The Kiryu Kazuma arc comes to a close in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Having had a life riddle with crime since childhood, Kiryu is trying his damnedest to escape his Yakuza past and life a normal life with his adoptive daughter Haruka at the Morning Glory orphanage they’ve founded together. Unfortunately, Kiryu’s past catches up to him and his thrust back into his old life once again and must spend time in jail. However, he learns that Haruka was involved in a life threatening accident while he was away and also has a son named Haruto. Kiryu must re-enter the underworld to search for answers to the many questions surrounding his life outside of prison.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is a 2018 Western port of the Japanese action-adventure, beat ’em up game, it is developed and published by SEGA. It is available exclusively on the Playstation 4.

Editor’s Note: A review code for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life was provided to us by SEGA of America in support of this review.

Kazuma Kiryu’s final bow.

The long trialed journey of Kiryu Kazuma which began in 2005 on the Playstation 2 ends here in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Now at 49 years of age, the former Fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan; the Dragon of Dojima has become a legend among Yakuza across all of Japan. However, after a number of heartaches and headaches, Kiryu has simply wanted to enjoy life as a civilian alongside his ‘daughter’ Haruka Sawamura & the orphans they’ve raised at their Morning Glory orphanage. Unfortunately, Kiryu’s life is again attached to the hip of his Yakuza past and it costs him a few years of his life as he must spend time jail to take the fall for past incidents. As he is released he learns that Haruka has not only been in a life threatening accident, but she gave birth to a son named Haruto as well.

Classic Yakuza action in 4K.

THE GOOD: Yakuza 6 continues the wild and crazy action & story the franchise is known for. Retired Yakuza, Kiryu Kazuma is looking to settle down with daughter Haruka Sawamura, but when his past drags him back into jail he is put back into the criminal underworld after learning that Haruka is in a coma and has a son. As any father would Kiryu wants justice for his daughter, but as per usual this sends the Fourth Chairman on a wild goose chase to search for the truth. One of the things I’ve loved about Yakuza since my introduction to it by 0 is that it can thrown in a ton of random characters and keep them relevant in then & future entries, prime examples are the aforementioned Haruka, Daigo Dojima, and Goro Majima. In another example a character like Nagumo seemed like a rarely shown gag character, but he & the Hirose family ended up being some of the most important to the story. Character development is one of the Yakuza series’ best elements, pretty much everyone feels important to the story and has a major role to play as it rolls out. Even characters featured in side quests feel unique and not at all like one note clones of previously encountered characters.

The power of SEGA’s new Dragon game engine makes beautiful work of Yakuza 6.

Where many games fail at having an “open-world experience” Yakuza 6 thrives at it. It gives you a ton of freedom in a condensed map, but it’s so full of activity between the two cities that you explore throughout the game you’d quickly forget how small the game actually is compared to similar titles. If you want to beat up a bunch of random thugs do it, if you want to do pocket racing do it, if you want to do karaoke do it. Yakuza 6 gives you dozens of options to captivate your time during and after the main story. One of the main issues with open-world games is that they often feel empty and dead outside of a few choice areas, but Yakuza 6’s map is always full of people and life. They converse on cellphones, eat inside of restaurants, reek havoc which Kiryu usually can interfere in, and it makes the world feel so vibrant and colorful.

The darkest and most ridiculous Yakuza game yet.

One of Yakuza’s fan-favorites the arcade received a major upgrade with full game versions of titles such as Puyo Puyo & Virtua Fighter 5 being completely playable. A new addition to the series is an RTS like mini-game known as “Clan Creator” which allows players to create a faction which battles a rival faction known as JUSTIS in a side-story featuring New Japan Pro Wrestling stars such as Okada Kazuchika, Naito, Tanahashi, and others. In this mode you gain allies through it’s story and some can even be picked up throughout the main world. This mode also features an online mode to face off against other players and your characters level up in a sort of RPG like mechanic.  I kind of feel like those more familiar with NJPW/RTS will get the most enjoyment out of this mode, but it’s quite easy to get hooked to the gameplay. You deploy ally units to face off against the enemy’s units which are already on the battlefield and it requires timing and strategy to pull off a victory. Certain units will also have special abilities such as finishers that does huge damage or healing.

Never a dull moment in Yakuza 6.

Going back to the main story, the ending of Kiryu’s saga as expected doesn’t have the happy ending fans may have hoped for. Despite being 49 by the time he gets released from prison Kiryu is still growing as both a person and parent, and is helping other characters grow alongside him like Nagumo and the members of the Hirose family who refer to him as “Aniki” (big brother) after Kiryu gained their respect. As the story continues Nagumo and his family become a central part of Yakuza 6’s world, rarely leaving Kiryu’s side as he attempts to find Haruto’s father and learn more about what Haruka did during her three year absence from Morning Glory. Kiryu’s search for answers garners him the unwanted attention of the Tojo Clan (his former employers) and the Yomei Alliance. It is during this conflict that Kiryu learns that both groups are involved with a cover up of a dark secret involving the country side of Hiroshima, Japan in Onomichi, and all those closest to him are in grave danger due to his meddling. If you don’t want to complete the main story there’s over 200 hours of content within the game to explore and enjoy.

The Song of Life.

THE BAD: The main story is only about 20-30 hours depending on how much you choose to take your time with it. AI seems to have been dumbed down a bit in comparison to recent entries such as Yakuza 0 & Yakuza Kiwami, I don’t even recall dying except for maybe once or twice during my run with the game.

The Dragon of Dojima’s end game.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Yakuza regardless of the title is a game series anyone can pick up and play with no knowledge of the story from previous titles. Players who started with ‘0’ and ‘Kiwami’ will feel right at home and those who opt to start with Yakuza 6 itself will also find it easy enough to pick up and play. You can get lost in time with it’s near endless amount of content outside of it’s core story and the character growth and development of Kiryu and his friends will make new fans of the series for years to come.