Article / News

Yakuza Series Joins PS+ Lineup, Subscribers Get Like a Dragon Free in August

by on July 28, 2022
Yakuza 0, one of many games in the Yakuza series heading to PS+

Eight games in the Yakuza series will gradually become available to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers starting in August. Essential subscribers won’t be coming away empty-handed though, as Like a Dragon is among the next batch of free offerings coming August 2nd. Courtesy of PlayStation Blog, here’s what games in the Yakuza series are coming next month and what are coming later in 2022, plus quick links to RPGFan’s reviews and relevant Retro Encounter episodes for each game.

Coming in August

  • Yakuza 0, one of many games in the Yakuza series
  • Yakuza 0 Screenshot 010
  • Yakuza 0 Screenshot 011
  • Yakuza 0 Screenshot 009

Yakuza 0 – Reviews: PS4, PC | Retro Encounter Part 1, Part 2, Final Thoughts

The glitz, glamour, and unbridled decadence of the 80s are back in Yakuza 0. Fight like hell through Tokyo and Osaka with protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and series regular Goro Majima. Play as the former to discover how he finds himself in a world of trouble when a simple debt collection goes wrong. Then, step into the silver-toed shoes of Goro Majima and explore his “normal” life as the proprietor of a cabaret club. 

  • Yakuza Kiwami Screenshot 010
  • Yakuza Kiwami Screenshot 023
  • Yakuza Kiwami Screenshot 035
  • Yakuza Kiwami Screenshot 038

Yakuza Kiwami – Reviews: PS4, PC

The first Yakuza title debuted in 2005 on PS2. This PS4 remake rebuilds that experience from scratch. Follow the early days of Kazuma Kiryu as he returns to the streets of Japan after serving a decade-long prison sentence for a crime he didn’t commit to save his best friend. 

  • Yakuza Kiwami 2 Screenshot 020
  • Yakuza Kiwami 2, one of many games in the Yakuza series
  • Yakuza Kiwami 2 Screenshot 066
  • Yakuza Kiwami 2 Screenshot 025

Yakuza Kiwami 2 – Reviews: PS4, PC

Yakuza’s sequel receives the remake treatment, not only updating the original but expanding it with a playable adventure starring Goro Majima set before the events of the main game. A year after the events of the first Yakuza, an assassination pulls Kazuma Kiryu out of a peaceful life to broker peace between rival clans and face off against Ryuji Goda, known as the Dragon of Kansai. 

  • Yakuza Like a Dragon Screenshot 007
  • Yakuza Like a Dragon Screenshot 003
  • Yakuza Like a Dragon Screenshot 019
  • Protagonist Ichiban Kasuga in the foreground with a man in an animal mask in the background.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Reviews: PS5, PC | Retro Encounter Spoilercast

Level up from underdog to dragon in this action RPG. Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking grunt of a low-ranking yakuza family in Tokyo, returns to society after serving 18 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Uncover the truth behind his family’s betrayal while exploring – and fighting – your way across a modern-day Japanese city. Build a party from a ragtag group of society’s outcasts, spending time with them to unlock new abilities and combo skills. Take time off from your quest to immerse yourself in go-karting, arcade games or 50 substories. 

Coming Later in 2022

  • Yakuza 3 Screenshot 001
  • Yakuza 3 Screenshot 004
  • Yakuza 3 Remastered, one of many games in the Yakuza series
  • Yakuza 3 Screenshot 021

Yakuza 3 Remastered – Review: PS4

Kazuma Kiryu had earned his retirement. Yet he’s ripped from his new life as caretaker of an orphanage when a shadow from his past threatens to entangle his new life with that of his old clan and the political world. Adventure through the sleepless city of Kamurocho, Tokyo and the tropical lands of Okinawa to help rescue his new wards.

  • Yakuza 4 Remastered, one of many games in the Yakuza series
  • Yakuza 4 Screenshot 018
  • Yakuza 4 Screenshot 015
  • Yakuza 4 Screenshot 005

Yakuza 4 Remastered – Review: PS4

The Yakuza story expands as the first time in the series you’ll control multiple protagonists, four souls – a loan shark, a death-row inmate, a corrupt cop and legendary former yakuza Kazuma Kiryu –  are drawn together to solve a murder. Unravel a hidden battle over money, power, status, and honor as well as the mysterious woman at the center of it all.

  • Yakuza 5 Screenshot 004
  • Yakuza 5 Screenshot 003
  • Yakuza 5 Screenshot 006
  • Yakuza 5 Screenshot 002

Yakuza 5 Remastered – Review: PS4

Multiple perspectives once again shape a sprawling story as peace between the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance disintegrates. Play as five different characters, including Kazuma Kiryu, across five major cities whose stories are interwoven as the yakuza organizations go to war. 

  • Yakuza 6 The Song of Life Screenshot 055
  • Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, one of many games in the Yakuza series
  • Yakuza 6 The Song of Life Screenshot 050
  • Yakuza 6 The Song of Life Screenshot 058

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life – Reviews: PS4, PC

The conclusion of Kazuma Kiryu’s epic story sees the Dragon of Dojima take on the responsibility of foster father as he seeks to protect his young ward Haruto and discover the mystery behind the grevious attack on Haruto’s mother. Explore Onomichi, Hiroshima and with the help of some unlikely friends, delve back into a merciless criminal underworld, outwit the clans seeking Haruto and find the answers you seek.

So, what isn’t here? Well, as far as Yakuza series entries that have come out in English go, the zombie-themed spinoff Yakuza: Dead Souls left PS Now (and the PS3 store) years ago, never to return. The original Yakuza and Yakuza 2 remain on PS2, but Japan got HD remasters on PS3 and Wii U of all places. Yakuza 8 needs to be officially announced, let alone released, first, but there’s a good chance it’ll join the catalog eventually. Judgment and Lost Judgment aren’t technically part of the Yakuza series, but they could and should be here. Who knows if licensing issues will keep that series away though.

Keep reading RPGFan to stay up-to-date with all the latest Yakuza series news!

Source: PS Blog

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Gio Castillo

Gio Castillo

Gio is a writer and editor with a deep fondness for role-playing and management games. He lives in the Philippines with two cats he loves dearly.

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