Yakuza (franchise)

Like a Dragon (Japanese: 龍が如く, Hepburn: Ryū ga Gotoku), formerly known outside of Japan as Yakuza, is a video game franchise by Sega. It incorporates elements of the action-adventure, beat 'em up, and role-playing genres.
Each installment is typically a crime drama, with plot lines inspired by yakuza films and pre-millennial Japanese crime dramas. The most frequently featured protagonist is Kazuma Kiryu, a reformed yakuza associated with the Kanto-based Tojo Clan. While Kiryu often finds himself working with the leaders of the Tojo Clan to thwart conspiracies aimed against them, the primary theme of the series is his desire to leave the yakuza for good and start over by raising orphans and trying to assimilate into civilian life. The gameplay of Yakuza / Like a Dragon has the player controlling Kiryu (or another character, depending on the title) in an open world where he can fight random groups of punks and gangsters, take on side missions and activities to earn experience and money, learn new moves from non-player characters (NPCs), eat and drink at various restaurants, visit hostess and cabaret clubs, craft items, and engage in a variety of mini games such as golfing, bowling, batting cages, video arcades, karaoke, and gambling games including poker, blackjack, Cee-lo, and Koi-Koi. The series is well known for the contrast between the dramatic main storyline and the humorous, over the top side content.
The franchise has become a commercial and critical success, and as of 2024, Sega has reported that the video game series has sold a combined total of 27.7 million units in physical and digital sales since its debut in 2005. Strong sales of the games in its original Japanese market has led to the franchise's expansion to other media, including film adaptations and a television series.
The Yakuza / Like a Dragon game series is set primarily in the fictional district of Kamurochō (神室町), which is based on Kabukichō, an actual red-light district of Tokyo. Other actual locations reproduced in the game series include:
The appearances of the in-game districts and towns are based on their contemporary actual locations from the year each game came out, and are often renovated and remodeled in newer games. However, specific stores and buildings are often different or carry fictionalized branding compared to their real life counterparts, replacing them with real-life product placements or plot-important locations.
The primary protagonist of the Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise is Kazuma Kiryu, who is playable in every numbered entry of the main video game series through Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Some games, such as Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5, feature multiple playable characters, with players switching between them at predetermined points in the story. Ichiban Kasuga became the new lead character of the main series games beginning with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, with up to six of his companions available as playable characters during combat sequences, though Kiryu appeared in a non-playable capacity and became playable again in subsequent installments.
Other characters have appeared as the protagonists of various spin-off titles. The samurai-era titles Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! and Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! are based around fictionalized versions of historical figures Miyamoto Musashi and Sakamoto Ryōma respectively, both of whom are modeled after Kiryu. The Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku subseries features its own protagonist, street punk Tatsuya Ukyo, while the Judgment subseries follows private detective Takayuki Yagami. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, a video game adaptation of the manga franchise Fist of the North Star by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara, features similar gameplay and thematic links to the Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise, with many of its characters like Kenshiro voiced by the same voice actors who play recurring characters in the main series games.
All Yakuza / Like a Dragon games feature a mixture of combat, story and exploration. The main character randomly encounters foes on their path, triggering combat. In fights, the player character uses hand-to-hand combat, using combos, grabs, throws and finishing moves, and some games allow the player character to select from and use multiple fighting styles. Players can also grab nearby objects on the street to beat the enemies. Despite the emphasis on hand-to-hand combat, weapons can be obtained and used by grabbing weapons dropped by the enemies or purchasing them from weapon shops. Some characters, such as Goro Majima and Tatsuo Shinada, have fighting styles centered around their trademark weapons, which have infinite durability. Winning some of these battles can result in obtaining money or items which can be sold or used to purchase equipment or a variety of items in shops, gamble, or play mini-games. Battles end quicker by finishing the enemies using powerful moves called Heat Actions, which require the filling of the 'Heat Gauge' to become usable. Some of these tend to include quick time events. As the player character fights, they gain experience points that can be used to increase their stats and become a stronger fighter. The eighth installment in the series, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, includes a new battle system where the player character recruits party members to fight alongside them in turn-based role-playing game battles against enemies, and to play alongside them in mini-games. Due to its success, Sega has confirmed that future titles will continue to use turn-based gameplay, while the Judgment series will retain the action gameplay of earlier titles. However there is no solid plan, the type of gameplay is chosen depending on what is considered to be best suited for the story.
The series has a high number of sub-stories, which are side missions that often complement the main story. These give the player extra experience. There are many mini-games; for example, Yakuza: Like a Dragon featured a total number of 24 different minigames. The games range from activities like bowling, darts, and arcade games, to much more complex ones, like professions, which can take a number of hours over the course of several sessions to complete. Examples include:
A recurring superboss known as Amon appears in most of the games. Depending on the title, there may be more than one. For example, Yakuza 5 features an Amon for each playable character, including an idol version for Haruka to face off against.
The series originated from creator Toshihiro Nagoshi's desire to design a game that would tell the way of life of the yakuza. Nagoshi initially struggled to greenlight the project. Portrayals of the Japanese underworld were common in manga and movies, but not in video games. Toshihiro Nagoshi brought his story for Yakuza to scenario supervisor Hase Seishu two years before the game started development. Seishu had been a video game player since the days of Space Invaders, but over the past four or five years he had lost interest, as he was less concerned with 3D visuals and gameplay than he was with story. Yakuza, however, caught his attention, and he decided to accept the project even though it came at the busiest point of his professional writing career. Masayoshi Yokoyama was the writer of the development team at Sega and worked under Seishu's guidance for the first two games of the franchise.
Touching upon the game's name, Nagoshi revealed that it was his idea: the original Japanese name Ryū ga Gotoku translates to "Like a Dragon", as Nagoshi felt that dragons have a strong image about them, and that when players sample it, they would, as the title suggests, get a feel for the strength and manliness of the main character.
Sega's leadership was hesitant about the perceived limited appeal, but eventually approved the development of the project. Sony and CERO were initially disapproving about the depiction of violence and adult material, though Sony eventually showed interest in the prospect of the game after Nagoshi persevered.
The three Yakuza original soundtrack albums are composed by Hidenori Shoji, Hideki Sakamoto et alii and are published by Wave Master. Additional soundtrack features songs from Japanese artists Crazy Ken Band, Zeebra, Ketsumeishi and Eikichi Yazawa.
The game's original voice actors are Japanese celebrities who encompass voice actors, singers, tarento, film or TV series actors, radio or television celebrities. Cabaret girls and alike characters have featured models, gravure idols and adult actresses as voice actresses and likenesses. Since the 2008 spin-off Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!, the game series' main characters have their face modeled in 3D after their voice actors. As in the Virtua Fighter series, Western main and minor characters do not speak in Japanese, but rather in English. Minor Chinese and Korean characters also often speak their native tongues.
The first game in the series was dubbed into English when released outside of Japan. However, due to criticism of the English voice acting, each subsequent Western release through Yakuza 6 retained the original Japanese voice acting. Beginning with the release of the 2018 spinoff Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, all new entries in the series have featured dual language voiceover support in their Western release.
The PlayStation 3 installments' realistic character design is based on Cyberware 3D scanner, Softimage XSI 6.5 3D models and Sega's Magical V-Engine.
When the series was internationalized and localized to fit the Western market, several changes occurred. Prior to 2022, the series was renamed to Yakuza outside of Japan, although the eighth main entry used its original name as a subtitle. Following the reveal of three titles at RGG Summit 2022, Sega confirmed plans to rebrand the series as "Like a Dragon" to more closely align with the original Japanese title.
Yakuza 4 adjusted several localization changes, following criticism of the previous games, and in particular the content excised from the Western release of Yakuza 3. Producer Noguchi noted that there was an attempt to "bring a more complete localization that was more faithful to the source material". This included reversing several name changes. In addition, some conventions were changed; in previous Western localizations, protagonist Kazuma Kiryu had been referred to primarily by his given name. Beginning in Yakuza 4, he is referred to primarily by his family name, Kiryu, which more closely reflects the original dialogue.
As of 2024, the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series includes nine main games, with each installment following the events of the previous title. With the exception of the prequel Yakuza 0, they were released in chronological order. There are also several spin-off titles, either starring different protagonists or featuring different settings.
With the exception of the Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku titles, which were developed by Syn Sophia, and Streets of Kamurocho, which was developed by Empty Clip Studios, all games were developed by Sega's CS1 R&D team, later renamed Ryū ga Gotoku Studio.
The storytelling of the series is inspired by yakuza films, one of the most popular cinematic genres in Japan. The stories of the first two games in the series were supervised by novelist Hase Seishu, a writer of yakuza crime fiction. The main story in each game is presented in chapters, much like Kinji Fukasaku's classic yakuza movie Sympathy for the Underdog and is expanded upon with around a hundred subplots per game. The depth this provides leads to the series having a large cast of characters, including many which recur in minor roles.
The Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise includes various types of merchandise and adaptations outside of the video games. This includes a direct-to-video movie, a feature film, a stage play, original soundtracks, official guides, Kamutai Magazines (pre-order campaign limited book) and other licensed products such as Cropped Heads long tee shirts and parkas based on main characters tattoos, limited edition PlayStation 3 console packs, Kubrick toys and action figures manufactured by Maitan.
For the Japanese and Asian market releases of the original game in 2005, Sega created a pre-order campaign limited bonus item called Kamutai Magazine, a full-color magazine which was a travel guide to the fictional in-game location of Kamurocho. The first book was a monography dedicated to the game with Mai, a sub-scenario female character, as the cover girl. This character's physical aspect was inspired by its voice actor, Mihiro, a Japanese adult video idol.
Many of the new Yakuza series games since have included a new Kamutai Magazine issue as a preorder bonus in Japan, featuring a voice actress as cover girl. Hence this December 2005 issue was followed by a December 2006 issue (cover girl is Japanese AV idol Nana Natsume), a March 2008 issue (cover girl is Taiwanese model Yinling of Joytoy) and a February 2009 issue (cover girls are Shizuka Mutou, Sayaka Araki and Rina Sakurai). The fifth issue was bundled with Ryu Ga Gotoku 4 and released in March 2010.
Takeshi Miyasaka directed an original video during the promotion period for the Western release of the game, which depicted Kiryu, Nishikiyama, and Yumi growing up at the Sunflower Orphanage and leaving for Tokyo. This short film called Like a Dragon: Prologue (龍が如く 〜序章〜, ryu ga gotoku -joshou-) serves as a prequel and sets up the events that take place in the game.
A film adaptation was released in Japanese theaters on March 2, 2007, called Like a Dragon: The Movie (龍が如く 劇場版, ryu ga gotoku: gekijoban). It is based on the first installment of the series and was directed by Takashi Miike. The movie premiered in the United States on June 23 at IFC theater. American distributor Tokyo Shock, a Media Blasters affiliate, released a licensed DVD on February 23, 2010.
Since September 2008, Japanese voice actors from the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series, including Takaya Kuroda (Kazuma Kiryu) and Hidenari Ugaki (Goro Majima), are running a radio drama which is known as Ryu Ga Gotoku Presents Kamuro-cho Radio Station (龍が如くPresents神室町RADIOSTATION). The second season Shin Kamuro-cho Radio Station (新・神室町RADIOSTATION), which covers 2009~2010, is ongoing with back number episodes available for download as podcasts. Past episodes from the 2008~2009 season, Kamuro-cho Radio Station (神室町RADIOSTATION), are also available as archived podcasts.
A television series was adapted based on the spin-off PSP title Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō which began airing on TBS on October 5, 2010, and ended after 11 episodes. The series spawned a sequel in 2012 based on the 2011 PSP game Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura hen, the series also ran for 11 episodes
The Kamurocho Caba Jou TV (神室町キャバ嬢 T V) is a Japanese web television dedicated to the series's cabaret girls. Main contents are audition and girls profile, but it can also be related to other aspect of the game series; for example volume 15 focuses on its soundtrack artists. All shows, called "volumes", are archived within the web TV's official website.
A four-episode television drama titled "Yakuza: Soul Song" premiered in 2016, starring Shono Hayama in the lead role.
A Japanese and American co-produced television series adaptation titled Like a Dragon: Yakuza premiered on October 25, 2024, with Ryoma Takeuchi in the lead role of Kazuma Kiryu. Other cast members include Kento Kaku as Akira Nishikiyama, and Munetaka Aoki as Goro Majima. The project was initially announced as a film before shifting to a television series.
A stage play based on the events of Yakuza was performed in Tokyo in April 2015. Cast members included Eiji Takigawa, Gaku Sano, Yuma Ishigaki, and Kei Hosogai.
The original game was heavily acclaimed in Japan for combining innovative gameplay with cinema-like storytelling and character development on the back of Japan's criminal underground. Weekly Famitsu gave high scores to the series, Yakuza scored 37/40 (92.5/100), Yakuza 2 scored 38/40 (95/100), Ryū Ga Gotoku Kenzan! scored 37/40 (92,5/100), Yakuza 3 scored 38/40 (95/100) and Yakuza 4 scored 38/40 (95/100). Yakuza 5 scored (40/40) which has the highest score out of all of the Yakuza installments. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life scored (39/40). The Western localized versions were released between one and three years after the originals and received generally favorable reviews.
Each installment earned an excellence award at the Japan Game Awards and had a PlayStation the Best re-release in both Japanese, Asian and Korean markets. The Japanese entertainment industry gave Yakuza 3 the "Award for Excellence" in the 2009 Japan Game Awards "Games of the Year Division" for its "dramatic story development, freedom of the story and the graphics elaborated up to the details of the work. In addition, amusement found in every portion of the game including the vast number of sub-stories and mini games. This work was awarded the prize for the high quality of entertainment". In 2010, the Japan Game Awards once again gave the Yakuza series game the "Award for Excellence". Yakuza 4 won due to "a rich story with a high degree of freedom that is developed from the different perspectives of the 4 characters. There are also many play spots that boast several sub-stories and mini games. The astounding quality and volume provide a high level of entertainment and was the reason for granting this award".
Although the narrative has often been praised, the poor portrayal of female characters have been noted by reviewers, with some noting that important female characters like Haruka Sawamura and Makoto Makimura are underutilized. Taking the criticism into consideration, development staff member for Judgment Scott Strichart said players have the opportunity to empathize with the sexism experienced by female characters like Saori Shirosaki in the English localization.
The series sold 3.2 million games worldwide as of 2009 and 4 million copies as of September 2010; the best sellers then being the first two games which sold between 500,000 – 1 million worldwide, each winning the PlayStation Gold Award. Yakuza 3 sold 500,000 copies in the Asian markets as of 2010, also winning SCEJ's PlayStation Gold Award. However, after Yakuza 4, Sega said that sales were slow in North America and Europe due to "the adverse market condition", noting "sluggish personal consumption" in those regions.
By June 2015, the entire series sold over 7 million units worldwide. As of 2023, the series has sold over 21 million copies. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth reached the milestone of 1 million copies sold one week post launch.
As of November 4, 2024, the Like a Dragon series has sold over twenty eight million copies worldwide.
Some fans have been inspired by the Yakuza / Like a Dragon game series to visit their real-world counterparts. One reviewer praised the detailed recreation of specific districts, including "trivial, incidental stuff", that enables virtual exploration of real-life locations. Although not explicitly marketed as "virtual tourism", another reviewer noted "Yakuza still gives you the best opportunity to really get engaged with a country and its people that I can think of. ... [It] has become a connection to a country I love very much, not because of the sights it shows me, but for all the boring things it lets me do". Series writer and producer Masayoshi Yokoyama particularly thinks of Yakuza 5 as a game that provides "all the fun of modern Japan".
In 2020, an internet meme emerged utilizing deepfakes to generate videos of people and fictional characters singing the chorus of "Baka Mitai" (ばかみたい, lit. "I've Been a Fool"), a song which first appears in the karaoke minigame of Yakuza 5. Most iterations of this meme use a 2017 video uploaded by English YouTuber Dobbsyrules, who lip syncs the Taxi Driver (Yakuza 5 (Kiryu) / Yakuza 0 / Like a Dragon Gaiden) version of the song, as a template.
Journalists frequently made comparisons to Sega's Shenmue series when Yakuza was first revealed. Series creator Nagoshi was aware of this, and said that these are different games entirely and should not be compared. Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki (who worked with Nagoshi) said that the challenges that he endured while making Shenmue were something Nagoshi learned from and gave back to Sega. According to former Sega manager Hisashi Suzuki, Yakuza was only possible because of Shenmue and described it as a "Sega-like" work. Other Sega games also had an influence. It inherited elements of the SpikeOut arcade games, games that Nagoshi was previously involved in. The development tools to create the map came from Jet Set Radio.