Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016)

My first and last update for Yakuza 6 but a bit of history and rambling!

I spent most 2023 and 2024 working my way slowly through the Yakuza series and on the last day of 2024 I have been able to finally finish Yakuza 6, finishing (as far as I know aside from Man Who Erased His Name) the Kiryu saga.

I was started the game earlier in the summer and put it down while I dealt with life and other things, only to pick it up last week again. All the Yakuza games have been such a treat but this one has battled with a lot of great themes while also having more interesting mini games (to me).

A quick aside to make a point, with the recent experience of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, your character in that game has become a super weapon and is very strong. The most recent expansion has your character more in the background while supporting a new character or set of characters along their path, using the experience you had gotten along the way to try and teach them how to lead, listen, and if need be, fight through your problems. As much as I did love Dawntrail, I too admit our character took a huge backseat in that story, and it felt like things we were onlookers more than involved.

Yakuza 6 being a single player game makes it a bit easier to navigate this kind of storytelling, having Kiryu, a larger than life character who has his own legend and strength, stays center stage here with a new cast of characters around him. It tells the story of Fatherhood, Sins of our Fathers, and what it means to be a family. Kiryu has learned throughout his experiences growing up, and being a father figure to Haruka and the other children of the orphanage he runs. The way the story is told and Kiryu being able to impart his knowledge and wisdom to a new cast of people is done very well here, him being a senior figure to Nagumo and Yuta and the rest of the younger Hirose family. They look up to him and he makes sure they are well taken care of, and they become his brothers and an extended family to him as time goes on.

Story aside, the mini games here have been fun too. I finished in totality the Clan Creator, the Cat Cafe, and only recently unlocked Spearfishing/Bar Chat/Baseball Manager. I plan on beating the game and going back to finish these three mini games as well as I have enjoyed them greatly.

I am starting the finale right now and while I don't know how I will enjoy the ending, I can say all of this Yakuza journey has so far been worth it, and I am excited to see what the new cast holds in Like a Dragon.

Yakuza 6: Song of Life represents the end of the Kiryu Kazuma arc. Kiryu, unlike other gaming mascots, matures and ages throughout the franchise. In Yakuza 0, he is a fresh-faced Yakuza grunt; In Yakuza 3, he is a civilian running an orphanage; And in Yakuza 6, he becomes a grandfather. Despite the numbered title, Yakuza 6 is an excellent starting point for newcomers, it starts from a relatively clean slate with a litany of new characters. The game also sports a brand new game engine that makes it look and play differently than past titles. Yakuza 6 is great, but there are two glaring weaknesses: the combat and the story.

Yakuza 6 is not a reimagining of the franchise and just like the previous games you can expect an overly convoluted story filled with secret alliances and betrayals. The story begins with Kiryu, volunteering to be locked up as a scapegoat for the Tojo Clan. Haruka, Kiryu’s adopted daughter after retiring from her idol career, flees to Hiroshima to avoid harassment by the press. Three years later, Kiryu is released from prison to learn that Haruka has been hit by a car. Haruka is alive, but in a coma. To Kiryu’s disbelief, Haruka was clutching a baby boy at the time and the baby remained unharmed after the car accident. Kiryu decides to take the baby and find the baby’s father in Hiroshima. Kiryu unknowingly is carrying a baby that has enormous consequences for the Tojo clan and even all of Japan.

Yakuza 6 plays similar to past titles with noticeable improvements. Kiryu now has a smartphone and can save anywhere instead of going to a phone booth. There are no more loading screens when entering buildings. Combat on the streets can take place anywhere without being trapped in fixed arenas. Kiryu can gain experience points by doing just about anything like playing mini-games or eating at restaurants. All dialog is voiced, even for lowly forgettable NPCs that appear on substories.

The combat is unfortunately paired down. There are no multiple stances and numerous heat actions in past games, Yakuza 6’s combat is barebones. Kiryu is stuck with his “Brawler” style for the entire game. He does have a new rage mode. Rage mode uses all of his heat action points to temporarily dish out unblockable attacks and take less damage. Environmental objects can also be used as weapons like in past games, but they only have three uses before breaking and Kiryu cannot hold weapons in his inventory. The combat is fine, but quickly wears out its welcome as players will naturally gravitate to using one combo for the entire game.

While Yakuza 6 hits all the right narrative notes, I found the story lackluster and subtly racist. Without spoiling too much, Kiryu’s decision to suddenly snap up the baby is borderline kidnapping. It also doesn’t help that Kiryu is a complete dope and is incapable of taking care of the infant. Kiryu literally attempts to feed the baby with adult food before being reprimanded. The story also includes both the Chinese and Korean mafia. There is a sharp contrast between how the mafias are portrayed. The Japanese are seen as honorable warriors, the Chinese as disgusting, gruesome murderers and the Koreans as narcissist gigolos. In real life, there is bad blood between these three nations, but these depictions feel like cheap unnecessary jabs.

Yakuza 6’s new attractions are hit and miss. The primary mini-game is the Clan battles where Kiryu has to direct members to attack an opposing group named JUSTIS. It’s a reverse tower defense game that doesn’t involve much strategy other than to swarm opponents with legion after legion of attackers. It’s an easy way to earn experience and money, but an otherwise boring endeavor. There is also a harpoon mini-game where Kiryu dives in the waters of Hiroshima and hunts for fish as if it were a light gun game. It’s an okay game, but quickly loses its charm because there are only three stages. It wouldn’t be a Yakuza game without a more risqué experience and this time it comes in the form of real life cam girls. It’s a simple mini-game where Kiryu has to finger type his way to charm the girl, but the real fun is reading the conversations from the other participants. Another game featured is a baseball management sim where Kiryu manages the line-up and occasionally bats at important moments. I honestly didn’t spend that much time on this game because I’m not a fan of baseball. Probably the best mini-game is where Kiryu hangs out at a bar called the Snack Hourglass. Kiryu has to drink with the regulars and do the right things to earn points. After befriending a regular, Kiryu can engage in a conversation and unlock a hidden sidequest.

Overall I’m generally mild on Yakuza 6. The numerous quality of life improvements are welcome additions. The engine and graphics overhaul is a significant leap forward from the past three games. It’s just that I wasn’t a big fan of the combat or the story this time around. There is simply not enough variety in the combat for the game’s length. The story isn’t as interesting because Kiryu and other characters make some really dumb and questionable decisions. With the exception of the beginning chapters, Kiryu never takes the initiative but instead is forced to chase after one person after the other. The main plot is very serious and lacks moments of levity like fighting a tiger or a guy riding a motorcycle in the sewers. The game is nowhere near my favorite in the series, but still deserves a spot on any Yakuza’s fan shelf.

My Yakuza Ranking:

1. Yakuza 0
2. Yakuza Kiwami 2
3. Yakuza 5 Remastered
4. Yakuza 6
5. Yakuza 4 Remastered
6. Yakuza Kiwami
7. Yakuza 3 Remastered

I almost just bought this on sale from Steam, knowing full-well that I still have to play through Yakuza 1-5 and the second half of 0 before I'd even touch it. About 1 million hours of gameplay.

The chances of getting this game for free at some point (or me dying of old age) between now and then are probably about 400%.

Don't say I never learn (...as I continue to ponder buying Elden Ring).

I haven't replayed this game yet and I've only played through it once so if I get anything wrong I will commit ritual yubitsume to atone for my crime okay ty♥♥♥♥

4 Stars out of 5 because it's a Yakuza game and they have like a high baseline level of quality but god daaaaamn this is definitely the least good one out of what I've played (which is so far the entire Kiryu saga and nothing outside of that). I feel like that for what was intended to be the very last game for the character they had the choice between going for massive bombastic drama or for a more thoughtful, introspective and slower-paced kind of experience, and unfortunately they didn't really take full advantage of either. I mean Yakuza 5 and 0 had already seriously upped the ante in terms of massive high-stakes drama, but even still you can see the skeleton of a potentially higher-stakes story that was never fully realised, which I'll get to. In terms of a more introspective story, the game never really feels like it takes enough time away from its newer characters to explore Kiryu or how his repeated failed attempts to escape his past have taken its toll on him. I dunno, it just seems like a potentially interesting idea that was missed, considering that Kiryu approaches this conflict with the same unflinching determination and self-sacrificial mentality he always has. I suppose that's the core of his character, but it just seems strange to continue that tradition unchallenged into the final instalment. It really would have better contextualised his decision at the end to just disappear entirely from the lives of the people he loved by adding a dimension of emotional pain to the character that hasn't really been seen since the third game. As it stands, the game kind of feels like its missing a heart in places. Despite being the last Kiryu game, it really doesn't feel like an effective finale. I mean the ending is a very definitive conclusion for Kiryu and all, but what I mean is that the whole game really fails to build itself up as a final instalment in any capacity. The whole game should have been building up to Kiryu's final decision, but what happens in practice is that the opening and ending of the game are the only parts that really feel resonant and appropriate to the rest of the series, and the whole game in between is just an interlude to get to that final point.

Disregarding the whole emotional crux of Kiryu's story, the game also kind of fails to pay off effectively with its crime drama plot. The crime plots of Yakuza games are obviously points of contention among fans in terms of quality (I am specifically thinking about the Rubber Bullets™), but I feel like this is the worst one just because of how it handles its main villain. I'm not saying the whole plot is bad cause Yakuza plots are way too complicated and multi-layered to make quality judgements about them just based on one element, but what they do with Iwami is just atomic bomb levels of plot mismanagement. A lot of people defend him (lukewarmly I might add, no one's exactly enthralled by the character) because he's meant to a two-dimensionally evil bastard who just wants power. I'm perfectly fine with that kind of character as a villain, like not everything has to be a walking Shakespearian tragedy or whatever, but I don't think it's Iwami's actual personality that matters so much as his place within the wider story of the entire franchise. Like, Iwami as an archetype (and not as a character) is what the series has been building up to from day one, both chronologically within the series timeline and from the first game. The most fundamental conflict posed to Kiryu as a yakuza is that he's an old fashioned honour-bound Robin Hood type in an underworld that's being slowly consumed by ruthless pragmatism. While many great villains in the series are similarly honour-bound warrior types (Ryuji Goda and Masato Aizawa being the most prominent), Kiryu has essentially being fighting his whole life against a rising tide of Machiavellian criminals (Shibusawa, Jingu, Takashima, Kurosawa etc etc there's way more besides them) who stand in direct opposition to his idealistic view of organised crime. Despite being his enemies, Kiryu was able to respect and see eye-to-eye with Goda and Aizawa (and Mine and Someya, though their belief in some kind of Yakuza honour is way more under the surface) because even though their ideals were opposed, they at the very least held ideals. It's his other villains, the pragmatic types, that were always the real threat to Kiryu because they posed a threat not just to him and his loved ones, but to the very ideology that drove him. I think Iwami's status as an emotionless power-hungry manipulator with no higher-minded goal or interiority is actually perfect for what they could have done with him. When all pretence of criminal honour is thrown out the window, you basically have free rein to just fuck shit up completely till you're at the top of the game, so to speak. That's what the core of Kurosawa's character was in 5, and he's probably one of the best villains in the entire series. Iwami had the potential to be even more threatening by holding onto that mentality while also not being an old man dying of cancer. But even though these two guys are superficially similar, it's how the plot deals with both of them that is the real dividing line of quality. I think the problem here is that they tried to make Iwami an unassuming villain who comes in at the very end to reveal he'd been behind everything, which is exactly what Kurosawa was, except that they kind of failed to make him look that smart or manipulative. I guess Kurosawa had the advantage of existing within a very long game that explores the perspectives of five different characters so you could see the extent of his designs across the whole of Japan in a way that made him feel like the invincible nucleus of an unimaginably large criminal conspiracy, which made the final two hours of the game where you rip that conspiracy to shreds soooo fucking satisfying. Iwami serves as a hateable villain that you're meant to feel satisfaction from bringing to justice, but the problem there is that there isn't the same air of invincibility around him. All of his big plans come way too late in the game to feel like an effective manipulator. He reveals the Secret of Onomichi because (????) and then kidnaps Haruka to fuck with Kiryu and Kiryu's like fuck you and beats the shit out of him. Wow. I dunno, there's no feeling that there's any kind of clash of ideology between the two like there had been with previous villains. When Kurosawa fucked with Kiryu, it felt more than just personal, like he was punishing him for thinking he could hold anything dear considering the world he was part of. When Iwami does it, it really does feel kind of shallow, like nothing deeper beyond "this guy is a pain so I'm going to ruin his life" kind of thing. Maybe that's his character, but like that's just so boring! Iwami's villain reveal really should have been earlier, cause what happens is that he comes in at the end as the villain and is like "oh shit I had better do something villainous" so he kidnaps Haruka at the end and there's no kind of thematic buildup or anything. This guy's on the same level as like Shindo in terms of villainous significance it feels like, despite ostensibly being the main antagonist. Sorry if it feels like I'm talking in circles here, but it's kind of difficult to explain how similar character archetypes can succeed or fail in relation to the story around them.

As for other characters, eehhhhh. Kiyomi and Nagumo are two of the best characters in the entire series for me, and I love what they did with Hirose, but everyone else is just kind of there. Despite being at the centre of like one of the main plot points, Usami is so forgettable that I literally had to look up his name to remember it. The Yakuza series is no stranger to reusing certain character archetypes, and that's a writing decision that's often paid off, but Usami really just feels like Rikiya from 3 minus a certain je se ne quois. He's the hot-headed youthful idiot like Rikiya but he really doesn't have much of his own personality to stand out. He goes through a whole character arc where he matures or whatever but I never cared enough to help but think of him as just some guy. Tagashira and Matsunaga just exist and take up way too much screen time because they don't really feel like they have much purpose beyond having more characters to smokescreen the mystery of Haruto's parentage.

I'd say the most infamous aspect of this game's story (besides the most random and inconsequential Big Reveal in perhaps any game ever) is the fact they decided to torpedo every series regular besides Akiyama and Date, probably because it's too much baggage for a game that's relatively short for the series. This game's plot was already a multiverse of wasted potential and this multiplies that by like a square factor. Like seriously, 4 and 5 spend so much effort building on Majima's past to imply that there's So Much More awfafesvdgageg to him under the surface, 0 took that idea and ran a marathon with it, and 6 had the potential to portray Majima in the present day with all these knowledge of his past having been explored. Instead, Majima goes to jail and is never mentioned again until the end. Okay. Why. Was this some kind of development thing, like were they making this game before they'd finished writing 0 or something. The question of Daigo Dojima's leadership in the Tojo Clan that's always felt a little underexplored in my opinion. Oooops lol!! The prospect of Saejima going one single game without ending up in fucking jail. Like come on. And what's left from that. I guess Akiyama was a welcome presence but he just feels kind of There, and Date's impact on the story was so great that I, again, had to look up whether he was even in the fucking game or not because he does not do anything (and in general suffers from being one of the least remarkable Yakuza side characters despite featuring in every main entry that isn't 0).

This game breaks the series tradition of having a tech demo style game (Kenzan, Ishin) to test out the new engine and that really shows. I do enjoy the more physics-based combat in this game, before they somehow made it worse in Kiwami 2, but it can't help but feel a little underdeveloped. I kind of like that sluggish Rockstar-style movement for walking around, but it really fucks up the combat, it feels less like you're controlling Kiryu and more like you're driving a car and it's really easy for your attacks to just straight up miss your targets without them even really dodging become the lock-on system in this game feels less like you're actually locking on so much as you're gently suggesting to Kiryu an enemy whose general direction you should attack in. Exploration is fun, too bad that much of the map is cut. Uhh the arcade's great. I never really mess with it more than a few times per playthrough in other games but Puyo Puyo and Virtual Fighter 5 are fun additions. I don't know if that counts towards the quality of the game itself but who cares. The points-based level up system is my least-favourite in the series and if you don't intentionally hold off on upgrading your stats then it feels like you get way too strong way too fast.

There's a lot to talk about this game but that's all I really have on mind right now. Peace out lol

I love this series! It has taken me MONTHS of plugging away but I finally just finished!

Not sure if this is my favourite of the series but playing them all chronologically over the pandemic, I have spent A LOT of time with the Dragon Of Dojima!

As such, I had not expected it but, fuck, did I cry a lot! This is the most I have ever cried to a videogame! I guess I really got invested in the melodrama, huh.

What to say about this game? Hmm... It should NOT be your first brush with the series! Start with Zero, why not?

As such, there is nothing really to judge. The game is still basically what it has always been. You are either in or out by this point.

A worthy end to the saga of Kazama Kiryu. I wasn't ready for how it all went down, and I certainly wasn't ready for him to cry. Kind of fucked me up. But that's what happens when you spend so much time with a person. Live decades of their lives alongside them and when they cry, maybe you cry.

This entry took me about 35 hours to complete, and I finished about 75% of the game. I ate all the food, beat up all the guys, did all the substories except for the hostesses and Amon (fuck that guy).

All told, I've spent almost 300 hours with Kiryu and friends, and it has been one hell of a journey.

Otin ensikosketukseni Yakuza sarjaan Zeron parissa alle parisen vuotta sitten. Yhdistän tähän samaan revikkaan myös Yakuza Zeron, koska tulen tätä kuudetta osaa vertaamaan tähän. Alusta asti oli selvää, että tietyt asiat hiersivät pelikokemustani Zerossa. Tappelumekaniikka tuntui kankealta ja tylsältä. Hahmonkehityksen sitominen rahaan ja kolme eri tappelutyyliä eivät toimineet minulle ollenkaan. Zeron tarina oli hyvä, mutta venytetty liian pitkäksi ja sen lisäksi fiilis oli koko ajan se, että katsoi todella pitkää leffaa, jossa välillä häirittiin sillä, että ohjain piti nostaa esille. Lisäksi kaikki keskustelut venyivät ja venyivät saman asian jankkaamisella ja välillä todella turhillakin asioilla. Skippasin keskusteluita ja tappeluita minkä pystyin mitä en yleensä peleissä tee. Muutoin peli ja kokemus oli ihan ookoo, mutta ei mikään ihmeellinen.

Ajattelin, että Zeron jälkeen en välttämättä enää koskisi Yakuza-sarjaan. Tänä vuonna fiilis kuitenkin heräsi pitäisikö pelisarjalle vielä antaa yksi mahdollisuus. Pitkällisen mietinnän ja asiantuntija-arvioiden (kiitos @badboybule ja @pasimies) perusteella päädyin Kiruy saagan viimeiseen peliin Yakuza 6: The Song of Lifeen. Alusta lähtien oli selvää, että päätös oli oikea.

Prequelin ja sarjan viimeisen osan välissä on tapahtunut paljon, mutta memories-osion lukemisen jälkeen olin kohtalaisen kärryillä sarjan isoista kaarista. Tarinassa oli paljon vanhemmuuteen ja perheeseen liittyviä teemoja, jotka resonoivat sellaisilla tasoilla, jonne mikään peli ei ole aikaisemmin päässyt. Tarina piti otteessaan hyvin alusta loppuun ja ahmein pelin melko hyvällä tahdilla. Pelin pituus oli juuri sopiva vaikkakin pelasin aika paljon sidequesteja ja muita minipelejä. Minipeleistä Kiryu Clan oli yllättävän kova, siitä olisi melkein voinut tehdä mielenkiintoisen oman pelinsä.

Yakuza 6 on tehty uudemmalla pelimoottorilla, ja se näkyy samantien. Hahmon liikkuvuus on sulavaa, grafiikat ovat todella hyvät ja pelin pääjuttu eli tappelu on vihdoin todella hauskaa. Molemmat pelin kaupungit olivat sopivan erilaisia ympäristöjä ja molemmat olivat omalla tavallaan mielenkiintoisia tutkia ja ihan vaan katsoa ympäriinsä. Pelissä oli monia muistettavia ja hyvin kirjoitettuja hahmoja, joiden kohtalo ja seuraaminen kiinnosti loppuun asti.

Tämä peli on yksi tämän vuoden kovimmista yllätyksistä ja peli, joka tulee nousemaan melko varmasti kaikkien aikojen top 10 listalle. Kaiken kaikkiaan tämä näytti mitä Yakuza-sarja voi parhaimmillaan tarjota ja ehkä tämän jälkeen muutkin sarjan osat voisivat taas kiinnostaa enemmän. Kiwami, Kiwami 2, Yakuza Like a Dragon nousevat wishlistille tämän myötä ja kaikki pelit löytyvät Game Passistä, joten eiköhän joku näistä tule aloitettua vielä vuoden sisällä.

5/5 Erinomainen

All right, let's get a few negatives out of the way: This game is shorter than Yakuza 0. Some series favorites do not get much screen time. The ending, though consistent with the soap opera melodrama of the series as a whole, did not sit very well with some people.

All that aside, this is another stellar Yakuza game and I loved it.

The new engine is beautiful. It's so great to be able to step right into stores and other locations without loading screens. The minigames continue to impress, especially the clan creator. The new location of Onomichi provides a wonderful counterbalance to the comparative noise and bustle of series staple Kamurocho.

I love the changes to the UI tie thematically into the game's time and setting. In the earliest entries, Kiryu learned moves from mentors and scrolls, stopped incidents when he stumbled across them organically, and saved his game at a phone booth. 2016 Kiryu saves his game automatically or via his smartphone, spreads experience around to moves he (presumably) only has to recall, and finds incidents via a "neighborhood watch" app called Troublr. It's really cool.

If you're new to the series, this game does a fine job of setting things up, though I think you'll get a tad more out of it if you play Yakuza 0 and/or Kiwami first. If you've enjoyed past entries, it's hard for me to imagine that you'd dislike this entry.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go pre-order Kiwami 2...

So the other night, I felt like walking down the street to my local bar. Grab a glass of whiskey, and one of the other patrons challenges me to darts. I eke out a victory and order another drink. Dave (the bartender) tells me I've had enough (he's probably right). I head out the door only to be accosted by a group of five punks. Fortunately no one in this city has heard of a bike lock, so I grab a nearby bicycle and smash it over there heads. Scored a few bucks in the process. Didn't leave a note about the bike.

I continue my walk home, and get challenged to another fight by a guy just standing in front of another bar. The fool goes down after a few jabs and a roundhouse kick. He didn't hold a grudge though, just gave me his number and said he was part of my crew now, and to let him know if I needed him for a fight.

Another block closer to my apartment and I see a guy who either had too much to drink or ate too much Taco Bell. I hand him a Pepto Bismo and he volunteers to play in my pickup baseball game tomorrow. Said something about washing out in the minors after getting busted for PED's, and that he throws in the mid-90's.

At this point my adrenaline is pumping so I hit the gym right next door to burn off some energy. I'm feeling pretty swole, but I've worked up an appetite so grab a fast food burger and then finally make it back to my apartment, although I skip stopping in the retro arcade that I pass on the way.

I finally make it back home and boot up Yakuza 6.

Seriously, though, I love this series. I hadn't played any games in the series until this year, and have played Kiwami, 0 and now 6 this year already.

Yakuza 6 is smaller than 0, but the upgrade to the new engine is awesome. There are fewer minigames and a few traditional areas of Kamurocho apparently weren't finished due to crunch. I didn't mind the smaller area.

Combat is a bit of change from 0 and Kiwami. You play only as Kiryu, who only has one fighting style as opposed to the four in past games. I didn't mind, however, as loading screens before fights are gone, and you can now run away from fights. At a shorter run-time (sub 40 hours for me, with many mini-games completed and all but two-substories).

Without going into a complex story continuity, the game contains summaries of Yakuza 1-5 if you want to get caught back up. From what I know of the games I haven't played, you may want to wait and play Kiwami 2 first if you haven't played all of the games in the series.