The Complete Yakuza Series Experience – Kiryu Kazuma and Me!
(Huge spoilers for the Yakuza series below.)
As the final credits roll at the end of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the epilogue film finished, it brings to a close pretty much the last time any Yakuza game that will feature Kiryu Kazuma as the main protagonist. Although not actually dead, Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima, the 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan, and the man who pushed through with the disbandment of all Yakuza clans, dying of cancer, in a wheelchair, looks extremely gaunt and old in the very last scene of the game. Of course, this is the video game world, and he could make an appearance as a wizened old sage type character in future games, but as a mainline character, he’s done.
No more will we play as Kiryu. After being featured in 12 mainline Yakuza games (including the zombie game I’ve never felt the need to play) and being put out to pasture, the question then begs: Where does Ryu Ga Gotoku go from here? Is putting to rest the character and very reason you have been a successful company for the last 20 years a good idea? To answer that, we have to go through the story and my personal journey with Kiryu from the first Yakuza to Infinite Wealth.
I didn’t like it.
The first time I played the first Yakuza game on my PS3, it felt and looked like a poor version of Grand Theft Auto. I didn’t particularly like GTA either, so I put the game down and never thought of it again. Looking back, I don’t think I even made it to the first cinematic.
However, after playing another SEGA game, Binary Domain, and being impressed with the visuals and storytelling of that game, I decided to give the Yakuza series another go on my PS4 when the HD remake, Yakuza Kiwami, arrived in a sale. This time, I DID make it to the first cutscenes, and quite honestly, I’ve been hooked ever since.
The order in which I played the series, as well as the years in which I played each game, is thus:
Yakuza – 2017
Yakuza 0 – 2018
Yakuza 2 – 2018
Yakuza 3 – 2020
Yakuza 4 – 2020
Yakuza 5 – 2022
Like a Dragon: Ishin! – 2023
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name – 2023
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life – 2025
Yakuza: Like a Dragon – 2025
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth – 2025
Also, throw into this list
Judgment – 2019
Lost Judgment – 2025
I’ve spent approximately 650 to 700 hours playing these games, and the question I get asked a lot is, why do I like them so much? Why do I bang on to anyone that will listen about why I think the Yakuza series is, in my opinion, one of the greatest gaming series of all time? Why do I rate Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio as one of the best developers in modern history?
There are two reasons for this, and both are what I look for in any game. Does it have a good story and characters? Is it fun to play? One of the key points a lot of modern games simply don’t appreciate or think about anymore is: Does it remember it’s a game and do bat shit crazy stuff to entertain?
Yakuza games do all of this and then some! The main thing for me, though, is the hook of the stories and the characters that go with them. Every entry in the series had a unique story that found its way under my skin to make me think about the characters and what they might do, even when I wasn’t playing. Most of that, obviously, centered around Kiryu.
Kiryu himself always seemed to be a reluctant hero that didn’t really want to get involved in the issues of the criminal underworld but got dragged in anyway. This showed a side of Kiryu that gave him depth. He wasn’t just a thug, he was a thug with a justified cause to right a wrong. Be that friendship or family, he was smashing faces in for the good of the cause!
The thing that really caught my attention was the quality of the writing and the direction of the cutscenes. A Yakuza story is worth watching like a Netflix crime drama series. Admittedly, at times, the stories were so deep and convoluted that I lost track of what was really going on. During those times, it didn’t matter. I knew that whoever Kiyru was trying to smash would be on the bad side, and I’d just go with it. When the stories did make sense, they were utterly gripping (most of the time). The acting from everyone was fantastic. Side characters even became as interesting as the main ones.
For the first seven games, we did see a little tenderness from Kiryu from time to time, but for the most part, you could tell he was being a badass and holding it together to carry the burden for someone else. Finally, though, that barrier broke. At the end of The Main Who Erased His Name, the barrier Kiryu had put up to protect himself from his emotions from the previous seven games…it broke, and it broke in a BIG way.
All that toughness, the suffering, the roles he had reluctantly taken through all that time and all those games, came crashing down because of a recorded video. That video was taken in secret at his apparent grave. The kids he did everything for talked to the screen to tell them how much he had meant to him all that time. He, like me, cried like a baby as all the emotion of his journey came out at that point. Kiryu had a soft side, that side being the kids, HIS kids at the orphanage he was trying to raise.
I honestly regard this scene as not only worth playing the previous seven games to understand its significance, but also as one of the best gaming scenes in history. It’s right up there with moments like that prologue scene from The Last of Us or the infamous “No Russian” scene from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The power and emotion in this one scene alone is incredible.
Kiryu’s story didn’t finish there, though, as he was given one last mission that intertwined with the introduction of Ichiban Kasuga’s game, Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The culmination of Kiryu’s story finishes, side-by-side, with Kasuga in the last game of the series, Infinite Wealth.
Infinite Wealth, to be honest, was more of a farewell tour for Kiryu than anything else (you literally visit spots in the game to trigger memories of incidents and people for Kiryu!). During that game, Kiryu passes the proverbial baton onto Kasuga. He is dying of cancer and realizes he can’t go on forever. It’s not the best game in the series, especially if you haven’t played any other Yakuza games, as the majority of the story will be lost and ineffective for you. Even so, it’s still a great game if you have followed the series up to this point.
Of all the games, the one I enjoyed the most was Yakuza Kiwami 2, closely followed by Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. I know a lot of fans regard Yakuza 0 as the pinnacle, and it’s good, but I felt Kiryu and RGG Studio really hit their stride with what the Yakuza series was all about in Yakuza Kiwami 2.
The game I liked the least was Yakuza 5. This was because you spend so much of the game NOT playing as Kiryu. Although it was a nice change of pace to play as the other characters, their stays far exceeded their welcomes.
What is it about Kiryu that I like so much? The answer to that is: “The same way I like Kratos from God of War. He’s a no-nonsense, tough as nails, going to kick your arse kind of guy. But actually, if you look deep enough, he’s a big softy at heart but too afraid to show it, wanna’ be Dad! I love how Kiryu in the series is also unapologetically a chain-smoking, chain-drinking, face-smashing machine! He is completely flawed, but much like the old James Bond character, THAT is what makes him interesting. If after a mission, Kiryu drank a coffee latte, went to the gym and talked about his feelings, it would be utterly boring. What you actually get is someone who prefers to down a whisky at any opportunity, gets his fitness in by throwing people groin first into lampposts, and then unwinds some more by spending a fortune lusting after women at a hostess club. In short, he’s stayed true to his character after all this time and sticks out like a sore thumb to his modern day “safe” counterparts.
But, this has caused a huge problem for RGG Studio now that they are trying to move off from Kiryu with Ichiban. The problem was blindly obvious when playing Infinite Wealth; both characters were side-by-side for the entire length of the game. The reason that’s a problem is because Kiryu has far more on-screen presence, control, intimidation and respect than Ichiban ever will. The game was always far more interesting whenever Kiryu was on-screen. Ichiban is okay as lead characters go, but he’s nothing more than a likeable, tough buffoon. Even the other side characters admit this. If the Yakuza series is going to continue, it’s going to be tough for it to be as good going from a lead character who is a hard as nails badass to a new protagonist who’s a likeable idiot.
However, I do think the time was right for Kiryu to take a back seat. His welcome was almost overstayed. In the last chapter of Infinite Wealth, climbing the Millennium Tower for yet another boss fight and dodging yet another helicopter trying to shoot him, part of me did think: “They really are running out of ideas now. He needs to retire.”
So, where do we go from here? The most obvious initial answer to that is that RGG Studio will continue to remake the old Yakuza games. Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is just around the corner, and I suspect Yakuza 4, 5, and 6 are in the works to be updated too. They won’t last forever.
However, if you caught it, I did mention above that I’ve played both Judgment games, as well as all the Yakuza games. The dark horse in all of this is the main character from that series, Detective Yagami.
If you are unaware, this series, set in the exact same game world as the Yakuza games, leans toward stories on the right side of the law. Yagami solves the crimes of the criminal underworld and is not the one that causes them.
Yagami, though, is a cool, calm, badass. In a way, he’s the complete opposite of Kiryu but just as hard. Add to this, as I found out especially with Lost Judgement, the stories of these games are equally as gruesome, interesting and well presented as the stories in the Yakuza series were. The last game, Lost Judgment, came out in 2021, nearly five years ago now, so surely it’s time for the next installment? I finished it this year, and by far it’s been the best game I’ve played the whole year. The point being here is that, personally, I’d prefer the Judgment series going forward over Ichiban with the Like a Dragon series.
What we are going to get for sure from RGG Studio is Stranger Than Heaven (see above trailer). Knowing RGG Studio, this will, like every other game they have ever made, be an absolute banger. I’m looking forward to it, but I am also looking forward to a world without a new Kiryu-centered Yakuza game. Kiryu has certainly earned his retirement spot. I’ll miss my whisky-drinking, karaoke singing, ass kicking buddy; no one deserves retirement more, but Yagami would be a nice replacement.
Either way, Kiryu, it’s been a pleasure. I’ve loved every minute of every game you have been in. They have all given me and so many other fans so much entertainment and pleasure. Thank you, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and thank you, Kiryu!
ありがとうございます (𝐴𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑔𝑜𝑧𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑢)
PS – I told my daughter what I was writing and what happened to Kiryu at the end of Infinite Wealth. She said, “Maybe the next game will be Kiryu beating up everyone in the old people’s home with his special wheelchair attacks”…..Now there’s a game I’d be interested in. Anyone got RGG’s email address so that I can write down what they could do with Kiryu now?
