Despite its commercial success in both its native Japan and, more recently, in the West, the Like a Dragon or Yakuza series remains an enigma to those that have never spent time in one of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios' sweeping crime dramas. Part beat 'em up, part RPG, and the closest thing to a captivating video game soap opera, the Yakuza series (now going under the original Japanese title Like a Dragon) has eight mainline titles, several spin-offs, a side-series about a detective (Judgment) and even a historic reenactment that uses familiar Like a Dragon series characters as stand-ins for real-life figures.