Ok I'm saying this now, NO I don't hate any of these styles I actually like all of them I ranked them based on my personal taste and enjoyment of my first playthrough

Then again some of these rankings are just shitposts but like I said take these rankings with a grain of salt

Slugger skill issue. Press square square triangle. Instantly kill everything in a 4 mile radius

love how RGG implemented a grappler archetype not by forcing the players to depend on the grab button all the time, but rather give the grappler an ability to smoothly transition combos into heat actions.

Slugger is useful against bosses BECAUSE of the nunchuks
You can stunlock most bosses and cheese them

Should've included Haruka's dancing as the true number 1

this is the most divisive and controversial tier list i have ever seen and i am absolutely here for it

Tanimura is so fun ngl, and oh my god Infinite Handcuffs is such a sick track for him..
     
It’s as that one guy described ”It sounds like an orchestra that’s moments from falling apart.”

Tanimura being number 1 is a good hot take. Combat wise personally he’s pretty- eh, but the man LITERALLY had heat action everywhere. Parry? Heat action, and then you can do a double heat action with it. The real reason why he doesn’t come back In other games is because how RGG is tired to animate all of his heat moves and more

Slugger was actually my go-to boss killer style. Not too slow, has some armor on attacks, blocks from all sides (and against weapons, which came clutch against Lao Gui), and that's on top of the reliable damage output, easy heat actions, and easier time breaking guards.

Call me crazy but I kinda love YK2’s Kiryu style, it’s got weight to it and once you get used to that oddity it’s a good chunky combo dispenser. Sure the heat system leaves a bit to be desired but extreme heat mode makes it all worth while. Then again, maybe it’s just cause leveling is ridiculously easy in YK2

first time i played 4 i gave Tanimura the sacred tree set on a whim only to find out it makes him completely immune to his final boss god i felt so big brain

One of Saejimas best heat actions imo is the one in yakuza 5 where he rolls people in a snowball and turns them into snowman. It's utterly ridiculous and I love it.

Some styles were just meant to be switched to for heat actions or heat building, fun list though and pretty much agree. I had a blast with Mad Dog in one particular story scenario that probably bumps it up a bit for me and certain items made it feel a lot stronger.

This is definitely one of the lists of all time that I ever seen, no misses just straight ass🔥

Rush is very momentum based, but two particular upgrades make it far better, and both are acciessible fairly early: the ability to dodge mid-rush combo, and the ability that lets you gain heat by dodging any attack (which the game is actually very forgiving with- even if an attack would miss Kiryu anyways, you still gain heat). You don't stun lock bosses, but you literally don't have to since you can interrupt any attack with a side step. Get close, begin punching, side-step after a couple punches and immediately resume punching. Heat remains at max, and you can attack basically infinitely since every side-step resets the combo. Also if you get behind a boss you definitely can stunlock them- rip Kuze.

Funnily enough, Slugger and Beast were my most used styles in my playthrough. Every single boss I did was either Beast and Brawler if I was Kiryu, or Slugger and Breaker.

Like you said, Tanimura feel really unique in the Yakuza roaster. But after playing Snake style in Lost Judgment, i cant help me but saying Snake is the superior version. I mean! A fighting style where you can win a fight without ever hitting a single goons, just dodging and scarying the shit out of them, until they give up on life! That's fking rad! I still like you can arrest people with Tanimura, and I find fking hilarious he shot in the air with a gun,  just to piss off his enemy.

Playing as Kiryu in Yakuza 4 was the literal best.

He was such a pile driver compared to everyone else.



6:13 also funny you mention that, unfortunately the only way to fix Kiryu’s low damage is through the Tiger Drop.

BRO RUSH IN Y0 IS OP YOU CAN IN INFINITELY COMBO BY PRESSING NORMAL ATTACK 3 TIMES AND THEN WEAVING AWAY TO THEIR BACK AND DO THE SAME ,It is a very good combo starter especially for bosses.

Mad Dog style with the War God charm is actually monstrous. Aside from some enemies with armor you can do an endless chain of the dash attacks that will end fights fairly quickly.