or Shenmue 3 may be involved.

I can’t think of any game like it. Yakuza 3 is cheap to buy right now I recommend you just get it, I got the game because I was board one weekend and it turned out to be one of the best games I've ever played.

To answer your questions, while Sony doesn't seem to own the IP (just going off the list of owned franchises on Wikipedia), they have a large enough stake in it that I think it essentially is their IP, and the game's creator/director/producer Toshihiro Nagoshi has explicitly stated that he's going to keep the Yakuza series on Playstation consoles. That being said, I can't highly enough recommend anyone to check out this series.

It is similar in ways to Shenmue, but it certainly has its own identity and it would be hard to find another reference for a similar game. The basic premise of the series is that you play as a former member of the Yakuza who inadvertently keeps getting pulled back into the problems that his former clan faces. The game blends a mix of storytelling, fighting, RPG aspects, optional mini games (tons of these), side-missions, and open-city exploration.

Bare in mind though that the different cities aren't as big as something like you'd see in a Grand Theft Auto title, but they are larger than the environments in a game like Deus Ex. Additionally, if it wasn't apparent already, the games have a substantial amount of Japanese culture and references within it, which you may find interesting. Even if that's not really your cup of tea, the game does a wonderful job of providing a cinematic experience, the likes of which I feel are most comparable to Hideo Kojima's works (which could also be due to the fact that Nagoshi and Kojima are drinking buddies).

At this point you should be able to find Yakuza 3 and 4 for around $20 or less each, and they will provide you with 60+ hours of fun and memorable content per game. You also don't have to worry about missing the prior content, because each game has a lengthy narrated re-cap video which explains the events of the prior games in detail.

Feel free to PM me or reply if you've got more questions about the series. And as for the Yakuza 5 info, I couldn't be more excited. This has become one of my all time favorite series, and I'm always stoked to show other people what the game is like.

On a side note... I wonder if Haruka will be able to fight?

I liked most of the Yakuza games I’ve played, and I (mostly) did enjoy the new direction they took with ‘Like a Dragon’ and its new fighting system. It was a welcome change of pace. Its JRPG turn-based fighting system wasn’t perfect, but it was a good first attempt on which they can expand and build. Didn’t like the damage-sponge boss-fights though, which felt more like a chore instead of tactically taking out your opponent.

Yakuza 4 is such an underrated game and zero is what made the series have legit string foot outside of Japan

Like a dragon in my opinion isn't on the same category quality wise. It's story and characters aren't as interesting

Same, been there since the first on PS2, but you're gonna get a lot of disagrees. Many people defending Yakuza 7 weren't fans of the previous games, or only dabbled, and they seem to outweigh diehard fans like you and me. So it's pretty much like trying to shout over a crowd. This is what the Yakuza series is from now on, Judgement is our compromise, but it seems even that is in the air lately given some behind the scenes conflict apparently.

I literally started with 0 in and Kiwami in 2017, then played Kiwami 2 when it dropped. And had 6 sitting and waiting on my shelf until after the collection of 3-5 dropped. Then I ran through 3-6 in one massive continuous marathon. I’m sorry that i think Like a Dragon is one of the best ones and that having the same combat for 8000 games got repetitive and it was a breath of fresh air to get an actual change?

I welcome franchises taking risks and like a dragon was a massive risk that paid off. Like the article states, it fits the Yakuza brand of humor extremely well with regard to enemy types and their attacks/skills. Also, it’s incredibly reductive to call this a “DLC”. How can it just be a DLC when it’s an entirely different genre as opposed to more of the same. If you want to make the “it’s just a DLC” argument, that would apply more to Judgment, which is just more of the traditional Yakuza gameplay.

You maybe just don’t like turn-based gameplay, which is fine. I like all kinds of games. I’m sorry that my view of game genres isn’t so narrow?

Same.
Gamepass really let me get into the series.

True Final Millennium Tower for the Platinun was certainly tricky

I started it about a month ago and was immediately impressed by the cutscenes, characters, and the story got me hooked quite literally from the beginning. Been playing it on and off lately but definitely one of the best games I've played in a while. It's one of those that make me feel dumb for not jumping into the series sooner, pleasantly surprised.