I want to live a happy life with the people I hold closest. Standing on this stage, I've finally realized how important that is. That's why I can't continue singing. To me, Kazuma Kiryu is... family

that moment of haruka saying this to the crowd in her first ever concert is possibly my favourite moment in the entire series, and i cried so much. seeing haruka grow through these games and seeing how important she is to kiryu and how much these games are about kiryu being a father to her and for the entire emotional climax of this game to be about them, to be about haruka being so similar to her dad and leaving behind her life for her family, made me sob.

i have so much love for this game, for the focus on dreams and the importance of having them and not giving up, how all these protangists come together and help each other, how we see characters like baba survive because of the advice saejima gave him; because of the trust. i dont have any coherent thoughts having just finished it but this game is wonderful and seeing akiyama, saejima, kiryu and haruka's stories reflect everything they've been through in the past and come out somehow stronger, somehow better at the end was so good. and shinada was such a refreshing protag to have, to see a normal person with as much bravado as everyone else, who was here solely to help a friend who helped him.

yakuza 5 good and honestly while the plot may not be as smooth or enticing overall, the arcs for these characters and the bonds between every single character makes this game as good to me as y0 was, i LOVED this game.