The new PS Plus Extra and Premium games include three Yakuza games, which means subscribers have one less excuse not to play this wonderfully weird JRPG series.
Back in July, PlayStation announced that every Yakuza would eventually end up on PS Plus, and the next month the first three games in the series - chronologically - launched on the Extra and Premium tiers. The brilliant remasters of Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 are also available, but only at the Premium tier for whatever reason.
As of today, the two most recent games in the mainline series, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon, are available for PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers to indulge. Like a Dragon was my unconventional entry point to the series, although in a lot of ways I'm happy to have started there, as it introduced me to the new protagonist of the series going forward, the plucky and jubilant Ichiban Kasuga.
Judgment was also added to the Extra and Premium tiers today, and if you haven't heard of it, just know that it's basically yet another new Yakuza game but with a detective spin, starring attorney-turned-ass-kicking private eye Takayuki Yagami. Its sequel, Lost Judgment, is now the only modern Yakuza game still yet to be added to PS Plus in some form.
What this means, of course, is that PS Plus Premium subscribers can now play through the entire Yakuza series from front to back, and if you like it enough, you can check out Judgment too. Extra subscribers have plenty of Yakuza to dig into as well, though there's a pretty big gap missing with 3, 4, and 5 being exclusive to Premium.
Oh dear me, somehow I've written 300 words about Yakuza without mentioning the other games being added to PS Plus Extra and Premium. Highlights include Far Cry 5, Far Cry New Dawn, Far Cry Primal, Middle of Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, the Sekiro-like Mortal Shell, and Pillars of Eternity 2, which coincidentally was released by Obsidian just before it was acquired by Xbox.
If you're thinking of signing up, here are the PS Plus deals currently going.