Every Yakuza game, ranked
All 5 Yakuza games we hold, spanning 2005 to 2021: 4 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 132,805 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Yakuza 0 (GamingPickz Score 8.4), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Yakuza (2005) and follow the release-order timeline below.
- For the money: Yakuza: Like a Dragon gives the most score per dollar right now.
The Yakuza games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 4 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
4 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 4 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Every game by critic score
The grid above is built from Steam data, so it can only place the Yakuza games that were on Steam. This one uses the Metacritic critic aggregate, which the older console-only entries have too, so the whole series lands on a single chart: critic score against release year.
On Steam (also has a GamingPickz Score) Console-only (Metacritic only)
4 best Yakuza games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
Yakuza 0 at a glance Released 2018 Studio Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Player sentiment 95% positive of 77,742 Critics 86/100 Price Not listed Steam Deck verified Install size Not stated Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 95% shrinks to 94.9 on 77,742 reviews, then blends with the 86 critic aggregate, giving 8.4.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 2
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Best for: Sinking a long time into one world
7.8GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceYakuza: Like a Dragon at a glance Released 2020 Studio Ryu ga Gotoku Studio Player sentiment 94% positive of 37,452 Critics 83/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 40 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 94% shrinks to 93.9 on 37,452 reviews, then blends with the 83 critic aggregate, giving 7.8.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 3
Yakuza 5 Remastered
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
7.4GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceYakuza 5 Remastered at a glance Released 2021 Studio RGG Studio Player sentiment 89% positive of 7,372 Critics No aggregate Price $19.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 32.5 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 89% shrinks to 88.7 on 7,372 reviews, giving 7.4. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 4
Yakuza 3 Remastered
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
6.9GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceYakuza 3 Remastered at a glance Released 2021 Studio RGG Studio Player sentiment 81% positive of 10,239 Critics No aggregate Price Not listed Steam Deck verified Install size 26 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 81% shrinks to 81.1 on 10,239 reviews, giving 6.9. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Only the 4 Yakuza games with Steam review data can be scored and ranked. The complete series, scored or not, is charted in order below.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Yakuza game we can score is Yakuza 0 at 8.4. The lowest is Yakuza 3 Remastered at 6.9, a 1.5-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2018 to 2021. The later entries score lower than the earlier ones: the series has been trending down.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Yakuza: Like a Dragon at $19.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Yakuza entries on Steam:
- Verified: Yakuza 0, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Yakuza 3 Remastered, Yakuza 5 Remastered
Platforms across the series
Where the 5 Yakuza games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 5 of 5 |
| PlayStation | 1 of 5 |
| Xbox | 1 of 5 |
| Nintendo | 1 of 5 |
The Yakuza series, game by game
Every Yakuza game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2005
Yakuza
Metacritic 75Yakuza is a 2005 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. It was released in December 2005 in Japan and in September 2006 internationally. The story follows Kazuma Kiryu, a yakuza who spent ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After being released, he learns that the… (Wikipedia)
Plot
The game follows the story of Kazuma Kiryu ( Darryl Kurylo / Takaya Kuroda ), a yakuza whose life changes when his boss, Sohei Dojima, attempts to rape Kiryu's childhood friend, Yumi Sawamura ( Eliza Dushku /Miyako Uesaka). When Dojima is murdered by Kiryu's best friend and fellow yakuza, Akira Nishikiyama ( Michael Rosenbaum /Kazuhiro Nakaya), Kiryu accepts blame for the murder, and is imprisoned for ten years. During his incarceration, Kiryu is… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception The game was heavily acclaimed in Japan for combining innovative gameplay with cinema-like story telling and character development on the back of Japan's criminal underground . Yakuza received generally positive reviews among Western critics earning a 75 out of 100 in Metacritic . IGN praised its combat system and sense of style but criticized its tedious gameplay. (Wikipedia)
- 2018
Yakuza 0
8.4SEGA’s legendary Japanese series finally comes to PC. Fight like hell through Tokyo and Osaka as junior yakuza Kiryu and Majima. Take a front row seat to 1980s life in Japan in an experience unlike anything else in video gaming, with uncapped framerates and 4K resolutions. A legend is born. (Steam)
Plot
Characters and settings Yakuza 0 takes place from December 1988 to January 1989, during the bubble era of Japan, in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated. The two central protagonists of the game are Kazuma Kiryu ( Takaya Kuroda / Yong Yea ), a junior Tojo Clan yakuza in Kamurochō who is forced out of the clan due to a murder accusation, and Goro Majima ( Hidenari Ugaki / Matthew Mercer ), a disgraced former Tojo Clan yakuza who… (Wikipedia)
Characters
Yakuza 0 takes place from December 1988 to January 1989, during the bubble era of Japan, in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated. The two central protagonists of the game are Kazuma Kiryu ( Takaya Kuroda / Yong Yea ), a junior Tojo Clan yakuza in Kamurochō who is forced out of the clan due to a murder accusation, and Goro Majima ( Hidenari Ugaki / Matthew Mercer ), a disgraced former Tojo Clan yakuza who works as a cabaret… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical response Reception Yakuza 0 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, with the Xbox One version receiving "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic . Of 153 critic reviews on review aggregator OpenCritic , 95% have recommended Yakuza 0 , with a top critic average of 86/100. PlayStation LifeStyle s review of the import version was a 9/10, calling it the best in the series and "the result of 10 years spent not just… (Wikipedia)
- 2020
Become Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking yakuza grunt left on the brink of death by the man he trusted most. Take up your legendary bat and get ready to crack some underworld skulls in dynamic RPG combat set against the backdrop of modern-day Japan. (Steam)
Plot
Setting and characters Yokohama , the setting of the game Yakuza: Like a Dragon is set in 2019, three years after the events of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life . For the first time in the Yakuza series, the focus shifts away from Tokyo and the game's fictional recreation of Kabukichō , called Kamurochō . Instead, most of the gameplay takes place in the Yokohama district of Isezaki Ijincho, which is based on Yokohama's real-life Isezakichō district. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Yakuza: Like a Dragon received "generally favorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic . Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 91% of critics. Critics praised the game's new take on the Yakuza series alongside the characters, but criticized the turn-based battles as being repetitive towards the end of the game. (Wikipedia)
- 2021
Kazuma Kiryu has earned his retirement on the sandy beaches of Okinawa. But when a deadly power struggle arrives on his doorstep, he’ll have to walk the streets of Kamurocho to escape his past for good. Complete The Dragon of Dojima’s journey. (Steam)
- 2021
Get ready for a Yakuza experience of unprecedented scale! Follow five characters across five Japanese cities, each trying to achieve their dream. The connections between them bring them together, but the conflict that unfolds is nothing any of them could have predicted. (Steam)
Yakuza, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Yakuza vs other series
How Yakuza stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Yakuza vs DRAGON BALL, Yakuza vs Mass Effect, Yakuza vs Monster Hunter, Yakuza vs Mount & Blade, Yakuza vs ARK, Yakuza vs Risen, Yakuza vs State of Decay, Yakuza vs The Witcher, Yakuza vs Torchlight, Yakuza vs Watch, Yakuza vs ArcheAge, Yakuza vs Divinity, Yakuza vs Dragon's Dogma, Yakuza vs Dungeon Siege, Yakuza vs ELDEN RING, Yakuza vs EverQuest, Yakuza vs Gothic, Yakuza vs Kingdom Come, Yakuza vs Kingdoms of Amalur, Yakuza vs Marvel’s Spider-Man, Yakuza vs Middle-earth, Yakuza vs Might & Magic, Yakuza vs Mirror, Yakuza vs NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, Yakuza vs Nioh, Yakuza vs One Piece, Yakuza vs Pathfinder, Yakuza vs Prototype, Yakuza vs South Park, Yakuza vs The Lord of the Rings, Yakuza vs The Surge, Yakuza vs Tom Clancy’s The Division, Yakuza vs Two Worlds, Yakuza vs Wasteland
Common questions
How many Yakuza games are there?
We hold 5 Yakuza games in the catalogue, released between 2005 and 2021. 4 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Yakuza game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Yakuza 0 rates highest at 8.4. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Yakuza games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2005 to 2021. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.