History VideoGame / LikeADragon

* AuthorAppeal: That karaoke has appeared in the series since ''3'' and onward is no accident - [[https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/now-we-know-why-yakuza-games-are-obsessed-with-karaoke the series' chief director, Ryosuke Horii, claimed to have a spreadsheet containing 7,964 songs that he sings at karaoke]]...and that was just in 2022. He updates it yearly. Of course, positive fan response to {{Bathos}} they helped inflict also helped cement their place in the series.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: At least [[OncePerEpisode once per game]], Kiryu will rip off his shirt to reveal his dragon tattoo, typically before the climax of the game. If his opponent is also yakuza, they'll likely return the gesture and shed their own shirt. Completely averted in ''Dead Souls'' for obvious reasons.

** [[spoiler:Kashiwagi]] in ''Like A Dragon''. Apparently, [[spoiler:being riddled with machine gun fire just sends you in a long coma]]. Similarly, [[spoiler: Lau Ka Long]] too in the same game, if [[spoiler:Chau Ka Long]] really is him.

* AlternateWorldMap: While Kamurocho in Tokyo is the mainstay map of the series, some games have other districts to visit:
** Sotenbori, Osaka in ''0'', ''2'', ''5'', and ''Like a Dragon''.
** Downtown Ryukyu in ''3''.
** ''Yakuza 5'' also has Nagasugai in Fukuoka, Tsukimino in Sapporo, and Kineicho in Nagoya.
** Onomichi, Hiroshima in ''6''.
** Starting from ''Yakuza: Like a Dragon'' onwards, Isezaki Ijincho in Yokohama will replace Kamurocho as the main map of the series.
** ''Infinite Wealth'' [[SequelGoesForeign takes the series outside of Japan]] with one of the new areas being Honolulu, Hawaii.
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b046YkUK4XA The male massager who provides the protagonists a Super V.I.P massage.]]
* AmbitionIsEvil: Ambition is a common motivation for villains, where they are driven to commit all sorts of nefarious deeds in order to secure their rise to power.

** The third one has [[spoiler:Black Monday, a weapons dealing syndicate headed by corrupt CIA operatives. Lau and the Triads also return.]]
** The sixth game has the Jingweon return as well as a new triad gang.

* VideoGameLongRunners: The series has gone on since 2005, with the final chapter for Kiryu released 11 years later.

In December 2012, as another war seems to break out between the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance, Kazuma Kiryu, now working a cab in Fukuoka to escape his past, finds several forces trying to draw him back into the fray for their own agendas. Meanwhile, baseball player Tatsuo Shinada sets out to clear his name in Nagoya after false accusations of insider gambling, Haruka and Akiyama work together in Osaka to investigate the murder of a colleague, and Saejima faces assailants trying to keep him in prison in Sapporo.\\\

A sequel to ''Yakuza: Like a Dragon'' starring Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu as dual protagonists. Despite the format change, Kasuga will still serve as the main character, with Kiryu framed as a supporting figure in this chapter of Kasuga's story. Other confirmed returning characters for this installment will be Adachi, Nanba, Saeko, Han, Seong-Hui, Zhao, Sawashiro, Daigo, Majima, Saejima and Arakawa.\\\
''Like a Dragon's'' turn-based combat system returns with Kasuga and Kiryu each having their own separate party. The game is set to be RGG Studio's biggest, featuring the familiar locations of Isezaki Ijincho in Yokohama, Kamurocho in Tokyo, and Sotenbori in Osaka, as well as Honolulu, Hawaii.\\\

* AnAesop: Many of the side quests end in one, and sometimes from extremely bizarre scenarios.
** A recurring one throughout the series is that ex-cons, sex workers, homeless people, illegal immigrants and other people straight society looks down on are still people, and deserve respect and dignity.
** Another one is that the world doesn't exist solely in black and white; sometimes there exist gray zones between them, some of which are necessary.

* TheArtifact: The Mach Bowl bowling alley is Kamurocho appeared in ''2'', ''3'', ''0'', and ''Kiwami''. In ''6'', the site was turned into the RIZAP Gym, in ''Kiwami 2'' and ''Like A Dragon'' it's an inaccessible restaurant, and in ''Judgement'' it became the Paradise VR salon. Despite these new incarnations of the venue however, the building has always prominently displayed a neon sign of bowling pins on its side.

* ProductPlacement: A surprising amount and remarkably they tend to avert EnforcedPlug for the most part, making contextual sense where they do appear.
** The Don Quijote discount stores that can be visited are based on an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quijote_(store) actual chain in Japan]], as well as in Hawaii. The theme song played at the stores is also real, and there's an English version made for the Singapore outlets.
** The Suntory group also has prominent placement, ranging from soft drinks like Boss iced coffee all the way to premium brand-name liquor that they have distribution rights to in Japan, including Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey.
** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryu_Ga_Gotoku#Tie-in_and_product_placement Other Wiki]] has more specific details on the Product Placements.
** The karaoke machine in the bar is always a Joysound product. Joysound is a very prolific karaoke equipment and software company in Japan that got a short stint in the limelight in the west for region-locking their [=PS3=] title so tightly that it will not work outside Japan even if the [=PS3=] is a Japanese region console.

** Homare Nishitani in ''0'' can give Majima a run for his money in the bat-shit insane department.

A ''Kiwami'' style remake was announced in September 2022, rebuilt from the ground up in the Unreal 4 UsefulNotes/GameEngine. It is set for a worldwide release on [=PS4=], Platform/PlayStation5, [=XBO=], Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS, and PC on February 21, 2023.

On January 1st, 2000, Arakawa Family grunt Ichiban Kasuga takes the fall for a crime he didn't commit. After eighteen years, Ichiban is released from prison, only to find that has his family's parent Tojo Clan has been exiled from Kamurocho and the Omi Alliance has joined forces with the police -- all thanks to Ichiban's mentor Masumi Arakawa, who asked him to take the fall in the first place. After being exiled to the Yokohama city of Ijincho, Ichiban must fight his way up from rock bottom with a motley crew of misfits to get to the truth behind the Tojo Clan's downfall.\\\

** Saeko Mukouda and [[AsHerself Eri Kamataki]] in ''Like a Dragon'' stand out being the first playable female characters in the franchise.

** A good chunk of the weapons fall into this, especially the Patriarch weapons. High power, but will break in about five swings.
** Certain attacks and summons in ''Like A Dragon'' can devastate enemies with ease, but their price becomes quite steep, moving them into this territory.

* BadassCrew: Everyone who supported and helped Kiryu has at least done something awesome to earn this. Two of them being his TrueCompanions in ''4'' (Akiyama, Saejima and Tanimura) and the other playable characters in ''Dead Souls'' (Akiyama again, Goda, Majima). The Amon clan in ''4'' also qualifies. Ichiban and his friends end up becoming this, where despite being [[ConservationOfNinjutsu overall far weaker than previous protagonists]] still manage to kick a lot of ass.

* BathhouseBlitz: Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! has Ryoma fighting Saigo in a bathhouse, with both of them completely nude and shielded only by Censor Steam. Also, in Yakuza Kiwami Kiryu and Majima get into an argument about whether the movie Passionate Manly Bathhouse Battle qualifies as porn.

** Kaoru Sayama in ''2''. She'd already cut her teeth against underworld thugs as a part of Osaka PD, but she can join Kiryu in street brawls for a tag team Heat Actions.

%%* ActionGirl:
%%** Kaoru Sayama in ''2''.
%%** Saeko Mukouda and [[AsHerself Eri Kamataki]] in ''Like a Dragon''.

* AlternateCharacterReading: The ''Kiwami'' (極) subtitle of the remakes is the first kanji of ''gokudō'' (極道), another word for the Yakuza.

** Kazuma Kiryu = White

** Goro Majima = Purple
* CombatPragmatist: The way Kiryu and all the other protagonists [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential are able to fight]] shows them to be absolutely brutal fighters that will take any advantage they can get. Anything that isn't nailed down can used as a weapon such as bicycles or random furniture. Whatever ''is'' can instead be used to slam thugs faces against like cars or lamp posts. Think they'll lighten up on the onslaught because they just knocked you flat on your ass? [[CurbStompBattle Think again.]] To be fair, they all learned to fight on the streets where everything's fair game so it's unsurprising how unscrupulous they tend to be when they're constantly fighting against larger numbers.

* ClusterFBomb: At least in the first game's English dub, which was the only game that had one for a long time.
** Somewhat averted in future games, as the original Japanese dialogue is much tamer compared to the first game, which spews F-bombs any chance it gets. Even when the games started to receive English dubs again, their use of four-lettered words was still more reserved than the first game's dub.
* CollectionSidequest: The series usually has a collectible item present that earns extra rewards for getting them. Most of the time, it's coin locker keys.
* CombatPragmatist: These games' combat system revolves around bringing the pain upon those who deserve it, without any mercy or hesitation. Heat Actions allow you to KickThemWhileTheyAreDown, beat foes senseless with all sorts of weapons ([[ImprovisedWeapon improvised]] or not), and make use of the environment such as lampposts, cars, and railings. Characters are also not afraid of straight-up using guns in gameplay despite otherwise trying to avoid them in cutscenes.
** Notably averted in ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'': It's stated early on that Ichiban is a good enough fighter that he doesn't ''have'' to take half the hits he does, but he lets his enemies get some in since he's insistent that's how a hero acts.
* ComicBookTime: Averted; The games are all set in the year in which they were originally released, meaning that characters age in real time. As such, Kiryu has gone from being 36 at the beginning of the series to being in his 50s (not that he looks his age).
* CompanyCameo: The series allows you to go to Creator/{{Sega}}-owned arcades and play classic titles like ''VideoGame/OutRun'', ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'', and even ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters''.
* CompilationRerelease: In Japan, the first two games were given an HD upgrade as ''Ryū ga Gotoku 1&2 HD Edition'' for the [=PS3=] and Platform/WiiU, which also upgraded the first game's combat with features found in the second.

** As ''Kiwami'', ''6'', and ''Like A Dragon'' each follow up on it, at the very least, the Pocket Circuit arc of ''0'' is canon, as far as sidequest chains go (although in ''6'', Fighter doesn't seem to remember seeing him previously in ''Kiwami'').

** That incident rears its head again in ''4'', as apparently it's tied to BigBad Munakata's plan to wipe out organized crime.

* MookHorrorShow: Several actions can turn fights with weaker enemies into this: cowing them into holding back for a bit.

*** In the third and fourth games, Kiryu and Akiyama have mad blogging skillz. Shinada also shows them in the fifth.

*** In Infinite Wealth, the whole cast get new jobs and weapons from vacation and tourist events.

** In ''Like a Dragon'', the exaggerated JRPG tropes and the bizarre enemy types are actually justified as Ichiban's overactive imagination filtering his perception of fights.

** Ryuji gets to use this ''of all things'' to fend off various mutated zombies in ''Dead Souls'', when trapped in a gas leak. Literally played straight, as it only takes ''a few hits'' to kill what could've taken lots of bullets, and has infinite durability.

The combat up to ''Yakuza 6'' (and still present in spinoffs like the ''Judgment' series) is a 3D beat 'em up with RPG elements. Scoring hits and dodging attacks will fill the Heat gauge -- in most games, keeping the meter filled will [[SuperMode increase the character's speed and damage]], or the gauge can be spent to activate [[LimitBreak a powerful, context-based attack]] called a Heat Action. Combat becomes more complex as the series goes on, from introducing multiple characters in ''4'' to the addition of a StanceSystem in ''Ishin!''.

The combat up to ''Yakuza 6'' (and still present in the ''Judgment'' spinoffs) is a 3D beat 'em up with RPG elements. Scoring hits and dodging attacks will fill the Heat gauge -- in most games, keeping the meter filled will [[SuperMode increase the character's speed and damage]], or the gauge can be spent to activate [[LimitBreak a powerful, context-based attack]] called a Heat Action. Combat becomes more complex as the series goes on, from introducing multiple characters in ''4'' to the addition of a StanceSystem in ''Ishin!''.

After the events of ''6,'' Kazuma Kiryu is living in hiding as the hundredth disciple of the Daidoji Temple, where he carries out various missions on behalf of the Daidoji faction under the codename "Joryu." In Summer 2018, he is tasked with escorting a ''certain individual''.\\\