If you're a PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium subscriber, this month's lineup of free games means you officially have no excuse not to play the superb JRPG series Yakuza.
Starting August 16, subscribers shelling out the extra dough for PS Plus Extra or Premium will have access to Dead by Daylight, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Bugsnax, and a few more fun games - already a respectable catalog with a little something for everyone. But perhaps most exciting are the three Yakuza games that make for the ideal introduction to one of the best modern JRPG series ever.
That's right, Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 will also be free to play for PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers. In case you're new to the series, Yakuza 0 is the highly acclaimed 2015 prequel to the first Yakuza game and serves as an excellent entry point for newcomers. Then you have the equally beloved Yakuza Kiwami, a 2016 remake of the original Yakuza, and its 2017 sequel Yakuza Kiwami 2. In the order I described them, these are the first three games most Yakuza fans would tell you to play.
Despite Yakuza now being one of my favorite series, my own introduction was a lot messier. I started with Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon, just because it was shiny and new in 2020 and I think I got a good deal during Prime Day or something. After that, I went totally sideways and played the spinoff, Judgment, and then its sequel, Lost Judgment, before tackling the remasters of Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 on Xbox Game Pass while playing through Yakuza 0 simultaneously.
Like I said, it's a complete freakin' mess, and I wish I would've had such a clean order of games to start with like so many PS Plus subscribers will soon be gifted. The transition from Like a Dragon's turn-based combat to the series' signature real-time brawling was jarring, as was getting used to a whole new protagonist. Needless to say, if you're curious at all about Yakuza and you are a PS Plus subscriber, there's no better place to start than with these three classic JRPGs.
Here's the complete list of new games included with PS Plus Extra and Premium.
- Yakuza 0
- Yakuza Kiwami
- Yakuza Kiwami 2
- Ghost Recon Wildlands
- Trials of Mana
- Dead by Daylight
- Bugsnax
- Metro Exodus
- UNO
- Monopoly Madness
- Monopoly Plus
If you're thinking of signing up, here are the PS Plus deals currently going.
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