Best order to play Yakuza games (and why it matters to new players)

The Yakuza (now officially branded as Like a Dragon) series is one of gaming’s richest long-running sagas, blending crime drama, emotional storytelling, and over the top side content.

With multiple protagonists, prequels, remakes, and spin-offs, new players often wonder: what’s the best order to play the Yakuza games?

Why Order in Yakuza Games Matters?

The mainline Yakuza games tell a continuous story centered primarily on Kazuma Kiryu, later expanding to a new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga. Characters, relationships, and major plot events carry forward between entries.

Playing in the right order makes emotional scenes more impactful, avoids major spoilers, and helps you understand recurring characters and factions.

Best Order (Chronological Story Order)

This is the recommended order for new players, especially since modern remakes make early entries accessible. Here it is:

Yakuza 0 (2015)
Setting: 1988

Fight like hell through Tokyo and Osaka entertainment districts as yakuza Kazuma Kiryu and cabaret club manager Goro Majima in an epic crime drama of intertwined fates that created legends.

Yakuza Kiwami (Remake of Yakuza 1)
Setting: 1995–2005

Kiryu takes the fall for a murder and spends 10 years in prison to come out to a brink of war between yakuza clans. Upon release, he is thrust into a power struggle for 10 billion yen alongside a mysterious girl named Haruka.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Remake of Yakuza 2)
Setting: 2006

Thinking his yakuza days were behind him, Kazuma Kiryu and his adoptive daughter have started building a peaceful life away from the conflict, but it was not to last. With the murder of the Tojo chairman Kiryu is once again pulled back into the world he wanted to leave behind.

Yakuza 3 Remastered / Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties (Remake of Yakuza 3)
Setting: 2009

A year after the all-out yakuza war, Kazuma Kiryu and his adoptive daughter have left the streets of Kamurocho for the island of Okinawa to run the Morning Glory Orphanage.

Despite trying to leave the yakuza world behind, it threatens to entangle him and the orphanage in a power struggle between Tojo Clan and political world.

With the release of Yakuza Kiwami 3, the original Yakuza 3 remaster will no longer be available for purchase, making Kiwami 3 the only way to play it for new players.

Yakuza 4 Remastered
Setting: 2010

A murder in Tojo Clan territory sets off an investigation by a group consisting of four playable characters, Kazuma Kiryu, Masayoshi Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejima.

With underground forces readily willing to kill to protect their secrets, the search seems to lead to more questions than answers.

Yakuza 5 Remastered
Setting: 2012

Kazuma Kiryu spends his days hidden as an unassuming cab driver, until it comes to a sudden end as the peace between yakuza clans disintegrates. Once again haunted by his yakuza life, Kiryu and his allies are forced to return to the criminal underwold to prevent an all-out turf war.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Setting: 2016

Fresh out of a three-year prison sentence, an older and weathered Kiryu comes to find out that his surrogate daughter, Haruka, has gone missing from the orphanage he looks after. The trail leads him back to Kamurocho, where he learns she’s in a coma and that she had a baby son.

With baby in hand Kiryu journeys to a seaside town of Onomichi to unravel the truth about it all.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Yakuza 7)
Setting: 2019

Follow Ichiban Kasuga, a low level yakuza grunt who faces an 18-year prison sentence after taking a fall for a crime he didn’t commit. After serving his time he learns that noone was waiting for him on the outside and that his clan has been destroyed by the man he looked up to.

This game marks the series’ change to turn based RPG combat in a new city of Yokohama making it a good starting place for people new to the series who just want to jump in without going through all the other games.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Setting: Parallel to Yakuza 6–7

Spinoff that fills in Kiryu’s story during the events surrounding Like a Dragon and sets up future titles.

Once a legendary yakuza, Kazuma Kiryu faked his own death and abandoned his name for the sake of protecting his family. Now, he is thrust into conflict by a mysterious figure attempting to drive him out of hiding.

While it’s not necessary if you only wish to play main games, it does have a nice showing of what Kiryu has been doing since Yakuza 6 while setting him up for his role in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Setting: After Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Uniting two of the series protagonists in a new RPG that takes the franchise out of Japan into a brand-new location of Honolulu.

Lured to Honolulu City with the promise of finding his birth mother, Ichiban Kasuga only faces problems until he gets the helping hand of Kazuma Kiryu. Uncover the mystery behind why every criminal organisation in Honolulu is also after his mother.

Optional Spin-Offs

These are not required for the main story but worth playing:

Judgment
Setting: After Yakuza 6

Play as Takayuki Yagami, a disgraced defense attorney turned detective as you uncover the truth behind a series of murders.

Lost Judgment
Setting: After Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Takayuki Yagami returns and goes undercover at a prestigious high school to solve a rising string of twisted bullying cases. But as victims pile up and Yagami unravels the truth, he must choose between defending the law or exacting justice.

Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Setting: historical spin-off

Take up the sword as Sakamoto Ryoma and venture to Kyoto to find your father’s killer, clear yourself of a framed murder, and restore your honor. In doing so, you will bring an end to the samurai era and forever change the future of Japan.

Tips for New Players

Take your time, these games are very long and there’s a lot of them. Playing them one after another is very likely to burn you out, so it’s better to take a break between each game.

While the main game is serious, most of the side content such as substories, minigames, business systems are less so and are a big part of the series’s charm.