A story about growing old, endings and beginnings, family ties, and most importantly, parenthood. The narrative is very straightforward and includes a lot of references to previous games, as this is a culmination of that. However, whether you've (hopefully) played the other games in the series or you decide to jump straight into this entry, Yakuza 6 provides a beautifully told, hard hitting story that most players should be able to connect with. (Some of the writing can be exposition heavy or in a few rare occasions unnecessary, but it's ultimately great that it's there!)

As for the combat, I personally like it. Some people used to the more lightweight combat in the other entries may find the weightiness a bit off-putting, but I feel it really matches the tone of the game.

Same goes for pacing in that Kamurocho and Onomichi provide very different extremes in terms of pace. Kamurocho is very much the vibrant, chaotic beast that it always has been, with Onomichi providing a much more serene, slower pace of life. Both are great in their own rights, and while some players do complain about Onomichi feeling "empty" or "too little" compared to the Kamurocho we've grown up playing in, again I feel it's very much intentional of the experience, and I highly recommend just taking your time to take in that more gentle pace of living. The game always has things that you can do, and you can lose countless hours in its various faucets of gameplay. However, with this one it's worth taking your time to really digest the details and intricacies on display here.

As for audio, the game is fully voiced in all aspects. This is a huge jump from the partial audio with dialogue boxes from the previous games, and quite fitting for this entry. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio really went all out when it came to the presentation of this game, and it shows. The music is great too however, I highly recommend downloading the licensed music restoration mod, as Citypop legend Tatsuro Yamashita's music provides that emotional gut punch for various moments throughout the game that while the replacement music does a great job of conveying a similar mood, doesn't hit quite as hard as the nostalgic synths and Yamashita's uniquely gentle voice.

Overall, I recommend playing the entire series in general, but if you do make that journey through the games that chronicle 28 years of Kazuma Kiryu's life, please do stop by and play this. The series can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay and, it can probably be hard to imagine putting in that much time just to buy and play this entry, but in doing so you'll be taken on a deeply personal journey of your own - one that will take you through all kinds of wild, hilarious, and sometimes heartfelt places, but will leave you with an experience that you won't find in many other games out there.

(P.S./TL;DR - I didn't quite expect to write as much as I did but, there's a lot to unpack with this game. It's essentially the culmination of 10 years of storytelling and games development, and it may be confusing or bewildering to new players. It's brilliant though, and for as low price as it is there is so much packed into this game to enjoy! You should buy it, even at full price)

A story about growing old, endings and beginnings, family ties, and most importantly, parenthood. The narrative is very straightforward and includes a lot of references to previous games, as this is a culmination of that. However, whether you've (hopefully) played the other games in the series or you decide to jump straight into this entry, Yakuza 6 provides a beautifully told, hard hitting story that most players should be able to connect with. (Some of the writing can be exposition heavy or in a few rare occasions unnecessary, but it's ultimately great that it's there!) As for the combat, I personally like it. Some people used to the more lightweight combat in the other entries may find the weightiness a bit off-putting, but I feel it really matches the tone of the game. Same goes for pacing in that Kamurocho and Onomichi provide very different extremes in terms of pace. Kamurocho is very much the vibrant, chaotic beast that it always has been, with Onomichi providing a much more serene, slower pace of life. Both are great in their own rights, and while some players do complain about Onomichi feeling "empty" or "too little" compared to the Kamurocho we've grown up playing in, again I feel it's very much intentional of the experience, and I highly recommend just taking your time to take in that more gentle pace of living. The game always has things that you can do, and you can lose countless hours in its various faucets of gameplay. However, with this one it's worth taking your time to really digest the details and intricacies on display here. As for audio, the game is fully voiced in all aspects. This is a huge jump from the partial audio with dialogue boxes from the previous games, and quite fitting for this entry. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio really went all out when it came to the presentation of this game, and it shows. The music is great too however, I highly recommend downloading the licensed music restoration mod, as Citypop legend Tatsuro Yamashita's music provides that emotional gut punch for various moments throughout the game that while the replacement music does a great job of conveying a similar mood, doesn't hit quite as hard as the nostalgic synths and Yamashita's uniquely gentle voice. Overall, I recommend playing the entire series in general, but if you do make that journey through the games that chronicle 28 years of Kazuma Kiryu's life, please do stop by and play this. The series can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay and, it can probably be hard to imagine putting in that much time just to buy and play this entry, but in doing so you'll be taken on a deeply personal journey of your own - one that will take you through all kinds of wild, hilarious, and sometimes heartfelt places, but will leave you with an experience that you won't find in many other games out there. (P.S./TL;DR - I didn't quite expect to write as much as I did but, there's a lot to unpack with this game. It's essentially the culmination of 10 years of storytelling and games development, and it may be confusing or bewildering to new players. It's brilliant though, and for as low price as it is there is so much packed into this game to enjoy! You should buy it, even at full price)