The crown jewel of the Kiryu saga and an incredible statement piece for the series as a whole, Yakuza 5 manages to take the both the strengths and missed potential of the previous games and makes something special out of them. By no means would I call it a masterpiece, but it's impressive how RGG managed to spin the shortcomings of Yakuza 4 into something this well crafted.
Beyond just fixing the problems of 4, Yakuza 5 manages to genuinely expand on them as well. Where 4 felt like it had one major plot line that every protagonist had to be stretched thin to connect to, 5 lets each character have their own story and still connects them together naturally. The sheer scope and length of the game plays into this quite well. Each character has their own area, their own storylines with meaningful and well made side characters and antagonists, as well as their own side content and minigames. These areas are all great, and super refreshing and unique in their own ways.
Of course most importantly each protagonist has plenty of meaningful interactions and characterization that gives them the room to breathe that they need. Saejima was a good but somewhat one-note character in 4, yet here we get to see a much more kind and sensitive side to him, a mirror of Kiryu in how he can inspire the people around him. Haruka gets her most meaningful development yet, and it's great watching the contrast between her and Kiryu's lives. Akiyama definitely takes a more minor role in this game, but he's Akiyama so of course he's awesome as always. And of course, Shinada absolutely rocks lol. His immense charm and endless positivity in the face of hardship gives him a really fresh perspective, and I love how unique his story is for this series.
One of the best aspects is 5 though is Kiryu, which sounds like a given but wasn't what I expected after 4. He goes from being shoehorned in to a central focus, and seeing his new life as well as the emphasis on his isolation makes for a bittersweet experience. This is my favorite version of him since Kiwami easily and it's impressive how compelling he is again.
One thing that helps all of this really shine is that the combat in 5 is absolutely fantastic, probably my favorite in the series so far by a good bit. Kiryu's combat feels better than ever, and I think it helps that it's the first one as well and not just thrown in later. Saejima gets fully reworked to be SO MUCH BETTER than in 4, he has a genuinely fun moveset now that takes his style and gives it a lot more versatility and some real actual combos. Akiyama fighting like a complete speed demon was an absolute blast too, felt like the perfect style to just crank up a notch and let him tear through enemies. Shinada is a bit goofy and hard to adjust to but his weapon-based combat is a good time as well. All of these styles just feel really good as well, I actually enjoy the crowd control fights in this game for once and they really go crazy with how many enemies they throw at you sometimes. The bosses are also much more enjoyable than the previous games as well, just way more balanced overall.
I would say that this game thrives a lot more on those individual stories and character moments rather than the plot itself, similar to Yakuza 3, yet the central plot is still quite enjoyable. It does an admirable job of managing to merge all these different characters together, and I was really savoring their interactions with each other. Yakuza has never really lacked for subtlety but this game is truly on the nose with its central theme sometimes lmao. Yet I enjoy it a lot and it was great seeing how each character grappled with their understanding of dreams. Almost all of these games struggle with wrapping up their finales so having a core theme be more of the focus definitely worked a lot better for me.
This game truly stands on the absolute amount of Stuff that it has, and while it occasionally does fall into quantity over quality, it really does thrive on how good so much of that Stuff is. From the cast to the sidequests and minigames, it feels like a ton of effort went into genuinely fleshing this stuff out on RGG's part, and it's obvious how committed they were to this massive vision. I can't help but say it's my favorite Yakuza so far, an ambitious and bold embodiment of the entire series.
And just to save the most important point for last, Haruka's rhythm games absolutely own by the way. If I had a nickel for every game with Rie Kugimiya as a teenage idol that I gave 4.5 stars, I would have two nickels. Hell yeah.
Beyond just fixing the problems of 4, Yakuza 5 manages to genuinely expand on them as well. Where 4 felt like it had one major plot line that every protagonist had to be stretched thin to connect to, 5 lets each character have their own story and still connects them together naturally. The sheer scope and length of the game plays into this quite well. Each character has their own area, their own storylines with meaningful and well made side characters and antagonists, as well as their own side content and minigames. These areas are all great, and super refreshing and unique in their own ways.
Of course most importantly each protagonist has plenty of meaningful interactions and characterization that gives them the room to breathe that they need. Saejima was a good but somewhat one-note character in 4, yet here we get to see a much more kind and sensitive side to him, a mirror of Kiryu in how he can inspire the people around him. Haruka gets her most meaningful development yet, and it's great watching the contrast between her and Kiryu's lives. Akiyama definitely takes a more minor role in this game, but he's Akiyama so of course he's awesome as always. And of course, Shinada absolutely rocks lol. His immense charm and endless positivity in the face of hardship gives him a really fresh perspective, and I love how unique his story is for this series.
One of the best aspects is 5 though is Kiryu, which sounds like a given but wasn't what I expected after 4. He goes from being shoehorned in to a central focus, and seeing his new life as well as the emphasis on his isolation makes for a bittersweet experience. This is my favorite version of him since Kiwami easily and it's impressive how compelling he is again.
One thing that helps all of this really shine is that the combat in 5 is absolutely fantastic, probably my favorite in the series so far by a good bit. Kiryu's combat feels better than ever, and I think it helps that it's the first one as well and not just thrown in later. Saejima gets fully reworked to be SO MUCH BETTER than in 4, he has a genuinely fun moveset now that takes his style and gives it a lot more versatility and some real actual combos. Akiyama fighting like a complete speed demon was an absolute blast too, felt like the perfect style to just crank up a notch and let him tear through enemies. Shinada is a bit goofy and hard to adjust to but his weapon-based combat is a good time as well. All of these styles just feel really good as well, I actually enjoy the crowd control fights in this game for once and they really go crazy with how many enemies they throw at you sometimes. The bosses are also much more enjoyable than the previous games as well, just way more balanced overall.
I would say that this game thrives a lot more on those individual stories and character moments rather than the plot itself, similar to Yakuza 3, yet the central plot is still quite enjoyable. It does an admirable job of managing to merge all these different characters together, and I was really savoring their interactions with each other. Yakuza has never really lacked for subtlety but this game is truly on the nose with its central theme sometimes lmao. Yet I enjoy it a lot and it was great seeing how each character grappled with their understanding of dreams. Almost all of these games struggle with wrapping up their finales so having a core theme be more of the focus definitely worked a lot better for me.
This game truly stands on the absolute amount of Stuff that it has, and while it occasionally does fall into quantity over quality, it really does thrive on how good so much of that Stuff is. From the cast to the sidequests and minigames, it feels like a ton of effort went into genuinely fleshing this stuff out on RGG's part, and it's obvious how committed they were to this massive vision. I can't help but say it's my favorite Yakuza so far, an ambitious and bold embodiment of the entire series.
And just to save the most important point for last, Haruka's rhythm games absolutely own by the way. If I had a nickel for every game with Rie Kugimiya as a teenage idol that I gave 4.5 stars, I would have two nickels. Hell yeah.