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[Humdinger]

Just finished up Yakuza 6, so I thought I'd share some impressions.

It took me 31 hours. 13 of that was cutscenes, so if you play this, be prepared for plenty of cinematics. Normally I avoid games that have so many cutscenes, and I did get impatient with it several times, especially during the second half. But I enjoyed Yakuza 0, 1, and 2, and I wanted to see how Kiryu's story ended [edit: or not].

The story is very melodramatic, as is standard for Yakuza games. This one is very sentimental, probably because it's the last chapter in Kiryu's saga [edit: or so I thought]. There are a lot of times when the devs are just overtly manipulating your emotions in obvious ways. But that's okay. It's part of what I like about Yakuza games - they are a unique mix of action, drama, humor, and heart. The emotional tugs all focus on the theme of parenthood here. Since I'm not a parent, some of that fell flat for me. And the character motivations often didn't make a whole lot of sense - but again, that's pretty standard for Yakuza games. There are moments when the story is nonsensical or has obvious holes. You just learn to roll with it.

Combat was fun. By the time I'd gotten finished with Kiwami 2, I'd grown tired of all the brawling, but I took a long break before playing this, and I enjoyed the combat quite a bit.

I got confused with all the different clans, leaders, and families. It seemed as if there were more here than in previous games. The plot got very convoluted, and it was hard to keep track of all the shifting alliances, double-crossing and scheming.

The story wraps up in a satisfying way. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it there.

A few minor observations:
- It was odd that people would call Kiryu "old man" or "grandpa." He looked like a robust 40 year old.
- It was funny how the characters would call each other names like "buttwipe" and "shitstain."
- The Troubler app was annoying, always ringing you up with minor rescue sidequests in the middle of missions; I wish there was a way to turn that off

If I were to rate it, I'd give it an 8.5/10. I enjoyed my time with it. The cutscene length was the big drawback, but the game has all the trademark Yakuza drama, humor, heart, and intrigue.

Question for Yakuza fans: As I mentioned, I skipped Yakuza 3, 4, and 5. Did I miss out on anything big? If I were to go back and play one of them, which one would you recommend?

 

[LectureMaster]

A few minor observations:
- It was odd that people would call Kiryu "old man" or "grandpa." He looked like a robust 40 year old.
- It was funny how the characters would called each other names like "buttwipe" and "shitstain."
- The Troubler app was annoying, always ringing you up with minor rescue sidequests in the middle of missions; I wish there was a way to turn that off

If I were to rate it, I'd give it an 8.5/10. I enjoyed my time with it. The cutscene length was the big drawback, but the game has all the trademark Yakuza drama, humor, heart, and intrigue.

Question for Yakuza fans: As I mentioned, I skipped Yakuza 3, 4, and 5. Did I miss out on anything big? If I were to go back and play one of them, which one would you recommend?

1. Here is Kiryu's age in every game. I think they call him that way because of the game's sentimental - like you said it's the guy's final saga.

Yakuza 1/Kiwami(2005): Kiryu - 37. Haruka - 9.

Yakuza 2/Kiwami 2(2006): Kiryu - 38. Haruka - 10.

Yakuza 3(2009): Kiryu - 41. Haruka - 13.

Yakuza 4(2010): Kiryu - 42. Haruka - 14.

Yakuza 5(2012): Kiryu - 44. Haruka - 16.

Yakuza 6(2016): Kiryu - 48. Haruka - 20.

Yakuza 7(2019): Kiryu - 51. Haruka - 23.

2. I love Yakuza series but I am not a hardcore fan. I suggest you continue with 7, Gaiden, and 8. The story is coherent and those newer entries are much better in terms of graphics and gameplay, but do note that Yakuza 7 and 8 switched to turn based RPG, and are significantly longer (Yakuza 7 ~ 50 hours; Yakuza 8 ~ 70 hours). And I highly recommend Gaiden as it really touched me.

3. Have you played the Judgment series? IMO they have way better stories, I love them more than Yakuza.

 

[Hunter 99]

3 and 4 were my favourite of the series as I played them nearly 15 years ago.
I loved 0 too when It came out.
For me 3 and 4 are worth playing,5 is pretty good but much longer .

7,8 are completely different so be prepared to hate it or fall in love with it.

Gaiden the man who erased his name was meh for me but nice to see how kiryu ended up after 6.
I have now have left this amazing beloved series behind until the project century which I hope will bring back the love I have for rgg studios.

Judegment is kool and something different but i still prefer the original yakuza games in that world.

 

[semiconscious]

Question for Yakuza fans: As I mentioned, I skipped Yakuza 3, 4, and 5. Did I miss out on anything big? If I were to go back and play one of them, which one would you recommend?

I really love 3, & 4 is pretty fun...

takeshi kitano:

 

[saintjules]

Doesn't Kiryu's story end technically at The Man Who Erased his name?

I definitely want to catch up with this series again at some point.

 

[Complistic]

Currently playing 5 right now. I'm glad I decided to play through these before diving into the new stuff. They're an absolute joy to play.

 

[nush]

I wanted to see how Kiryu's story ended.

I've got some news for you...

 

[Fbh]

I thought it was ok.
The story itself was fun like in most of these, but I expected a bit more with them advertising it as the big finale for Kiryu (which didn't end up being the case anyway).
Also after several games with multiple playable characters going back to only playing as Kiryu felt a bit monotonous, specially since they didn't even give him multiple fighting styles as in some of the previous games. I guess the idea was that this is a more experienced Kiryu that has merged all his styles into an ultime all in one form, but it still makes for a more repetitive gameplay experience.

 

[Humdinger]

Oh, I thought I'd heard that Yakuza 6 was the end of Kiryu's story. And Yakuza 7 had a new protagonist, so I assumed Kiryu had been left behind. Guess I misunderstood. And I hadn't even heard of The Man Who Erased His Name...

 

[Complistic]

Oh, I thought Yakuza 6 was the end of Kiryu's story. I guess I misunderstood... Yakuza 7 had a new protagonist, so I assumed Kiryu had been left behind. And I hadn't even heard of The Man Who Erased His Name...

That's because he erased his name. Probably.

 

[Humdinger]

2. I love Yakuza series but I am not a hardcore fan. I suggest you continue with 7, Gaiden, and 8. The story is coherent and those newer entries are much better in terms of graphics and gameplay, but do note that Yakuza 7 and 8 switched to turn based RPG, and are significantly longer (Yakuza 7 ~ 50 hours; Yakuza 8 ~ 70 hours). And I highly recommend Gaiden as it really touched me.

Those longer game lengths and turn-based fighting are probably not for me, at least for now. I'm in the mood for shorter games lately. I'll check Gaiden out, though. 21 hrs, real time combat, and Kiryu's actual last chapter...

3. Have you played the Judgment series? IMO they have way better stories, I love them more than Yakuza.

I have the first Judgment. I only played it for an hour, and I put it away. I didn't dislike it, but it just didn't hook me for whatever reason. Maybe I didn't stick with it long enough. I should give it another try.

 

[Orbital2060]

Play all three of them. 3 is a pretty short game and sets up the story for the next two games. Events in 3 return in both games, as do characters. In 3 you play as Kiryu, but in 4 and 5 the games are split into 4 and 5 separate character chapters. That each take 15-30 hours YMMV to complete, and kind of all happening at the same time. I dont think its a good idea to pick one of them only, or watch them on YT. Its not the same, to miss all of the small talk and things you experience.

 

[StereoVsn]

Play all three of them. 3 is a pretty short game and sets up the story for the next two games. Events in 3 return in both games, as do characters. In 3 you play as Kiryu, but in 4 and 5 the games are split into 4 and 5 separate character chapters. That each take 15-30 hours YMMV to complete, and kind of all happening at the same time. I dont think its a good idea to pick one of them only, or watch them on YT. Its not the same, to miss all of the small talk and things you experience.

Yeah, I really liked 3&4. 5 overstayed its welcome a bit but it’s a Yakuza game so it was still very good.

I also heartily recommend both Judgment games, they are very good and very much worth playing.

 

[PsyEd]

Since you started best you do check the ones in the middle...plus on sale they're dirt cheap no matter which platform.

And as stated by some if you want to try something different in the Kamurcho world...the Judgment games are really good - the first one has excellent story and pacing while second one has insane deep level combat...pretty much the only one that dethroned Y0 in my book.

 

[drganon]

I liked all of them, but I'd pick 4 if I could play only one of them.

 

[GymWolf]

Yakuza 6 is one of my favourite.

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

The best in the series for me, Really liked the Hiroshima map, story was great and i liked the Haruto baby simulator, ending was ace and perfect imo.

 

[xrnzaaas]

6 is easily in my top 3 of the best Yakuza games. The story was very good and I absolutely adore Onomichi. I'd sacrifice a lot to make it twice as big so that I wouldn't constantly feel like I'm exploring only a tiny portion of this location.

 

[Humdinger]

6 is easily in my top 3 of the best Yakuza games. The story was very good and I absolutely adore Onomichi.

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

Also liked that iirc it's the only Yakuza having all side quest fully voiced, i know not everybody likes it but i always dislike not having voice acting in games.

And it runs at 60fps on XSX with FPSBoost.

 

[Miles708]

Definitely my favourite Yakuza, smaller but fully voiced and the cast has the most heart of all the series, absolutely love the cast and the dynamics.
Onomichi is basically Shenmue, so it makes it the best chapter by default.

Awesome, awesome finale

 

[stn]

Just on the basis of story, 6 was quite good. Though my favorite is still 2.

 

[TintoConCasera]

3, 4 and 5 are worth it, and you've missed on some stuff for sure for not having played those before 6.

I recommend playing them all, never understood why some people decide to skip some entries.

 

[Miles708]

3, 4 and 5 are worth it, and you've missed on some stuff for sure for not having played those before 6.

I recommend playing them all, never understood why some people decide to skip some entries.

I've skipped 3 and 5 and followed the story fine (i started back on ps2).
They're a lot of games it's ok to skip some, as long as you don't skip 6.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I've skipped 3 and 5 and followed the story fine (i started back on ps2).
They're a lot of games it's ok to skip some, as long as you don't skip 6.

Really? 3 sets a lot of characters and stuff for Kiryu and 6 is a direct continuation of the ending of 5.

I guess it's possible to do fine but really, you are missing on some imo important stuff.

 

[Humdinger]

never understood why some people decide to skip some entries.

Well, I can explain my reasons, fwiw.

I started with Yakuza 0 and loved it. I decided I go back to the start and try Kiwami 1 and 2 (which were just coming out at the time, I believe). I enjoyed Kiwami 1, although not nearly as much as 0. By the time I got through Kiwami 2, though, I was tired of the Yakuza formula. Yakuza games have their charms, but they are also repetitive from one to the next. The stories differ, and some of the characters change, but the locations, the shops, the side activities, and the combat are all pretty much the same from one game to another. After finishing Kiwami 2, I was just tired of it. Also, I am not a big fan of brawlers, so all the punchy punchy got old after knocking down ten thousand bad guys. I couldn't see myself plowing through the rest of the series. I just set it aside.

I'm circling back now, many years later to play the last (or at least what I thought was the last) game in the Kiryu cycle. I like him as a character, so I wanted to see how his story wrapped up. But I didn't have the interest to plow through three other games just to get to the last one.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I was tired of the Yakuza formula. Yakuza games have their charms, but they are also repetitive from one to the next.

Yeah I agree, they are all very similar. I'd recommend to everyone to not marathon this series. I played them all but I think it took me like 3 or 4 years, with other games in between.

 

[Chuck Berry]

My favorite one next to 0. The soundtrack was amazeballs too.