History VideoGame / Yakuza

''Yakuza'', or as it's known in Japan, 龍が如く (''Ryu ga Gotoku'', lit. ''Like a Dragon''), is a video game brawler series that mostly follows the man with the dragon tattoo, Kazuma Kiryu (桐生 一馬, Kiryū Kazuma), the "Dragon of Dojima". Kiryu is a former {{yakuza}} whose release from prison after a 10-year sentence, for a crime he didn’t commit, sparks the setup of the first game's plot involving huge conspiracies, yakuza members at war with each other, mystery-solving hard-boiled police, lives being lost, tears being shed, punks being beaten, and that formula more or less has stayed with the series since the start.

! Games and other media revolving the Yakuza franchise:

* '''''Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name''''': An interquel set between the events of 6 and Like a Dragon, the game stars Kiryu and deals with what he's been doing between the two sagas.

* '''''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon''''' aka ''Like a Dragon 7: Whereabouts of Light and Darkness'' (龍が如く7 光と闇の行方 "Ryu ga Gotoku 7: Hikari to Yami no Yukue"): Releasing for the [=PS4=] on January 16, 2020 in Japan and Southeast Asia, and later on in 2020 worldwide on [=PS4=], UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, [=XBO=], UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS and PC.\\\

A remake was announced under the title ''Like a Dragon: Ishin'' is set for a global release on February 2033.

''Ishin!'', like ''Kenzan!'', is a JidaiGeki spin-off with series regulars as a UniversalAdaptorCast and the first series release on [=PS4=]. However, being set in a later historical period, the story is not related to ''Kenzan!''.

* KungFoley: Kiryu's stronger attacks- particularly with his infamous [[CounterAttack Komaki Tiger Drop]] and some of his [[LimitBreak Heat Actions]]- have a deep bass echo to convey just how brutally powerful they are.

*** ''0'' also did this for many more side characters than previously, including both Mr. Libidos, both Mr. Moneybags, all Mr. Shakedowns, and [[UpToEleven all 30 Gandhara girls]], who appear in various locations and substories in either city.

* ManBehindTheMan: Pretty much at least one per game. [[UpToEleven Some games go trigger-happy with his trope. Literally.]]

** The [[BonusBoss Amons]] of ''Yakuza 0'' turn it UpToEleven by having '''14''' each.

** ''Kiwami'', ''Kiwami 2'' and ''6'' have [[InvertedTrope inversions]] of this: Kiryu can buy a consumable called [=AppStim=] RX, which sets his HPToOne (or by 50% for [=AppStim=] Half), mainly to invoke [[invoked]]SelfImposedChallenge. If it wasn't already obvious from [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the item's name]], their FlavorText explicitly mentions that [=AppStim=] "stimulates your digestive tract", which is represented by Kiryu losing HP.

* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: It's essentially the series' signature style where almost all encounters end with a huge scuffle. For example; a protagonist attempts to convince someone to stand down or ask for aid/info, only for said someone to stubbornly refuse and fight, or have the protagonist conclude that only through fisticuffs that can make them listen. It's rare for a situation to be solved without violence.

** [[spoiler:When fought as a boss in ''Like a Dragon'', Kiryu will not directly attack female party members.]]

* TheUnfought: Yayoi Dojima in the first game, who challenges Kiryu and is fully prepared to do so, but you only fight her mooks.

In 2016, after three years in prison to clean his slate, Kiryu finds out Haruka has disappeared to avoid public scrutiny. Returning to Kamurocho, he discovers that not only is Haruka in a coma due to a hit-and-run, she also has a son -- ''and'' he's being targeted by a criminal faction so powerful, even the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance can't touch it.\\\

** Tatsuo Shinada, ex-baseball player and Tanimura's replacement, completely disappears after ''5'', even though there is a baseball sub-activity in ''6''.

* FlungClothing: Everyone in the setting can remove all the clothes on their upper body simply by tugging on their shoulders.

* DirtyCop: The series has a number of currpt law officials, ranging from regular cops on the payroll of organized gangsters to the upper echelons having their own schemes.

* KnifeNut: Majima, Nishitani, sometimes Jo Amon numerous other villains use knives as their preferred weapon.

''Ryu ga Gotoku'' was first conceived by veteran game designer and Creator/{{Sega}} employee Toshihiro Nagoshi in the early 2000s. His pitch was initially met with quite a bit of skepticism in the higher echelons of Sega, who were more than a bit hesitant towards the proposed game's adult themes and highly controversial concept of being centred around organised crime, and believed that the very Japanese flavor of the game would appeal less to the Western market. Nagoshi, however, was willing to stake his career on getting the game produced, and with some convincing he got the project off the ground. Contrary to any misgivings Sega might have had, the game was heavily acclaimed in Japan for being the first game to explore Yakuza culture with such depth and as it is claimed authenticity to the nature of Japan's criminal underground, and it was such a financial success for the company that both a localization of the first game and sequel were released the following year. ''Yakuza'' is now one of Sega's flagship properties, and Nagoshi has since remained the creative lead of the series, [[LongRunner which as a whole has so far no end in sight]].

* 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.

* BadGuyBar: Deborah in the original is populated solely by people who exist to be beaten up by you.

* BagOfSpilling: A slightly milder example in that characters typically retain some moves in-between games but still start from scratch statistically, usually handwaved as them being out of action in-between games.

** The same game has Hamazaki, who comes closer, [[spoiler: but he vanishes from the plot after Lau's death.]]

*** [[spoiler: Mirror Face]] in ''Like a Dragon'', whom of which uses Adachi's default class.

''[[SomethingCompletelyDifferent Lost Paradise]]'' is a ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' {{licensed game}} developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, with a new storyline set during the similar gameplay to their namesake series, a voice cast with many ''Yakuza'' regulars (including Kiryu's actor Takaya Kuroda as Kenshiro), and the series' trademark [[DenserAndWackier sense of humor]].

* HackAndSlash: ''Kenzan!'' and ''Ishin!'' allow you to use and upgrade multiple melee weapons, giving the combat flavors of this genre. You also have the option to buy and use weapons in the main series.