Yakuza 6 PC: Practice doesn't make perfect, but it's close.
Played at medium difficulty on a Ryzen 7 5800x, GeForce 1080, fairly fast SSD and 32gb of RAM.
I came into playing the Yakuza 6: Song of Life release on PC after trying to go back through the releases of 3-5 on PC, and very quickly learned a few things, as someone who came to the series at Yakuza 0. With the flood of Yakuza releases lately, I'm going to try to be a little succinct at what this game fleshes out over the others; the unconvinced should really just pick Zero, Kiwami 2, or this on Game Pass if able and just get to it from wherever they are in the story; you'll be hooked enough to fill in the gaps or care about these people or you won't, don't stress too much about that. If you start here, there's a recap section that gives you enough to enjoy all but the most specific character callbacks, i'd reckon.
What did I learn from my RGG backstory tour, ending in this game? Well:
- Hoo boy, the criticisms of the combat systems as-is in the not remade games is completely founded. I tapped after several hours in each.
- While formulaic, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio deserves some credit for honing that formula into something much more modern feeling and engaging throughout.
I mean, goddamn, I don't have a love for old character action games so trying to go back to 3 and 4 was not pleasant. Even 5, which shares an engine with 0, can't even come close to actually enjoying the crucial thug pummeling aspect.
Enter Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Kazuma Kiryu has been playing his game in Kamurocho as you have, and the grizzled veteran and statistically probable grandfather has no qualms acting like it. Gone are the ridiculous power downs, far too stripped movesets, and seemingly amnesiac grasp of events from previous Yakuza sequels. Not only has Kiryu been around the block, several shops on the block are named in his honor, and the fire hydrant shrieks in fear when it sees him walking down the street near the bicycle. I found myself really loving "Two Weeks From Retirement" Kiryu, with both his bluntness and compassion seasoned with just a touch of Werther's Originals in the front pocket.
Stop me if you've heard this before, but the game begins in earnest with Kiryu finishing a quick prison bid only to emerge and discover his adopted daughter Haruka, now 19, is in danger. A quick clue from your friendly neighborhood trenchcoated detective has you down in Onimichi in a hurry, where most major plot points take place. Hiroshima doesn't move at Tokyo speed, and even makes Osaka and Yokohama seem metropolis like in comparison. The people are more classically rooted to their land; old dueling rivals over a high school sweetheart, shipbuilders rambling the same main drag for three decades, sleepy walkways down old slab stairs. The town's coots, old and young, are consistent in their coot to a degree that should ring a little familiar to those who've ever lived smaller city life anywhere, or at least they landed for me.
You could argue for quite a while how much credit RGG studio gets for telling a tight story in a city they've re-made a billion times using characters quickly approaching Frasier Crane same role forever status but I don't know how much I'm interested in doing so; I can say however that this game makes a play at being the tightest, most condensed, and most beneficiary of that condensation entry of any game starring Kiryu released.
Many complaints I had about the game are minor or a matter of taste I didn't find enough to sway my opinion. Clan Battle is very similar to the Majima Construction game from Kiwami 2, and maybe a little less elegant in design, though it feels easier to play. March your very own army of thugs into waves of NPC's and MOBA it out a bit. You can also get swole (with corresponding in-game swoleness, a nice touch) at Club RIZIN, playing some simple minigames alongside a city exploration/food quiz to keep your nutrition up. There's a camgirl woo-ing game that is about as embarassing as a real camgirl to have on your screen and not anything I tried more than once, but at least the dialog was an absolute riot. You already knew the translation team was going to bring it if you've touched any of these games, and I'm pleased to report they kept getting better. It makes me want to play Judgement even more.
One tweak was that the inventory system has been simplified the hardest, taking away series staples like crafting, ready carry weapons and more complex equipment load outs but you know what? I didn't miss any of that shit for a second. The pacing of running streets, smashing mopeds into dudes in shimmery gold pants, performing random acts of kindness and chowing down for a quick heal was so in-place I didn't really even notice until I was near the end. That's the beauty of this and why I devoured it in only a few days; this self-awareness and streamlining just offers so much, and the acting performances (Beat Fucking Takeshi!) keep pace. There's a little over-talking around revelations but I think that's when you, the player, are supposed to light your own cigarette, for gravitas.
Yakuza 6 is a short game compared to its predecesors. It doesn't have the depth of Yakuza 0. It doesn't have the ferocity and characters of Kiwami 2. It doesn't do much new; what it does do is send off an incredibly memorable character with grace, craftsmanship, understanding, a killer script, the right amount of fanservice and a cat-rescuing mini game. This is what I was looking for when I went playing these games to fill in the gaps, and having had such a wonderful time here, it's all I can recommend to anyone else. Maybe you like esoteric parts of this series I don't, and I can't call you wrong, but I prefer a tight game to a wandering one almost every time. Don't disqualify yourself from playing this; I'm incredibly glad I didn't, and might have a new series favorite.
