Where would one recommend starting that Yakuza games? Zero? Like a dragon? Infinite wealth? Chronologically?
0, 6 and LAD are the latest big games with a more compelling story, I don’t know about IW or Gaiden yet. 1-5 are fun, but you need to be into this world to really enjoy them now, so if you plan it - start with 0. Like another person have said, 0-6 uses brawler mechanics and LAD is more like JRPG.
There’re also Judgment\Lost Judgment games with another protagonist and a little detective twist. People find them fun too.
Yup, as a fan of the series, I recommend 0 first. If you want more of the same and are okay with a little worse everything, continue in numerical order. If you want something different, LAD.
If you want to fully explore the lore of the series (and spend months/years doing so, probably) start with Zero, then Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 (the remastered, extended editions of 1 and 2) then 3, 4, etc…
If you just want to hop in to the modern day, start with Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It’s basically a reboot of the series, new main character, new combat system. The game should key you in on any important stuff from previous games that you need to know.
While I agree that you could jump in with Yakuza: LAD, I think it might be worth playing the earlier games for Infinite Wealth because Kiryu is one of the main characters. There will probably be a lot of references to the previous games because of Kiryu’s bucket list.
Another good starting point is the Judgement games. They’re completely separate from the rest of the games story wise, so they’re a nice place to start if you want to try modern entries in the series without getting involved in a long running storyline.
The only other consideration is if you prefer turn based combat or brawler combat. Judgement/Yakuza are brawlers, while the main Like a Dragon switches to turn based combat instead.
If you only care for the JRPG stuff, go with Like a dragon. Along with the new gameplay they added Ichiban as a new protagonist - he’s the second one overall for the mainline games.
If you want to play the ones with brawling gameplay too, then go chronologically. They are somewhat connected and follow the same protagonist up until Ichiban is introduced. There’s the Kiwami series of remakes if you want something more modern - they are quite good, but some folks prefer the originals.
Like a dragon and Infinite wealth, I assume, don’t reference much of the old games, but knowing them still adds a bit to the experience.
