BlackStarGaben
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
90h 0m
Days in Journal
27 days
Last played
January 3, 2024
First played
December 6, 2023
Platforms Played
The End Of An Era Goes Out With A Bang. Just Like A Dragon Should
While it was unfathomable to think Sega wouldn’t continue to release out Ryu Ga Gotoku games, Yakuza 6: the Song Of Life marks the end of on era in a way. For one, this is the last mainline game to have the “Yakuza” name used and secondly this was (until recently) the end of Kiryu’s journey.
And so Sega rolled up their sleeves to give us something that was, at the same time, a familiar experience but also one that had an evolved feeling to it as well.
For starters, the game has been overhauled and is now running on the Dragon Engine, something you notice when you see that the graphics have taken a huge leap. Yakuza 5 Remastered was nice looking and Yakuza 6 just shows how much has been improved as the vibrant and sharpness of Kamurocho (and new location Onomichi) and the detail is amazing,
Of course, this being a new engine, Sega isn’t going to get it perfect and the trade off is that they couldn’t quite get the characters animation to gel 100% with the new engine. As a result, they can become mannequin-esque in cutscenes. It something you get use to but its a shame that it can slightly blunt the emotional pull of some scenes.
Still, the presentation is overall excellent. As usual, the music is on point. “A King of Apathy” (the song that plays during the most of the beginning of sub-stories conversations) is a highlight. It perfectly encapsulates how Kiryu is reluctant but ultimately willing to help others, no matter how weird or embarrassing it can be.
The gameplay has changed for the better. Combat is chaotic, fast and impactful. It can be easy to hard to see attacks or being ambushed by other enemies (which also occurs when there’s a lot of people on screen, enemies and allies.) and when surrounded by a mass of enemies, you can be bounced around. But overall the combat is fun and it gives the vibe that good martial arts fight scenes do.
Staple mini-games like Darts and Baseball Challenge have been overhauled to be MUCH better than their previous series incarnations, thanks to visual aids being added or, in the case of Hostess, simplified. New ones like Clan Creator (a simple RTS), Spearfishing (an on-rails shooter that takes place underwater and sees you kill marine life for booty and experience) and Baseball Management (a very light management simulation) are fun, if somewhat grindy. It helps that they have stories attach to them to make them feel more important.
Other useful changes are enemies now being visible on the minimap (and main map), each item now being stackable instead of taking an inventory slot (which has all but been eliminated), manual saving! And no loading when going into buildings, which a lot can be explored to find goodies, sub quests or just usual activities.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Ryu Ga Gotoku game with Sub-stories and, with how Yakuza 6 presents cutscenes, they have become even more hefty, with dialogue lasting a good 5-10 minutes before starting one! But because they are so wholesome (especially the Ono Michio ones) and well executed, it becomes not meandering but endearing and interesting,
Which leads to the main story and it’s a beaut. The usual twists and turns (with the addition of Beat Takeshi is just awesome) with an excellent conspiracy twist to it all. The joys and gut-punches are for real.
What Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku studios have crafted is a damn great game, let alone one in the Ryu Ga Gotoku series. It serves as such an emotional and joyful end to a journey that saw us experience Kiryu’s story from Yakuza 1 (and Yakuza 0) all the way to this game. In a way, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, is a fantastic send-off to an era and absolute peak gaming.
Rating: 9/10
While it was unfathomable to think Sega wouldn’t continue to release out Ryu Ga Gotoku games, Yakuza 6: the Song Of Life marks the end of on era in a way. For one, this is the last mainline game to have the “Yakuza” name used and secondly this was (until recently) the end of Kiryu’s journey.
And so Sega rolled up their sleeves to give us something that was, at the same time, a familiar experience but also one that had an evolved feeling to it as well.
For starters, the game has been overhauled and is now running on the Dragon Engine, something you notice when you see that the graphics have taken a huge leap. Yakuza 5 Remastered was nice looking and Yakuza 6 just shows how much has been improved as the vibrant and sharpness of Kamurocho (and new location Onomichi) and the detail is amazing,
Of course, this being a new engine, Sega isn’t going to get it perfect and the trade off is that they couldn’t quite get the characters animation to gel 100% with the new engine. As a result, they can become mannequin-esque in cutscenes. It something you get use to but its a shame that it can slightly blunt the emotional pull of some scenes.
Still, the presentation is overall excellent. As usual, the music is on point. “A King of Apathy” (the song that plays during the most of the beginning of sub-stories conversations) is a highlight. It perfectly encapsulates how Kiryu is reluctant but ultimately willing to help others, no matter how weird or embarrassing it can be.
The gameplay has changed for the better. Combat is chaotic, fast and impactful. It can be easy to hard to see attacks or being ambushed by other enemies (which also occurs when there’s a lot of people on screen, enemies and allies.) and when surrounded by a mass of enemies, you can be bounced around. But overall the combat is fun and it gives the vibe that good martial arts fight scenes do.
Staple mini-games like Darts and Baseball Challenge have been overhauled to be MUCH better than their previous series incarnations, thanks to visual aids being added or, in the case of Hostess, simplified. New ones like Clan Creator (a simple RTS), Spearfishing (an on-rails shooter that takes place underwater and sees you kill marine life for booty and experience) and Baseball Management (a very light management simulation) are fun, if somewhat grindy. It helps that they have stories attach to them to make them feel more important.
Other useful changes are enemies now being visible on the minimap (and main map), each item now being stackable instead of taking an inventory slot (which has all but been eliminated), manual saving! And no loading when going into buildings, which a lot can be explored to find goodies, sub quests or just usual activities.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Ryu Ga Gotoku game with Sub-stories and, with how Yakuza 6 presents cutscenes, they have become even more hefty, with dialogue lasting a good 5-10 minutes before starting one! But because they are so wholesome (especially the Ono Michio ones) and well executed, it becomes not meandering but endearing and interesting,
Which leads to the main story and it’s a beaut. The usual twists and turns (with the addition of Beat Takeshi is just awesome) with an excellent conspiracy twist to it all. The joys and gut-punches are for real.
What Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku studios have crafted is a damn great game, let alone one in the Ryu Ga Gotoku series. It serves as such an emotional and joyful end to a journey that saw us experience Kiryu’s story from Yakuza 1 (and Yakuza 0) all the way to this game. In a way, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, is a fantastic send-off to an era and absolute peak gaming.
Rating: 9/10