PlayStation Plus users have last chance to play celebrated RPG for free

The PlayStation Plus library is ever-expanding and offers some truly fantastic titles to those that subscribe to the Sony service.

Whether it be Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Bloodborne, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and more, there is just about something for everyone. Sadly, however, as new games arrive, some must wave goodbye.

Check out the Yakuza Kiwami 2 trailer below!

There is a series that I will shout from the rooftops for everyone to play and that’s the Yakuza (prior to the Like a Dragon rebrand) series from developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. At one point, the entire Yakuza series was available on PS Plus, but over time its number has dwindled.

As of right now, Yakuza 0 (a prequel to the series), Yakuza Kiwami and Kiwami 2 (remakes of the original two games), Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and finally, Yakuza: Like a Dragon still remain on the PS Plus service. At least for now. Sadly, that number is about to be trimmed down once more and much like me, fans are urging subscribers to play this celebrated RPG series at no extra cost before it's too late.

On 15 August 2023, Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Kiwami 2 will be leaving PlayStation Plus, which only leaves Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Yakuza 6. This means that only two games from the series will remain on Sony’s subscription service. Sad times indeed.

“I have completely ignored Yakuza games in the past year because I heard it takes 50-60 hours to complete and as soon as I saw three of them leaving by Aug 15th, I thought I'd give it a try,” explained Reddit user Hashirama_the_1st.

They continued: “Well now, I regret not playing any of these before. I am currently playing Yakuza 0 and it's a damn good game. Love the side stories as well, all the ones I played till now were unique and fun. If anyone is still sitting on the fence, please give it a try. And if the deadline comes before you finish then buy it.”

“Yakuza 0 is straight up one of my favourite games ever,” replied MagmaAscending. “Majima’s story is so beautiful and heartbreaking and Kuze is one of my favourite villains in the franchise (though I’m only on Yakuza 3).”

“I also recently discovered the Yakuza series thanks to PS Plus,” said itsk2049. “Yakuza: Like a Dragon has been an unexpected surprise that I keep coming back to. It’s weird and charming, it’s my go-to chill game. I just downloaded Yakuza 0 because of this thread.”

“I'm midway through Yakuza 0 and sad that they're removing these games. It's like watching those Asian crime movies. Building your business empire is also fun,” exclaimed tamonizer. “It's one of the best offerings on the service. Sad that they're leaving.”

Thankfully, there is some good news, as long as you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, that is. At the time of writing, the Yakuza series (not including Like a Dragon: Ishin) in its entirety is available on Microsoft’s subscription service.

In our review of Like a Dragon: Ishin, we said: “While fans of the series will undoubtedly get more out of this game than newcomers, it’s a fantastic title that’s worth checking out, both as a samurai story and as a sandbox RPG in general. If you love cinematic cutscenes, frenetic combat and simply killing time in a beautiful virtual realm, then Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a must-play game.”

As for the immediate future of the series, we’ve got plenty more Yakuza goodness to come. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will be released for PC, PlayStation and Xbox on 9 November 2023, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth arrives in 2024.