Yakuza: The Biggest Traditions In The Series

It’s hard to find many out there that play quite like Yakuza. These semi-realistic crime thrillers are a ton of fun to play, and while each of them has a fresh new story, and sometimes, an entirely new cast, there are still a handful of traditions that help to keep them all connected. Ultimately, these trends also help to make the Yakuza series feel unique and different from the abundance of other action-adventure games that have dominated the industry in recent years.

A tradition can be anything that has become synonymous with the series, and that has been replicated in at least the majority of the games, if not all of them. This can be a mechanic, location, or even a character; so long as they are continuously brought back, they will be considered one of the many trends that have existed within the Yakuza series that have helped mold it into the extremely beloved series we are all familiar with today.

8

Heat Actions

An Epic Takedown Move That Shows Off Kiryu’s Immense Strength

‘Heat Actions’ are devastating attacks that Kiryu, along with other protagonists in the series, can pull off to take down an enemy once and for all in the flashiest way possible. In most of the games, Kiryu will first need to charge up a bar in order to unlock one of these abilities in battle, and using them will tend to require a quick QTE button press to bolster their overall damage output.

While Heat would be a fairly basic mechanic in Yakuza 0 and the Kiwami games, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku would tinker around with it for future games, such as introducing Red Heat in the third and fourth games, and Climax Heat in the sixth installment. Even in the turn-based Infinite Wealth, Kiryu is still able to bust out a few Heat attacks for old-time’s sake when entering his Dragon form.

7

Final One-On-One Showdown

The Yakuza Games Certainly Know How To Finish Their Stories Off With A Bang

Every single Yakuza game since the very first has ended with Kiryu taking on the big bad of the story in one-on-one combat. However, these final fights aren’t just random scuffles in an alleyway but are instead treated as epic battles where both men will push one another to the limit of their physical abilities, putting everything on the line for a final time in an attempt to come out the victor.

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These sequences are always so intense and jawdropping to watch in-action, but they are also a ton of fun to be a part of too, encouraging players to use every attack, skill, and technique they have learned up to that point in order to overcome the final hurdle. Considering both men will always leave their Yakuza tattoos fully exposed in these fights, it also feels like a battle of ideologies too, making these climatic encounters even more important and memorable.

6

Amon Boss

A Recurring Superboss Who Hails From The Mysterious Amon Clan

The Amon Clan doesn’t exactly play a significant role in the wider Yakuza story, but one member who always manages to appear, due to his endless fixation with Kiryu, is Jo Amon. After being bested by Kiryu in Yakuza Kiwami, Jo then shows up in every following game to challenge Kiryu in a desperate attempt to prove his own worth against the Dragon of Dojima.

While Jo didn’t show up in Like a Dragon due to the game being centered around Ichiban, he would return later in Infinite Wealth where he, once again, tries to defeat Kiryu in one-on-one combat, only to be utterly humiliated.

5

The Millennium Tower

The Best Place In Kamurocho To Settle A Score

The Millennium Tower is the largest building in Kamurocho, and as a result, is treated as an epic arena where characters can settle a score once and for all. The tower debuted in the first game, where it would be the arena where Kiryu and Nishikiyama would face off, but the former would then have another intense duel here in Yakuza 3, this time with Majima. By the time the fourth game had rolled around, Majima himself had decided to reserve the top floor of the building for his own family, making it even more of an important stronghold within the story.

Even when the story switches protagonists to Ichiban in Like a Dragon, the Millennium Tower still manages to play a pivotal role in the story. It’s gotten to the point where players are always excited to see when and how they will end up being drawn to the tower for each new entry, becoming a very distinct piece of iconography from the series.

4

Yakuza Involvement

The Japanese Mafia Are Always At The Center Of Each Story

No matter how many twists and turns the storyline of these games may take, they will always have the Yakuza at the core of the narrative in one form or another. Most of the time, the stories will hone in on the Yakuza’s misdeeds and their constant run-ins with the government and legal authorities, and despite Kiryu essentially breaking away from them as early as Yakuza 0, he still manages to get roped back into their antics each and every time.

Rather than there being one big collective Yakuza faction, they are instead split up into separate clans. This allows the games to introduce all kinds of unique and intriguing characters from different walks of life, such as the plucky and charismatic Ichiban from the Tojo Arikawa family, or the wise, stoic but also dangerous Ryuhei hailing from the Seiryu Clan.

3

Staminan

These Handy Healing Supplements Always Show Up In The Nick Of Time

Staminan is the unique healing drink of the Yakuza series which, in most entries, will boost Kiryu’s health, along with his Heat gauge, getting him back into the fight after just a few sips. These drinks always appear in the games as the go-to healing item for players to stock up on, and can usually be found in convenience stores, or simply lying around on the streets.

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These drinks have even shown up in cutscenes, the most well-known example being when Reina tosses a Staminan X at Nishikiyama, which the player can catch to heal them with instead. There’s also the case of the Staminan Spork, which Jo Amon can use in Yakuza 0 to poison the player. Needless to say, these peculiar items will always make an appearance to help players out in a pinch when they are on their last legs.

2

So Many Minigames

The Yakuza Series Has Been Widely Recognized As The King Of Bonus Minigames

Though minigames were initially a fairly small part of the experience in the early Yakuza games, it was with the third game where developers Ryo Ga Gotoku began to realize just how popular they were, and in turn, decided to add many more of them as a result. These minigames can range from casual activities like darts and arcades to outlandish hijinks such as high-speed competitive kart racing, or in the case of the latest game, creating an entire island for tourists to explore.

Minigames help to showcase the goofier side of the Yakuza franchise, giving players a chance to kick back and relax with some relaxing activities in between the stressful main missions. It seems as though RGG is aiming to ramp up the minigame number with each entry, so it will be exciting to see what new additions are added in the future.

1

Kamurocho

The Most Iconic City In The Franchise is Explorable In Every Mainline Game

Kamurocho, a bright and bustling district of Tokyo, is essentially a character in and of itself. This gorgeous area has been an explorable area in every single game, minus The Man Who Erased His Name, though its appearance has changed a lot over the years. In Yakuza 0, which is set during the late 80s amidst an economic boom in Japan, Kamurocho was a stylish and vibrant locale where Yakuza would freely roam the streets and shady business deals would regularly go in behind closed doors.

However, as the years go by, Kamurocho starts becoming more of a relic of a time gone by, though it still retains a lot of the charm and spectacle that fans would know it for. Though many fans were worried that Kamurocho was going to be left out of Infinite Wealth due to the bigger focus on Hawaii, it does thankfully make a return a little later in the game to ensure the tradition continues.

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