One of the most conflicting games I've ever played. RGG at their best and at their worst. After finally finishing my playthrough, I've concluded I respect this game's ambition, with the goods outweighing the bad.
5 characters who are play different, 5 main cities that are unique in their own ways, 5 plots that come together at the end, loads of substories, 4 different side stories with their own character stories attached, an astronomical amount of minigames, this game has it all. On top of that, being built on a completely new engine (at the time), improving both texture quality and lighting from Yakuza 3/4.
As a result of this, the game can drag a bit and pacing is all over the place. You'll most likely forget parts of the plot due to the stop-and-start nature of the game. Additionally, some of the characters (Akiyama in particular) feel underbaked in comparison to others. The encounter rate is also absurdly high, which makes the game really annoying. Minigames are quite varied as well, with the fun of some being vastly different than others. I'd choose taxi racing as Kiryu or baseball as Shinada any day over dancing as Haruka or hunting as Saejima.
The stories are of varying quality. The game starts off strong with Kiryu but then takes a nosedive with Saejima. Your mileage with Haruka will vary, depending on whether you enjoy the dancing or not, but the plot in this section is pretty good regardless. Akiyama is introduced here as well, but plays more of a minor role than in Yakuza 4. Some people love Shinada and other people hate him. Personally, I'm in the camp of loving him. He's tied for my favourite story in the game alongside Kiryu. The plot centers around these characters and their interactions with a mastermind, controlling traitors throughout both the Tojo Clan and Omi alliance. The game does a good job at keeping up the intrigue with what's going on, slowly unravel more and more of the conspiracy with each character's story.
In saying that, it pains me to say that the game just couldn't stick the landing. The plot loses itself a bit, leading to some of the most random/lackluster final boss choices in the series. Characters are built up but then killed off screen or just don't appear again. But what could they do, they had to find a way to tie up 5 coalescing stories in a way that made sense.
But I cannot lie, despite my gripes, this game has easily some of the strongest moments of the series. My final take is this: if you're looking for the quintessential Yakuza game, I'd recommend playing 5. Just be ready for a long ride.
5 characters who are play different, 5 main cities that are unique in their own ways, 5 plots that come together at the end, loads of substories, 4 different side stories with their own character stories attached, an astronomical amount of minigames, this game has it all. On top of that, being built on a completely new engine (at the time), improving both texture quality and lighting from Yakuza 3/4.
As a result of this, the game can drag a bit and pacing is all over the place. You'll most likely forget parts of the plot due to the stop-and-start nature of the game. Additionally, some of the characters (Akiyama in particular) feel underbaked in comparison to others. The encounter rate is also absurdly high, which makes the game really annoying. Minigames are quite varied as well, with the fun of some being vastly different than others. I'd choose taxi racing as Kiryu or baseball as Shinada any day over dancing as Haruka or hunting as Saejima.
The stories are of varying quality. The game starts off strong with Kiryu but then takes a nosedive with Saejima. Your mileage with Haruka will vary, depending on whether you enjoy the dancing or not, but the plot in this section is pretty good regardless. Akiyama is introduced here as well, but plays more of a minor role than in Yakuza 4. Some people love Shinada and other people hate him. Personally, I'm in the camp of loving him. He's tied for my favourite story in the game alongside Kiryu. The plot centers around these characters and their interactions with a mastermind, controlling traitors throughout both the Tojo Clan and Omi alliance. The game does a good job at keeping up the intrigue with what's going on, slowly unravel more and more of the conspiracy with each character's story.
In saying that, it pains me to say that the game just couldn't stick the landing. The plot loses itself a bit, leading to some of the most random/lackluster final boss choices in the series. Characters are built up but then killed off screen or just don't appear again. But what could they do, they had to find a way to tie up 5 coalescing stories in a way that made sense.
But I cannot lie, despite my gripes, this game has easily some of the strongest moments of the series. My final take is this: if you're looking for the quintessential Yakuza game, I'd recommend playing 5. Just be ready for a long ride.