YAKUZA 6 REVIEW

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku
Publisher: Sega
Series: Yakuza
Release date: December 8, 2016 (Japan), April 21, 2018 (Rest of World)
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Genres and Modes: Single player

The Dragon, one of the most powerful creatures known to exist. Its symbol for power, wisdom, protection, and balance without a doubt make this magnificent creature holy. Those that have this beast assigned as their guardian will walk a path of suffering and hardship, standing up to evil and protecting those that are unable to help themselves. The Dragon, on its journey to reach heaven, would face plenty of opposition, such as The Koi, The Golden Dragon, The Kirin, The Acala, and The Bai Ze. These would push The Dragon to its absolute limits, make him discover new revelations, achieving incredible feats, forming new relationships, and most importantly, protect those closest and dearest to him.

From the cursed place of the Empty Lot, TO THE TOP of the Millenium Tower. From Kamuro Hills, to the Tojo Clan HQ. From Real Estate, to Pocket Circuit Racing. Cabaret Club & Taxi Driver. The Fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan. Owner of Morning Glory Orphanage and its kids. And finally: the father of Haruka Sawamura... KIRYU KAZUMA. His legacy will forever be cemented as "THE DRAGON OF DOJIMA". This is his final stop. This is his Song of Life...

PLOT

28 years of nothing but suffering in Kamurocho...

2012 - was a hellish year for everyone. First Kiryu is forced into hiding to ensure the saftey and future of his daughter, Haruka, then we have Saejima who was manipulated into thinking that his sworn brother was killed, forced to break out of his sentence and journey into the unknwon. Akiyama ended up watching over Kiryu's daughter, whilst fighting the Omi Alliance, and Shinada confronted his unjust past with brute force.

In the end, it all ended in vain. Kiryu nearly lost his life during the final confrontation. Found moments after, he ends up in a hospital, recovering from his wounds. As he's recovering, the police come in and arrest him on charges based around the war between the Omi and Tojo. Alongside him, the Sixth Chairman, Daigo Dojima, Tauga Saejima and Goro Majima get arrested as well. Following a brief discussion with Daigo, Kiryu is bent on spending time in prison, if it means that he'll end up back at Okinawa to be with his kids. But as you may know, life isn't nice.

2016 - 4 years later, Kiryu is released. Completely clean from all his past deeds as a Yakuza and as a man who has returned to help the yakuza. Back at Morning Hlory Orphanage, he's super excited to see his children, who at this point have grown up. His return is shortly lived, as he discoveres his adoptive girl has ran off shortly after his arrest. Having no other options, he returns to Kamurocho to find out more about Haruka's sudden disappearance. There, he runs into old friends, punks, substories, and above all, his daughter, who is in a critical condition. She was hit by a car trying to protect the life of a baby. As if that wasn't shocking enough, Kiryu discoveres that the baby she tried to protect is named Haruto Sawamura. A confused, scared and angry Kiryu, does all in his power to protect the infant. And good thing too, because Haruto plays a vital role in grandpa Kiryu's final venture of this saga of the Yakuza chapter. Question is: Would Kiryu cross the line and kill for his loved ones? Or sacrifice himself to protect them?

Grandpa Kiryu and his grandson, Haruto Sawamura...

The final venture takes Kiryu into the town of Onomichi, Hiroshima. Town known for its ships, fishing, history, and of course, the bloody Yakuza. Its calm and peaceful nature, accompanied with its holy temple and ancient vibe, is hiding a dark and sinister secret. Should this secret be revealed, it would shock the country, change history, and bring out the worst of man.

Onomichi. A quiet little port town. What secrets does it hide, I wonder...

GAMEPLAY

Considering how pissed off he is in the game, his signature "Dragon of Dojima" fighting style is beyond scary...

Yakuza 6 is a BIG departure from every previous title in the series, with the exception of Kiwami 2, which uses this game as its basis for pretty much everything. And because I review these games based on lore, I was already spoiled by the new Dragon Engine in K2. However, the way it was used in either game still makes Yakuza 6 look shockingly beautiful. The updated graphics, alongside the updated face models, the hilarious ragdoll physics, new animations, expressions, and for the first time in a Yakuza game, fully voiced EVERYTHING (even substories are fully voiced. They are no longer a text you can skip. Thankfully, this can also be skipped) make 6 feel like RGG is up to something big and delicious.

Combat wise, the fighting remains untouched. Kiryu uses his signature fighting style, which focuses on fast and heavy attacks that when combined, they destroy the enemies with ease. Unlike the previous instalments, Kiryu's fighting seems to no longer have references to the previous games, but rather seem to resemble Kyokushin Karate, mixed with wrestling and Krav Maga. Something that was present in Kiwami 2, and later featured in 5, is the Heat Climax move, which is unlocked from the start. This mode allows Kiryu to perform combos even faster and finish each heavy attack with a heat action. Same goes for grabbing.

The experience in this game is divided into 5 orbs: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green & Purple. Each are obtainable through various means. Either by advancing with the story, do substories, beating up enemies, or just fucking around. Oh and substories need to be found manually, since items that reveal their location nor abilities that do the same are not present. Once found, they will be marked on your map for you to do them later, if you're not interested in doing them at the moment.

A casual stroll in the streets of 2016 Kamurocho. Savour it, because this is the last time you'll be seeing them through his eyes...

Pretty simple stuff really. One word of advice: EAT A LOT!!!

And now it's time for everyone's (I think this is everyone's favourite part): THE GAME MODES YOU UNLOCK THROUGH SUBSTORIES!!!

SPEAR FISHING

Kiryu, on a boat, about to fish. Makes PERFECT sense!

During your stay in Onomichio, you get the chance to dive into the sea and hunt all kinds of fish. From tiny ones, to giant creatures that want a piece of Dojima's Dragon's... Ass?

Virtua Cop & The House of the Dead vibes, right here...


 

Kiryu is moving on his own from point A to point B. All you have to do is shoot the fish and reload your harpoon. If you get hit, you lose air. You can replenish it by shooting gas tanks found in the depths, alongside treasure for points. Some stores and substories give Kiryu better harpoons to use, which can ease your Fishing Kiwami journey.

Oh my! That's alotta fish. One of each, please?

BASEBALL MANAGER

OH!!! THAT'S A BASEBALL!!!

Have you ever wanted to become a baseball manager? Manage your squad, creating tacitcs, advice your players on which position they should play and scout players?
Well, Yakuza 6 has you covered.
AND I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE HOW TO PLAY IT!
But basically, it's like officialy baseball, with the game's rules and all that. Kiryu is the captian of Setouchi Warriors, and is his job (and yours) to guide them to greatness.

Oh and certain substories will reward you with players to join Setouchi Warriors. Shame Shinada couldn't make it in to help Kiryu out...

All of those hours spent in the Batting Center in Kamurocho will be put to the test here...

CLAN CREATOR

Bad guys want to rule Onomichi and Kamurocho. But only one man stands in their way. We all know who that man is...

This is similar to Majima's Clan side story in Kiwami 2, except here it's weird and a bit clunky. 6 did come out before Kiwami 2 so that makes sense.
Basically, a gang that rose up from a bunch of gangs that Kiryu had to fight in Yakuza 1/Kiwami wants to take over the cities of Kamurocho and Onomichi. Kiryu decides to join up with some punks to stop this malicious gang and restore peace.

The main gameplay is that you select units for each mission. Each unit has their health and attack type. Some units that you unlock super late or through substories have special Heat moves that give various abilities, such as increased damage, invulnerability for the whole squad, and so on.

The main menu of the Clan Creator is you organising the clan. Assigning which people can be advisors, captains, lietuenants and so on. This greately increases the amount of Heat you start with during missions, the health of your units and the rewards you win after completion.

As you can see here, Kiryu clan is made up of Kiryu, Daigo, Majima, Saejima... Kiryu? KIRYU? DATE? 2 AKIYAMAS?!?!

And if you want to avoid the confusion above, you can purchase a DLC that comes with these characters + other goodies for you to enjoy. Same applies for Kiwami 2. Each DLC costs 9.99 euros.

RIZAP

I uh... Got nothing chief. 

RIZAP is a real thing. THIS IS LEGIT! Both in-game and real life.

RIZAP is a private training studio of sorts founded by Takeshi Seto in 2003. Main focuses are personalized programs for customers to achieve their desiered body quickly and efficientely.

Now you may be wondering: WHY WOULD KIRYU NEED THIS? He's already swole! I MEAN LOOK AT THAT BODY!
By working out (2 exercises per visit), you gain experience. After each workout, you are then told to eat a specific meal in order to complete your training. Just buy a shitload of AppStim RX bottles (a medicine item that stimulates the digestive tract, making your tummy empty for you to devour more food), drink them all, go to a restaurant and eat. You may get the meal by accident when you do that.

CAT CAFÉ

Cat café...

Cat café!!! Find cats, feed them, call the cat café staff to pick them up, you go to cat café, you watch cats...

SCREENSHOTS

SOUNDTRACK

Uploaded by The Tojo Dojo

BUY THE GAME HERE

YAKUZA 6: THE SONG OF LIFE

BUY YAKUZA GAMES!!! Or else...

CONCLUSION & FINAL WORDS

After finishing Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, I couldn't hold my self from crying. The emotions that Kiryu, the other characters and I went through are just indescribable. The moment I heard the opening theme at the "Press Start" menu, I had a feeling that this game will be nothing but pain, tears and sadness. Not the kind of emotions that you would feel from watching Kiryu go through some tough shit and somehow overcome it in the end, and you end up feeling relieved. No. This was different.

It was the end of the road. The final stop for the legendary Dragon.

As I spent my time playing this game, I kept reflecting on all the previous adventures that Kiryu and I went through: the Empty Lot, Pocket Circuit, Majima Everywhere, Cabaret Club, raising children... Not to mention the epic shots of Kiryu facing the final boss of each game. From Shibusawa, to Goda. From Nishiki to Aizawa.

Story is this game's strongest point. It is one of those stories for the ages and one of those stories that anyone can dive into and come out as a different person. 

While the new Dragon Engine (Version 1 in this case) makes the game look beautiful, it's a bit clunky and funny at times, especially with all the ragdoll shenanigans when you hit or get hit by enemies. And if you want to 100% this game, then you can do so with ease, as it is the only game in the Yakuza games that even casuals can check every item oh the completion list.

As I'm writing this, I realize it's my 100th entry on my blog. Just like the story, I got struck with vivid memories of all the writings I have done here since I started doing this 2 years ago: the Uefa Euro 2020 recap, the first ever video game review, that being Yakuza 0, to then followed by my stories, poems and tribute writings. Unlike Kiryu, I still have a long way to go, but looking back at it, memories of some of my wirtings that made me who I am right now go through my mind. I started off shy, and now I'm out here changing fonts, blog designs and whatnot.

As for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life... How far would you go for family?

The answer is: To the Heavens. That's how far...

あばよ、東城会の四代目。。。桐生一馬

Ѓорѓи „GioGio“ Илиев