Yakuza 6: The Song of Life Reviews
Yakuza 6 is a powerful and finely crafted game that provides a moving closing chapter to the story of Kiryu Kazuma. For fans of the series, it is without a doubt an essential addition to your 2018 gaming schedule and shouldn’t be missed under any circumstances.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life closes Kazuma Kiryu's tale with a hopeful rebirth of the series.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is a celebration of the series, as well as a mindblowing finale to Kazuma and Haruka’s story.
Although the game sports a few bothersome hiccups, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life ultimately serves as a near-perfect send-off for the Dragon of Dojima after years of delivering bloody knuckles and scarfing Smile Burgers.
A masterpiece in terms of storytelling, Yakuza 6 is the most fitting sunset to the Kazuma Kiryu saga. Every little feature of Yakuza 6 is enjoyable from beginning to end, and it seems like the team made a point not to make the game feel slow in any way, even with the amount of exposition that this game has. There are moments where you'll laugh your head off and others where you'll be held in suspense, but it keeps it fresh throughout the game. Even the mini-games and sub-stories keep you coming back, increasing the replay value.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life isn't just the final chapter of the Kazuma Kiryu saga, but also one of the best titles of the whole series. The story is well written and wonderfully executed. Both of the locations in the game, the red-light district Kamurocho and the harbor town Onomichi, are beautifully crafted. For the first time all of the characters are fully voiced, even the ones in sub-stories. Also, there is lots to do besides fighting gangsters, like playing arcade games or flirting with hostesses. Small hiccup: The animations in the sub-stories are a little bit rough. Besides that it's a perfect finale for the Dragon of Dojima.
Review in German | Read full review
Yakuza 6: Song of Life is a great game that provides a fitting end for one of gaming’s most complex protagonists, Kazuma Kiryu.
Overall, Yakuza 6 is a strong continuation of the series so far. Personally the arcade feel has be lessened, but the graphical enhancements, extreme amount of content, and stunning story mean that I’m still wholly in love with it. If you took my recommendation to play both Zero and Kiwami, then take my recommendation and play this one.
Yakuza 6 is an incredible title. While in certain moments it remains so over the top it's hard to take seriously, Kiryu's story of evolving as a person despite his sordid history makes for a relatable protagonist. Knowing that a real member of the Yakuza has played a game in the series and found it to be more accurate than he anticipated just adds to the authenticity of Yakuza as a title. Every part of the game was a delightful surprise and I've found myself absolutely addicted to the game, even post-story. Every time I come back to Yakuza 6, I find something else absolutely charming about it.
When it comes to actually playing the game, Yakuza 6 is a bit more bland, a bit sparser with content, and frankly a bit dated with its problematic choices.
Yakuza 6 is not a game for everyone, but you can’t deny it a certain charm. I followed a very cool storyline for many hours and I have happily frittered some time away playing various mini-games. The combat becomes repetitive after a while, but, all in all, this is a really great game.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is a must-have game on PlayStation 4. The end of Kazuma Kiryu's run as the main protagonist of a series that start way back on the PlayStation 2 goes out with a bang, giving us the best Yakuza game ever. It will be very interesting to see where the team takes the franchise after this one, but after seeing what the Dragon Engine can do, I'm sure it will be a gorgeous entry that will keep the drama and the action going strong.
Even as someone who was unfamiliar with the series prior to this entry, I'd have to recommend Yakuza 6: The Song of Life on sheer virtue of being one of the best and most naturally designed open-world games I've ever played (even if it's not truly “open”); it certainly doesn't hurt that the developers also decided to chuck in a tight combat system, a handful of sweet classic arcade titles and a gripping narrative to sweeten the pot.
Whether you are new to the Yakuza titles or a long-time fan of Kazuma Kiryu's exploits, there are numerous things to like about Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. The title creates a sense of familiarity for those familiar with the series, but has enough new features and nuance to make this entry its own title as well. If you have not yet played any of the Yakuza games, this chapter does a great job of catching you up on the story while providing approachable - if sometimes a little shallow - game play. The end result is an open-world game that rewards you for the time you invest.
Yakuza 6 offers an truly open world to explore and intriguing story. It stands as one of the finest in the series too.
Review in Swedish | Read full review
Kiryu's final chapter is a beautiful one that has its heart in the right place, but feels slightly let down quite likely due to the new engine not allowing the developers the time they required to flesh out other areas such as the battle system and sections of Kamurocho. Despite slipping in parts, though, Yakuza 6 recovers with a compelling and intricately woven narrative featuring an appealing cast, rounded off with the side distractions expected of an entry in this series. This is an emotional sayonara to Kazuma Kiryu that may not have been all it could have been, but serves up a fine game befitting the Yakuza name.
Yakuza 6 is a fitting end to the journey of Kazuma Kiryu that will not disappoint long-time fans, while also providing an accessible journey to newcomers. Though it does not reach the heights of previous entries in its narrative and optional content, it does deliver a touching tale with a strong thematic core that has even stronger combat chops.
Yakuza 6 is a beast of a game, and it sends Kiryu off in style.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life isn’t perfect in the grand scheme, at least outside of the story, with most of the value coming from the small touches. Side stories offer a lot of insight into the world, culture and scale that they’re a blast to do. From there, I didn’t encounter a line of dialogue, no matter how small, where it wasn’t voiced. Where most games would limit voice recording to major scenes or the main story, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is more than happy to help build the world. Give this to a story about Kiryu trying to find happiness, giving him a mission and another reason to look beyond his world and you have a fantastic experience. Maybe not a perfect one, as waypoints and combat still have some ways to go, but one where fans of stories or open world games will be, if nothing else, satisfied.
One step back and two steps forward; Yakuza 6 changes up some of the core elements for Kiryu's last adventure and give new life to a series that's become a cult classic for JRPG fans.