I think part of that popularity may be due to how many people got it for free ... kind of like Rocket League in 2015, only here a lot of people seem not to love Crackdown 3.
But it's not quite ... because you really do play it and with some traditional mechanics. If you have a way to get your hands on it, I recommend it.
It's worth your time. It's a beautiful game.
Pandas!
Lol no worries, I caught the reference.
Haha sorry, I get a little verbose when someone asks me about Yakuza. Just start with 0. One of the actresses in the safe-for-work-ish softcore porn videos you can watch is bound to resemble Chun-Li. 
I started with 0 and given the trajectory of the series, I still say that's ideal for starting the story and familiarizing yourself with the characters. Playing Yakuza Kiwami 1 may feel like a step back gameplay-wise at that point, but Kiwami 2 more than makes up for it.
I could see an argument for starting with Kiwami 1 and playing the series technically in order, with 0 as the actual 6th entry before Yakuza 6. The gameplay and available amount of sidequests might feel more consistent that way.
Basically, in my mind, where to start depends on whether you'd like to play the series in order of release (so 1-5, 0, then 6) or in order of story (0-6).
And of course, no harm no foul if it turns out you're not a fan of the Yakuza formula. Won't change my personal take that it's the greatest form of art ever made, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. I started out by renting Yakuza 0 via GameFly.
Yeah, it's hard for me to play a game that is 20 or so hours long, and tbh I don't think I ever did that too often in the past either. Pretty sure Zelda titles are the only games of that length I used to buy and beat and those never felt as long as other RPGs.
Thank you for the nice comment; I hope you like the game if you pick it up!
I got to the part where I learned about the Horizon project and how everything came to be and whatnot, but I just ... wasn't as interested in playing it as other games. Yakuza 0 came out the same year, and now that I've been introduced to that series I kinda stop whatever I'm doing when a new one comes out ... didn't help that two new ones came out the next year.
Thanks for the heads up on DLC.
From what I gathered from your review and the video included, this is my nightmare game ... but with really charming music and presentation. Dammit, JRPGs ...
