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Who is your favorite Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio Character? (Like a Dragon/Yakuza, Judgment)

JenniferJennifer Moderator
edited October 2023 in General Chat

As I mentioned months ago in the Whatever thread, I've been replaying the Like a Dragon series and its spinoffs. I played them all on PS4 and I'm playing Yakuza 0 again this time on Xbox One (as well as Like a Dragon: Ishin! on Xbox One). Yakuza 0 is my favorite of the series.

It got me thinking of who my favorite characters in the series are. For me, my top three would be Akiyama, Majima, and Haruka. Then Kiryu. It's weird to me I rank him fourth, as he was the main series character until Yakuza: Like a Dragon and he has a great arc so far. That's just the beauty of the series, really. So many characters had great characterization. Heck, Date would even be in my top 10, and he's not a playable character (I forgot Kiwami, so technically he is a playable character).

The top 10 for me so far, including spin-offs, would be:

  1. Shun Akiyama
  2. Goro Majima
  3. Haruka Sawamura
  4. Kazuma Kiryu
  5. Makoto Date
  6. Takayuki Yagami
  7. Masaharu Kaito
  8. Saori Shirosaki
  9. Ryuji Goda (including his Dead Souls and Online arcs)
  10. Joon-gi Han (he's interesting to me since he's technically three characters)

I'm so addicted to the series, the only one I couldn't remember the given name was Yagami. I had a facepalm when I looked it up since Kaito always calls him Tak in the English version.

I don't include the new main characters (outside of Joon-gi Han), as they've only been in Yakuza: Like a Dragon (and Like a Dragon Online) so far. I also didn't include the one game (outside of Like a Dragon Online) characters. I own the PSP games, but I haven't played the English fan translations yet, so I haven't included any of those characters, obviously.

That's just me though, so feel free to include PSP characters or one-game characters (including Dead Souls, Ishin!, Kenzan!, or Online) on your list. Heck, you can even include the film characters or television series characters on the off chance you've seen those.

So, for those of you who have played one or more Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio games, who's your favorite?

Comments

  • GreatWhiteWolf1GreatWhiteWolf1

    I have to say my favorite character in this series is Kazuma Kiryu. He is the main protagonist and the one that we spend the most time with, thus creating a connection with the player. However a close second is Goro Majima. I love how Majima can instantly go from comedy relief to straight up badass and Yakuza 0 and Kiwami show this off perfectly.
    Ryuji is a good character too and made for an excellent antagonist in Yakuza 2.
    The Yakuza or Like A Dragon as it has been rebranded to is an excellent series if anyone is interested I recommend start with the remake of 1 or Yakuza 0. It is a fun experience and one hell of a story once you get into it. The side missions are also fun and provide you with powerful upgrades sometimes.

  • dojo32161dojo32161 Moderator

    This is a hard question... I really all the protagonists... but I guess I'll go with Majima as my main favorite. I enjoyed Mine as a villain in Yakuza 3. I think my favorite side character in the series is Kyoko Amasawa from Lost Judgment, I love a determined mystery nerd, and it's really funny how many people, when they reach the point where it's said bad guys have kidnapped a student Yagami cares about immediately think of her before it's said to be Koda, you just kind of forget she isn't in the main story.

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