I don't agree with people at all when they say this game ends with a cliffhanger

Thematically speaking, Kiryu clawing his way back to the city while fatally wounded even after completing his mission because he knows people are waiting for him, is the most cathartic way to end a game (and this pentalogy as a whole) after 4 games of Kiryu just being like "guess i'll die".

Way more cathartic and interesting at least than Yakuza 6 having Kiryu regress back into his "i don't need to be here anymore actually..." mindset