Yakuza 6 is a weird game and I mean in terms of development. It's a game that has the sense of... in-completion. Exploration is limited to some of Kamurocho, as streets like the Hotel District is closed off. You also access the a new location, Onomichi. It is a small town next to the seaside where it was cool to explore, but I wished I could've explored all of 2016 Kamurocho in its glory. This is the title that introduced the powerful Dragon Engine, one that would carry itself to Kiwami 2 and the recent title, Yakuza 7.
Combat is weak in this game as in a lack of moves and variety. There's not many moves to unlock compared to Kiwami 2. The fighting is good, it's just with little heat actions and moves, you're pretty limited in options and it can lead to spamming. The new addition of the stat system is interesting, making you have to spend points with one or two of the 5 categories to upgrade an individual stat and making food a priority to obtain a chunk. However, you have a stomach gauge that prevents the use of infinite food consuming for stats. I like the sense of progression due to this as by the end you can make Kiryu a bulky, hard-hitting, and agile machine.
Story is a cool spin on a twist of things, but confusing for me get a grasp of. Kiryu and Haruka being a parent really has shown how these characters have come so far to get where they are now, and fight for the love of family. The pacing had problems especially towards the conclusion with a surprise antagonist that made the finale not as impacting as it should be, but it was a tearjerker nonetheless.
Side content has the insanity I love about Yakuza, substories are mostly wacky again with a lot of sidestories involved too such as a SJRPG and Baseball minigame. A lot of collectibles and activities can be found bundled in this game which is makes Yakuza 6's side content great.
Overall, it has the sense that it was rushed, but it holds well with what it had to offer just barely and is a nice conclusion to another journey Kiryu went through.

the madmen at falcom did it. they fucking did it. they have PERFECTED the action rpg. the only way you could ever top this is in the story department but there is no way in a fucking billion million years anyone will ever make a game with such perfect, addictive gameplay that keeps you coming back. this game got me to do the SIDEQUESTS. the FUCKING SIDEQUESTS. the combat is perfect, the exploration is perfect, the worldbuilding is done SO WELL and its on a DESERTED ISLAND. and for a company as well known for their soundtracks as falcom, theyve YET AGAIN topped themselves. i want to have sex with every single composition in this game. EVERY SINGLE ONE. ALL 65+ SONGS. I COULD GET EVERY SINGLE STD ON THE PLANET AND I WOULDNT CARE CUS THE SOUNDTRACK IS SO GOOD. we stan dana iclusia <3

If you ever wanna know what the definition of "missing the whole point" is, look no further than No More Heroes 2. It's like if someone looked at the satire and irony of NMH1 and decided to make it a real thing.

Despite some well intended attempts at adding a bit more depth to the (intentionally) shallow combat of the first game by giving Travis a selection of new lightsabers that change up the pace and provide some tactic advantages to the player, it ends up feeling less visceral and "orgasmic" than NMH1, with sword hits that dont feel as immediate and cathartic, an aspect that was integral to the NMH experience.

NMH2 feels like it's trying at every step to one up the first game's more cartoonish elements, but instead of understanding why those worked before in the first place and how it built up to them in meaningful ways, it just throws wackyness at the screen with no real purpose other than for it's own sake. Bosses that before made you question the nature of the game itself now only exist to fullfill the player's basic expectations of a regular action game. Side characters that were used to juxtapose the more grounded elements of NMH1 with its more bizarre and out of place moments are now just trope-y anime walking cliches.

Even the side gigs are wrong. Now they amount to pixel retro based minigames that all look and sound the same, further distancing themselves from the mundane and muted minigames of the first game that gave character and uniqueness to Travis and his surrounding lifestyle.

Whatever pretenses at saying something about the nature of sequels that NMH2 might have had, like the onslaught of enemies in the later levels that bordeline on mindnumbness or Travis' frustration and jadedness with the whole "being number 1" affair, it ultimately ends up falling flat on it's face because it never feels like an intended goal.

It's not a bad game. The soundtrack is amazing and on it's best moments it provides some great bursts of spectacle. But Travis get's the girl in this one. That's what we wanted, but is that what we really needed?