Yakuza is so much better than I expected 

"BUT BUT JAYVEE WHY ARE YOU STARTING WITH THE SEVENTH GAME" 0:19 it's okay, i will go back to Yakuza 0. i promise :)

THE BEST FRANCHISE EVER. No other game has made me so sad about the stories 😩

"this feels like a japanese soap opera" 1000% accurate.

Yakuza 0 was the first game I played and then I got all the rest of them. Literally the best series I’ve ever played.

I really genuinely believe that the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series is one of if not the best series.

After months on end of me begging you to play these games, you finally did it. Strap yourself in, welcome to the family, Kyodai.

The Yakuza series(or well Like A Dragon now)is my favorite series. And i started playing it a few years ago when I noticed that Yakuza 1 was free on PS 4 for a while. Then I got hooked and played all of them at the right order too.

All I can say is play the others, this series has had an affect on me like no other series has and it's my favourite game series of all time

Fun fact: the voice actor for this young master is the same guy who voices Wei Shen in sleeping dogs

Just started Yakuza last year and am on Yakuza 6... It's such a brilliant, fun, funny, sad and heartfelt series that I can't believe I didn't get into it until now, but very glad I did!

If you end up playing the series you should definetely play it in japanaese with subtitles the japanese voice acting is amazing.

yakuza: like a dragon is a great starting point to the franchise since its a new protagonist with its separate story and characters. You can continue playing infinite wealth after this game but for maximum enjoyment, it's probably a good idea to play 0-6 or watch a summary of his story to fully enjoy the other half of the duotagonist. if you love what you play although its a brawler combat with varying quality of gameplay and story

Man it’s been a while since I’ve played 7 but… Fuck I really love Ichiban

Always so good seeing people experience yakuza for the first time. I'd love to see more

Nice to see someone discovering the series. Yakuza has been a favourite of mine since 3 was released in North America and Like a Dragon had me so nervous for the new protagonist and shift to turn based but it ended up veing one of my favourite games of all time. I loves every moment of this game. It's a roller coaster.

LETS GOOOO! This is the game that got me into the series and still my favorite, its a masterpiece.

Like a dragon is amazing no questions asked

Glad to here you enjoyed it. Such a great series

Let’s go Jay glad to see you playing like a Dragon.

I think 7 is a perfectly good spot to start. It's a completely fresh story with Ichiban and while you might miss out on a few references and nods to previous games, it's mostly self-contained.

Infinite Wealth looks like my goty already. It looks absurdly packed with great content and it seemingly addresses every issue I had with Like a Dragon / 7, making the combat deeper and more engaging. Yakuza Like a Dragon isn’t a bad place to start out at all. New protagonist, new origin, you benefit from knowing some of 0-6 but it’s arguably the best starting point for modern players. The issue with starting with Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 is that Yakuza 3 didn’t get a Kiwami remake and it really doesn’t hold up as well as 4 and 5, so players who approach the series in that order often have to struggle through 3 before the series gets truly great again with 4. Yakuza 0 is a good starting point as well and is one of the better games in the series, but it kind of has a similar issue of where to go after playing 0. Yakuza Gaiden is incredible too, and I’d recommend playing it soon ish because it’s very directly connected to Infinite Wealth and the second half of Like a Dragon / 7

Literally me rn. I played LAD last month and loved it. Safe to say I wanted more so in the past 2 weeks I've played and beaten Kiwami 1, Kiwami 2, Y3, and just finished Y4 last night. Boutta start Y5 right now. I absolutely love this series.

I just finished the main Kiryu story (0-6) and it is hands down the best series i know. The story, combat, side content, music and design. Everything is great the whole way through. I cant find the words to express how great it is, it will stick with me, probably for the rest of my life

My absolute favorite game series. The only long series I’ve played where the ‘worst’ game of the franchise is like a 7.5 or 8/10 and all the rest art 9 or 10/10. Welcome to the Yakuza rabbit hole, you’re gonna have an amazing time start to finish.

Best Games of 2023 can we expect? I got a voice acting background and have to say that Yuri Lowenthal's voice has been such an inspiration for me since the Prince of Persia Trilogy. His performance in Spidey 2 is amazing. The vocal training was really tough, sometimes without noticeable results for months but actors like him and the late Kevin Conroy are a great impulse to not give up. You almost saw me as Leon in those new RE games :)

The way I'd describe the Yakuza experience based on my first time playing Yakuza 0 is that you start off thinking it's going to be a fun crime game like GTA or maybe a more grounded gangster story like Sleeping Dogs. Then the very arcadey combat, insane melodrama, and moments of silliness just completely take you aback and its like damn this not what i wanted when i wanted to play a game about the Yakuza. Then you fall in love with it all and just keep playing.

I had rough January 1st. Was in a bad spot. Then this game came into my life and gave me the lesson, I needed.

Ive played through the entire series, and this game was by far my favorite! The story has a lot of callbacks and references to the previous games in the later half, so you may end up a little confused at some points lol. Even without that, I guarantee this game will still be an amazing ride! I look forward to the rest of your playthrough!

Always nice to see people start playing these games. I first played 3 and fell in love since. Even though I have some issues with every one of these games, Yakuza/LaD will always be my favourite franchise.

I’d say yakuza 7 is a good start as it’s a new story with a new protagonist, old characters show up sure but it doesn’t spoil the older games much, if anything it makes you wanna find out what caused the person or place to be that way

I was sad when I couldn't find more of this on your channel; I really loved it. :(

Please play some more of this game! I loved this!

Bro. After this one go straight to 8. You are gonna Love It!!! ❤❤❤❤

Love you Jay, but not playing Like a Dragon at this point made me sad. Go through all the games, it's one hell of a journey and getting to know Kiryu one of the most satisfying things you'll have on a game

"Real Yakuza Use A Game Pad" Always love seeing that line.. This is easily one of my fav series, and is big on my hype list being just 10 days away. As a big fan, if I was to give you advice how to get into the franchise. I would say start with 0 (Even though that is game 6 technically), then I would do kawami 1 as it is just super well done and fun. You could prob skip 2-6 and just watch a summary for the plot points, but they are all good in there own right and worth the time if you have enough time to run them all. 5 was super fun as well, love the idols side. In general the mini game / businesses in the games are a huge plus for me, and those in 0-1-5 are the best ones. This would basically wrap up Kiryu's story (outside of "The man with no name" a setup for infinite wealth for kiryu), I would also say just watch a vid for "The man with no name". Itchiban's story you are already handling with Like a dragon, and it brings us the turn based style which is present in infinite wealth as well. I might prefer the beat um up style of Kiryu, but I do love the depth of the combat with the turn based style compared to button slapping. Overall the series is amazing, and I would tell anyone to give it a shot. As long as you like stupid mini games, and can handle the game going from dark serious plot to insane side content, you are going to have a blast. I would wager there are some videos that just cover the story setup for infinite wealth for anyone looking to just jump right into the newest game with no prior experience. I would recommend this at the very least as I have heard they don't cover a lot of the back plot in the new game. You either know it or you don't, and knowing will just make the next game better.

This was the first Yakuza game that I beat and got the platinum, I love the turn base combat compared to the beat'em up ones, honestly can't wait to play 8

Istg man. A friend of mine kept on insisting that I played them and I just wasn't interested in a subbed game but when I finally gave in, it instantly became my favorite franchise by far

I played quite a bit of this during the summer of 2021 or 2022 IIRC, right up to the point where there was a major minigame that was a business sim. Even played it via XCloud, so my PC didn't produce a whole lot of heat or anything. It was a great time.

oh, interesting to know that Wei Shen's voice actor also voices Masato in Yakuza 7

I love that every time I think of playing a game a video of yours pops up of that game😂

Watching people become Yakuza fans is my favorite pastime.

1:27 yes it feels like a Japanese soap opera because it is one and it is amazing.

This game is hands down one of the best stories I ever played, I laughed, I cried, I got pissed off, I was jovial. You HAVE to finish this game, the pay off is so damn good!

For the longest time the thing that stopped me from playing these games is that i thought they were only in Japanese VA😅

Hearing particular music from this series triggers various instincts. Some pumps me up for a fight Others make me close to tears Others make me wonder why I have to teach AN OLD MAN A LESSON FOR THE FIFTH TIME

Yakuza 7 is my favorite game ever, its always such a joy to see people reacting to it

Omggggg please do a whole playthrough of the series.

I started this series with Yakuza 5 on the PS3 and I've been hooked ever since then. Got the whole collection on PS4.

To be fair, I started with like a dragon, and I did just fine without understanding the previous games. Just finished infinite wealth earlier today. Now I'm considering going back and playing the older games. I'm just currently missing 3 of the newer ones. Also, took me longer than i want to admit to realuze that was George Takei as the boss.

18:35 that VA didn't have to go THAT HARD

I have slowly been working on Yakuza 0, and it is an absolute delight. I think most of them are on Gamepass. The cut scenes are always epic and the side stories add so much depth but it is absolutely a soap opera at times and I love it.

7 is not a bad place to start honestly! 0-7 is a big ask, and 7 was kind of soft reboot....til they brought back Kiryu in 8 lmao.

Dont worry! The seventh game (this one) and Yakuza 0 are the best entry points into the series.

Hey man. I feel you I also started at yakuza like a dragon. However the reason was because I thought it would be better than yakuza 0. I have now beaten yakuza 0. Its amazing

If you do play the rest of em, don't start with 0 though. It's much better to play it after 5 because you get callbacks to a lot of the saga, and its story pays off way more if done in release order.

The turn based combat is only on this game and the upcoming one

Yakuza fans best description " This is not what i thought i was gonna be doing "

the beat em up mod for this is also available if you are a beat em up fan I played this entire game on beat em up enjoyed it a lot got to see Ichiban's true potential

Welcome down the rabbit hole! Once you go down this path, there's no coming back

Yakuza 0 was my first Yakuza game and Yakuza: Like A Dragon was my second. Both very solid open world games with a lot of things to do

Dont sleep on Judgment or Lost Judgment when you decide to play the other games as well

You nailed it. Yakuza stories are Soap Operas. Better writing than modern Hollywood. That’s for certain.

Yakuza / Like a Dragon is my favorite franchise ever, and for real. I think no other franchise comes close to what Yakuza games do. Playing from 0 to Gaiden was the best gaming and entertainment experience I've ever had.

While I understand your logic with starting with the 7th one, you have to understand that it's the first game in the series to do turn based combat. All the other games were real-time brawling action, and most fans prefer that.

Maybe it's because I watch a lot of anime but I think the Japanese dub is usually better for the Yakuza games. (Original audio is always better)

Ace Attorney and Yakuza imo are the best long running video game franchises and theres nothing that comes close that I have played

20:00 Your supposed to use these moments to explore a little. You don't have to run straight to get duck. Use these moments between the story to do stuff

Oh you're in for a ride, my friend

Long live Yakuza! Best videogame series to ever exist! Take my money until I die!!!!

Would absolutely watch more Yakuza. It’s super fun to watch a newbie play through these games

Yakuza 0 is a masterpiece bro..can defo recommend this👍,soundtrack awesome, story brillant, a lot fun mini games, and the typical japanese Nonsens 😂 in the 80s time period is absolutly fantastic, the mix of that is what it makes outstandin here..

Not judging anyone and I hear the dub of this one is totally fine but anytime I see a Yakuza game in English it feels like an uncanny fever dream. It is nice that these games are finally getting dubs for people that prefer it that way (well, mostly, we don't talk about Gaiden/Yong Yea).

Ichiban truly became the yakuza like a dragon once was

You should play this through. On channel or off, it's worth it

Dude. I too have just started my yakuza fever. I bought yakuza like a dragon. Ishin like a dragon (that ones cool) and yakuza 1 and 2. Im debating on getting the others. This game makes you feel every emotion i swear lol

yakuza is definitely my favourite game series, perfect balance for seriousness and lightheartedness, funny when it wants to be, serious, or sad when it needs to be.

“But this ones on gamepass” so are the others though. But to be fair i started with this game too.

I dunno who you are but I'm happy to see more people play my favourite game 😊

A Let’s Play would be great, I love this game

25:22 Yakuza are Christmas games. At least half of them take place during the holiday season

Yakuza 0 is goat I mean I just completed and I'm now on yakuza 1 🏃

Please do NOT play yakuza 8 like a dragon infinite wealth next. It's supposed to be the final game for the original player kiryu and it has a lot of call backs to older games

Now I gotta try Yakuza… that’s right 🙌🏻

0:24 They’re all on Game Pass (including Ishin and Gaiden). You have no excuse now, not to get caught up on the lore hahaha

Like a dragon is the best place to start for new comers it takes you through like you have never played a yakuza game before its great getting to watch someone experience it for the first time.

"But this one's on Gamepass" I'm pretty sure they all are lol

should def play yakuza 0 next its so fun with engaging gameplay and an interesting story

I definitely want to see more videos of Yakuza from you!

Vintage jayvee on display for these types of games. More more!

Im so addicted i can’t stop

They Yakuza games are all fantastic. I always find the English dubs of these games weird though, not because they're bad, but because the Japanese dubs are truly incredible.

It’s Sega’s best right now! Yes even better than Sonic IMHO. It’s inspired by the RPG King Dragon Quest. It’s the spiritual successor to Shenmue! It’s one of the best most versatile brawlers we have. It checks so many boxes. I can’t wait for Infinite Wealth and I have yet to start The Man Who Erased His Name.

I rarely see people pick english dub for Y7. I personally like the sub for it more considering kiryu and other prominent characters from the other games don't feel the same in dub. But for the spinoffs Judgment and Lost Judgment I heavily recommend the dub. The main character Yagami has a much more expressive personality(common complaint, about him being boring) than sub.

The story gets much much better

"But this one's on gamepass" Well yeah... they all are (except the 2 Judgement games, but they aren't related to Yakuza anyways other than being set in the same universe)

Welcome to the family ! Enjoy the journey ! 😊

I have only play Yakuza Zero (still does) and fear that future titles would have drop Japanese audio, yet seem Jayve choose English. Does all Yakuza title beside Zero have English Languague options and is they all as guffy sounding as This?

Oh hell yeah. My GOTY for 2020 and I'm sure Infinite Wealth will be my GOTY for 2024.

Brother please, PLEASE, make a full playthrough!

I picked yakuza like a dragon back up i’ve been enjoying other games as well I got a crazy backlog on my PS5.😅