So I got Yakuza 5 on playstation plus back when it was free and like Mr. Ryckert I've been wanting to check out this franchies for a while so would 5 be a good place to start or sould I start with anouther game in the series like say 4 which I also got back when it was on plus?

4 might be a better choice if you want to get up to speed on the series. I think it was the last game to recap previous entries as mini-movies but I might be thinking of 3.

@uppercaseccc: Honestly jumping into any of these games out of order is going to be really confusing but since it's probably too much to start playing from the beginning I'd say go for the newest one. EDIT: I forgot about those recap videos since I never watched them, so yah as most people suggested that would be a decent place to start.

What you need to know:

• Kazuma is a Yakuza that fought his blood brother on top of an exploding skyscraper and returned order to the clans.
• At some point he adopted Haruka and has been raising her as his daughter.
• Kazuma is a badass that tries to live the quiet life but keeps getting pulled back into yakuza nonsense.
• Street toughs never learn.

4 is a better place to jump in at, and I think better overall. Or at least a better story, for whatever that's worth. 4 does have recap videos of the first three games, and they're quite lengthy/in depth. 5, for whatever reason, doesn't have any of those videos.

However, you might just be better off waiting until early next year when Yakuza 0 comes to PS4 in the west. I mean, it won't be free like 5 was on Plus, but it'll be on PS4, and it's a prequel, so I'd assume you don't really need to have played all the games to get what's going on (but who knows, I might be wrong).

I started with four, it has a good reminiscing thing that covers one, two and three. Most of the characters in four are new/new-ish so it's like the start of an arc in that sense. It also goes completely nuts, storyline wise, which I appreciated. Five continues that arc and the story also goes completely nuts, which is great.

I started with 3 and I don't think there's a way to not make it confusing at first. But also the stories play out in a way that isn't super confusing. I bet you could get pretty worn out if you went from 4 immediately to 5. This is amplified by how similar they all are and the fact that 5 has bunch of small stuff that make the game better than the other ones. So honestly, if you don't want to spend another 40ish hours per game, I think starting at 5 is totally fine.

I started with 4 and it felt like the perfect place to start if you're not willing to go all the way back to the first one. It's kind of a soft-reboot for the franchise and spends most of the game centered around brand new characters. There's also video recaps of the first 3 games to catch you up on important details.

5 felt much more dependant on 4 to set it up and and tended to reference previous events and characters a whole lot more. I'm sure it's possible to start there and enjoy it, but if you have the option to start with 4 I recommend that one.

I would wait until Yakuza Zero comes out in the west, as I'm doing.

I think 5 eventually doles out the essential information that you need to understand Kazuma. If you want to dive deep, play the past games, but I think 5 paints a good general picture of Kazuma and the insanely anime world he lives in, over-the-top hand gestures and all.

I think 5's the first one that doesn't feature a massive catch-up video. 3 or 4 is probably a better spot. Actually, 4 helps fill in the blanks with the other protagonists.

I would recommend starting with 3 but you totally can play 5 as a standalone title, the stories in it are pretty self contained. Either way you will feel utterly confused at times. The J-drama is strong in these titles so expect overly complicated intrigues and heavy handed dialogues.

@shindig said:

Yeah. I miss those recap videos, was hoping for one in 5 because it was so long since I beat 3 and 4.

I started with 3, and I've very much enjoyed the series.

I would suggest this but since he got the other games free it might be a better idea to try it first before putting money down on a series you might not enjoy playing.

I'd say 4 is the perfect place to start that isnt the beginning.