My introduction and eventual fandom for the “Yakuza” (or “Ryū ga Gotoku” as it’s known as in Japan) series is a saddening reminder just how influential brick & mortar video stores were to my gaming habit. In 2006, I just decided to rent a game for the next few days, but had no idea what was available that I hadn’t played yet as my primary gaming console was still the Playstation 2 – a console whose new releases were drying up thanks to its successor about to hit the market. Walking through the aisle one game cover caught my eye that I hadn’t seen before – “Yakuza”. I didn’t even bother reading the back cover and just gave it a shot. To my surprise, “Yakuza” felt like a 3D side-scroller beat-em-up featuring a fantastic story and pretty enjoyable dub. I poured a great amount of hours into “Yakuza” before seeing the epic ending. Two years later saw the western release of “Yakuza 2” and forced me to pull out my semi-retired Playstation 2 to play through another fantastic entry in this underrated franchise. While there were arguable quality dips during the Playstation 3 era (consisting of three mainline games and a spin-off), my hopes were incredibly high for the next “Yakuza” game that took things back to the series’ unseen beginnings featuring two of the franchise’s most pivotal characters, “Yakuza 0”. My expectations paid off in grand fashion and I found myself even more excited over the remake of my original “Yakuza” experience utilizing the “0’s” engine, “Yakuza Kiwami” (which turned out to be fantastic) and the hyped finale of Kiryu’s story in the sixth numbered entry in the franchise with “Yakuza 6: The Song of Life” that didn’t release until a year-plus after “0’s” arrival in the West.
Did I Complete “Yakuza 6: The Song of Life”?
Featuring a brand new game engine, returning to the world of “Yakuza” with “Yakuza 6” is somewhat jarring due to the changes to many areas of the once known experience be it the mostly incredible graphics & voice acting or toned down, yet all-too-familiar battle system. Like so many other “Yakuza” games in the past, “The Song of Life” is full of things to do including the Clan Creator mode exclusive to this game, chatting with girls via the worldwide web, and multiple classic games at the Sega Arcades including “Virtua Fighter 5”. The trophy list demands the player to experience everything this game has to offer including completing all the substories (with a good amount of those side quests introducing & partially completing several of the mini-games) and, of course, the main story. After sixty-nine hours I was able to complete the game; attaining the platinum trophy for doing everything necessary including finishing the game on its highest difficulty.
Did “Yakuza 6: The Song of Life” Live Up to the Hype?
As noted above, having been a fan of the franchise for over a decade, my expectations of what was to come from this latest iteration were not only high, but to a certain extent reasonable thanks to the greatness of what came before it and the promise of a brand new engine pushing the franchise into a new era. “The Song of Life” takes place three years after the events of “Yakuza 5” where a formerly imprisoned Kiryu returns to the orphanage he’s sustained since the events of “Yakuza 3”; only to discover Haruka – the little girl he saved in the original “Yakuza” and essentially became his daughter – has run off in an effort to avoid her fellow orphans from suffering a life of constant attacks & harassment due to her revealing her relationship with Kiryu during Haruka’s time as a pop idol. The game does a great job setting the stage and informing players about what happened before “The Song of Life” via the opening cutscenes and a special section in the title screen menu. As per the norm with “Yakuza” games, “The Song of Life’s” initial premise gives way to something completely unexpected that forces Kiryu to make rash decisions, hunt down both adversaries & friends, and battle his way throughout two towns (and even some special areas). The narrative definitely has its shortcomings that are obvious to both long time fans and newcomers to the franchise, but the emotional depth that has been captured so well in its predecessors still comes through in the main story and its side quests. Be forewarned: there is a lot of dialogue in this game with extensive cutscenes and character interactions aplenty no matter if it’s a part of the main story or a simple substory like Kiryu dressing up as a charismatic mascot.
The gameplay is both mostly unchanged and incredibly different from what was seen in even the most recent offerings like “Yakuza 0” and “Kiwami”. Kiryu can mix light and strong strikes with the touching of the square and triangle buttons in a timed sequence, grab and potentially toss opponents courtesy of the circle button, and evade with the X/cross button. Kazuma can block attacks and even counter with well-timed attack button presses. With each successful attack dished out by Kazuma, the “Heat Meter” located under the protagonist’s health bar will rise so the player can hit the R2 trigger to power up and unleash brutal special attacks while being impervious to pain; or simply tap the triangle button during certain moments in battle to perform a “Heat Action” that can range from a simple body slam to kneeing a knife into someone’s abdomen. Unlike the most recent “Yakuza” releases in the West, the battle system doesn’t utilize those games’ implementation of multiple fighting styles; meaning Kiryu mostly fights the same way in the beginning of the game as he does in the end just having a few more attacks depending on how the player levels up Kazuma courtesy of the game’s extensive skill list that will make the player choose to up Kiryu’s base stats like health & defense or gain special maneuvers with the experience points earned from everything the player completes be it mini-games or even eating the delicious food offerings.
Unfortunately no matter how many things the player does to improve Kiryu, the battle system still feels a lot looser; making it more difficult to stop & hit the enemy Kiryu is focusing on when taking on multiple attackers. The game’s physics also play a major role in battle; causing both Kiryu and his opponents to rag doll around the screen at a moment’s notice when someone is downed by an attack. This game also features a lot less Heat Actions than the previous entries, and weapons are a lot weaker in terms of hits available before breaking as well. When activating Kiryu’s “Rage” by pressing R2 the camera unnecessarily swoops in and if the player hits the light attack button while standing near a weapon, Kiryu will automatically pick up that item instead of throwing the intended strike. The camera as a whole isn’t the best in any battles as characters can be kicked off screen without any indication if they’re alive or dead until Kiryu is blindsided. On the original PS4 there is a lot of screen tearing and frame rate drops will randomly occur.
The adversaries in “Yakuza 6” are both better and worst than what came before them as the usual gang mentality allows for hordes of enemies to smartly swarm Kiryu, block his incoming attacks to break up Kazuma’s combos, and kick random objects at him like benches or trashcans. But the game’s hordes are easily downed by throw attacks where Kiryu automatically swings one enemy around to open up the fighting field – an arena that now is no longer guarded by bystanders to allow for Kiryu to run away from the random street battles. Enemy health bars are also reduced even for the hardest enemies; meaning this game is missing some of the excitement from those long-winded, though painfully satisfying late game & optional encounters as seen in previous “Yakuza” games.
As per the franchise’s norm, “Yakuza 6” is chock full of stuff to do outside of the main story including fifty-one substories featuring everything from Kiryu not understanding the recent advancements in technology to reuniting with old friends. To compliment the substories are “Trouble Missions” that focus more on Kiryu simply fighting bullies and solving timed mysteries like stopping a bomber. The Trouble Missions feel unnecessarily tacked on and really offer nothing but just another way to gain some experience points. Several of the returning mini-games such as karaoke & clubbing at the cabaret are stacked beside new offerings like spear fishing, working out, playing baseball and Clan Creator with the latter being one of the most immersive new aspects of the game while featuring New Japan wrestlers & a stand-alone story focusing on real-time strategy RPG elements.
The more powerful the Kiryu Clan becomes the more people will want to join even if it means getting their faces punched in by Kiryu beforehand. Players can take things online with Clan Creator or play locally with a friend when looking to enjoy some of the available mini-games like mahjong. But for everything returning or being implemented when it comes to mini-games there are a lot of things missing such as pool, bowling, and the hidden arena for special coliseum combat. Also lacking are the maps. “Yakuza” games have never been one for having huge playable areas, but several sections of the two available maps are either closed off (some areas for reasons tying into the previous games) or just empty. On the positive side when it comes to moving around the towns is a lack of loading when entering buildings or starting certain aspects of the game such as the substories.
Ironically compared to the “Grand Theft Auto” series when the “Yakuza” franchise first came to the West in 2006, “Yakuza 6” feels so much like “GTA 4”: a game with an established universe & gameplay running on a new engine that either changes or limits what was expected from it due to what was experienced from its most recent critically-acclaimed predecessors. Yet with all of its flaws, “The Song of Life” is still fantastic thanks to the mostly fun battle system, mini-games aplenty, and a memorable narrative that might have players shedding tears when the final credits roll.
Should You Play “Yakuza 6: The Song of Life”?
Similar to its successors and predecessors alike (“Yakuza Kiwami 2” came out a year after this game in Japan), “Yakuza 6” proves to be a genre bending experience – part beat-em-up, part RPG, part party game that doesn’t have as much going for it regarding mini-games and battle offerings compared to what has been experienced on both the PS3 and PS4. Fully immersing oneself in the world of “Yakuza 6” can bring forth a wealth of different experiences both negative and positive, but the overall feeling is nothing short of satisfaction thanks to another memorable narrative that delivers what it promises, some successful experimentation with the mini-games available, and incredibly detailed substories. “The Song of Life” won’t go down as the best “Yakuza” game in the franchise (and depending who you are it might not rank in the top three), but it does have all the things that makes a “Yakuza” game great while being an excellent example of what this new Dragon Engine will provide for future entries in the series. Fans of the past “Yakuza” games definitely have to play this iteration and newcomers should give it a chance as there’s something for almost everyone while maintaining the narrative roots & action long-time players have been enjoying for over a decade.
