After slogging my way through Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 and disliking most of my time with both of them, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life was like a breath of fresh air for me.
I had fun throughout the entire game. For the first time in a while, I didn't feel overwhelmed by the insane plot and insane amount of bonus content. The plot, while it does get kind of insane towards the end, feels the most grounded and thoughtful of all the games in the series so far. I was surprised by how much it managed to pull me in. I also loved how comparably short it felt. As in, this game was only 13 chapters, while the last game I played had 25 chapters, it was a nice reprieve from the insane length the series had become known for. It never felt like I was "stuck" on this game, or just forcing myself to play through parts of the story I hated. The pacing was great, and I never found myself frustrated or bored at all. Though I did find myself getting emotional, almost as much as I did at the ending of Yakuza 0. The ending honestly got me, I found myself getting just a little bit teary eyed. I loved it.
I also actually managed to complete a good amount of the side content, which is a first for me in this series. I almost always just did as much as I could until I got bored and didn't bother anymore (hell in 5 I didn't even bother starting some side content since it felt so bloated to me). But 6's side content felt manageable, at least in terms of the bigger stuff like baseball and the Kiryu Clan. I still didn't complete all the substories, and I sure as hell didn't bother with every single minigame, but I still felt like it was something I could actually manage, which just felt so nice.
This game isn't without flaws of course. The combat, while fun, definitely lacks something compared to the other games in the series. And while I find this game does a great service to Kiryu as a character, I still feel as though a lot of what the game wanted to say wasn't really said until the final cutscene. The themes of the game were present throughout, but I feel as though they could have done a little more with them. There are also some decisions I just don't understand, like having this be the final game for Kiryu, and yet having most of the game take place in Hiroshima. Or locking off the entire top segment of Kamurocho, which just made the city feel a little more claustrophobic than it should have felt. I also really didn't like how, aside from Akiyama, every other character from Kiryu's past is either in jail, in a coma, or just not present. I understand focusing on the new characters, but it was sad to have such little interaction between Kiryu and the people he's come to love around him.
Still though, I greatly enjoyed Yakuza 6, even with these flaws. I'd say it's my third favorite in the series, right behind 0 and Kiwami 2.
It's important to note that I did play this series in chronological order, which I believe greatly influenced my experience. If you play in release order, then you'll be playing this game right after 0 and Kiwami 1, which would probably make the combat and other mechanics a little jarring, especially considering how great all of 0's mechanics are. If I didn't dislike 4 and 5 so much, I probably wouldn't have ended up enjoying 6 as much as I did.
I had fun throughout the entire game. For the first time in a while, I didn't feel overwhelmed by the insane plot and insane amount of bonus content. The plot, while it does get kind of insane towards the end, feels the most grounded and thoughtful of all the games in the series so far. I was surprised by how much it managed to pull me in. I also loved how comparably short it felt. As in, this game was only 13 chapters, while the last game I played had 25 chapters, it was a nice reprieve from the insane length the series had become known for. It never felt like I was "stuck" on this game, or just forcing myself to play through parts of the story I hated. The pacing was great, and I never found myself frustrated or bored at all. Though I did find myself getting emotional, almost as much as I did at the ending of Yakuza 0. The ending honestly got me, I found myself getting just a little bit teary eyed. I loved it.
I also actually managed to complete a good amount of the side content, which is a first for me in this series. I almost always just did as much as I could until I got bored and didn't bother anymore (hell in 5 I didn't even bother starting some side content since it felt so bloated to me). But 6's side content felt manageable, at least in terms of the bigger stuff like baseball and the Kiryu Clan. I still didn't complete all the substories, and I sure as hell didn't bother with every single minigame, but I still felt like it was something I could actually manage, which just felt so nice.
This game isn't without flaws of course. The combat, while fun, definitely lacks something compared to the other games in the series. And while I find this game does a great service to Kiryu as a character, I still feel as though a lot of what the game wanted to say wasn't really said until the final cutscene. The themes of the game were present throughout, but I feel as though they could have done a little more with them. There are also some decisions I just don't understand, like having this be the final game for Kiryu, and yet having most of the game take place in Hiroshima. Or locking off the entire top segment of Kamurocho, which just made the city feel a little more claustrophobic than it should have felt. I also really didn't like how, aside from Akiyama, every other character from Kiryu's past is either in jail, in a coma, or just not present. I understand focusing on the new characters, but it was sad to have such little interaction between Kiryu and the people he's come to love around him.
Still though, I greatly enjoyed Yakuza 6, even with these flaws. I'd say it's my third favorite in the series, right behind 0 and Kiwami 2.
It's important to note that I did play this series in chronological order, which I believe greatly influenced my experience. If you play in release order, then you'll be playing this game right after 0 and Kiwami 1, which would probably make the combat and other mechanics a little jarring, especially considering how great all of 0's mechanics are. If I didn't dislike 4 and 5 so much, I probably wouldn't have ended up enjoying 6 as much as I did.