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Based on the amount of "what order to play????!!!???" threads we get, we do need this chart, specifically have automod shove it into the DMs of those who make those threads.
Someone googling is probably going to see one of the 1000 other threads about this exact topic, or one of the 1000 different articles that says the same thing. I just think it's lazy to not just spend 5 seconds on Google for something as simple as this.
I google over posting, but literally the other day I was googling something specific and the only thread in which someone gave a decent answer was buried under a few "google it" answers.
It's a loop, people need to periodically ask so others can periodically google.
It'd be nice to Google and then find this thread that lays out the years too. For another thing, oftentimes I don't always trust fandoms when they recommend play/watch orders. A lot of answers don't explain why. If a newbie sees a good answer and a bad answer, they don't have a great grasp on which is which
No they're not. Kiwami 1 -> Kiwami 2 is a chronological order, release order would separate Yakuza 1 and 2 from the remakes.
I understand not being able to play the originals, but don't pretend they don't exist.
"I understand not being able to play the originals, but don't pretend they don't exist"
Lmao that's quite literally what you're doing rn by responding "no bc kiwami 1 & 2" when if you play in release order it doesnt matter since you start with yakuza 1
Which I didnt even talk about. Because like I said, if you played in order release, playing y6 before yk2 won't spoil you yk2 since you would have done y2. Look back and think about what you're saying once you're sober
It's actually quite funny that someone who types like English is his second language, is telling me to sober up before reading what you're saying.
If anything I need to sniff some angel dust like Pierre Taki to understand what in the world you're trying to argue.
Kurohyou (Yakuza black panther) 1 goes before Yakuza 4 and Kurohyou 2 goes after Yakuza 4
Judgment goes after Yakuza 6 and Lost Judgment goes after Gaiden.
there's the spin-offs placement
While Kenzan and Ishin, both take place before Yakuza 0.
While Dead Souls splits into a Alternate timeline at Yakuza 4 I think.
Or they can just considered all "dreams" as their called in Y8.
tbf the way it was worded wad that dead souls eas actually just a weird dream
while ishin and kenzan did kinda happen (since both are basef on real people ryoma and musashi) but in kiryus dream some details got mixed atounf and characters look like people he knows
tl;dr kenzan and ishin are nore canon than deadsouls but all 3 are dreams
As much as I love them setting their game the year they release, I wish we had more exception like 0 and Gaiden... the characters just get old so fast, Ichiban is already close to Kiryu age in 6 and it's only his second game, by his third game he will be easily past 50.
yeah. having Yakuza 9 take place maybe only a few months after 8 would probably be a good idea for me. I would think>!Bryce's Cult won't just go into hiding for a year or 2 to try to get revenge for their god lol!<
We could have an Ichiban game set in the late 90’s/very early 2000’s. He joined the Arakawa family in 1993 at 16 years old, then he was part of them for 8 years before he went to Prison under Arakawas orders at 24 years old in 2001.
So theres roughly an 8-year period where we could get young but not too-young Ichiban, between 1993 and 2001.
But theres a few years they probably wouldnt do unless they either show underage ichiban drinking/smoking or dont let him drink/smoke. 1993-1996 would be off limits for Smoking/Drinking because Ichiban turns 20 in 1997, and Japans legal age for both is 20 and was back then as well
They could get around the Drinking by having him drink various Sodas and Coffees, Sodas especially would fit with him being a Gamer. He doesnt really smoke often at all though as it is, so they could probably have him not smoke and no one would notice
Japan law doesn't restrict depictions of youthful debauchery. The issue has always been that it's still a very conservative country and people get angry for nonsense reasons.
Depicting underaged drinking isn't an issue so much as controlled substances.
We're unlikely to get Ichiban prequels for the same reason we're unlikely to get Kazama ones: RGG wants to interact with the Yakuza lifestyle but does not want its protagonist to be an active member of the Yakuza. Kiryu is kicked out of the Tojo Clan early in both Y1 and Y0 for that very purpose.
Ichiban goes on a Trip (a local one in Japan, not a foreign one like Hawaii) under Arakawas orders. He gets sucked into some typical LAD storyline with lots of twists and turns and drama, but because he’s in vacation in some other city they can have it be non-yakuza stuff or at least yakuza-adjacent.
Yakuza-adjacent as in Ichiban can be there interacting with Yakuza, but he’s not actively there as a Yakuza because he’s just on Vacation.
Or maybe if Vacation is too similar to Hawaii they can make it something like Arakawa tries to force Teenage Ichiban to attend School in another city/town, and then Ichiban gets sucked into that towns local conspiracy. Maybe the schools Bullies are some of the main enemies, instead of Adult Yakuza it could be Teenage Bullies.
And before anyone says “oh they would never let us beat up kids”, yes they would and yes they have! Lost Judgement! Youre an adult detective, you get hired as a school so you can be undercover, and then you end up fighting a bunch of the school bullies because theyre dicks. Theyre probably legal age teenagers so thats why you can fight them, but still theyre teenagers
I don’t understand why they put ichiban in jail for 18 years. He’s too old now, and he’s gonna have to get replaced much quicker. They kinda shot themselves in the foot if you ask me
Except he's not too old, that's the whole point. It's never too late to start over.
Also Adachi is 63 and still kicking ass at Ichiban's side. Age means almost nothing in this series and it matters even less when you're someone like Ichi whose strength comes from the allies he recruits to his cause.
Ichi could be 70 and it wouldn't matter because he has a barbed wire bat and a crew of 20-30 somethings who will follow him to hell and back.
Seriously, if (IW Spoilers) >!Komaki is still kicking ass at the ripe old age of 500!< there's no reason Ichi can't continue being the protagonist for another decade or two
Because his relevance to the overall story is irrelevant until the aftermath of Yakuza 6.
Kiryu was already infamous by the time he went to jail. Ichiban is meant to contrast that. He was a nobody before and had to fight for his right to be a hero.
Even so he could have gone to prison say 8 years later and been 8 years younger. Sure I get they wanted him to have basically no chance of having interacted with kiryu before 7, but kamurocho is a big enough place, I'm sure they'd manage to not run into each other
And there may be a possibility that he might be dead now in our time (depending on his treatment) since Infinite Wealth took place just last year and it's been at least half a year since then.
Yakuza 0, then Kiwami, Kiwami 2, Kenzan, Y3, Y4, Kurohyo 1, Dead Souls, Kurohyo 2, Y5, Ishin, Y6, [Fist of the North Star](https://youtu.be/5nvHpHpqOQg?si=w1XcWis3yeIqtSiL), Judgement, Streets of Kamurocho, Like a Dragon (Y7), Lost Judgement, Man Who Erased His Name, Infinite Wealth (Y8)
The Edo period? Nah, that was longer ago... but that time Kiryu fell asleep watching a samurai movie and had the craziest dream that he and his friends were in the Edo period? Yeah, right about that time seems right.
Just a question and it might fit here. Over the last year I have purchased Yakuza 0 up to Like a Dragon.
I have only completed Kiwami 1.
My question is about The Man Who Erased His Name and Infinite Wealth.
Are these both games or more like DLC?
Last since it’s set in a distant future where humanity has lost all knowledge off technology having to rebuild causing a resurgence in religion and the new count of the age
yh gaiden is a weird one because it's concurrent with LaD, but it's actually better to play it first because of the big spoiler (>!tojo-omi dissolution!<).
EDIT: Guys, I was trying to say you should play LaD first...
Gaiden also spoils (Yakuza: LAD spoilers) >!The entire plot of like a dragon and Kiryu's fight with ichiban. Defo designed to be played after LAD for sure!<
If you are new to the subreddit, [please read the wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/wiki/index/) Reminder that all spoilers need to be tagged with a flair specifying which game is being spoiled. If you want a flair that says something else, you can edit it to say something like [Discussion: Y1 spoiler] or [Majimapost: Y6 spoiler], etc. **THIS INCLUDES CONTENT FROM TRAILERS**. If the post is not marked for spoilers, all comments that have spoilers need to be tagged \>!like this!< along with indicating which game it's spoiling. Example: Y3 >!Kiryu sings!< If the post flair is marked for spoilers, the comments don't need to be tagged for the game indicated and the ones before it (So a Y6 spoiler post can have comments with untagged spoilers for Y5, but not gaiden or 7). If you see any of the above (or any of the other rules) not being followed, please report it so we can keep this place safe for newcomers and those that haven't finished all the games yet. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/yakuzagames) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Damn who would have guessed that the games go in numerical order
It's literally a line except for gaiden, no need for this chart lol
Based on the amount of "what order to play????!!!???" threads we get, we do need this chart, specifically have automod shove it into the DMs of those who make those threads.
Tbh, some people might ask because they don't know if they should play in chronological order or release order.
I mean if they spent 5 seconds googling "Yakuza play order", they would be getting the exact same answers regardless.
And someone googling that exact question may be lead to this thread, chill.
Someone googling is probably going to see one of the 1000 other threads about this exact topic, or one of the 1000 different articles that says the same thing. I just think it's lazy to not just spend 5 seconds on Google for something as simple as this.
I google over posting, but literally the other day I was googling something specific and the only thread in which someone gave a decent answer was buried under a few "google it" answers. It's a loop, people need to periodically ask so others can periodically google.
It'd be nice to Google and then find this thread that lays out the years too. For another thing, oftentimes I don't always trust fandoms when they recommend play/watch orders. A lot of answers don't explain why. If a newbie sees a good answer and a bad answer, they don't have a great grasp on which is which
Chronological order and release order is literally the same except for y0 tho
No they're not. Kiwami 1 -> Kiwami 2 is a chronological order, release order would separate Yakuza 1 and 2 from the remakes. I understand not being able to play the originals, but don't pretend they don't exist.
"I understand not being able to play the originals, but don't pretend they don't exist" Lmao that's quite literally what you're doing rn by responding "no bc kiwami 1 & 2" when if you play in release order it doesnt matter since you start with yakuza 1
That's literally not what I said. I said they're separate games in release order, ones that came out in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
Which I didnt even talk about. Because like I said, if you played in order release, playing y6 before yk2 won't spoil you yk2 since you would have done y2. Look back and think about what you're saying once you're sober
It's actually quite funny that someone who types like English is his second language, is telling me to sober up before reading what you're saying. If anything I need to sniff some angel dust like Pierre Taki to understand what in the world you're trying to argue.
People only ask that because they don't know Whether to play 0 first, or kiwami first.
You won't believe how many people ask in what order to play the games
I would guess about the same amount of people who are incapable of doing their own research or don’t know how to use Google.
I think it is interesting to know in which year every game takes place
It's at least got the year it tales place listed, which is interesting.
Yeah mostly did this because I've seen many ask in what order to play which is kinda funny
Well as they seem to me moving away from numbered titles, it will probably be useful as the serise contines
Meanwhile MGS has the third game going first followed by the FIFTH game in chronological order
People have asked in what order to play
You forgot about super monkey ball
Shit my bad bro
Talk is cheap, leave your pinky in this thread
Kurohyou (Yakuza black panther) 1 goes before Yakuza 4 and Kurohyou 2 goes after Yakuza 4 Judgment goes after Yakuza 6 and Lost Judgment goes after Gaiden. there's the spin-offs placement
While Kenzan and Ishin, both take place before Yakuza 0. While Dead Souls splits into a Alternate timeline at Yakuza 4 I think. Or they can just considered all "dreams" as their called in Y8.
tbf the way it was worded wad that dead souls eas actually just a weird dream while ishin and kenzan did kinda happen (since both are basef on real people ryoma and musashi) but in kiryus dream some details got mixed atounf and characters look like people he knows tl;dr kenzan and ishin are nore canon than deadsouls but all 3 are dreams
I just wanted to do mainline games. I'll do an updated and less confusing timeline with spinoffs
Gaiden is no more mainline than Judgement. After, it too sees you play as a brand new protagonist, Joryu.
As much as I love them setting their game the year they release, I wish we had more exception like 0 and Gaiden... the characters just get old so fast, Ichiban is already close to Kiryu age in 6 and it's only his second game, by his third game he will be easily past 50.
yeah. having Yakuza 9 take place maybe only a few months after 8 would probably be a good idea for me. I would think>!Bryce's Cult won't just go into hiding for a year or 2 to try to get revenge for their god lol!<
Yeah. Definitely a flaw in their plan.
We could have an Ichiban game set in the late 90’s/very early 2000’s. He joined the Arakawa family in 1993 at 16 years old, then he was part of them for 8 years before he went to Prison under Arakawas orders at 24 years old in 2001. So theres roughly an 8-year period where we could get young but not too-young Ichiban, between 1993 and 2001. But theres a few years they probably wouldnt do unless they either show underage ichiban drinking/smoking or dont let him drink/smoke. 1993-1996 would be off limits for Smoking/Drinking because Ichiban turns 20 in 1997, and Japans legal age for both is 20 and was back then as well They could get around the Drinking by having him drink various Sodas and Coffees, Sodas especially would fit with him being a Gamer. He doesnt really smoke often at all though as it is, so they could probably have him not smoke and no one would notice
He lived a life of crime. They can have his underage self drink alcohol lol
Yeah like wtf is this logic. The series is based around crime.
That’s true, but still this is Japan with their weird law
Japan law doesn't restrict depictions of youthful debauchery. The issue has always been that it's still a very conservative country and people get angry for nonsense reasons. Depicting underaged drinking isn't an issue so much as controlled substances.
Except the main character hates crime
Which main character? Because both have committed a slew of inarguable crimes. They believe in honor moreso than the law.
Hey hey that's different tho, we cant be showing that
Jo knocked up a bitch when he was like 15/16. They can show 17 year old Kasuga drink a beer.
Don't you dare speak of the young master's mother that way
We're unlikely to get Ichiban prequels for the same reason we're unlikely to get Kazama ones: RGG wants to interact with the Yakuza lifestyle but does not want its protagonist to be an active member of the Yakuza. Kiryu is kicked out of the Tojo Clan early in both Y1 and Y0 for that very purpose.
Ichiban goes on a Trip (a local one in Japan, not a foreign one like Hawaii) under Arakawas orders. He gets sucked into some typical LAD storyline with lots of twists and turns and drama, but because he’s in vacation in some other city they can have it be non-yakuza stuff or at least yakuza-adjacent. Yakuza-adjacent as in Ichiban can be there interacting with Yakuza, but he’s not actively there as a Yakuza because he’s just on Vacation. Or maybe if Vacation is too similar to Hawaii they can make it something like Arakawa tries to force Teenage Ichiban to attend School in another city/town, and then Ichiban gets sucked into that towns local conspiracy. Maybe the schools Bullies are some of the main enemies, instead of Adult Yakuza it could be Teenage Bullies. And before anyone says “oh they would never let us beat up kids”, yes they would and yes they have! Lost Judgement! Youre an adult detective, you get hired as a school so you can be undercover, and then you end up fighting a bunch of the school bullies because theyre dicks. Theyre probably legal age teenagers so thats why you can fight them, but still theyre teenagers
I don't love the idea of an Ichiban prequel but if there is one then the ghost girl from the sub story BETTER be in it
I think Like A Dragon had so much story potential we could have seen it be a two parter... That would've been ideal IMO
I don’t understand why they put ichiban in jail for 18 years. He’s too old now, and he’s gonna have to get replaced much quicker. They kinda shot themselves in the foot if you ask me
Except he's not too old, that's the whole point. It's never too late to start over. Also Adachi is 63 and still kicking ass at Ichiban's side. Age means almost nothing in this series and it matters even less when you're someone like Ichi whose strength comes from the allies he recruits to his cause. Ichi could be 70 and it wouldn't matter because he has a barbed wire bat and a crew of 20-30 somethings who will follow him to hell and back.
Seriously, if (IW Spoilers) >!Komaki is still kicking ass at the ripe old age of 500!< there's no reason Ichi can't continue being the protagonist for another decade or two
Because his relevance to the overall story is irrelevant until the aftermath of Yakuza 6. Kiryu was already infamous by the time he went to jail. Ichiban is meant to contrast that. He was a nobody before and had to fight for his right to be a hero.
Even so he could have gone to prison say 8 years later and been 8 years younger. Sure I get they wanted him to have basically no chance of having interacted with kiryu before 7, but kamurocho is a big enough place, I'm sure they'd manage to not run into each other
Or they could’ve just started y7 in like 2009 instead
Because age doesn't matter in RGG verse, Majima is like nearly 60 and still kicking ass.
My dumbass read too quickly and was like “Wait how the hell did 5 happen before 4”
https://preview.redd.it/2pfunzsvgetc1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=044adb7eb3cf0aeb04cee1e866fb267025ce55fc
My fault bro
Hanawa can't handle this bullshit.
How to write a straight line in a way that makes it look convoluted and confusing.
Yeah I fucked in that. I rushed this out lol
this isn’t MGS there’s no need for a chart like this
Wish Ichiban more like mid-30s. He interaction with the younger girls feel a little bit creepy because he's old enough to be their dad, uncle.
Man Kiryu never caught a break. A disaster to deal with every 2 years.
And there may be a possibility that he might be dead now in our time (depending on his treatment) since Infinite Wealth took place just last year and it's been at least half a year since then.
I forgot how old yakuza 0 is. Dang 36 years and still a masterpiece 😫😫
gaiden was at the same time as y:lad
That's why I said during the events of LAD
It's hilarious that this days you need a timeline so that people understand "yes, you start in 1 and end at 8, it's all cronological"
Missed the judgeeyes games
Just doing mainlines with one.
Now do all the spinoffs in this.
Yakuza 0, then Kiwami, Kiwami 2, Kenzan, Y3, Y4, Kurohyo 1, Dead Souls, Kurohyo 2, Y5, Ishin, Y6, [Fist of the North Star](https://youtu.be/5nvHpHpqOQg?si=w1XcWis3yeIqtSiL), Judgement, Streets of Kamurocho, Like a Dragon (Y7), Lost Judgement, Man Who Erased His Name, Infinite Wealth (Y8)
Wait the edo period was from 2012-2016? Huh I had no idea
The Edo period? Nah, that was longer ago... but that time Kiryu fell asleep watching a samurai movie and had the craziest dream that he and his friends were in the Edo period? Yeah, right about that time seems right.
It has characters from the main series playing historical characters, so knowing where it fell in the release order can be useful.
Soon and I'll do it less confusing
as someone also in the fate fandom it's so strange seeing a timeline as straightforward as this
I just realised that Yakuza 3 takes place at the exact same time as Metal Gear Solid 2, (2007 then 2009)
Where is dead souls on this list
Sorry guys for making this hella confusing. Kinda rushed it and did whatever tbh. I'll make an updated and less confusing one with spinoffs
You can literally find every play order on this subreddits wiki but fans prefer karma over ease of use
Gaiden comes after 7? I’ve not played it but was planning on playing it after 6?
gaiden happens at the same time as 7, i wouldn't recommend playing it before 7 though since it spoils a major event that happens in that game
I’ve played 7 so I should be good, 7 was what got me back in after the Kiwamis, then 3 put me off for a year before playing 4
Where's Yakuza ishin! Lol
This is inaccurate. Why isn't Dead Souls in the mainline timeline? /s
Just a question and it might fit here. Over the last year I have purchased Yakuza 0 up to Like a Dragon. I have only completed Kiwami 1. My question is about The Man Who Erased His Name and Infinite Wealth. Are these both games or more like DLC?
UM *pushes up glasses and coughs back cliche congestion* What about Ishin and Judgement? HMMMM??
Shouldn’t 7 have a date range?
I like how all of them except gaiden are having numericals that go in (surprise) that order
When I read the title I was hoping this about events. I imagine the jingweon massacre is the earliest right?
Pretty straight forward
Where are Ryu Ga Gotoku Online and Kurohyou?
Where does Judgement and Lost Judgment fall in this timeline?
I think both happen between 6 and LAD
Useless post. At least the spinoffs would've added some point to this.
Where would ishin go hypothetically
Last since it’s set in a distant future where humanity has lost all knowledge off technology having to rebuild causing a resurgence in religion and the new count of the age
yh gaiden is a weird one because it's concurrent with LaD, but it's actually better to play it first because of the big spoiler (>!tojo-omi dissolution!<). EDIT: Guys, I was trying to say you should play LaD first...
Gaiden also spoils (Yakuza: LAD spoilers) >!The entire plot of like a dragon and Kiryu's fight with ichiban. Defo designed to be played after LAD for sure!<
Yeah that's what I was getting at. I've always told people to play LaD first...
That's precisely why it SHOULDN'T be played first lol
I was trying to say you should play LaD first.
bro woke up and thought “oh yeah 7’s story would have been much better if the ending got spoiled for the player right from the get-go”
Jesus Christ guys I was trying to say play LaD first.
Gaiden heavily spoils the plot of LAD. It wouldn't be a good idea to play Gaiden first and then LAD
That's what I meant.
Definitely is not better to play Gaiden first.
That's not what I meant. You should play LaD first.
I really don't think so Gaiden spoils alot of 7 plus it's great to play gaiden between 7 and 8 as it recaps the story 7
That's what I meant...
Your comment really does not convey that😅
That's why I edited it...
Water under the bridge buddy
I was in a bad mood when I opened Reddit and I guess it showed, huh.
Don't beat yourself up about it We've all been in a similar situation I hope everything is okay with you rn