animations and wonky combat animations are signs that the engine is still a work-in-progress. When characters speak during normal conversations, their mouths and jaws often don't move enough, making them look lifeless and robotic. It's not like this during dedicated CGI cutscenes where characters are much more expressive, but the difference is pretty noticeable. During combat, when you knock characters down or get knocked down yourself, there are a lot of weird ragdoll animations. Characters will crumple to the ground or flail about in ways that look lazy and unfinished. The Dragon Engine is beautiful for serious story moments and the open world, though it really needs some more work and polish in other areas. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'Em Up

Top Pro

Accessible for newcomers to the Yakuza series

With a cast of mostly brand new characters, a story that stands on its own, and helpful resources to help you get caught up on the previous games, Yakuza 6 is a fine entry for newcomers to the series. Other than Kiryu and Haruka, a large majority of the cast are introduced in this game, making the story self-contained with no need to know what happened before Yakuza 6. You won't feel the full emotional impact surrounding Kiryu and Haruka, but the story is written in a way to help you still care about what happens between them. The main menu also has brief recaps of the events from the first five Yakuza games, meaning you won't have to search around online to find them. If you've just recently become a fan of the series, or you're thinking about jumping in, this is a good place to start. See More

Top Con

Most of the beloved characters from the series are absent

Longtime Yakuza fans may be disappointed to find that most of the characters that they know and love are largely absent from the story. These characters are the backbone of the series that's been around since the mid-2000s, so it's bizarre to not see them feature for Kiryu's final game. If you're a newcomer to the series, this won't be much of a problem for you, and actually makes the story easier for you to follow since there are mostly brand-new characters here. However, dedicated Yakuza fans will more than likely miss seeing the old gang around, possibly souring their experience with the game. See More

Top Pro

Incredible English localization

Yakuza 6 is fully voiced in Japanese with an amazing English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Con

Disappointing ending for Kiryu's final sendoff

Because this is Kiryu's final game in the series as the main protagonist, it's both disappointing and heart-breaking that he doesn't get the proper sendoff he deserves. All of the plot points are resolved by the end and wrapped up with finality, and yet this comes at the cost of Kiryu not getting proper closure. The writers should have gone a different route to give both Kiryu and Yakuza fans a more satisfying ending, because what's here is far too crippling to be an acceptable end to the Dragon of Dojima's saga. See More

Top Pro

Tons of high-quality side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza 6, with plenty of quality and polish to keep you entertained for hours. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. For the mini-games, you can play old SEGA arcade games like Fantasy Zone and Out Run, sing karaoke songs, have drinks and flirt with beautiful women at a hostess club, play full games of baseball, have a sexy video chat at an internet cafe, work out at a gym, and so much more. As one of the standout mini-games, working out at the gym pairs you with a personal trainer who guides you through workouts and a meal program. The video chats are pretty realistic too, with actual video footage of real-life women stripping for you and other people in chat who have hilarious X-rated usernames. The side quests are wacky and unique, standing out from the more serious main story missions. While wandering around Onomichi's graveyard, you'll get attacked by ghosts that you have to fend off, branching off into more mini stories from there. If you explore Kamurocho's buildings, you'll find a niche cafe that the owner wants to populate with cats for customers to hang out with, so it's your job to find stray cats and feed them, and then get them over to the cafe. There's also an optional Clan Creator game with its own storyline, where Kiryu assembles a band of specialized fighters for his own clan, with detailed strategic play similar to a real-time strategy game. With so much variety, it's hard to get bored with Yakuza 6's plethora side content that could take up an entirely separate game See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan

Yakuza 6 takes place in two very different districts, Kamurocho and Onomichi, both of which are painstaking recreations of actual locations in Japan for you to explore. Neither of the locations are all that big, yet they're still packed with details that make the districts seem much larger than they actually are. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho is the red light district of Tokyo, filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. By contrast, the sleepy seafaring town of Onomichi is set in Hiroshima, with activities like spearfishing and drawing fortunes at the temple, peaceful venues for sightseeing, and nice touches like statues scattered around town that are engraved with thoughtful poetry. While the districts themselves aren't necessarily huge, they're so realistic that they make you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Pro

Nuanced and thought-provoking story about the bonds of family

Yakuza 6's subtitle, The Song of Life, is a clever thematic reference to the ways that the story explores the meaning of family in non-traditional ways. The main protagonist Kiryu doesn't have any living relatives, yet his father-daughter bond with the young woman named Haruka is a mainstay of the story and the series. In Yakuza 6, Haruka finds herself caught up in the middle of a yakuza war, and Kiryu is determined to protect her no matter the cost. Kiryu also struggles to come to grips with the decisions Haruka makes and the circumstances she finds herself in, prompting the player to wonder how they might react if their own daughter were in a similar situation. He also forms strong familial bonds with his yakuza brothers who fight for him and for Haruka, showing that the underworld syndicate isn't just about crime and intrigue, but also about finding a family among other outcasts of society. Seeing the lengths Kiryu will go to protect his family is a moving experience that almost anyone can find strength in. See More

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza 6 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. Each punch and kick you throw out builds up a certain gauge for you to pull off special moves, and you can use items in your environment as weapons against your opponents in punishing ways. You can hear your opponent's bones crushing as you smash your fist or foot into them, with successive hits building your heat gauge over time. Once your heat gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. Or you can choose to enter Extreme Heat Mode where your body glows with a cool blue aura as you throw out a flurry of swinging punches, culminating into a close-up where you can mash a button prompt as you break your fist through your enemy's jaw. The combat here is intense, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

Yakuza Kiwami 2

Top Pro

Mature crime drama with a strong main villain

The story in Yakuza Kiwami 2 is one of the best in the franchise. It starts off with a flashback to the 1980s where the Korean mafia gets wiped out, and a policeman arrives on the scene, helping the dead leader's wife with a young child. That type of humanity shows itself throughout the plot, where the villains and the protagonists are never quite black and white. This shows itself again when the protagonist Kiryu gets taken into protective custody by a fiery Osakan cop named Kaoru, who hates the yakuza, but eventually falls for Kiryu as she gets to know him. The powerful and charismatic villain, Ryuji Goda, also acts as a perfect foil to the honorable and stoic Kiryu, with their fights testing the strength of will between rivals. Learning about Ryuji's and Kaoru's motivations and discovering the true details of what happened with the Korean mafia gives the plot plenty of twists and turns. See More

Top Con

Feels soulless compared to the original Yakuza 2

Yakuza Kiwami 2 has a nice, shiny coat of paint for modern audiences, but it lost something from the original game during the remake. The tangible dark and shady atmosphere from the PlayStation 2 version isn't here, replaced with a soulless, sterile purity. Losing the old soundtrack with the hard-hitting rock and trip-hop tracks in favor of electronica music is another negative. While it's great that new players get to experience Yakuza 2 for the first time, longtime Yakuza vets may miss out on a lot of nostalgia, preferring to stick with the original game. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza Kiwami 2 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. Each punch and kick you throw out builds up a certain gauge for you to pull off special moves, and you can use items in your environment as weapons against your opponents in punishing ways. You can hear your opponent's bones crushing as you smash your fist or foot into them, with successive hits building your heat gauge over time. Once your heat gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. The combat here is intense, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

Top Con

Too many melodramatic story twists and events in the finale

The story is mostly pretty good up until the end where things fall apart. Way too many reveals happen here with the villains, padding the finale with cutscenes filled with people talking and talking, giving away their true motivations, and taking forever to get to the point. The added melodrama surrounding the events during the final chapter is also way too much, like a bad, hokey Hollywood movie, pulling you out of any suspension of disbelief you might have still had left. The writers could have done with some serious editing here to keep things in line. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan

Yakuza Kiwami 2 takes place in the districts of Kamurocho and Sotenbori, both of which are painstaking recreations of the actual Kabukicho and Dotenbori districts in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively. They're not huge locations, but they're packed with details that make them seem much larger. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho and Sotenbori are filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. The districts are realistic enough that they make you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Con

Cut content from Yakuza 2

While Yakuza Kiwami 2 added content, like Kiryu managing a cabaret club, and fan favorite Goro Majima getting his own short playable campaign, there's also content that's missing. An entire area connected to Sotenbori is gone, with the story events there relocated and jumbled around. The substories from that cut area are gone as well. It's unclear why the devs made these cuts, but they take away from the game for longtime fans of the series. See More

Top Pro

Tons of side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza Kiwami 2, with plenty of quality and polish to keep you entertained for hours. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. There are dozens of side quests, some of which land Kiryu in hilarious and wacky situations that never seem too far-fetched. And there are a bunch of other mini-games, like singing karaoke, bowling, golf, gambling at mahjong, "watching" racy videos, managing a cabaret club, and many more. It's hard to get bored with Yakuza Kiwami 2's plethora of side content. See More

Top Con

Noticeable animation issues during combat

Even though the Dragon Engine significantly improves the graphics over the original Yakuza 2, the wonky combat animations are signs that the engine is still a work-in-progress. During combat, when you knock characters down or get knocked down yourself, there are a lot of weird ragdoll animations. Characters crumple to the ground or flail about in ways that look lazy and unfinished. The Dragon Engine is beautiful for serious story moments and the open world, though it really needs some more work and polish during the battle segments. See More

Top Pro

Incredible English localization

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is fully voiced in Japanese with an amazing English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Con

Annoying cliches with the love story

Kiryu and Kaoru's love story is nice for the most part, but it's really predictable. If you're seen any typical romance movie or read a romance novel, you will more than likely know how the two fall for each other. The love story doesn't change the overall plot in any meaningful way or add to it, either; it's just there for entertainment. See More

Yakuza Kiwami

Top Pro

New cutscenes add more depth to the main antagonist

In the original Yakuza 1, Nishiki's change from Kiryu's best friend to a cold-hearted villain didn't feel natural, but new scenes in Yakuza Kiwami flesh out this transformation. The cutscenes give more context and background on why Nishiki made such a drastic change, portraying him in a sympathetic light that helps the player understand him more. It helps a lot to see his sorrows and his struggles against his own subordinates in the yakuza who disrespect him, as well as his resentment toward his superiors who think he'll never live up to Kiryu. See More

Top Con

Graphics aren't impressive

Yakuza Kiwami looks like it could have been a PS3 game with weak textures, stiff character animations outside of cutscenes, and too many repeat copies of NPCs around the city. Invisible walls also block off the city's boundaries. Thankfully the characters and facial animations look great during story scenes, helping to make up for the poor visuals elsewhere. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Great amount of side content

In between story missions, Kiryu is mostly free to run around the city and engage in optional side quests or mini games. Side quests in Yakuza Kiwami mostly deal with various shady characters trying to scam Kiryu out of his money, like a supposed loan collector who calls his cell phone and demands that he pay up or get beaten up, and a thuggish guy collecting toll money on a street and also threatening to fight Kiryu if he doesn't pay. Mini games can be found in the SEGA arcades, like the classic UFO catcher, or elsewhere at the mahjong parlor, the shogi building, the karaoke parlor and much more. See More

Top Con

Majima Everywhere system is annoying

The Majima Everywhere system features the fan favorite character Goro Majima who sneaks up on Kiryu around the city and challenges him to random fights. It's an amusing idea at first, with Majima hiding in giant cones or manholes and popping out to surprise the player. But sometimes these encounters are too frequent, and they can go on for too long as Majima gains more health. See More

Top Pro

Memorable cast of characters

You'll encounter a diverse batch of characters in Yakuza Kiwami, like Kiryu's childhood friend Nishiki who goes down a dark path that changes him, creating an intriguing drama throughout the story. There's also Haruka, a determined young girl who is looking for her mother, and ends up forming a strong bond with Kiryu as he tries to protect her from the yakuza who want to harm her. Goro Majima, one of the antagonists, is a foil to Kiryu in how wild and unhinged he is, often throwing a wrench into the game's story with his over-the-top antics when you least expect them, such as driving a truck straight through a building. It's easy to grow attached to the cast in Yakuza Kiwami and want to follow their stories throughout the rest of the games in the series. For players who jumped into the franchise with Yakuza 0, they'll have even more backstory on these characters and their struggles in this installment. See More

Top Con

Boss battles are cheap

Getting stunlocked during boss battles is all too common in Yakuza Kiwami, like when the enemy uses a weapon to constantly hit you over and over. There's also an infamous battle against two gang leaders who enjoy knocking Kiryu to the ground again and again, leaving little room for recovering or dodging. Even if you love the game's story, these annoying fights could be a deal-breaker, especially on harder difficulties. See More

Top Pro

Compelling story

Yakuza Kiwami tells the story of Kiryu getting dismissed from the yakuza, only to get swept right back into their world once his loved ones are in trouble. As he tries to find out what happened to his love interest, Yumi, he meets Haruka, and learns to care for her as if she were his own daughter. While protecting Haruka from the yakuza who target her, Kiryu discovers more about how she and Yumi are both connected to a larger crime of ten billion yen that's gone missing from the crime syndicate, all the while his best friend Nishiki pulls strings from the shadows. Overall, the story leans successfully on its memorable characters and Kiryu's attachments to them. Finding out what happened to the missing ten billion yen also includes figuring out why Nishiki went down such a dark path, finding Yumi, and keeping Haruka safe. It's compelling to play through the game and discover these answers while also getting to know the characters more along the way. See More

Yakuza 2

Top Pro

Mature crime drama with a strong main villain

The story in Yakuza 2 is one of the best in the franchise. It starts off with a flashback to the 1980s where the Korean mafia gets wiped out, and a policeman arrives on the scene, helping the dead leader's wife with a young child. That type of humanity shows itself throughout the plot, where the villains and the protagonists are never quite black and white. This shows itself again when the protagonist Kiryu gets taken into protective custody by a fiery Osakan cop named Kaoru, who hates the yakuza, but eventually falls for Kiryu as she gets to know him. The powerful and charismatic villain, Ryuji Goda, also acts as a perfect foil to the honorable and stoic Kiryu, with their fights testing the strength of will between rivals. Learning about Ryuji's and Kaoru's motivations and discovering the true details of what happened with the Korean mafia gives the plot plenty of twists and turns. See More

Top Con

Too many melodramatic story twists and events in the finale

The story is mostly pretty good up until the end where things fall apart. Way too many reveals happen here with the villains, padding the finale with cutscenes filled with people talking and talking, giving away their true motivations, and taking forever to get to the point. The added melodrama surrounding the events during the final chapter is also way too much, like a bad, hokey Hollywood movie, pulling you out of any suspension of disbelief you might have still had left. The writers could have done with some serious editing here to keep things in line. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza 2 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. Each punch and kick you throw out builds up a certain gauge for you to pull off special moves, and you can use items in your environment as weapons against your opponents in punishing ways. Once your gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. The combat here is intense, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

Top Con

The game hasn't aged that well

Even though Yakuza 2 innovates in the story it tells and the themes it tackles -- at least for its time back in the mid-2000s -- certain issues make it hard to go back and enjoy the game properly these days. The graphics are muddy and not all that pleasing to look at, and the beat 'em up fighting gameplay -- while a fun improvement over Yakuza 1 -- is still stiff and repetitive. There's also a lot of stuttering while running around the cities, with the game going through a mini loading process and the camera swinging to a separate angle each time you go down a separate street. Yakuza 2 was certainly ambitious for its time, though you may want to consider playing Yakuza Kiwami 2 -- the remake of this game -- if you're not keen on going back to a PlayStation 2 title. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan with a dark atmosphere

Yakuza 2 takes place in the districts of Kamurocho and Sotenbori, both of which are painstaking recreations of the actual Kabukicho and Dotenbori districts in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively. They're not huge locations, but they're packed with details that make them seem much larger. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho and Sotenbori are filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. The dark tint over the locations also gives the game more of a serious and mature atmosphere, grounding you in the world in a memorable way. Even for a PlayStation 2 game, the districts are realistic and tangible enough that they make you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Con

Annoying cliches with the love story

Kiryu and Kaoru's love story is nice for the most part, but it's really predictable. If you're seen any typical romance movie or read a romance novel, you will more than likely know how the two fall for each other. The love story doesn't change the overall plot in any meaningful way or add to it, either; it's just there for entertainment. See More

Top Pro

Cool soundtrack with a blend of rock, jazz, and trip-hop influences

The music is perfect for setting the mood in tone for cutscenes and fights. It's such a unique sound, mashing up hard-hitting rock tunes with jazz or trip-hop mixes to give certain songs more of an urban feel, like the standouts "North Menace" and "Block Head Boy". "Unrest" is a great ethereal and unsettling track that plays while exploring Kamurocho and Sotenbori during tense story missions, fitting right in with the dark atmosphere of the cities. "A Scattered Moment" is the best theme for Ryuji and Kiryu that plays during a certain fight, with s softer start that gradually grows in complexity, showing that the two characters are equals who understand each other, but they must fight because of their opposing views. It's such a great soundtrack overall, and one that you could easily listen to and enjoy even outside of the game. See More

Top Pro

Good English localization

Yakuza 2 is fully voiced in Japanese with a good English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Pro

Tons of side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza 2, with plenty of quality and polish to keep you entertained for hours. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. There are dozens of side quests, some of which land Kiryu in hilarious and wacky situations that never seem too far-fetched. And there are a bunch of other mini-games, like singing karaoke, bowling, golf, gambling at mahjong, "watching" racy videos, and many more. It's hard to get bored with Yakuza 2's plethora side content. See More

Yakuza

Top Pro

Memorable cast of characters

You'll encounter a diverse batch of characters in Yakuza, like Kiryu's childhood friend Nishiki who goes down a dark path that changes him, creating an intriguing drama throughout the story. There's also Haruka, a determined young girl who is looking for her mother, and ends up forming a strong bond with Kiryu as he tries to protect her from the yakuza who want to harm her. Goro Majima, one of the antagonists, is a foil to Kiryu in how wild and unhinged he is, often throwing a wrench into the game's story with his over-the-top antics when you least expect them, such as driving a truck straight through a building. It's easy to grow attached to the cast in Yakuza and want to follow their stories throughout the rest of the games in the series. For players who jumped into the franchise with Yakuza 0, they'll have even more backstory on these characters and their struggles in this installment. See More

Top Con

The game hasn't aged that well

Even though Yakuza innovates in the story it tells and the themes it tackles -- at least for its time back in the mid-2000s -- certain issues make it hard to go back and enjoy the game properly these days. The graphics are muddy and not all that pleasing to look at, and the beat 'em up fighting gameplay is stiff and repetitive. There's also a lot of stuttering while running around the city, with the game going through a mini loading process and the camera swinging to a separate angle each time you go down a separate street. Yakuza was certainly ambitious for its time, though you may want to consider playing Yakuza Kiwami -- the remake of this game -- if you're not keen on going back to a PlayStation 2 title. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Compelling story

Yakuza tells the story of Kiryu getting dismissed from the yakuza, only to get swept right back into their world once his loved ones are in trouble. As he tries to find out what happened to his love interest, Yumi, he meets Haruka, and learns to care for her as if she were his own daughter. While protecting Haruka from the yakuza who target her, Kiryu discovers more about how she and Yumi are both connected to a larger crime of ten billion yen that's gone missing from the crime syndicate, all the while his best friend Nishiki pulls strings from the shadows. Overall, the story leans successfully on its memorable characters and Kiryu's attachments to them. Finding out what happened to the missing ten billion yen also includes figuring out why Nishiki went down such a dark path, finding Yumi, and keeping Haruka safe. It's compelling to play through the game and discover these answers while also getting to know the characters more along the way. See More

Top Con

Laughably bad English localization

The localization is really awful. This is the only game in the series with English voice acting, but they messed it up so badly that the developer and publisher decided to keep the Japanese voice overs from Yakuza 2 onward. While the characters' actual voices are okay, featuring some strong talent, the actual voice direction is painful to listen to, sounding a lot like a cheap action movie. They botched the translation from Japanese to English, adding excess swear words to sound tough or cool, but they just come off as comical, and not in a good way. This is another reason why you may want to pick up Yakuza Kiwami instead, since the remake has the Japanese voices and English subtitles. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan with a dark atmosphere

Yakuza takes place in the district of Kamurocho, a painstaking recreation of the actual Kabukicho district in Japan. It's not a huge location, but it's packed with details that make it seem much larger. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho is the red light district of Tokyo, filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. The dark tint over the city also gives the game more of a serious and mature atmosphere, grounding you in the world in a memorable way. Even for a PlayStation 2 game, it's realistic enough that it makes you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Pro

Great amount of side content

In between story missions, Kiryu is mostly free to run around the city and engage in optional side quests or mini games. Side quests in Yakuza mostly deal with various shady characters trying to scam Kiryu out of his money, like a supposed loan collector who calls his cell phone and demands that he pay up or get beaten up, and a thuggish guy collecting toll money on a street and also threatening to fight Kiryu if he doesn't pay. Mini games can be found in the SEGA arcades, like the classic UFO catcher, or elsewhere at the mahjong parlor, the shogi building, the karaoke parlor and much more. See More

Yakuza 4

Top Pro

Pretty good English localization

Yakuza 4 is fully voiced in Japanese with a great English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Con

Takes a while to get going at the start

The beginning of the game is pretty boring. It's slow and takes quite some time to get to the point. You spend a lot of time as Akiyama going to and fro around Kamurocho, networking and setting the stage for the drama to come. The pacing gets better once he stumbles onto the first big conflict, but you'll have to get to that part first. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Tons of side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza 4. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. Playing as Akiyama, you can manage a hostess club where you dress up the girls in makeup and outfits and have them earn money for your business. You can also visit the club as a regular customer and chat with the hostesses. And there are a bunch of other mini-games, like singing karaoke, playing old SEGA arcade games, gambling games like mahjong, practicing at a batting range, and many more. It's hard to get bored with Yakuza 4's plethora side content. See More

Top Con

Playing as the four characters messes with the overall story pacing

Even though you get to see the plot from different perspectives, the length of the story restricts how much you get to experience. By the time you get used to playing as one character, getting to know them and possibly getting attached to them, it's time to move on to the next person. You won't be able to play as that character again until the finale, and then again after the story during the free roam section. It's quite jarring and doesn't give you enough time to really connect with each individual character. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan

Yakuza 4 takes place in the district of Kamurocho, a painstaking recreation of the actual Kabukicho district in Japan. It's not a huge location, but it's packed with details that make it seem much larger. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho is the red light district of Tokyo, filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. It's so realistic that it makes you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Con

Convoluted story with dumb and amateur plot twists

The story in Yakuza 4 is a mess. While it's entertaining and interesting for the most part, the plot twists rely on the characters wearing "stupid hats" and getting fooled by the villains. There are some really dumb explanations for certain events as well, pulling you out of the experience. It's clear that the writers wrote the story for the entertainment value first and foremost, coming up with the logic behind things later on as an afterthought. Still, it's worth playing through to get to know the characters and see how they interact together. See More

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza 4 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. The four characters all have their own unique fighting style, like how Saejima has slower, heavier charge-up attacks, and Tanimura is much quicker with strategic takedown moves. Each punch and kick you throw out builds up a certain gauge for you to pull off special moves, and you can use items in your environment as weapons against your opponents in punishing ways. You can hear your opponent's bones crushing as you smash your fist or foot into them, with successive hits building your heat gauge over time. Once your heat gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. The combat here is intense, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

Top Pro

Playing as the four characters lets you see different story perspectives

The crime drama in Yakuza 4 feels broader thanks to the four points of view you see the story through. Akiyama is the first character you play as: he's a charismatic businessman who seems to keep finding trouble through his associates who are tied to the yakuza. Saejima is a tough and stoic yakuza who's initially in prison; you escape the facility and return to Tokyo in search of his yakuza family, but he also gets caught up in the same drama as Akiyama. Tanimura is a young cop who doesn't mind letting a few crimes slide here and there, though he can't turn a blind eye to the corruption going on in the police force surrounding the yakuza. And then there's longtime series protagonist and ex-yakuza Kiryu who ties everything together by helping everyone out as a true ally. Everyone's stories come together nicely by the end in a way that feels satisfying, especially as they work as a team to stop the villains. See More

Yakuza 3

Top Pro

Iconic main character

Kazuma Kiryu is the beloved protagonist of the Yakuza series: a hardened gangster known as the legendary Dragon of Dojima with a heart of gold. Following Kiryu's journey from Yakuza 0 as he struggled to stay alive among the crime syndicate through to Yakuza 3, where he is older and wiser, pursuing his dream of raising children at his old orphanage, is an amazing way of watching a character grow throughout a series. Whether Kiryu is beating up goons in the street or starring in an action samurai flick as part of a side quest, he always feels authentic and honest. See More

Top Con

Graphics are dated

Releasing at a time when Final Fantasy XIII showed off Square-Enix's over-dedication to presentation and polish, Yakuza 3 feels like it lags behind in the technical department. Riddled with invisible walls, stiff walking and running animations, and bland textures, the graphics are serviceable, if not downright poor for its time. Cutscenes are beautifully animated with great lighting and effects, but beyond that, there are better looking games from this console generation. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure

Top Pro

Unique story

It's not every day that we get to play a game as an ex-yakuza who tries to balance caring for his children at an orphanage with uncovering the mysteries behind an intricate crime drama. The kids are also a joy to hang around and feel like real people, even more than the main cast of adult characters. Yakuza 3's story is unlike anything else, alternating between getting to know the children and helping raise them and getting to the bottom of the latest complicated mess with the yakuza. See More

Top Con

Story isn't as strong as previous titles

Though the story is unique, many can argue that Yakuza 1, and especially Yakuza 2, are much stronger plot-wise. After the original writer from the first two games departed, the one who took over largely riffs off of the same story beats from the previous two without innovating and expanding on them. Yakuza 3 feels familiar, and not in a good way, but different enough with its focus on the orphanage. See More

Top Pro

Incredible amount of side content

Featuring over 100 side quests that range from helping an entrepreneur create a new brand of instant ramen to getting to know hostess women and taking them out on dates, and dozens of mini-games such as classic SEGA arcade games, batting practice, karaoke, pool, golf, and much more, there are hours upon hours worth of content in Yakuza 3. Kiryu is largely free to explore this side content as a break from the main story whenever he wishes, or the player can choose to tackle everything after the credits through the free-roam mode called Premium Adventure. See More

Top Pro

Satisfying beat-em-up combat

The brawler fighting gameplay is both brutal and funny, with Kiryu able to throw out damaging punches and kicks that sends opponents flying. Heat Moves, which are specialized actions available when the Heat meter is full, add extra layers to the combat where Kiryu can slam a bike down on an opponent and jump on them, twisting his foot into the bad guy to the audible sounds of bones cracking. Fights at higher difficulties can feel stunted with enemies auto-blocking a lot of the time, increasing the need for maneuvering around them to hit their backs. See More

Yakuza 5

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza 5 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. The four characters all have their own unique fighting style, like how Saejima has slower, heavier charge-up attacks, and Shinada specializes in using various weapons. Each punch and kick you throw out builds up a certain gauge for you to pull off special moves, and you can use items in your environment as weapons against your opponents in punishing ways. You can hear your opponent's bones crushing as you smash your fist or foot into them, with successive hits building your heat gauge over time. Once your heat gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. The combat here is intense, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

Top Con

Convoluted story with dumb and amateur plot twists

The story in Yakuza 5 is a mess. While it's entertaining and interesting for the most part, the plot twists rely on the characters wearing "stupid hats" and getting fooled by the villains. It starts off strong with Kiryu separated from Haruka and clearly missing her as she lives her own life as a rising pop star in Osaka, but things eventually spiral out of control. There are some really dumb explanations for certain events as well, pulling you out of the experience. It's clear that the writers wrote the story for the entertainment value first and foremost, coming up with the logic behind things later on as an afterthought. Still, it's worth playing through to get to know the characters and see how they interact together. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Pretty good English localization

Yakuza 5 is fully voiced in Japanese with a great English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Con

Playing as the five characters messes with the overall story pacing

Even though you get to play as five separate characters, this makes the story drag on for far too long. This is the opposite problem from Yakuza 4, where the plot was too short and you had to move on from each of the four characters too quickly; this time, there's too much unnecessary padding in nearly everyone's sequences. The only exception is Haruka, whose story section is balanced out quite well, though she has to share her story and gameplay parts with Akiyama. You may feel fatigued by the time you get to the end, what with so much to keep track of and so many plot details that have to sort themselves out in the finale. See More

Top Pro

Tons of side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza 5. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. Playing as Haruka, you can do jobs as an idol, performing pop songs for audiences, doing PR events and getting to know her fans, and practicing in the studio for her high profile gig at the Princess League singing competition. The rhythm game mechanics for her dances are quite fun and act as a refreshing breather from the usual beat 'em up gameplay. Playing as the guys, you can do a variety of activities that Haruka isn't old enough to do, like going out drinking, visiting hostess clubs, etc. And there are a bunch of other mini-games, like singing karaoke, playing old SEGA arcade games, gambling games like mahjong, poker, and blackjack, practicing at a batting range, racing chickens as Shinada, going hunting atop a snowy mountain as Saejima, and many more. It's hard to get bored with Yakuza 5's plethora side content; in terms of things to do, this is easily the biggest and most ambitious game in the series. See More

Top Con

Shinada is useless as the fifth character

The ex-baseball pro who's an unreliable, flaky sex club journalist sounds cool on paper, but Shinada is not a good character for this game. His relation to the plot is forced and ham-fisted in for the sake of having a fifth character for Yakuza 5, since his reasons for joining the cast's plight are shaky at best. He also has the worst fighting style out of the guys, with weak combos that rely entirely on him using a weapon of some sort to be halfway decent. He could have been left out completely and it wouldn't have affected the story all that much. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan

Yakuza 5 is huge, taking place in five very different districts across Japan, as painstaking recreations of the actual districts in real life. Individually, they're not huge, but they're packed with details that make them seem much larger. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho is the red light district of Tokyo, filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. There's also Sotenbori located in Osaka, with all the huge buildings, glittering advertisements, and plenty of spots to fish in the river running through the area. The other three locations -- Nagasugai, Kineicho, and Tsukimino -- all offer different vibes and spots to hang out and explore, each with their own different restaurants, mini-games, and shops. They're so realistic that they make you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Con

Exploring cities can get annoying due to frequent fights and bothersome NPCs

It's a pain to run around each of the cities sometimes. The random encounters from various thugs and yakuza who want to fight you happen way too frequently. After you get through one fight, you turn a corner and there's another guy who wants to beat you up. Navigating the busy streets is also frustrating because of the NPCs walking around; you can't "walk through them". Your character model collides and bumps into everyone in your path, slowing you down unless you run through the streets all the time. Thankfully, there's an accessory you can earn and equip to get rid of encounters altogether, and you can take taxis for fast travel instead of running everywhere. Or if you don't find the accessory and you want to avoid fights, you can play as Haruka, since she doesn't fight at all and won't be bothered by thugs. See More

Top Pro

Playing as the five characters lets you see different story perspectives

The crime drama in Yakuza 5 feels broader thanks to the five points of view you see the story through. You start off as longtime series protagonist Kiryu who's escaped the yakuza business in Tokyo to live a quiet life in Fukuoka, though he inevitably gets caught back up into the crime world. You then play as Saejima, the tough and stoic yakuza who's back in prison again, escaping with his friend to go help save his sworn yakuza brother, Majima, from a mysterious scheme. For the first time in the series, you then get to play as Haruka, Kiryu's sixteen-year-old adoptive daughter, who's living her life as a rising pop star in Osaka. She can't be associated with Kiryu, since he used to be a criminal yakuza, but their lives eventually intertwine once more throughout the drama. Akiyama, the charismatic businessman from Yakuza 4, is back to help Haruka through her struggles with the corruption she faces in the music industry. And then there's Shinada who rounds up the cast of five playable characters: an ex-baseball pro who winds up tying all of these threads together by the end. Everyone's stories come together nicely by the end in a way that feels satisfying, especially as they work as a team to stop the villains for Kiryu and Haruka's sake as a family. See More

Mafia III

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

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