Yakuza Rebranding Problem

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Today we'll be covering the twists and turns surrounding Yakuza's rebranding in the West to see what we can learn from it moving forward. I hope you'll enjoy this Economics 101 video for the time :D
Cheers!
Songs featured in the video:
Judgment OST - Destination
Yakuza 7 OST - Seiryu no ran
Yakuza 4 OST - For Faith
Videos beside my own game footage:
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | Announce Trailer (by SEGA):
• Like a Dragon: Pirate ...
I do not own the footage shown in this video.
Please show your support to RGG Studios and SEGA for making this amazing series, as well as the many content creators that were here before me, and have kept this series alive for so long.
#yakuza #ryugagotoku #likeadragon #yakuza0 #majima #gaiden #kiwami #discussion

[@gokudoni]

Which name for the series do you prefer: Yakuza, Like a Dragon, or a hybrid of the two? Whatever the case, thank you for checking the video out!

[@H2ORaccoon]

Like a Yakuza: Dragon Man

[@hiagoos]

Even though I'm used to say Yakuza, I prefer Like a Dragon since it always was the actual name of the franchise in Japan

[@Auto-Moderator]

Dragon: Like a Yakuza

[@Areeb8877]

Yakuza: A Dragon Like

[@shadowmamba95]

Yakuza-like Dragon

[@indianwarlord6935]

Yakuza: Like a Dragon Resident Evil: Biohazard Both 7th games, both have both titles, coincidence I think not

[@MadDogSolo]

True, except only difference is they kept Resident Evil overseas. I do know some people don’t know this stuff or something because I’ve heard “Why is it Like a Dragon? It’s Yakuza” and “Why is it called Sparking instead of Budokai Tenkaichi”

[@jeanguimaraes5527]

Deadsouls

[@ItHamBoi]

dude literally, both yakuza and resident evil changed protagonist in the 7th game, both games have arrived to the 9th entry in the series but have a prequel with 0

[@satyamSaha]

Even with the rebranding I'm still going to call it Yakuza

[@fiel81]

Imma keep calling it yazuka

[@fidgetf.2470]

Cant wait to play ''Lost Yakuza: like a dragon: the man who erased his name: ishin: kenzan: dead souls: pirate Yakuza in hawaii: -9: Yakuza: kiwami''!

[@leithaziz2716]

Ah yes, the "Soulsbornekiro: Armored Core edition" naming convention of the Fromsoft fandom.

[@vicceskope7480]

&Knuckles

[@bakacdaz]

Featuring Dante from Devil May Cry series.

[@KraidTheSpacePirate]

Collectors premium deluxe edition

[@card8417]

Of the End.

[@darknightspider7495]

It's funny how every mainline entry since 4 had a subtitle in Japanese, but then when we got Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth in the west, Japan simply calls it "Like a Dragon 8." It's poetic.

[@HardcoreYakuzaFan1836]

@@darknightspider7495 that doesn't piss me off as much because at least with the Japanese, they were consistent with the titles and having a subtitle under each game and only changing that for the 8th installment.

[@mjc0961]

Does make me wonder what's going to happen with 9, though. They couldn't call 8 8 in the west because they didn't call 7 7. But rotate the 8 90 degrees and you get Infinity. But what can they do with 9? They're gonna have to come up with some other random title now. I'd personally prefer if they just called it "Like A Dragon 9" and stopped screwing with the titles.

[@HardcoreYakuzaFan1836]

@@mjc0961 a huge part of me actually likes the games that have the subtitles because they just sound cool in both Japanese and English I'm not mad about the fact that 8 doesn't have a subtitle because at least in Japan, they were consistent with the games unlike America and the West Edit: most of the installments in my Like a Dragon/Yakuza fanfiction series have subtitles in all of them.

[@DetectiveAme]

​@@mjc0961Maybe eomething like Like A Dra9on (with the nine stylized as a G), logo only. And then just call it another subtitle.

[@satyamSaha]

@@darknightspider7495 fun fact about the English subtitle is that it was made by the Japanese developers not the localisation team and is based on the final chapter title in the Japanese version which is roughly translated to Infinite Wealth.

[@NyomiHendon]

Walking up to my local gamestore in February: "Excuse me do you have my copy of RGG Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Majima Gaiden, DLC to Like a Dragon 8 Infinite Wealth"

[@gokudoni]

Looking forward to the day the Western title gets so long, that a physical release will require two cases to fit the entire namesake 😂

[@SarmInTheHat7030]

​@@gokudoniyou will have to open the case to rest of the title 😂

[@MikeJr9284]

I consider the Kiryu Saga games the "Yakuza" series and the Ichiban Saga games the "Like a Dragon" series.

[@jekw23]

That’s a good way to look at it. Gives a nice break to the series.

[@logicthat5591]

we literally have Like a dragon: Gaiden

[@Cherry91]

@@MikeJr9284that was relevant before they made Kiryu playable again after 7. But now it's just an unnecessary additional confusion. All the power to you though. But for branding and marketing purposes, consistency is key.

[@堂島の龍4649]

Like a Dragon: Ishin is not about Ichiban though

[@viktorvondoom5950]

I agree

[@LowResCatExplosion]

Like a Pirate: Gaiden- The Man Who Forgot His Name

[@Cherry91]

Spot on 😂😂

[@mechashadow]

Appreciate that finally someone made a video about this. Shoulda just stayed Yakuza all along.

[@zitopanimations4369]

The goat youtuber of "the like a yakuza dragon man who pirated in hawaii ishin" is back with another banger video

[@gokudoni]

There needs to be a shirt with this series title 😂

[@thekingofcookies4877]

I can't wait to play "Yarrkuza Like a Pirate Gaiden 8 in Hawaii: The Man Who Forgot His Name"

[@walderoni9865]

They should have just stuck with the Yakuza name. It's short, descriptive, and everything still calls Yakuza.

[@MugdhaMahdiShams]

They would've needed Like A Dragon for Ishin. I just wish they'd commit to the Like A Dragon name instead of continually backtracking to Yakuza.

[@Kaimax61]

Then you'd have the odd duck called Kenzan and ishin. Should've stuck with the actual title, which is Like a Dragon. (Ryu ga no Gotoku)

[@funnywes]

as excited as i am for pirates in hawaii (and as hilarious as the title YAKUZA pirates in hawaii is) the one tweak in the localized version really irks me. like did they think american fans would somehow get the game with the giant picture of majima on the cover mixed up with something else

[@Sad_KittenGaming]

Oh hey, didnt know that you were into yakuza

[@carma27]

Imagine if they named it Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth Gaiden: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

[@Cherry91]

That's why I'm personally calling it Like a Pirate. Short and sweet lol.

[@ItHamBoi]

@@Cherry91 im just calling it Yakuza Pirates

[@Cherry91]

@@ItHamBoi anything is better than that awful unnecessarily long title lol.

[@masteroflight7296]

To this day I still think they should have just called simply call them Like a dragon 7 and Like a Dragon 8 outside of Japan. The name ”Yakuza” makes it sound like a crime simulator like GTA which MANY people to this day think the games are GTA clones and don’t play them because of that misconception. The numbers make it clear that they are sequels to long running series. Removing the numbers makes it seem completely disconnected from anything prior which is far from the truth, especially 8. I’ve seen countless people play 7 as their first game and be completely lost in chapter 12 and be completely lost on Kiryu parts in 8.

[@LYK1003]

Starting with 7 also happens a lot in Japan too even the title is called Ryu Ga Gotoku 7. To make matters worse, because of starting with 7 with a fresh new protagonist Kasuga Ichiban, this can potentially lead them playing Gaiden as their next game and so on which is a tremendous fucked up in storytelling and emotional wise without any realization of the previous titles from 0 until 6. Trust me, TONS of Vtubers from Nijisanji Japan still starts with Yakuza 7 which in promotion wise is a massive mistake which sends a wrong message to their fanbase. Some even skips to 7 after Kiwami 2 for various reasons. Personally, unless they reach 3 after 0, K1 and K2, NEVER EVER trust anyone in any possible way lol

[@JasonVelez-q7g]

Never saw it as a gta clone I got into yakuza 4 back into 2012 and I saw gameplay and I thought it was like a open world tekken game partially true but I loved the series since

[@masteroflight7296]

@@JasonVelez-q7g most people only hear the name and the original trailers for 1-4 we’re all about the crime and making it sound like Kiryu was criminal like a GTA protagonist

[@SlothSandwhich]

I dislike when people call a game a “clone” . Making an open world crime game??? GTA clone . Making a first person shooter ? Cod clone ! Making a monster catching game? Pokémon clone! Like seriously why do people do this

[@SlothSandwhich]

@@LYK1003tbh I think starting with yakuza 7 is ight. My only yakuza games I’ve beat are 7 and 8 and kiryu feels like an unstoppable force of nature with intrigues me to play the older games. Already love the series too

[@Ron1n_Sim]

Potential titles for Pirate Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Maddog Like a Dragon: Gaiden II Hawaiian Pirate Yakuza: Hawaiian Pirate

[@Ron1n_Sim]

They couldve also called the film: "Like a Dragon: Rebirth" "Like a Dragon: Reborn" As it's a complete rewrite of Yakuza 1 as a story. It's close to the Kiwami name but not the same either.

[@MugdhaMahdiShams]

​@@Ron1n_Sim You mean the series that's coming? It's not a movie. And the only Yakuza movie that was made, was never officially localized.

[@hiagoos]

I really think that they should be extreme in their approach of rebranding, instead of being indecisive of what to do Either completly rename every Yakuza to Like a Dragon, or just keep the name Yakuza; it actually unsettles me about how the games are still numbered in Japan and here they simply dropped the numbering, or the lack of Gaiden in the new Majima game, sometimes it actually feels like laziness

[@randomatomizer6652]

Yes. In Yakuza 8's case, they should have just named it "Like a Dragon 8" instead of "Infinite Wealth" here in the West. Now, when the inevitable Yakuza 9 comes out, it will have a different name once again, making it even more confusing for newcomers.

[@raccoonpeddler6730]

the like a dragon pirate yakuza in hawaii name pretty much takes the cake as the most confusing name in the series lol

[@MilkEnjoyer2]

​@@randomatomizer6652IMO calling it "like a dragon 2: infinite wealth" would be perfect, with the kiryu saga being yakuza and ichiban's like a dragon, but then theres the potential kiwami remakes, would they call an eventual kiwami 3 as yakuza kiwami 3, like a dragon 3 or like a dragon kiwami 3?

[@MadDogSolo]

I do think that’s weird, they decided to unify the original name, but they’re still changing up the English title regardless, though they couldn’t just slap the “Yakuza” on the samurai games though.

[@ghostasian9807]

Like A Maddog: The Dog Who Couldn't Bark

[@HoshinoShadow]

Gotta say, as much as I love the series original name, I’m quite glad that it is called Like a Dragon, to bring it closer to the japanese original Some names might not always work well, like Shutokou Battle series was known as Tokyo Xtreme Racer in the rest of the world. Worked alright for game set in Tokyo, but in Kaido games, predominantly set around Japan outside of Tokyo (or even Tokyo prefecture for that matter), a name like Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift doesn’t fit as well

[@thatbloomer5642]

It's never not funny to me that in a game called Yakuza, you'll never play as an active yakuza member but you will play as a cop and an idol at some point in the series.

[@xtube9157]

The producers themselves literally said there moving away from the whole yakuza thing

[@thatbloomer5642]

@@xtube9157 pretty sure they made it very clear when they made Daigo dissolves the Tojo and Omi back in 7.

[@Cherry91]

@@thatbloomer5642 right lol. That's why the Yakuza title was never a good fit to begin with IMHO. It catches the eye for sure. But when you truly look at the series as a whole, it's misleading. At least that's how I personally felt about it when I started. I thought I was going to play as a Yakuza but turns out I wasn't.

[@Billioncompany786]

I was okay with these titles, since I was thinking that okay Kiryu Saga has been ended so it's wise to use Like a Dragon moving forward. Then they didn't include the word Gaiden in the latest Pirate spin off game and I was like Wtf are they doing with the titles? Before that I was like: Yakuza - Kiryu Saga Like A Dragon - Ichiban Saga Ishin - Unrelated Spin Off Samurai Game Judgment - Detective Spin Off Game Deal Souls - Zombie Gaiden - Spin off series of Main line entry It was so much clear before they messed up with adding Pirate Yakuza and didn't add the word Gaiden for further confusion.

[@N7RiZe]

I've personally already had to explain the naming to newcomers and it's not very fun if they don't understand the first time. The main thing that gets me is how the English names are changing but Japanese, Chinese and Korean are all the same. If the English titles became simply Like a Dragon: 7 then 8, I don't think anybody would get too confused. LAD 8 personally annoyed me because I wanted to know where the Infinite wealth name came from. The infinite symbol seemed like a cheap way to get something that looks like an 8 on the box art.

[@Cherry91]

@@N7RiZe you've hit the nail on the head pretty much.

[@KrimsonDragoon]

The new lore is Majima is so popular he’s in multiple franchises

[@Snakeskin94]

I like Yakuza for the Kiryu games, Like a Dragon for the Ichiban games.

[@DragonBane299]

I really dont know why the didnt include gaiden in the yakuza pirate spin off, its CLEARLY A GAIDEN GAME, and they HAVE named TMWEHN clearly as a Gaiden game. One of my theories is that the West Sega team is treating the word "Gaiden" as the actual name of the game, rather than a denotation of the entry's type, like how the fifth installment is called "Yakuza 5", this 7.5 Installment is called "Gaiden" when in reality they should stick to the Japanese naming convention.

[@frozone-yeah]

Oh don’t worry, they have, but only in the Japanese version with the title name cover.

[@heartlessangel2910]

I've gone through something similar recently with the Senran Kagura games. I think the main takeaway for newcomers is that it's best to somewhat research what the over all continuity of games is like, because the history of Yakuza/RGG/Like a Dragon is very complex and evolving.

[@Krow621]

Tbh the series will forever been simply Yakuza for me, no matter how future entries have Like A Dragon or try to stray away from being Yakuza-centric plots. Like Yakuza Like A Dragon is just too much of a mouthful to say and I rather just say Yakuza 7, even Yakuza LAD is a bit confusing considering it's not only game with the LAD title. Then there's Like A Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name which is a even bigger mouthful and I've been calling it Gaiden or Yakuza Gaiden though now I suppose I'll have to call it Yakuza 7.5 since it's not going to be the only 'Gaiden' game. It's same thing with Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth where I've bouncing between calling it Infinite Wealth, IW or Yakuza 8. Now we have Like A Dragon Yakuza Pirates in Hawaii that started to call Yakuza Pirates but I think Yakuza 8.5 should also work.

[@Koi043]

I can't wait to play, Yakuza:The Road to become a Pirate King🫡 (I hope the next gaiden game will have a story about Akiyama and Tanimura, I can't wait to play those two again 🙏)

[@raccoonpeddler6730]

i wouldn't mind a daigo dojima game either or they could explore some of the older characters like ryuji goda or nishiki theres a world of possibility when it comes to the gaiden games

[@klaus.sfc01official30]

Can't wait for like a dragon astronaut yakuza in space who lost their memory.

[@the_real_mo1keyn]

My scrawny ass and 2 cents be like: "Like A Dragon: Pirates of Hawaii"

[@cjvoerman5591]

Dragon: Like a Yakuza

[@AusOpening]

To me, it will always be Yakuza ❤️

[@Amon_Gus799]

I thought it was really cool that they we’re gonna change the name to match the Japanese one and while it would’ve made it confusing doing it all of a sudden I think them flip flopping is making it even worse, at this point they are better off going all in on the like a dragon branding

[@LesEnfants1972]

I’m gonna call the latest announced Yakuza as “Yakuza Majima”.

[@kevsthebadboy1703]

If "Harvest Moon" successfully transitioned fully into "Story of Seasons" as per the Japanese version translating to "Farm Story", so can the Like A Dragon (formerly Yakuza) series.

[@obafrog]

Honestly for IW I feel it would've made it much more simpler to just call it Yakuza: Like a Dragon 2, but they probably just called it IW 'cause they didn't want people to think "oh I have to play the first one before this!" to get as many sales as possible. In the long run though, it really just makes everything more confusing and may even make some people turn away and lose interest before even playing a game due to not knowing where to even begin. LADG: TMWEHN is fine as a name and sets up Gaiden as a subseries, but now they completely went back on that and removed Gaiden from the Western name. SEGA seems to be wayyy too indecisive about this stuff, and although there's practically 0 chance they'll go back on Majima Gaiden's name, I hope they see this as a mistake and name future Gaiden games consistently. At least they've found a way to distinguish between the Kiryu and Ichiban saga, though which I do think works to some extent at least (except 7G is a bit inbetween both sagas). I gotta say though, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is such a bad name its actually kinda good, mainly because of it being Majima.

[@MilkEnjoyer2]

they removed gaiden from the name in the west because "gaiden" means side story in japan, but we of course dont know what gaiden means, so the man who erased his name is known just as "like a dragon gaiden", so probably they thought calling the majima game "like a dragon gaiden" would only make confusion plus kiryu's gaiden in japan is called "like a dragon 7 gaiden" and majima's gaiden called "like a dragon 8 gaiden", while in the west theres no numbering, this problem would be solved if they just decided to call IW as like a dragon 2: infinite wealth

[@kazookachow51]

This was a very good discussion piece on an issue that's been boggling everyone's mind. It feels as though RGG has been making quite a number of weird decisions with their games and branding (eg. Terrible autotune with the English karaoke, removing item shortcuts, fixing Yakuza style's combo speed to its slowest)

[@HenriqueHCA14]

They could've just called it Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Mad Dog Pirate

[@solidusgadget]

I started calling these games Yazula becuase of a group chat meme and it fits series in its current state so much better.

[@Yanramich]

yazaza

[@jeanguimaraes5527]

To community, forever Yakuza

[@gianncmedina7805]

I really do love and enjoy both Names and kinda like how they keep using them both! Shows how they have evolved but are also sticking to their roots :)

[@JG_DeadColor]

I think that maybe originally with Yakuza 7 they intended to do a complete rebrand. But seeing the warm reception that Kiryu, Majima (etc) and why not, the rest of the games have had in the new audience, perhaps they have integrated both elements by taking a couple of steps back: I consider it a beautiful decision. It embraces the past and the present with pride and love for the work and for the fans before and after.

[@h.knight]

At this point I just call all the games released before "Like a Dragon: Yakuza" Yakuza and "Like a Dragon (Insert the subtitle)" starting with LaD 7.

[@starstackarchives]

I can honestly flip flop between either names... But at the very least, for this Majima game... I'm gonna to call it Yakuza: Like a Pirate. It just roll off the tongue so easy for me at least.

[@philingupspace]

Really interesting points 👍 and awesome that you could bring in your knowledge :)

[@ReaperCreeper]

Imagine if by some miracle they did rerelease the PS2 entries and called them something like Yazuka Classic or Like a Dragon Classic.

[@EmmaTheShark]

Should have just kept the numbers like the japanese entries, though we could still have a mixed title for 7 to ease the change in. "Yakuza: Like a Dragon 7", and then "Like a Dragon 7 Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name", and so on. I think that would be more clear than what we have now.

[@abzolutelynothn]

I personally think it would've been better if 7 was just called "Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon", and then they titled 8 as "LaD 2: Infinite Wealth", sorta like how it was with Super Mario Land and Wario Land. They should also probably just revert the name for Pirate Yakuza to its Japanese version completely (the name is funny as hell but it's still an absolute mindfuck for new fans).

[@synthiandrakon]

I think lack of numbers combined with subtitles is the mistake. I don't think subtitles really work for series i think they make it harder to comprehend what people are looking at. Like i remember when infinite wealth and gaiden were shown at summer games fest, outsiders had to be told that they were the new yakuza games because it wasn't obvious. Like a dragon gaiden the man who erased his name is just incomprehenisble to someone who isn't already a fan

[@mjc0961]

Agreed 💯 Not just outsiders, but even fans thought Infinite Wealth was some spinoff and it was a huge pain to get them to recognize that the Infinity is a rotated 8 and that it's called 8 in Japan I think we're long overdue for SEGA to stop screwing around with the names. Call the next one "Like A Dragon 9" and then "Like A Dragon 10" We should be calling the Majima game "Like A Dragon 8 Gaiden: Pirates In Hawaii" like the Japanese title. Maybe drop the 8 since they didn't call it "Like A Dragon 8" here, but after that stop screwing around

[@midnightstar2762]

imagine they gonna release ryu ga gotoku 4 gaiden of the end kiwami after kiwami yakuza 4

[@jamesb687]

More peak has arrived from our Croatian brother.

[@michaelhunt6920]

What's really bad are those packs they put out on steam. The Yakuza pack comes with everything up to 6 and the Like a Dragon pack only comes with 7 and 8. Gaiden, Judgement, and Ishin are all left out even though technically you have to play all of the games in order to understand Kiryu's part in 8. And yeah, that includes Ishin. Glad I got into it so that my two friends that were interested know the order because they would've been screwed.

[@Cherry91]

YEEESSSS! As someone with a background in marcom, I wholly support your points and proposed names. Honestly, when they first announced that they were naming all the new entries Like a Dragon, I was happy. Identity is a very important thing to me. I felt that it wasn't so much a rebranding, but more so them fully reclaiming their true identity. As you rightly pointed out, the series has been called Like a Dragon in Japan from the beginning. So the brand sinergy made sense in that regard. Though I admittedly had some reservations about them calling the Kiryu saga Yakuza and every game featuring Ichiban Like a Dragon. The distinction makes it seem like they're not part of the same series, further exacerbating the confusion in new comers' minds. To me, they should've stuck to either of them and keep the numbering, though I have a preference for Like a Dragon. While the Yakuza are still present in the series, they become less and less important with each new game. So Like a Dragon better reflects the direction is headed in IMHO. Also at this point, they might as well drop the Kiryu saga marketing tactic since it's no longer relevant and is straight up misleading. Now looking at it from the outside, it's like RGG is having an identity crisis and it's not a good look for attracting new customers or contenting the loyal ones. They risk seriously diluting their very essence by not making a clear choice.

[@SarmInTheHat7030]

I was actually talking a friend a couple who been wanting to get into yakuza and said didn't know where to start cause of the branding and i realized how confusing the name convention even as diehard fan of the series Like song of life cool subtitle Yakuza : like dragon cool nod neat symbolism yata yata Like a dragon pirate yakuza in Hawaii okay now you just trying to shove as much words as possible 😂 And how idea was it to call the show like a dragon yakuza 😂 every time i look it up the first result is the ichiban games Thanks for great video

[@0verRock17]

I can see why in the west it’s called Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii. Iirc you can’t exactly title things Yakuza or portray actual yakuza behavior in Japan. That and blending the titles probably helps fans and newcomers recognize the game. Not to mention shifting protagonists helps the name change since it’s new within the same series. That said there does need to be consistency. If this is a side story to 8 then calling it LAD 8 would be fine. But then again IW didn’t have a number in the west. Idk, just keep it consistent Sega lol

[@darthvaderreviews6926]

The trend of Japanese studios wanting to curb alternate names in the West seems to be an industry wide thing. It's going on in Monster Hunter too, Gens 1-4 usually had an involved localisation process of new names being created for monsters to incorporate more Latin inspired etymology. _(eg. "Raizekusu" becomes "Astalos", "Dinobarudo" becomes "Glavenus")_ Meanwhile Gen 5 and seemingly so far Gen 6 have used mostly direct translations, with some accomodations for pronounciation like Ls/Rs swapping or a syllable being dropped. (eg. "Rabara Barina" becomes "Lala Barina", "Chatakabura" becomes "Chatacabra", and "Doshaguma" is just directly ported over)_ I assume that it's less to do with communities, and more to do with social media algorithms, which probably can't directly recognise "Like a Dragon" and "Yakuza" are the same thing for example. To cite Monster Hunter again, "baby Pukei-Pukei" may not've taken off as a meme so much or warmed the hearts of Capcom's offices, if it wasn't for Pukei having essentially the same name between Japanese and English.

[@LowResCatExplosion]

Instead of the upcoming Dragon Ball game being Budokai Tenkaichi 4, it's Sparking Zero. Which is so much worse because calling it Budokai Tenkaichi actually has a legitimate reason in the lore. Sparking Zero means nothing as far as I know

[@Vuradisuravu]

i think Judge Eyes is perfect

[@LYK1003]

As a fan who plays the entire mainline Yakuza series, the way Sega rebranding the title for the overseas is quite confusing in my eyes. Take Yakuza: Like A Dragon (Ryu Ga Gotoku 7 in Japan) as an example, being a Yakuza fan in the west knows that this is the seventh mainline Yakuza installment that shifts the gameplay style to turn based while telling the story in a completely new perspective with new protagonist within the same universe since Yakuza 0 to 6. But as a newcomer, some of them may think this is a hard reboot to the series that basically has no connection to the older titles, which in reality is a huge misconception and when they finally reach the certain chapters, some may realize starting with this game is a huge mistake with some of the key moments spoiling the older titles right away. And because of the way they rebranding the series with Like A Dragon since 7, there is a risk that some people would rather continue on since Yakuza Like A Dragon and play Like A Dragon Gaiden and so on instead of going back to the past in order to take on the future titles which contain tons of references from the Kiryu Saga. With such influence, this is a tremendous screw up in terms of the storytelling order. The similar mindset goes for Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, instead of outright telling people Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Gaiden which clearly telling people that this is a side story to the event of Infinite Wealth, rebranding to the official name for the west is a huge confusion to the general audience. And the fact that using pirate theme as a general story plot is enough to confuse people even more and they would think this has nothing to do with the previous titles AGAIN. While RGG for the west in the future might tell the audience a new game being a great starting point on social media, the fans will definitely tell a complete different story on how NOT to start Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii with bunch of compelling reasons (Similar thing happens when Gaiden was marketing on Twitter). Combining with having 10 mainline titles previously (0, K1, K2, 3, 4, 5, 6, YLAD, Gaiden and IW), this will be much harder for people who wants to get into the series. Just to clarify, I have no problem with people who want to play any Yakuza game whatever they want even with the latest title. It is just that the rebranding strats from RGG makes people harder to spot a clear picture of the whole series (especially for the west) so that it leads to the current influence of having tons of people on internet asking the fan community whether the Yakuza game they want to play is a great starting point or not.

[@anaveragefish_]

🔥

[@bebrasmachnayq5691]

they started rebranding since Like A Dragon:Like A Dragon(or Ryu Ga Gotoku 7 in Japan) but its kinda sad they reverted back to Yakuza, but they probably made it so more People play it cuz more People use Yakuza

[@TheCynicalGhost]

I think people are also confusing what RGG when referring to the scope of Pirate Yakuza. They said not to view it as a small side project like Gaiden was, but it definitely still is a Gaiden game since it doesn't star Kasuga. And I still refer to the series as Yakuza because it's straight to the point and its a name that i just think works better in English. And I also would have just done Yakuza 7: Like A Dragon then Yakuza 8: Infinite Wealth and so forth. And for games like Kenzan and Ishin, I think Like a Dragon could still work for those, as calling those Yakuza doesn't make sense, and even if you're confused, once you see Kiryu's face, it'll make sense what it is.

[@Hijikata-T7]

best way for rgg is keeping both, but they really need the numbering and gaiden tag yakuza like a dragon gaiden - pirates in hawaii yakuza like a dragon 8 - infinite wealth they just cant make up their name, they definitely did not want to be associated with yakuza tag seeing how bad it is in japan back then.

[@parryplaguedoc]

I think the change from Yakuza to LAD makes sense due to the overall tonal shift of the mainline entry, plus it would allow them to explore topics beyond the yakuza. However, they should've stuck with the numbering system and only give subtitles to the gaiden games "Like a Dragon 7: The Man who erased his name" and "Like a Dragon 8: Pirate Yakuza" (It referencing 8 could also indicate that it takes place in Hawaii without saying so). So basically, using less words the subtitles on their own can indicate it's a side story (without saying Gaiden) and the numbering can give an indication what mainline game it centers around.

[@raccoonpeddler6730]

imagine the shock when i bought this new spin off called yakuza like a dragon straight out of kiwami 2 thinking there wouldnt be spoilers lol. the new name probably helped the series get up to mainstream but i think they should return to the yakuza name and numbers to make it less confusing and keep the gaiden and kiwami in the respective games .

[@Mates1500]

I find it strange how RGG 8 was originally marketed as "Like a Dragon 8" (just search youtube for Like a Dragon 8 trailer by Sega), but it started bearing the Infinite Wealth name several months later when the second trailer dropped. As a fairly big fan of the series, the trailer was very confusing to me and at first I thought "Infinite Wealth" was a completely separate title from 8 until I googled around a little.

[@IchiBUNProductions]

Yep , that probably the complete name unlike Lost Judgment, in japan thé full name can be translate in something like : Lost Judgment unjudges memories

[@ak-t7d6f]

Yakuza 7.5... Yakuza 8.5... All this does is make me feel the same amount of confusion and intimidation when looking at a Kingdom Hearts title. And I never played Kingdom Hearts.

[@REDEEMERWOLF]

I can imagine having a game series I've never played instill that kind of fear into my life. Any other scary series that intimidate you?

[@ak-t7d6f]

@@REDEEMERWOLF Maybe not scary but definitely intimidating, The Legend of Heroes series. There are so many of these games and they're also basically a yearly series like Yakuza. But the issue is that each game is a JRPG that could be hundreds of hours long. I wanna get into the series but I feel intimidated by the fact I might never catch up with the series. It also doesn't help that it usually takes years for each game to be localized to English which I find demoralizing. Thankfully, the remake of Trails in the Sky 1 seem like it'll release day and date with the Japanese version _and_ it's basically a perfect entry point for newcomers. Just hope it won't be locked behind Switch. That'd be scummy.

[@Ashura96]

Funny enough, I pretty much refer to Infinite Wealth as "LaD 8" or even "Yakuza 8" but rarely "IW." A friend of mine is has been playing 7 and he just calls it LaD but I know he is referring specifically to 7.

[@MadDogSolo]

It would take some time to get used to for many folks but I don’t mind having the true name be unified, even then it only got changed to “Yakuza” for marketing purposes, and that’s probably part of the reason the GTA comparison happened a lot.

[@VentraI]

Gonna be honest: LaD is not a good name compared to Yakuza. It doesnt roll off the tongue like Yakuza does, it doesnt sound as 'cool' & an outsider has a vague idea what to expect with the Yakuza name vs no idea with the LaD name.

[@TovarishTony]

I would prefer the Like a Dragon name or even the straight up Ryu ga Gotoku or both and Ishin was the opportunity to introduce Like a Dragon due to it has nothing to do with yakuza as the Shinsengumi is not a yakuza organization but instead a historical group of swordsmen serving the shogun ruling Japan at the time the game was set on. The rebranding does make sense considering the way the story went with the games regarding the state of the yakuza and what hinders the ex-yakuza turn a new leaf as seen in 8. RGG may need to introduce a new name for the earlier titles to correct the numbers while keeping the "formerly Yakuza" in the short term may gradually correct the branding of the series as a whole despite using the Ryu Ga Gotoku name for the studio.

[@empty2892]

I will always call it Yakuza. Simpler, shorter, easier to look up relevant vids.

[@PeachiPrism]

I wish they just ripped the bandage off and started only calling it Like a Dragon before they started with the Gaidens and the odd named Ichiban games. I just call Y:LAD "7" and IW "8" without the Yakuza prefix because it's easier

[@TheGerkuman]

The problem with the Yakuza name is that it was SEGA of America's decision, and it was a title that the series designer didn't like. Kiryu started off as a Yakuza member, but throughout nearly all of the following games he's basically an affiliated outside contractor/troubleshooter (And often an unwilling one at that). Whereas Like a Dragon describes a part of Kazuma's (and subsequently Ichiban's) personality. So I think they should've just commited to the Like a Dragon rebrand, rather than flip-flopping.

[@kyethememer9836]

I prefer to call the franchise 'Like a Dragon'. Whist 'Yakuza' is an accurate title as it's what the games are about, i just think LAD sound way cooler and plus it synergizes with the original japanese title.

[@kozmik4293]

I would have preferred they just stayed numbered 'Yakuza', even with Takayuki spin-offs with 'Judgment', just 'Yakuza: Judgment'. Only Final Fantasy seems to take some kind of pride in a long-running series, outside of sports games. I think it would be really badass and impressive to see a title card on a Yakuza game saying "Yakuza 17" or something, but I don't know.

[@JinboiVA]

Commit to the Like A Dragon namesake, I say. I guess at some point, a LAD story may not include Yakuzas in the story anymore (or at least be less centered around it). Besides, few years down the line we'll all get used to the Like A Dragon namesake. And the best first games for newconers are still 0 or 7. If any new bloke finishes either game, there is no way they wouldn't understand the timeline.

[@DarkkirbyKRPG]

I hate this so much. Like I mentioned in a previous video of yours, this whole "Kiryu is Yakuza, Ichiban is Like A Dragon" creates the issue that, when you visit the RGG Studios page for Steam (and maybe other stores) for example, you find LAD 0 to 6 in the "Yakuza series" collection, 7 and 8 in the "Like A Dragon" collection, but you can't find Ishin nor Gaiden, because they are named Like A Dragon but they don't star Ichiban. It's so freaking stupid and I hate it, just rename everything to "Like A Dragon". It's what makes more sense. It also bothers me that they changed the name of the series back to Like A Dragon "for the sake of everything having the same name everywhere" and yet NOT A SINGLE product since the rebrand has had the same name as in Japan. Yakuza: Like A Dragon (actual name LAD 7), Like A Dragon Gaiden (missing the 7 in the name because LAD7 dropped the number overseas), Like A Dragon Ishin (missing the Kiwami word that indicates remake), Like A Dragon: Yakuza (named Beyond The Game in Japan), Yakuza Kiwami Switch (rather than Like A Dragon Kiwami), and most recently Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii (missing 8 Gaiden, added the word "Yakuza")

[@Anthnax]

Like a dragon also works well for ichiban's games because unlike kiryu, who is someone called the dragon of dojima, ichiban's dragonfish is striving to become like a dragon, trying to be like the old legends. A neat way the series' name changed with the overarching story.

[@Bypip_35]

To this day I believe that the larger series rebranding was, in fact, because of Ishin. Calling it Yakuza: Ishin! or Yakuza: Revolution! didn't make sense, as there are no *proper* yakuza in that game. They looked at 7, thought that people are now familiar with "Like a dragon" and decided to go with literal translation (no "Kiwami" since there is no original in the west), and one thing just led to another. As for Gaiden, I am still a bit confused about dropping that with the Majima game. Probably it is an attempt to reach Zero's audience and simultaneously hide it is a "side", "smaller" game. And also once again get those journalists to write reviews about a "good starting point for the franchise" (for a game that absolutely isn't one). If the Western market is so terrified of large numbers and those exotic Japanese words, I would go for something akin to Star Wars: "A Yakuza (tm) Story" as a subtitle under the proper title. In general, I would prefer it like this: Kiryu Saga: Yakuza 0-6 Ichiban Saga: Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Yakuza: Infinite Wealth Side Games: Ishin!, Yakuza Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Yakuza Gaiden: Pirates in Hawaii

[@krbraveofficial]

honestly they way I go about it is if I talk to someone about the games in a more official style (aka recommending it to someone) I'd just use the official western titles to avoid confusion on what title I meant (unless it's a japanese exclusive then I'd either the full japanese or a translated version of it) as for casual use and documentation (like desktop shortcuts and talks with kyodais) I'd honestly just either call them yakuza (insert number and or subtitle) or just use translated versions of the japanese titles as for how I use the translated versions I'd translated ryu ga gotoku to like a dragon, keep words like ishin, kenzan gaiden or kiwami (well and also kurohyou but I also like to sometimes translate that one to black panther depending on mood) in japanese as they sound better that way and then I'd use the japanese subtitles but translated to english if they have them (so heirs to the legend for 4, and 6 I'd use poetry if life rather than song) only game I'd make an exceptions for is 8 as I call it Like a Dragon 8 Infinite Wealth instead of just lad 8 or lad iw since I think it's weird how this is the only time a yakuza game got a subtitle in the west but not japan hope this wall of text makes sense to others

[@krbraveofficial]

also I want to add that the only thing pissing me off rn with rgg is the naming system but hey as I just exained that is somewhat easy to fix as you can technically call the games whatever you want and don't have to use the official title (well obviously if you order the games or other similar stuff you need the official title but you get my point) so props on rgg for having that as the only thing pissing me off about them

[@rickythemaddragonxiong8757]

Maybe something similar to say the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series also having rebranding issues specifically the Persona games. Persona is a spinoff of another series called Shin Megami Tensei or Megami Tensei. However, when Persona 4 Golden got released on PS Vita, they dropped the SMT title, and since then, the later games are branded as its own series but still set in the SMT universe. Tho, it could be that anyone who played Persona 1st time never knew it was part of another series and dropped it for newcomers' attention. However it doesn't matter about there being connections since both never had a proper crossover and events of specific games are never mentioned or affected a story. Even Persona 3 Reload, a modern remake of Persona 3 left out the SMT title. I mean this year's SMT 5 doesn't mention events from Persona 5 and are told as their own story.

[@gokudoni]

Excellent example! Maybe transitions like this are just a given when it comes to SEGA/Atlus releases that exploded this greatly in popularity. Also, thank you for the super thanks!

[@Mikehero69_]

If they were gonna rename the series, then 0 would have been the perfect game to do so. Every mainline game after that was either remade or remastered. I understand them wanting to make it the same as what it's priper name is, but still, the name Yakuza was fine.

[@siuchaos2606]

While I think Yakuza / Like A Dragon is way more accessible than it has ever been, I feel it's way harder to get into the series properly these days. Not only is there a ton of games, but the naming conventions are beyond confusing. For someone who's never played any Yakuza game to play the games in order actually takes a decent amount of research, since the series is now called "Like A Dragon" what about the games like Yakuza 0 - 6? It makes it really confusing to tell what is "Yakuza" and what is "Like A Dragon" without researching it yourself. Not to mention the two latest mainline games don't even have numbers on them, for someone who doesn't know, Yakuza Like A Dragon, just seems like a new series despite it being Like A Dragon 7 in Japan, same with Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, which is just called 8 in Japan. These are continuations to long-running franchise in Japan, but in the west it just looks like an entirely new sub-franchise. I also found that many people who play either of these two games becoming lost, since it's a CONTINUATION, not an entirely new story, in Infinite Wealth for example, all the parts with Kiryu and getting his memories have no emotional payoff, nobody knows the characters if that's the first game they played, so you don't really care about why Kiryu loves his children, or why he did certain things. Also the naming is really getting out of hand, like the names are getting so absurdly long and hard to remember, for example "Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man who erased his name" like what?? Or this newest game "Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii" it's just way too much words and it makes conversations about the game annoying, since you have to shorten them in conversation. Imagine talking with your friend about videogames and he tells you "Bro, you know that Like A dragon Pirate yakuza in hawaii game? It was super fun, you should totally play it" like you're going to be wondering what he's even talking about. Even if you are familiar with Yakuza, it's still confusing to begin with, is it a spinoff? Is it mainline? Is it even canon to the story?

[@jessestevenson8361]

I think they realized the rebrand came too late in the series and that they made a mistake, hence having the word yakuza in current releases

[@VXMasterson]

While I wholeheartedly prefer the way "Like A Dragon" sounds over "Yakuza", I think they should have kept the numbering and just called it Yakuza 7 and Yakuza 8. While I wouldn't have loved to call the Gaiden games 7.5 and 8.5, I could accept it for at least keeping the games somewhat chronological. That being said, I can understand changing the title for some games like Ishin because Ishin isn't about yakuza so calling it Yakuza: Ishin wouldn't make any sense.

[@backupschmliff1156]

I hate they took out the number. It should be a badge of honor but now normies can't tell the different between Like a Dragon 8 and a Majima spinoff game.

[@Geagra]

Lets be honest, if some mfker will think that Like A Dragon games and Yakuza games are separate things this dude is kind of hopeless. It takes 1 min of research to figure this shit out in the age of internet. And the rest of the players already know that Like A Dragon = Yakuza. Its pointless to implement both these names so just call it Like A Dragon.

[@rugmanchampwow]

Due to because of how in japanese its "like a dragon" sounds more original, seeing the majority say yakuza, judgment, like a dragon games are consider these games separate in the west really confused me so I decided to piece things togheter and decided to help the people that were confused with it in the first place, hell I hope it doesn't keep going like that.

[@AlakazamMast3r]

I don't think calling the post-Ichiban games "Yakuza" works since the titular Yakuza, now more than ever, are only part of the story and not *the* central focus I'd argue it was always like that, starting around 3, but these newer games are more about what happens now after the disbandments rather than a crime drama about them Unless ya wanna call the series "Ex-Yakuza"

[@Milkydere]

I like the rebranding to Like a Dragon because that's what the games are about (and what the japanese title means), it's not just simply about the Yakuza, it's about being a Dragon in a symbolic way. At the same time, the games are known as Yakuza because that's what it has been since the beginning, that's why the change should be decisive and the Yakuza name should be dropped from all products and braindings, hell, I would even like them to even change the name of the original games, of course that would not be possible but it would still be great. In my opinion "Like a Dragon: Ishin" should be named "Like a Dragon: Ishin Kiwami" (yes, I know it's a lot of words but that's what the game is, maybe just throw the kiwami kanji and call it a day, but kiwami has to be there) "Yakuza Kiwami" for the Switch should be "Like a Dragon: Kiwami" "Like a Dragon -Yakuza-" should be just "Like a Dragon" with something telling you it's a live action "Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii" is just a mess, I hate that name, it has too many words that don't tell you what you need to know, it should be something like "Like a Dragon 8.5 Gaiden", same with "Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name" being "Like a Dragon 7.5 Gaiden" and then using the subtitle like with Yakuza 6, just as a artistic element to it.

[@damagon647]

I still feel like Infinite Wealth should have been called Like A Dragon 2: Infinite Wealth, that way they would have properly established that these Like A Dragon games are a fresh start for the series and you can start there with the "Yakuza" games being ones for people to go back to if they wish. It would have put a hard line between old and new, while also making it easy for people to choose their entry point.

[@mjc0961]

Meh. Then it gets really messy as the series goes on keeping track of the real number instead of the fake western number. "Yakuza: Like A Dragon" should have just been called "Like A Dragon 7" "Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth" should have been called "Like A Dragon 8" Next one should be called "Like A Dragon 9" and so on The change in title from "Yakuza" to "Like A Dragon" is already a hard enough line

[@oneupdawg]

I personally hate the rebranding but I understand from the context of the stories, its leaning away from yakuza life.I'll just say I'm a yakuza fan all the way, not so much a like a dragon fan.

[@dankbuster2181]

Ill always call it yakuza, just becauase thats what it waa for the west

[@decyst6294]

Not a fan of Like a Dragon as the title. Subtitle I don't mind, but prefer having it numbered along with it. Ultimately, it doesn't affect me much. I always use abbreviation like YK2, Y7, Y8 or just Gaiden, Dead souls, Kishin for spin-off games anyways. Confusing sequel titles are tales as old as time, AVGN video talked about it in one of his video about movies in general.

[@PaydayPerry]

I dunno regarding which title i prefer, i think they're both good, i'd say i have a slight preference to Yakuza, due to how much good times i've had with the series when it had the title, not saying i like it less now, its just been less good games, simply because there has been less games with that lad title, but i dont mind either title. What they coulda done if you ask me: if they wanted add Like a Dragon, they coulda done it like 7, Yakuza Like a Dragon, then i suppose Infinite wealth coulda been Yakuza Like a Dragon 2, Gaiden coulda been Yakuza Like a dragon Gaiden Pirate game coulda been Yakuza Like a dragon 2 Gaiden. It indicates the turn based ichiban saga ones distinctly from the kiryu ones, and the gaiden games being the beatemup sidestory to those mainline. Or the same, just do without the yakuza in the 7 title, just Lad 1, infinite wealth being lad 2 etc. or Like a dragon 7, Like a dragon 7 Gaiden: The man who erased his name, Like a dragon 8, Like a dragon 8 Gaiden: Pirates in hawaii (got rid of the yakuza in 8 gaiden). or lastly, just keep yakuza, yakuza 7, yakuza 8 etc. Idk all this just really reminds me of those avgn videos, chronologically confused, in that, no matter how ya slice it, calling something diffrent in diffrent countries will always bring problems down the line, especially if you wanna rebrand back to the original title, no perfect way to do it, i think, in that case, you just gotta rip the bandaid of, then just make sure to keep it consistent afterwards, there is no "smooth merge". Unrelated to the topic but, i really hope that they do more with the Gaiden concept than just to have sidestory titles of the newer ones, There's a lot they can do with the concept of a gaiden game. It could go to the past, like for example, kuze game in the 60's or whenever he joined up idk. Not saying that should happen but i just mean as an example it could be almost any point in time, featuring a familiar face, be it daigo, akiyama, joon gi, tanimura, whatever not related to the most recent title.

[@Dazza768]

They should have just kept calling it yakuza in the west.

[@maxwellpaynewell5305]

Whatever they do, i just want them to stick to it. In many ways, the series has felt like it's in a state of constant transition since 7, and I'm really tired of these constant supposed reinventions. It doesn't help anyone, and with Infinite Wealth getting some of the first critical reception from the fanbase in a while, I worry that a continued failure to find some sort of brand stability is going to cost RGG money and popularity in the short and long run

[@marleonka.]

Okay, but like, if we keep the name "Yakuza" for the series, how do you call Ishin? It doesnt involve any Yakuza and if the series didnt use the name before, it wouldnt be immidietly recognizable as the same series so to speak

[@gokudoni]

Might sound strange to call it Yakuza Ishin, but a similar naming convention has been the go-to for a game like Kenzan in the community (at least from personal experience). Plus, I've seen people call the Shinsengumi a "samurai Yakuza" group of sorts so that's something 😅

[@palehorse864]

5:25 Oh man... Imagine if new Yakuza/Like a Dragon fans were confused about which order to play in. The horror. :)

[@GomerJ]

I took the new Majima game as having Yakuza in the subtitle as a descriptor more than a return to that branding though we'll have to see what the next game's title is. As for the show, I think it's understandable since it's adapting the part of the story most casual western fans would associate with "Yakuza"

[@Yanramich]

Bro saw devileons video and was like "How the fuck haven't i thought of this shit before, quick, time to open OBS"