Up until last year the Yakuza series was honestly not on my radar, I had heard about it but never had the opportunity to dive into its world. That was until ‘Yakuza Kiwami’ was released, the re-master of the first Yakuza game that I finally delved into it after watching several streams and just being absolutely blown away by the setting, story and characters. Then with Yakuza Zero, the game that’s serves as the prequel to the whole series, my appetite for this series grew. So when the most recent installment was given a UK/EU/US release date finally I was more than a little excited. Safe to say, this is an instant classic game and very quickly jumped into my top five games list.

Yakuza 6 picks up after the events of the last game which saw our main hero Kazuma Kiryu seriously injured and whilst in hospital is arrested by the Police for his previous crimes. Kiryu does not resist and takes a three year prison sentence in order to have a full clean break and return to the Sunshine Orphanage that his owns and the foster children who reside there, which has been left in the hands of his ward Haruka. Haruka at the end of the last game gave up her huge career as a pop idol in order to support Kiryu. Now released from prison, Kiryu heads to the orphanage expecting to find the children in the care of Haruka but instead of a sweet family reunion, Kiryu discovers that Haruka left the orphanage long before his release without either telling him or the children where she was going. Now he must find her and discover what caused her to leave which just might be the biggest surprise yet for him.

Very quickly Kazuma Kiryu has become on of my favourite characters in gaming and that is thanks in part to the amazing attention to detail in how this series has developed its characters and the absolutely astonishing way in which the voice acting which remains in the native Japanese is able to still convey every emotion and beat of the story that never makes reading the subtitles needed to know what is happening at all painful or distracting. I wish I could actually speak Japanese to appreciate the voice talent in this game because this is perhaps the most cinematic gaming experience I have had in recent years. The entire voice cast is truly superb in this from minor characters to those intertwined throughout the story and it all begins with Kazuma Kiryu and there is little doubt that the man voicing him, Takaya Kuroda, is a huge factor in the success of this series and character but the same is equally so for all the returning voice cast.

However that said, for those who may be unfamiliar with the Yakuza series, Yakuza 6 absolutely takes that into consideration by taking a step back after the initial story opener to slow things down and introduce all the main characters who have come along for the ride with Kiryu. This section will give players a quick catch up on who the main players are and in a nice natural way without bogging down with too much back story. If you do have a knowledge of previous games then of course that will only serve to enhance Yakuza 6 as throughout there will be moments and references to previous games but that is where the beautiful attention to detail comes in again as when these occur, at no time will it take an inexperienced player out of the story or the world thanks to how the writing and story telling is so good you can still take away the emotion of the moment and have an appreciation for it all the same.

One of the iconic elements to the Yakuza series has to be the blend of main campaign story telling, the side quests or ‘sub stories’ and the player freedom to explore the world. The main campaign is segmented into story chapters and is made up of at times long cut-scenes along with proceeding gameplay. It is a third person action game that focuses on two main locations of Kamurocho and Hiroshima with parts of the story requiring Kiryu to spend time in each city. For this more recent entry into the series a good few elements have been overhauled and I was very grateful for that. For example Kiryu can now go from street level to inside an establishment without any loading screens unless a cut-scene is triggered, which really maintains the flow of the game for me at least especially when going into a shop in order to stock up on health items and it just being a seamless popping in and out. Next comes in the form of finally being able to place a location marker on the map which will have a green marker to follow on the mini map to get there. Previously the map for me was rather annoying in this respect and trying to return to a location or just trying to navigate around it was problematic in the early stages of the game. Now moving around the map with clear markers for the main story objective and now the green player placed marker just comes in so handy.

My favourite overhaul has to be with the combat system now which is just nice and tidy for me. Previous games had Kiryu using three different fighting techniques, each with their own skill tree wheel to upgrade. Now Kiryu has one fighting style which incorporates what was previously separate making it so straightforward and easy to understand. As you upgrade his fighting skill list you can unlock new moves making Kiryu an absolute bad ass when dealing with the many enemies you will face on the streets of Kamurocho and Hiroshima. The traditional heat gauge also returns, this is something that builds up during combat and again can be upgraded through the game. Once built up it can be triggered maximising Kiryu’s attack and whilst it does not reduce the damage he takes he will be able to take several hits and keep on swinging which is perfect considering outside of boss fights, fighting is all a matter of Kiryu being outnumbered by enemies. The most fun feature has to be the heat finishers which can bring a swift and often brutal end to an enemy once used. Kiryu will start off with just three heat orbs and each heat finisher uses one and is then replenished as the heat gauge refills.

Outside the main story missions, Yakuza 6 has an impossible amount of extra content to enjoy from the random fighting encounters with thugs, Yakuza and Triads that will pick a fight the moment they set eyes on Kiryu to the many mini games and activities that players can indulge in. From doing Karaoke to visiting a Cat Café and going to Cabaret clubs and batting cages, there is a crazy amount of things to do which the game gives real freedom between important story stuff to have fun with. Stepping into a Club SEGA and playing full retro SEGA games like Virtual Fighter V or Space Harrier to classic Outrun and Puyo Puyo is a real delight and there is even a Gym you can sign up to for daily exercise sessions and a personal trainer who will also advise on what Kiryu should eat. Of course the Sub Stories are really the secret ingredient in the Yakuza series and in this game they go to a whole new level. Sub stories are basically optional side missions to do which can earn XP to level up with or money to spend on supplies or food and they can range from some serious story telling to completely random events. For example one will have a young couple pretending to switch bodies in order to prevent the girls family from breaking them up to helping an old man save his would be lady friend from the clutches of a devilish cult. Some will certainly lose some translation from a cultural point such as the ‘Online chat’ sub story which literally stopped me in my tracks and I absolutely suggest that if you are planning to stream this game, this is one sub story not to play on stream!

But they add so much content to an already incredible main campaign story and are just fun and beneficial to complete. The game also throws in two new aspects as side activities in the form of the Troublr App and Clan Creator mini game. The Troublr App is exactly that, an app on Kiryu’s phone which alerts him to any nearby crime being committed in the hopes that players will accept and step in to stop the crime often meaning showing up and punching people in the face often enough that they decide against doing crime. The Clan Creator was the real surprise for me and is basically a “build a gang and go have a fight” with Kiryu acting as the General giving instructions to his clan once in battle and has its own story arc to follow should the player decide to stick with it which I completely recommend players do. Not only is it actually fun with a rewarding story pay off but it is also a very quick and fast way to earn money and xp which will help level up Kiryu for the main story chapters. Once you have your clan in a strong enough position you can even take your clan online and play other players which I had not expected. Having so much to do is just a real bonus to a game that would already be a GOTY contender for me for just its main campaign and gameplay alone but to have all this side content to work through and all the activities players are freely able to enjoy really makes this a staggering game in terms of content.

Now I have deliberately avoided going into the story too much in order to prevent spoilers because this is really a game that has to be played to really appreciate and the main story has so many surprises and twists that to reveal any in a review would be a tragic shame. I love games that have good story telling which is why series such as Assassin’s Creed, MASS Effect and JRPGs are my go to games. Yakuza 6 is just sublime on so many levels that my first play-through for this review came in just shy of 29 hours and that was without completing the Clan Creator side story. I also love that the game does have a New Game Plus mode once completed allowing the chance to replay the game on perhaps a new difficulty and to complete all those sub stories you might have left behind before completing the story. New Game Plus also carries over all skill levels, items and money from the previous game to continue working on in this next play-through. It also allows an option to start a Premium Adventure which takes away the main campaign and just allows players to spend time in either location and just enjoy the activities there which is great as this can be a separate save file to load up if the mood to just explore and have fun without the fighting and drama takes your fancy.

Despite it being only March, Yakuza 6 is definitely in my short list already for GOTY 2018. It delivered on every aspect of what I consider makes up a great game. The story is fantastic and emotional and with a voice acting performance from the whole cast that transcends the language barrier and conveys all the emotion felt by the characters throughout. Visually this game is stunning and the cut-scenes flow together so well they could be put together as a cinematic film and lose nothing as a result they are just that well written, animated and performed by all involved. The gameplay is incredible and ticks just as many boxes for me as the story telling accomplishes and I just love how you can go from the super serious moments of the main campaign to the utter randomness of a sub story before heading off to take in some Karaoke with a night cap in the local Cat Café. That randomness never breaks the momentum or story telling in any way, even the most crazy of sub stories only serve to enhance what is already a great experience to have with Yakuza 6.

If you have always been tempted by the Yakuza series but yet to dip your toes into its waters, this is the perfect game to do so and believe me when I say that doing so will only add both Yakuza Zero and Kiwami as follow up games to play if you do. This is a series that is staggeringly good on multiple levels that thanks to the recent remasters has found a deserving place in gamer’s collections here in the west. I was just so impressed with how much content there is to enjoy but most importantly, making me feel included in the story and series despite only experience two of the many games in this series to date. It is a refreshing experience to have with its style of story telling and a cast of characters that rival any major series of games right now.

My first time with this game was a 29 hour playthrough which I enjoyed so much I immediately started a New Game Plus and cranked the difficulty up to Legend and completed it a second time before putting my review together and that second time through had me discovering new sub stories I had missed the first time and giving the Clan Creator side content a go and I just loved it as a nice break from all the fighting and main campaign action. This really has something for everyone and does just as much to welcome newcomers to the series as it does by taking long term fans on a nice nostalgia trip that doesn’t leave newcomers lost in the sentiments.

My only regret is that I never came to this series before now but what a way to enter this series for the first time with Yakuza 6. Though the wait has been long and the final delay made it just a little longer of a wait to April 17^th to get this game in your PS4 but trust that the wait is worth it. Whilst you wait for this to release I cannot recommend enough giving Yakuza Zero and Kiwami a play if you get the chance to introduce this world and characters if you are new to it. It has been a very long time since I have been able to be this praising of a game and boy it makes me smile to say Yakuza 6 is potentially the big surprise of 2018 already.

I just hope they add more songs to the Karaoke machine by April 17^th!