current tierlist! all in relation to one another. i'm still working on the more detailed reviews for each & i'm very sleepy atm, but here's the gist:

S TIER - YAKUZA 0:

the story was well done! i really loved each character and how everything came together by the end. it was really impressive how they managed to foreshadow so much within the first chapter, only ever expanding off of what was already introduced. even as the story continued, there still left enough doubt in each player's mind to wonder if there's another factor/motivation they haven't yet found out, really putting them in the place of each protagonist. the game did well with handling two protagonists, and the culmination of their overlapping arcs was very interesting to see - even if it was something the player already assumed, it wasn't frustrating seeing the characters in the moment not realize its true importance... you looked forward to seeing how it'd be revealed to them. as this prequel was made in retrospect, i understand there are some characters/systems they cannot carry over due to the limitations of the first few games without creating inconsistencies. however, my main critique was a narrative choice toward the end which was needlessly tragic. more salt in an already-existing wound, when this incident could very well have been pushed off - especially with pre-existing chronic conditions the character in question had, and the fact this moment was precisely what had been driving the entire story. i am not particularly disappointed with how it ended, but i do feel that there was much more that could've been done before jumping to the next act. it was admittedly disappointing, and something i preemptively feared the story would do. while i enjoy dark/emotional topics, this felt like a senseless, unsatisfactory narrative choice that could've been easily avoided or explained away. however, with the story choice they took, i appreciate their confidence in how they used this to wrap up the story. overall very good! characters were definitely its strong suit and they created a lot of interesting dynamics.

A TIER - YAKUZA 3:

again, characters were the main draw of this one!! i enjoyed the mystery of the first arc, and how the tension steadily built as we finally got to see the effects of yakuza on civilian life. it was nice seeing how characters took yakuza loyalty to heart - even to the point of doing the horrible things they ended up doing, against the wishes of the very one they're devoted to, if it's for their 'health' ... that sort of dynamic is always interesting to me. i liked seeing another aspect of kiryu's compassion here, and i'm always a fan of older mentor figures giving advice to younger ones who look up to them. with the nakahara family as well as those within the orphanage, i feel it did a wonderful job establishing kiryu's experience & his new goals outside of the yakuza. it's very nice seeing him settled down and feeling so much more joyous/thankful - especially with everything else he's already gone through, it feels like. a well-deserved break, and it's nice seeing him fight for something that isn't necessarily what the tojo clan asks of him, but something he personally chose. it just happened to fall in line with the tojo's priorities, meaning he's of use... my main gripe with this game, despite how much i enjoyed it, was the ending & how the yakuza games treat disabilities as temporary (makoto & saki). but i will mainly focus on the ending for now: it was very cheap to kill someone as soon as they came to the realization of how much harm they've done. i will not dig into every last detail here, but i feel as if it would've added much more to keep this character around for a longer amount of time to grow as a person and possibly fuel further (eventual) internal conflict for the clan if the chairman recognized points of contention. we have seen how ruthless this antagonist can be, and letting them return to the clan with a new perspective in mind could've really improved making the games feel connected & create natural conflict for future games considering what we already know about this character & the lengths they can go to.

C TIER - YAKUZA 2:

interesting concept, poor execution... it wasn't necessarily terrible, but the characters weren't as compelling as they could've been to make me care for furthering the story, and i had been stuck with knowing (some of) the twists from the earliest chapters, where... this story definitely relied heavily on the air of mystery over all else. you can definitely tell y0 was made after a few of these yakuza games with how they've improved their storytelling, because this just. did not live up to its potential. i liked the remaining dojimas & it was fascinating seeing kiryu realize how wrong he's been due to his trust of people, but still choosing to accept the responsibility of what comes with more caution rather than giving up entirely. majima was a treat here, & i did enjoy seeing his story through. he really is a man of extremes when it comes to that malicious compliance, and i really did enjoy how he naturally tied into this + his assumptions were justified due to previous experience being manipulated by people within the omi alliance. the recontextualization of y0 made this match up very well i always like seeing moments where he's more perceptive than he usually lets on. (& this may just be me, but the mafia they were against felt a bit. more like caricatures than people with a drive/resolve to thrive against hardship - partially because we weren't even given reason why they chose to form here, or how the yakuza previously wronged them to make them charge so heavily. especially after the treatment of other asian countries in y0, even if they were foreign mafia, this gave me a lot of whiplash...)

D TIER - YAKUZA 1: cw for spoilers & brief reference of sexual assault

not in F because we meet haruka... but everything else really does feel a bit cliche and the descent of [main antagonist] just made me feel like this

corruption arcs can be really good! i usually really love reading up on them, but... this particular one felt very forced. i feel like there was more that could've been done to prove how the remaining yakuza were pushing nishiki's paranoia over what kiryu would do once he left, pushing him to doubt kiryu (despite him. going to jail for him), and if there was more given over how he became possessive and demanding over time, eventually culminating in another impulsive murder where he realizes... he can't go back, and then loses those morals entirely if only to keep himself & yumi safe, damn whoever gets in the way, then. it'd work much better because he's now become someone who he would've once considered worthy of death, as dojima's possessiveness was, but he's more 'righteous' now. there was some pushing from others for him to be better, some shows of manipulation, but never quite enough specifically centered around kiryu as to 'prove' he couldn't trust him. i also feel that jingu was a very. poor replacement. this sounds. horrible, but i believe yumi's disconnect with haruka would've been better off if haruka was dojima's daughter. this would also contribute to why she visited her under an alias, as well as the idea that kazama & yumi felt the need to hide haruka from tojo/nishiki, for fear of his reaction. as yumi begins to recognize nishiki's becoming more of a lone conspirator, maybe if she's again been put in harm's way under threat for the nishikyama family, that's when she abandons him for a safer life with kazama's help. but because nishiki's had to take up kiryu's mantle, prove he's much more than kiryu could've been, he can't follow yumi into a peaceful life and resents her for that as well. for abandoning him, too, and instead going to kiryu who took the fall for both of them. kiryu just always has to be better, doesn't he? & that's also why nishiki ends up surveying kiryu as soon as he leaves, because he's searching for yumi through him because. even in the end, they're inseparable. and kiryu hasn't changed in the least: he still wants to trust both of them, as deceitful as they've become. (though both disallow people to be close to them anymore; yumi's is more for safety, nishiki's is because he's. lost & is actively destroying his support system lol) maybe, nishiki works with jingu's information network to try to find yumi again, not realizing that jingu would accept this because he'd also realized the tojo clan was suffering after being stolen from - he didn't know this guy knew that, meaning he was putting yumi in more danger when he gave him the money for his silent search. yumi stole the money for when nishiki's finally disposed of (he's painted a target on his back, begun to brute force things as kiryu had), so she can send haruka somewhere safer (if kiryu's still out of the life, then with him; even sera would be a better choice considering how calculating he can be & carefully hide her w people loyal to him alone), etc. etc. there are still ways to tie him into this and be so selfish, but. honestly, i feel like his corruption arc is a bit more nonsensical than nishiki's already. nishiki's constantly in an incredibly stressful environment and lured in by greed/praise/allure of safety, but jingu had. solely wanted money. no other factor. if he went into the business looking for money, he'd stay looking for money... nothing out of the ordinary there, is it. we already have nishiki betraying the people he loves, we don't need this business man out here too. but. to do all that, it requires upheaving most of the story. and it is not the game we get, sadly. so here it remains.