Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life - Review

 

Not long ago (relatively speaking) I finished the longest entry in the Yakuza series, Yakuza 5. I usually like to give myself a break between sequels, but this time I was just itching to play Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life. It was a chance to take on the role of Kirya Kazma solo again, which seems like such a long time ago now.

Do you like Doughnuts? Of course, you do, you're not some kind of psycho. There is a newish place that opened near me called Off Beat Doughnuts, the great selection includes my all-time favorite; Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It combines some simple and tasty things together, doughnut, chocolate, and peanut butter, nom nom. Playing Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life I found myself asking if was this the perfect recipe, combining all the things I love?

Story

The start of the Yakuza 6 is hard-hitting, Haruka (long-time series favorite, and Kiryu's adopted daughter) is hit by a car while holding a baby. The baby is fine, all good there, but Haruka is in a coma. Kiryu is just out of a stint in prison, and after visiting Morning Glory Orphanage finds out Haruka has been in the wind for a few years, then finds out she is in hospital carrying a baby - that's a lot right? We see Kiryu on a mission to find out how this all happened, why, and what going on with the baby? This time the game has you moving between the quiet(ish) Onomichi, and the bustling city of Kamarucho.

A complaint for me in Yakuza 5 was the substories, there were lots of them, but they lacked the zaniness the series is known for, and none of the felt as heartfelt as others in the series. This time around Sega Team did not make that mistake, we get to see an out-of-control Roomba's, Tinder gone wrong, and the return of one of the best side characters in the series Pocket Circuit Fighter! There is a lot more besides these, but really brought to mind those in Yakuaza 0, along with Kiwami 1 and 2.

Overall the main story is pretty solid, the ending was, well, a little bit of a cop-out in some ways (won't give any more away than that), and I feel it stopped the story from being excellent, rather than just really good.

Visuals

As the series has progressed the visuals have become better and better, and Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life is the pinnacle of that progression. Onomichi is a small town in the Osaka Prefecture, it is a small fishing area, a little run down, but also has this homely feeling. It feels like a small town, from the scale of buildings, the inclusion of an old cemetery, shrines and a temple, and smaller restaurants. Kamurcho is as busy as ever, there are few visual changes to the city in comparison to the other games in the series, a revamped and rebuilt Little Asia, some businesses have closed, and new ones opened in their place. 

The characters look more realistic, with some of the older characters, like Detective Dante you can really see details in the face that were not as present before, puffy eyes, wrinkles, and even the hair. Younger characters have similar details, and they look a lot less generic than in some of the series.

Overall, the visuals are strong, the team has focused on both larger details like those of buildings and lightning but also put focus on the smaller things like items in stores and homes. From what I have seen for Yakuza 7 Like A Dragon, they look even better again.

Music

The soundtracks for the Yakuza Series have generally been pretty strong, for Yakuza 6: Song Of Life the composers have knocked it out of the park, and is one of, if not the best soundtrack to date. There is a balanced focus on hard-hitting battle music, and more somber and serene pieces when dealing with poignant and heartfelt moments. The soundtrack is composed by; Hidenori Shoji (Super Monkey Ball

Outrun, Yakuaza Series, along with the spin-off Judgement), Kenichi Tokoi (Daytona USA Championship, Space Channel 5, Feel The Magic: XY/XX, NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams, Yakuza 4),

Yuri Fukada (Super Monkey Ball, Sonic and Sega All-Star Racing, Yakuza Series).

The soundtrack is around three hours long and features some great tracks, some of my favorites were;

Kiyomi Snack, Kamuro Again, Chaos Madness, With Impatience, Through, Town Bully, Stand Off, Sneak Into The Pandemonium, Togenkyo, Recapture Serenade, Fist Law, Qui Garde Un Secret, Destiny, and, A King Of Apathy.

Overall, a really solid soundtrack, featuring nothing but gold.

Gameplay

It won't be any surprise to fans of the Yakuza series that there is a lot to do when it comes to gameplay, but we will get to that shortly. The combat feels more fluid than before, and Kiryu seems to have picked up some new moves. I love the leveling-up system for it as plays more like an RPG, getting experience points from almost everything, such as eating, fighting, completing sub-stories, main stories, clan wars, and lots of other ways too! The game really rewards you for the time you spend playing. 

Substories are a big staple of the Yakuza series, and this game is no different. There is a good number of them, sometimes they are fun, others sad, and some really heartfelt, you will want to play them all!

If you need something to do while not focusing on the main store or sub-stories there are mini-games galore. There are; darts, karaoke, mahjong, baseball, arcades, and probably more I am not remembering. Then there is Bar Chats, a great feature where you make friends in a local bar, and get to help them. The hostess bars are present as always, and while they can be fun at times, they really need to go back to hostess management featured in the earlier games in the series. Kiryu, kind of sort, has his own clan, and with that comes clan wars a simple strategy game that has you recruit characters from the Yakuza universe, and command them on the battlefield of street fighting. Last, but not least a new addition is managing a baseball team, which is more fun than it sounds, trying to go from zeros to heroes, by using team spirit - and leveling up of players.

Overall, the gameplay is as solid as the rest of the game, and to me felt more in keeping with some of the first three games, which was awesome!

Final Thoughts

So, after a little over thirty hours, how did I feel? Time flew by, and could easily have played more, which I will in the future when I try playing it on Legend difficulty. The story is really heartfelt, the substories are great, and the only thing that let it down was the ending. The visuals, look fresh and smooth and was great watching their progression in the Yakuza series. The music was on point, and I can't say it is clearer than that. The gameplay was really solid, and fun, and felt really rewarding when leveling up either Kiryu, members of the clan, or the baseball team. This one gets a solid 4 out of 5 it narrowly misses out on full marks, but hey, how many of us are perfect?