My opinion of Yakuza 5 kind of went a little all over the place. I thought the multiple protagnists, an idea introduced in Yakuza 4, worked very well the last time around. For a long time, my opinion was that it didn't work as well in this game just due to the sheer amount of time each character's story takes to do, not to mention all their substories and the entires side story that RGG Studios crafted for each character.
Pacing is a key factor here. The reason I thought the multiple protagonists worked so well in Yakuza 4 was that we got a few hours to get acquainted with some new characters, learned a bit about their part of the world, got to see what ultimately brought them to the point where they were crossing paths with the other characters.
But the pace was pretty brisk - you never lingered on one character for too long, where as in Yakuza 5 I think I averaged out at almost 15 hours per character. And the way these stories were structured, the early chapters of each character's story was pretty slow going, only to pick up massive amounts of momentum as you started approaching the end of that character's arc. That meant that just as things were getting interesting, narratively, you were whisked away and started the cycle anew, with a pace that was at times agonizingly slow.
I would be remiss not to mention that this is by far the best feeling and looking game in this trilogy of remasters, which certainly counts for something. It kept the moment to moment gameplay fun while I was a little bit pissed off at getting taken out of a story just as it was getting good.
If I had stopped playing before reaching the conclusion, I might have left with very negative feelings towards this game. But the final chapters, where 16 chapters worth of story culminated in a finale that was not afraid to take its time, dotting every i and crossing every t, made me do a 180 turn on my opinion. All of a sudden, the pace felt worth it. There are so many dangling plot threads when you reach the finale, and there's an intense feeling of satisfaction as you go around wrapping up all those loose ends. Every playable character gets a proper send-off with an amazing boss fight and satisfying character moments, and the post-credits scene was definitely worth sticking around for.
One thing that I could've done without though, was the 7 hour long rhythm game inserted into the middle of the game. Don't get me wrong, I was hyped when I realized that was where the game was going, but a rhythm game that never gets challenging and only has a selection of a few songs that you just endlessly repeat gets tiring very quickly, and it's pretty safe to say I definitely felt like the segment overstayed its welcome.
Pacing is a key factor here. The reason I thought the multiple protagonists worked so well in Yakuza 4 was that we got a few hours to get acquainted with some new characters, learned a bit about their part of the world, got to see what ultimately brought them to the point where they were crossing paths with the other characters.
But the pace was pretty brisk - you never lingered on one character for too long, where as in Yakuza 5 I think I averaged out at almost 15 hours per character. And the way these stories were structured, the early chapters of each character's story was pretty slow going, only to pick up massive amounts of momentum as you started approaching the end of that character's arc. That meant that just as things were getting interesting, narratively, you were whisked away and started the cycle anew, with a pace that was at times agonizingly slow.
I would be remiss not to mention that this is by far the best feeling and looking game in this trilogy of remasters, which certainly counts for something. It kept the moment to moment gameplay fun while I was a little bit pissed off at getting taken out of a story just as it was getting good.
If I had stopped playing before reaching the conclusion, I might have left with very negative feelings towards this game. But the final chapters, where 16 chapters worth of story culminated in a finale that was not afraid to take its time, dotting every i and crossing every t, made me do a 180 turn on my opinion. All of a sudden, the pace felt worth it. There are so many dangling plot threads when you reach the finale, and there's an intense feeling of satisfaction as you go around wrapping up all those loose ends. Every playable character gets a proper send-off with an amazing boss fight and satisfying character moments, and the post-credits scene was definitely worth sticking around for.
One thing that I could've done without though, was the 7 hour long rhythm game inserted into the middle of the game. Don't get me wrong, I was hyped when I realized that was where the game was going, but a rhythm game that never gets challenging and only has a selection of a few songs that you just endlessly repeat gets tiring very quickly, and it's pretty safe to say I definitely felt like the segment overstayed its welcome.