Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

1. ShadowPeter

   Apr 22, 2018

   10

   More like 9.5 than 10.
   
   Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is the last game in the Yakuza series, but not the last in terms of quality; far from it.More like 9.5 than 10.
   
   Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is the last game in the Yakuza series, but not the last in terms of quality; far from it. My knowledge of this series already comes from Yakuza 4, which came out in PS Plus in February 2015 and from there I was completely addicted and aware of the upcoming Yakuza that were to come at that time, namely Yakuza 5, Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami. As in previous games, Yakuza 6 is an action-adventure game that mixes brawler style combat with RPG elements. And again we have the protagonist, the 4th Chairman, that is, Kazuma Kiryu.
   
   When I returned to Kamurocho, I soon noticed that it was visually amazing and the same goes for the city Onomichi, who is also present in the game. Now we will not have loadings of 1 second, each time we enter or leave a restaurant for example. Whenever we come into conflict with some ruffians on the streets, the city itself "becomes a battle arena" (and still we can escape successfully), unlike the previous ones where we were limited to a small place. Yes, we can also take and fight the ruffians in places like Poppos or on Smile Burger. The spectacle of all this is to see smashed glasses, objects flying and as result, the employee expels us and the site is temporarily closed for repairs. It's these little details that make me delight in this Yakuza 6: The Song of Life.
   
   But you may be wondering, what has really changed in the gameplay over Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami? A lot of things. The Brawler and Rush styles were eliminated, with only Beast (when we entered Extreme Heat Mode) and Dragon remaining and still have their differences. In Beast we don't have those slow movements anymore and in Dragon, the moveset is different from the previous Yakuzas. Each time we win a battle or eat something, we are rewarded with experience points for 5 abilities: Strength, Agility, Spirit, Technique and Charm, which can be used to increase Kiryu's stats (Health, Attack, Defense, Evasion, Heat Gauge) and to buy Battle Skills, Heat Actions and other skills.
   
   What I really have to say about the gameplay of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is that I feel the character's moves and the blows are smooth, frantic, and full of strength. It is true that at the beginning we are taking a lot of kicks when we are facing many ruffians, triads or yakuzas, but it is because we are limited to a one quickstep (there are double and triple) and the fact that we don't have the quickstep cancel. It's always rewarding to see our enemies taking with a Heat Action, some of theme are hilarious. An example of this is the Essence of Electromagnetic Torture, which consists to shoot the enemy at the microwave and asking the employee to "warm" the head of our enemy. Another example, the Essence of Knock Out Punch, allows us to see (through a 1 second Slow Motion) our enemy spitting blood whenever we punch him in the chin. In comparison to the previous ones, we don't have some old Heat Actions, but we have many new ones.
   
   In this Yakuza 6: The Song of Life we have something new called Clan Creator. Let's say it's a kind of Fighting Manager, in which we have a hierarchy (Chairman> Captain> Lieutenant> Soldier) to organize, take them to the missions and fight against other clans. Correct, if we want a soldier for our clan, sometimes we will have to search in the streets of Onomichi and defeat this person in a fight. They all have different moves, weapons, punches and some characters have special moves. And yes, we can also take our team to the online battles.
   
   As always, this Yakuza 6 also features the usual Yoshida Batting Center, Hostess Clubs, Substories and Mahjong, but new things have also been added, such as hunting fish, octopuses and sharks in the waters of Onomichi, a site called RIZAP Kamurocho to exercise our muscles and improve our character's physique, and we even have to rescue lost cats, which we then send to the Nyan Nyan Café. In addition, there are also Vending Machines, which help to temporarily increase our stats and the missions or the help requests to rescue someone who is having trouble with ruffians, for example. And, of course, the Sega Club is also present in this Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, and we have games like Virtual Fighter 5: Final Showdown and even classics such as Out Run, Puyo Puyo, Super Hang-On, Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier.
   
   Despite all of this, i miss the mini-games like Bowling, Pool, gambling and fights in the Purgatory Coliseum. Fights against bosses are challenging, with a phenomenal soundtrack and feature breathtaking scenes. SEGA has done a almost perfect work by keeping the style that made this series unique, but at the same time make some changes so that the game and series stay fresh. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is not only one of the best entries in the series, but also one of the best experience of 2018 so far.… Expand

   • 14 of 18 users found this helpful
2. Prostoart

   Jul 19, 2020

   10

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Не часто игры заставляют меня плакать, но у якудзы получилось, в моменте когда Юта прибежал на верфь пустил скупую отцовскую, я поверил в персонажей и сюжет, всем советую… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. giorn_

   Dec 20, 2022

   10

   the best ending for the greatest protagonist of all time.
   best ending for the yakuza franchise.

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
5. Toru_okada

   Jun 26, 2018

   9

   Fan since Yakuza 2 I saw the evolution of these games. Yakuza 6 feels rather new of a experience for returning players. They added new funFan since Yakuza 2 I saw the evolution of these games. Yakuza 6 feels rather new of a experience for returning players. They added new fun mechanics, mini games and such. Its hours worth of fun. Its a shame we dont have beat em ups. This is the last game in the series. The reason this gets a 9 is because the story at the end falls pretty flat at the end. I guess they played it safe to end this franchise yet it just didnt seem like kiryu deserved this mediocre ending. I do recommend picking up the other ps4 yakuza games and wait for a collection of yakuza 3, 4 and 5 (heard there may be some release) it is a good franchise worth investing if you are bored of the same old style of western games we are too familiar with. Its a good change of pace.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. rvp

   Nov 30, 2020

   9

   I just love the Yakuza series, I can recommend all of the games! Also this entry of the series is just great. The story is great, the sideI just love the Yakuza series, I can recommend all of the games! Also this entry of the series is just great. The story is great, the side quests are amazing. The open world is a lot of fun! It's nice to play in a smaller open world where you know the whole world after a while and it's a lot of fun to do stuff in it. The characters are as always loveable. The plot twists are great! A great great Yakuza game!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
7. GabFire

   Aug 11, 2020

   8

   Eu sempre curtia essa franquia, e essa sequência prova seu valor com mais uma vez apresentando uma história e jogabilidade incríveis, o jogoEu sempre curtia essa franquia, e essa sequência prova seu valor com mais uma vez apresentando uma história e jogabilidade incríveis, o jogo melhora a cada passo que se dá.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. Max552

   Dec 31, 2022

   0

   Can't say I was a fan. Played and found it too easy and quite boring. I really don't see the fuss about these games.

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful

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