Best Like A Dragon Spin-Off Games

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home March 19, 2025 22 Views 11 Min Read
Best Like A Dragon Spin-Off Games



Summary

  • Yakuza has a significant number of games compared to other series.
  • Yakuza spin-offs may not match main games but are still fun to play.
  • Yakuza: Dead Souls needs remastering but is enjoyable on emulators.

Despite being a nearly two-decade-old series, Yakuza has a wild number of games. Look at God of War, another two-decade-old series. That series has about eight main instalments with no significant spin-off titles.

Split image of Majima from Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Kiryu from The Man Who Erased His Name.

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Yakuza/Like a Dragon, on the other hand, has nine main games, three remakes, and nine major spin-offs. The spin-offs are generally not as good as the mainline installments, but they’re still a lot of fun to play, and a few do rival the best games in the series. Unfortunately, not all of them are available on modern platforms, though.

7

Yakuza: Dead Souls

Fun To Play, But Not So Much On Original Hardware

It’s wild to think that the last Yakuza game to be released in North America for over three years was the zombie spin-off. With the huge zombie trend of the late 2000s and early 2010s, Yakuza had to get in on the action. The story is non-canon, but you play as Kiryu, Majima, Akiyama, and Ryuji Goda from Yakuza 2, which is awesome to see.

The zombie shooting action can be a lot of fun if you play on an emulator. Yakuza: Dead Souls desperately needs a remaster, but as is, it’s still a good time if you play on RPCS3, and it’s definitely far better than the two lackluster PSP games.

6

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii

Goro Majima’s Solo Game, At Last

After much fan demand, Goro Majima finally got his own game in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. This game is quite a step up from prior spin-offs, but at the same time, it takes a few steps back. Pirate Yakuza actually contains new core gameplay systems like sea traversal and ship battles, which is more new content than other spin-off titles.

The main story and combat are very enjoyable, but the side activities are where Pirate Yakuza ranks low. For the first time ever, Yakuza feels like a Ubisoft game because much of the content, like bounty missions and exploring islands, is included just for the sake of content and isn’t very meaningful. Infinite Wealth is so much better in this regard, making Pirate Yakuza an enjoyable time but sort of half-baked.

5

Judgment

A Great Game, But Could Have Been More

While technically being its own IP, Judgment takes place in the same universe as Yakuza and plays very similarly. Taking control of detective Takayuki Yagami, the gameplay is more investigation-focused with tailing missions, combing through areas for clues, and a tricky lockpicking system. However, it still has the action gameplay the series is known for.

A collage showing the chef on the left and a worker on a burger store taking a selfie with the protagonist on the right.

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The story is fantastic, with great characters and awesome boss fights, but there’s only one setting: Kamurocho. By this point in the series, it was standard to have additional locations, and with Judgment containing only Kamurocho and nothing significantly added to the game map, it was a huge letdown. The sequel improved in this regard.

4

Like A Dragon: Kenzan!

A Good Challenge

A close-up of the main character in Like a Dragon: Kenzan!

The first Yakuza game on the PlayStation 3 wasn’t Yakuza 3, but actually Like a Dragon: Kenzan. Taking place in ancient Japan, similar to Ishin, Kenzan mixes up the formula by focusing primarily on sword combat. This game is probably the hardest in the entire series.

The enemy’s attacks deal so much damage, but that’s part of the fun. You actually need to play well and think on your feet to survive, which you can’t say about most Yakuza games, which tend to be easy. Unfortunately, this game’s a Japanese PS3 exclusive, so you’ll need a guide regardless due to no English language support.

3

Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

The Prequel To Infinite Wealth

Taking place both before and after Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is the perfect prelude for what’s to come in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. With the Gaiden name, it’s not as big as a mainline instalment, with Sotenbori as the core location and very few side quests this time around.

A split image of Homare Nishitani III, Kiryu, and Kiyoshi Ugajin in Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

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However, despite its size, Gaiden is a fantastic entry into the series. You really get to know Kiryu’s character better than ever before, and the combat has to be the best of the Dragon Engine games. The story has its ups and downs, but the ending makes it all worth it and provides the most emotional tear-jerking moment of the entire series.

2

Like A Dragon: Ishin!

The Most Underrated Yakuza Game

Being a Japanese PS4 launch title, Like a Dragon: Ishin was debatably the best game in the series at the time of its launch. The combat is phenomenal, with each of the four styles providing a ton of fun to the experience.

The story is great as well, being one of the best in the series, and the battle dungeons are diverse, unlike Pirate Yakuza, which features islands haphazardly thrown together. Like a Dragon: Ishin received a faithful remake in 2023, and that’s the best version to play today.

1

Lost Judgment

A Top Tier Game In The Series

Lost Judgment took everything that made the original great and fixed its biggest problem: the size. Not only do you get Kamurocho, but the vast area of Isezaki Ijincho, which debuted in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The story and characters remain excellent, along with the second-best action combat system of the Dragon Engine, but the side activities put Lost Judgment over the edge.

One of the game’s main areas is the Isezaki Ijincho school, containing School Stories, which are a list of side questlines, each with its own minigame. Almost all of these minigames are brand new to the series, and they’re all a blast to play. The Robotics minigame is especially good, requiring strategic thinking, and it should return at some point in the series.

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