What's the bare minimum playing order before going into Gaiden? (without playing all of them)

[tomatopaste]

(If the answer is "all of them/don't skip any," please provide an explanation regarding the following questions and concerns below)

I was considering playing only 0, Kiwami, and 6.

• Is this an okay selection? Any suggestions on adding/removing games to that list?
• If so, what story significance does each game bring to the overarching Yakuza/Kiryu plot?
• What will I be missing in Gaiden by skipping certain entries?

[Rumitus]

That would depend on why you even want to play this game, would it not?

I would argue that K1, K2, and Y5 could potentially be skipped for story purposes, but all of the others (Including 7/Like a Dragon, which I'm guessing you didn't mention because it's turn based?) tie very strongly into this game's story. At the same time Y3, Y4, and Y5 were only remastered and it clearly shows in comparison.

The bare minimum from me would be Y0, Y6, and LAD7, but there's a few important plot devices that you won't understand or arguably even care about and they rank amongst the most emotional elements of the entire series.

[tomatopaste]

Originally posted by Rumitus:

That would depend on why you even want to play this game, would it not?

I would argue that K1, K2, and Y5 could potentially be skipped for story purposes, but all of the others (Including 7/Like a Dragon, which I'm guessing you didn't mention because it's turn based?) tie very strongly into this game's story. At the same time Y3, Y4, and Y5 were only remastered and it clearly shows in comparison.

The bare minimum from me would be Y0, Y6, and LAD7, but there's a few important plot devices that you won't understand or arguably even care about and they rank amongst the most emotional elements of the entire series.

I left out 7 for now since I'm focused solely on the Kiryu stuff: I fully intend on playing that game as well

[retsa2b]

It would be hard to skip any of them unless you just don't care about Gaiden's ending. A huge, huge part of what makes it work is the subplots in the entire run of games, and understand I'm tiptoeing around spoilers here. If you decide to skip any of them, including number 3, then you really have to find a video on Youtube that shows you all the cutscenes, and at least get that much in.

[busyman]

Originally posted by Darksage:

I left out 7 for now since I'm focused solely on the Kiryu stuff: I fully intend on playing that game as well

Unfortunately, the story from Gaiden ties directly into the story from 7 and summarizes (spoils) some events from it. Both stories run in parallel until they converge during a major event from 7.

[tomatopaste]

Originally posted by retsa2b:

It would be hard to skip any of them unless you just don't care about Gaiden's ending. A huge, huge part of what makes it work is the subplots in the entire run of games, and understand I'm tiptoeing around spoilers here. If you decide to skip any of them, including number 3, then you really have to find a video on Youtube that shows you all the cutscenes, and at least get that much in.

Ah, that makes much more sense now. It's just been pretty hard to find what I'm looking for when such an overwhelming majority of Yakuza fans unanimously agree not to skip any. I appreciate your great response, friend - I'll keep it in consideration <3

[Cooperal]

The best games to get to grips with this (story-wise) would either be Yakuza 6 which is the most immediate game before this chronologically, or the turn-based game Yakuza Like a Dragon which takes place in parallel.

Yakuza 6 of course also has a load of other mainline games as backstory so results may vary. if you jump straight into that one too. Yakuza Like a Dragon on the other hand puts you in the shoes of a new protagonist who has a perfectly good excuse to learn things at the same time as a newcomer to the franchise, but it is at the same time a continuation from the previous games.

[turntechGodhead]

despite gaiden being a "side game" its obvious this was created for people who have knowledge of all of the previous titles. this game feels mostly like fanservice so most of the plot will be lost on you without context. it will spoil what happens to the major clans which has been building up since the beginning of the series. you wont understand the orphans situation fully if you dont play 1-6 which is a huge plot point in gaiden. you will be spoiled major plot points for 7 bc this game is set during 7 and will show u part of the ending. you wont know who daigo is if you dont play 2-5. same goes for saejima if you dont play 4 and 5. to understand majima you have to play 0 and hes a constant throughout the whole series. you’ll be missing out on seeing kiryu grow if you don’t play 0-6. if you dont play 0 and 1 you wont understand nishiki (kiryus brother). if you dont play 1 you wont know who haruka's mom is and that plays into the ending of gaiden. theres so many other things i could bring up but these are just some of the basics without going into every little reference and detail. this game is about getting to the end of our heroes journey so if you skip around the previous titles youre going to be missing out on a lot of info.

[Rumitus]

For the sake of spoilers, I was trying to be less explicit and get more about what he was looking for. When I initially read the post, it said don't say not to skip any as that's not happening.

That post with all of those details would be too much info for me personally but I know others are less stringent. I know he mentioned "story significance" but I figured there'd be a reason for jumping around the series like a kangaroo. Well, I guess he asked after all. I found it hard to answer that without what would be spoiling for me at least.

[mcSlothalot]

Originally posted by Darksage:

(If the answer is "all of them/don't skip any," please provide an explanation regarding the following questions and concerns below)

I was considering playing only 0, Kiwami, and 6.

• Is this an okay selection? Any suggestions on adding/removing games to that list?
• If so, what story significance does each game bring to the overarching Yakuza/Kiryu plot?
• What will I be missing in Gaiden by skipping certain entries?

The ending of Gaiden and pretty much Kiryu's motivaton throughout the whole game doesnt make any sense if you dont play the previous games.
Like its still a fun game, but the story is "wasted" if you didn't play the previous games.

You should at least play 0,1,2,3 and 7.
But its worth to play them all in order. The pay off makes it worth and you appreciate everything more.

[Thyrandor]

Originally posted by Darksage:

I was considering playing only 0, Kiwami, and 6.

Those three and 7/LAD are a good choice.
Kiwami 2 ist a great game as well, but not *that* crucial for Kiryu's story.

3,4 and 5 are remasters of PS3 titles.
The graphics are still OK, the gameplay and bugs not so much.
You are probably fine watchiung story recaps on Yutube.

As others said, 7 and Gaiden run in parallel.
Playing Gaiden first will spoil some stuff in 7.
In addition, Gaiden is chock-full of fan service (both the good and the bad kind).

[a passerby]

Bare minimum would be 6 because Gaiden starts off where 6 ends, and it references it heavily. Playing Gaiden without knowledge of 6 would make the overall experience extremely empty.

7 is also important, since Gaiden takes place during and after the events of 7 and references it quite a bit. If you ever intend to play 7, Gaiden will significantly spoil 7's plot.

But RGG games generally reference one another very frequently. You can find references not only from the 8 other LAD entries, but that of the Judgment series as well. Without knowledge of the other games, you will be missing out on some "ooh" and "ahh" moments, but I suppose it's not really a huge deal.

[Cinnamon Toast King]

Originally posted by Darksage:

(If the answer is "all of them/don't skip any," please provide an explanation regarding the following questions and concerns below)

I was considering playing only 0, Kiwami, and 6.

• Is this an okay selection? Any suggestions on adding/removing games to that list?
• If so, what story significance does each game bring to the overarching Yakuza/Kiryu plot?
• What will I be missing in Gaiden by skipping certain entries?

Just look up a bunch of story videos.

The story always has crazy twists and turns that unless you play them you miss twists that show up in later games from past games....

I watched a bunch of videos and played only Yakuza zero, like a dragon, and kiwami 2. Hard to play anything else unless you enjoy playing dated games after playing newer ones.

Figure out the order the games are in then look up videos that summarize that game, then BOOM you know the whole story!

[sqμeaky]

Originally posted by turntechGodhead:

despite gaiden being a "side game" its obvious this was created for people who have knowledge of all of the previous titles. this game feels mostly like fanservice so most of the plot will be lost on you without context. it will spoil what happens to the major clans which has been building up since the beginning of the series. you wont understand the orphans situation fully if you dont play 1-6 which is a huge plot point in gaiden. you will be spoiled major plot points for 7 bc this game is set during 7 and will show u part of the ending. you wont know who daigo is if you dont play 2-5. same goes for saejima if you dont play 4 and 5. to understand majima you have to play 0 and hes a constant throughout the whole series. you’ll be missing out on seeing kiryu grow if you don’t play 0-6. if you dont play 0 and 1 you wont understand nishiki (kiryus brother). if you dont play 1 you wont know who haruka's mom is and that plays into the ending of gaiden. theres so many other things i could bring up but these are just some of the basics without going into every little reference and detail. this game is about getting to the end of our heroes journey so if you skip around the previous titles youre going to be missing out on a lot of info.

A++++ reply,

[InkabodCrane]

I think you can skip 3, 4, 5, but you'll want to watch a youtube recap of 3 because it's relevant. Some people say skip Kiwami 1 & 2, but those were so integral for me knowing Kiyru better and becoming a bigger fan. And they're fun!

Side note: The Judgement series is great as well!

[Pass_the _M]

Bro explaining the story significance would be spoilers and tbh if you don't care about spoilers then just play it and if you get intrigued about the context then go back and play them in order at your leisure.