15 Most Criminally Underrated Video Game Franchises Of All Time

1. Yakuza

Where to start? Yakuza 3

It's hard to put into words just how f*cking awesome Yakuza is, as a series.

Take Metal Gear Solid's overblown plot twists that are always delivered with the right amount of self-aware gusto, Dragon Ball Z flame-fisted power-up attacks, brutal Def Jam-like environmental moves and enough minigames to make GTA jealous.

Part of why it never caught on in the West came down to off-point marketing, where in the wake of GTA III, the original Yakuza was pegged as an 'open-world crime game', leading everybody to expect what would essentially later be Sleeping Dogs. The reality was quite the opposite, and the franchise's brawler-based roots have only been fleshed out and expanded upon over time.

The real takeaway is the story, as each game features an intricate series of rug-pulls and "They were alive/dead/your brother all along!" reveals. To write a whole series of these narratives and make them genuinely enjoyable is a masterstroke that even Metal Gear fumbled on with The Phantom Pain, making Yakuza as a franchise one you absolutely need to see for yourself.

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