To me this is the absolute peak of the franchise. Its enormous ambition never fails to impress, everything from gameplay, to the environments and the story is bigger than ever. Admittedly the game is far from perfect, some sections of the game (looking at you Saejima) have pretty bad pacing and the story gets a bit too complicated for its own good. The game doesn't always know how best to convey its message, but damn it knows exactly what it wants to say and I can't help but admire that. Yakuza 5 may stumble more than some of the other games in the franchise, but it never stops chasing its dream and for that it's my favorite.

Also Shinada my beloved please come back... I miss you :(