Ranking the playable Yakuza characters

Ok I'm saying this now, NO I don't hate any of these styles I actually like all of them I ranked them based on my personal taste and enjoyment of my first playthrough

Then again some of these rankings are just shitposts but like I said take these rankings with a grain of salt

Tbh yeah, Tanimura was (and is) my fav character during Yakuza 4, because HE'S FUN. I mean, fun for me morr than the other characters. Saejima... a little too clunky. Kiryu? I can't tiger drop. Akiyama? He's fun, but Tanimura's funnier because HEAT ACTION HEAT ACTION DODGE PARRY ANOTHER HEAT ACTION AND DID I MENTION THAT HIS BASS IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING AMAZING?????

Ive been having so much fun with dragon style now that I’ve gotten tiger drop

Honestly, Majima's legend style is really good when you learn some of the tech it can do (although to be fair I only figured out how to do it properly on the second playthrough and the style is unlocked halfway through the story anyway)

Mfw my number 1 opp pulls out the sturdy iron pipe:😨

All about how you level up, Dragon of Dojima style should be top 10 at least

slugger and rush so low is a crime 😭😭😭😭😭😭 slugger feels amazing to play skill issue tbh

I have quite literally never seen takes this bad in my entire life. This guy pretty much said the opposite of what I have ranked as the best, it's actually insane.

But did I hear a Mr.Beast for that Beast intro?

But to answer that question for Slugger, yes, quite a few times. Because some bosses was strong as shit.

Does bro forget that Majima JUST unlocked the MDoS style after beating down the Five Prostitution people, ALONG with that one girl’s group of expensive bodyguards.

Yakuza 5 kiryu says fuck you and grinds your face into the pavement

Chad fellow Tanimura enjoyer

I think ranking mad dog as the worst of the entire series is a little harsh but i understand where you're coming from. While it does feel kind of situational if you're not just spamming the counter stab, if you use the war god talisman from the CP shrine you will have enough heat to spam his triple takeout heat action as much as you want. For street fights and also endgame where they throw a lot of low health mooks at you, i find spamming that heat action is nice, and then whatever enemy or two is leftover you can combo stab it, i forget the name but i think it's called "bark" or something? where after a rush combo you stab the enemy and then you like dash a short distance and stab again and you can repeat that as long as you have heat. Which the attack will generate if you hit an enemy + the war god talisman basically means you can use it for a stupid amount of time. I understand that pretty much all of this relies on getting an item that requires CP points which not everybody will be in the mood to grind for, but I found Y0's CP list to not be that bad compared to the later series. You can pretty casually get like 60-70% of it done without thinking too hard about it.






But yeah honestly without spamming consumables to get your heat up, or the talisman Mad Dog is kinda stinky.

Literally no words for beast style, gotta love it

Thugger was my favorite fighting style in 0 and so far in the series (at Kiwami 2). And every point u made on majimas move set is spot on. Thugger is what should’ve been the signature style of the mad dog

Rush?!?! Really?!?!

Kiwami 2 Kiryu feels like walking on the moon compared to 3 Kiryu. Everything besides Double Finisher and Tiger Drop gets blocked. Dodge button doesnt even come out half the time. And his Heat Actions have all the impact of a spilled glass of ice.

Playing as Akiyama at the beginning of 4, after the unholy abomination that was 3 Kiryu, feels like sipping your first Mojito on vacation after a full day of airports and airplanes full of screaming babies.

can’t even watch this shit ass video after having majimer at 20 just get better and quit sucking

thank you for not putting shinada at the bottom but he should be joint with thug and brawler style at the top the rest of this list is coal however

Yakuza 0's kiryu will be favorite forever.

Saejima can fuck off tho.

Majima with Slugger is the best, take out three enemies with one move so satisfying. bing bing bing

overall skill issue list bruh😭

Me, ready to see the reasons why Ichiban would be #1 : 🍿👀🍿

Rules: nobody from Like a Dragon

Me: aight, imma head out

Fighting wise, u can argue with a lot of characters that they are the best. Characters wise, well, its Goro Majima for me

bro, saying rush style is shit automatically invalidated this list. l2p boss

putting thug above breaker is just an excuse to make majima do the thug shaker

Yo, if you were to update the list now to include agent and yakuza style from LAD gaiden on the list, where would you say they would rank on here? I’m sorry if I spoiled anything lol

The strongest fighting style, gun

NEVER LET THIS GUY TOUCH THE STOVE AGAIN 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣💥💥💥

nigga how do u put rush in 17

Lemme tell you, Rush style plays like fighting game rushdown characters. It’s a matter of skills and it’s not too hard either. IT HAS EVERYTHING you need to perfect the boss. If you know how to play it tho.

IT HAS EVERYTHING- PERIOD

Frame trap blockstring
String reset cancel
Whiff punish
Fast walking speed
Side step
Korean backdash
Parry
Install super to get ur speed to time stop level of speed
Combo burst

Literally EVERYTHING you need to fight a boss. It’s just the skill of the pilot. I barely lose health using rush the whole game.


It’s not as braindead as other styles( other style you just charge or grab, Brawler has wake up super, beast has Armor). If you know how to use it it’s literally immortal cuz who needs health bar if boss can’t hit you. You literally Chipp from Guilty gear.

You are plus on whiff too.
Some tips for ppl who are playing.

⏹️⏹️⏹️ into dash cancel is a true safe block string. Use this if you think opponent is going to get out of your combo.

⏹️⏹️⏹️ into sidestep cancel then 🔼 is your variation if you know opponent will armor and try to interupt your 4th hit. The round house hit will give you some meter.

⏩️ neutral backdash into X, that is your spacing/ whiff punish tool.


⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️🔼 if you are sure they wont break your combo.

⏹️ then delay ⏹️ a jab frame trap string to counter hit opponent (use it if you think the enemy is mashing, they can’t really mash out),
try mixing this with ⏹️⏹️⏹️ dash cancel to get fast stun

Kiwami 1 Advanced combo:

⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️ into L2+ R2 on max heat mode into ⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️⏹️🔼
True pressure block string, true combo if it’s not a boss usually.
The idea is that you want to cancel your 6th or 7th hit with the (time for speed) cancel and that will leave your opponent in combo juggles enough time for you to land another hit before they recover. That should give you a tons of pressure to work with.


Enemy Stun+🔼 that’s your super

Ur back toward the wall+ Enemy attack + good timing 🔼 is your parry super

Kiwami 1 special super : time 🔼 with ur attack.

Rush stile useless 😂

After all Yakuza 4 is the only game in yakuza series that i have completed multiple time because tanimura and akiyama is enjoyable in this game

Tanimura is so peak i agree

where are the PS2 games?

i thought this was a character tier list but lol shouldve been more specific ;;

where are yagamis styles?

Never let bro cook again🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Agreed, Kiwami 2 Dragon Engine fighting felt off

I may be stupid, but when I played through Yakuza 0 I literally never used Thug style.

Call me crazy but I kinda love YK2’s Kiryu style, it’s got weight to it and once you get used to that oddity it’s a good chunky combo dispenser. Sure the heat system leaves a bit to be desired but extreme heat mode makes it all worth while. Then again, maybe it’s just cause leveling is ridiculously easy in YK2

I probably used Slugger the most

Especially against the bosses

yes you do suck

Based Tanimura Enjoyer 🍷

What do you think of LAD gaiden dragon style and agent style

No spinoffs when Yagami is arguably the most fun playable character