10 Sequel-Proof Video Game Endings (That Got Sequels Anyway)

Toshihiro Nagoshi genuinely did not think he would get to make another Yakuza game. Hell, he didn't even think he'd have a job after it came out, having told Sega that if this new idea he pitched that made them so nervous didn't work, they could fire him on the spot. As such, he made the original Yakuza as definitive as possible, including an ending that leaves little to no room for sequels.

The end of the original Yakuza doesn't just end, it salts the damn earth. All but four central characters are dead, all of the villains have been killed, the Tojo clan has been thrown into absolute chaos - with only a glint of hope that it can bounce back thanks to its new leadership - and Kazuma Kiryu leaves the Yakuza forever to raise his newly adopted daughter. Perfect ending to a flawed but brilliant game.

And then Yakuza sold like hotcakes across Japan, and Sega demanded another game by the next year.

Considering that set-up, it was a miracle that Yakuza 2 was not only great but a superior sequel to the original in pretty much every way. The Yakuza series is now one of Sega's mainline titles, in spite of Nagoshi's every attempt to end it back in 2005.