I fell in love with the saga with Ichiban's first one, years ago when it was released. I loved it so much, that from that moment on I made it a point to play the whole saga or at least try haha. So far I've completed Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1, both of which I loved. I would say that even Yakuza 0 I liked more than the first Ichiban game despite being several years old, I found it exceedingly good.
RE: Declaring my love for Yakuza