Should I play Yakuza 6 first?

[Liberator48]

Super stoked to see this game on Steam finally. So I am about to wrap up Yakuza 4. Then catch a breather before diving into Yakuza 5. However, Yakuza 6 doesn't seem to be available on Steam yet...?

So... story wise, and also timeline wise, should I play Yakuza 6 before Like a Dragon?
Does Like a Dragon have any references to the previous games? Also, I know Yakuza 5 is set in the year 2012, not sure about Yakuza 6 or Like a Dragon, but if Like a Dragon is set in a later year than Yakuza 6, I want to play Yakuza 6 first.

[MancSoulja]

The game starts in 2001, but most of it is set in 2021.

[Liberator48]

Originally posted by MancSoulja:

The game starts in 2001, but most of it is set in 2021.

So I definitely need to play Yakuza 6 first.

[Bankai9212]

You could have played LAD without playing any off the other games. Besides lore references and characters LAD is isolated from anything in past games.

[Unaimed Player]

Yakuza 6 is going to be released at the end of this month.

[Liberator48]

Originally posted by 7itr0n3ng5mäck:

Yakuza 6 is going to be released at the end of this month.

On Steam? Ooh. How do you know?

[Bankai9212]

Originally posted by L̲̕͞i̶͊͢b̢é̺̊r̛̰a̭:

Originally posted by 7itr0n3ng5mäck:

Yakuza 6 is going to be released at the end of this month.

On Steam? Ooh. How do you know?

They announced it around the same time as the remasters.

[Unaimed Player]

Originally posted by L̲̕͞i̶͊͢b̢é̺̊r̛̰a̭:

Originally posted by 7itr0n3ng5mäck:

Yakuza 6 is going to be released at the end of this month.

On Steam? Ooh. How do you know?

https://twitter.com/RGGStudio/status/1337222817205653504

[Legendary Mr. Tiddles]

So THIS ONE GUY makes an appearance, and it's nice to see him there, but it's no big deal at all. At least you know they didn't dump ALL THOSE GUYS out of the continuity. Don't worry too much if you want to skip ahead in the release order. You won't be lost.

The story is set is 2019, and it ends more or less at the end of the world as we knew it. That doesn't really affect the plot, however.

[Greil9]

While the game has references to past and some characters from previous games make cameos, most of the plot can be understood on its own and does not require older games to enjoy. However some aspects of the plot are far enhanced by having some history with the series.

Overall it helps, but you don't need to play any of the previous Yakuza games to get what's going on.

[SuperNiceGuy]

No you don't need, this game is totally different, the story is separated with other Yakuza game.