Kazama Kiryu’s grand finale in this final chapter of his saga. After several years Kiryu is finally out of prison but soon learns that his adopted daughter Haruka left the orphanage and her whereabouts unknown. Tragic news soon arrived that she was in a hit-and-run accident in Kamurocho. She was holding a baby and shielding him during the accident which puts her in a coma. He is surprise to learn that she has a kid now and in Kamurocho. In his adventure he will meet old as well as new allies. He will learn exactly how much people are willing to sacrifice for family – be those ties through blood or bond – in their own ways. Now with baby Haruto the Dragon of Dojima will show how far he will go to find out the truth and who the father is.

This is the first game in the series to utilize the PS4 engine from scratch. The visuals and presentation bring to life the places you visit in Onomichi and Kamurocho. Going into first-person mode allows the views to feel like a personal tour of Japan and to take wonderful pictures. Gameplay is pretty much the same brawler beat’em up but not varied as much like the last main entry was in the prequel Yakuza 0 which had three fighting styles to switch up the tempo. It is still provides a great fighting gameplay but there will be people that find it a bit repetitive. Here there is only one style with level ups that include a bit of new fighting skills of your choosing with a no pre-set grid style level up system.

Throughout the epic journey fighting thugs, yakuza and more there are distractions that are fun to enjoy to relax. Mini-games, side-stories, side-activities and arcades are the heart of the series. Play full game Virtual Fighter 5 Final Showdown, Puyo-Puyo, Karoake, live-chat with girls, visit the local hostess club, the RIZAP gym and more. Side-stories include funny and serious scenarios that are worth completing all. All activities will reward you as well from eating to level up Kiryu’s skills and stats.

Finally there is a clan creator as well. This is another added storyline to complete apart from the main story. It is like a tower-defense top down game. You issue commands to deploy infantry and try to beat the main boss with his minions to win. Level up and gather more members to conquer back Kamurocho from The Six Lunatics clan.  They are causing havoc and turning the younger generations to delinquents. Gameplay is fairly simple to play.

In this grand finale it is quite shorter in the main story than Yakuza 0 but it is done properly not feeling rushed. New people to the series may play the game thanks to a wonderful memories section in the menu that tells you the story for each entry in the game to catch up to speed on Kiryu’s history. Once you beat the game you may carry certain stats in new-game plus. If you want to finish the rest of the activities you miss you may start a premium adventure to finish the activities without starting the story again.

I was just sad that there was no Goro Majima, the Mad Dog of Shimano action in this entry. He was amazing in the prequel and great rival to Kiryu. Fans and new fans of the game will have a great time throughout this adventure to a fantastic series that started on PS2 in the states in 2006. This was an epic farewell worthy to The Dragon of Dojima. Kazama Kiryu’s own Yakuza way of honor, kindness and leadership will be greatly missed.

*Review code provided by publisher*

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Screenshots

 

Fact Sheet

Title: Yakuza 6: The Song of Life    Developer: SEGA 

ESRB Rating:  

Publisher: SEGA  Release Date: Apr. 17, 2018   Price: $59.99 Genre: Action RPG   Platform: PlayStation 4  Players: 1 for the main story/game. (There are some mini-games that support 2 players)