FADING OUT IN STYLE
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is the bittersweet finale of Kazuma Kiryu’s long journey as a protagonist. It marks the series’ transition to Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s new Dragon Engine, bringing the franchise into a new generation. As with Yakuza Kiwami 2, the emphasis is on seamless immersion in Japan’s chaotic urban life—and at its best, it looks fantastic.
The improved lighting and facial textures immediately stand out. Kamurocho feels more alive as you slip through previously sealed alleyways, enter shops without loading screens, and stumble into spontaneous street brawls. Exploration is smooth and uninterrupted, and the heightened visual fidelity lends the cutscenes a more somber, intimate tone than ever before.
That tonal shift feels appropriate. Knowing this would be Kiryu’s final outing (voiced, as always, by Takaya Kuroda), I approached the game with a sense of anxious anticipation. After sharing the spotlight in recent entries, Kiryu once again stands alone at the center. There’s a cruel irony to seeing him receive the most grounded, expressive presentation of his career just as he’s about to exit the stage—but the writers handle his send-off with respect and care.
However, the ambitious engine upgrade comes at a cost. Much of the game’s scope has clearly been scaled back to meet deadlines. Large portions of Kamurocho—Champion District, West Park, and the Hotel District—are sealed off, with only vague in-game justifications. Several series staples are missing entirely: bowling, pool, gambling, the UFO catcher, and the Coliseum fights are all gone.
As a result, Yakuza 6 feels smaller and more focused than its predecessors. The spirit remains intact, but the breadth is diminished. It’s easy to imagine a future “Director’s Cut” restoring lost content and smoothing out the rough edges.
Because of this, Yakuza 6 lands somewhere in the middle of the series overall—a slightly disappointing position for Kiryu’s farewell. Yet in the areas that matter most to me—story, substories (now fully voiced), and character work—the game delivers. Players craving deep combat systems, elaborate upgrade trees, or a buffet of minigames may feel shortchanged. The PS4 hardware also struggles with the Dragon Engine, resulting in noticeable framerate dips and sluggish controls.
Combat suffers most. Timing-based defensive techniques like parries and counters become unreliable, pushing players toward an aggressive playstyle. Unfortunately, many of Kiryu’s more expressive moves are locked behind Heat and Climax modes, leaving his base combat kit feeling thinner than ever. The skill tree is similarly underwhelming, packed with situational abilities that rarely come into play.
For the first time, Kiryu can’t even purchase weapons. Instead, armed combat relies on improvised environmental objects—trash cans, bottles, street signs. Combined with meager rewards in money and experience, there’s little incentive to seek out fights.
Progression now hinges largely on story advancement, side content, and eating. Restaurants serve mouthwatering meals, and the right combinations significantly boost Kiryu’s five core attributes. Yes—skills are unlocked by eating. A delightful idea, even if it’s largely unnecessary given the game’s low difficulty.
The story picks up directly after the events of Yakuza 5. Kiryu’s survival hangs in the balance. While he lies unconscious in a hospital, his adoptive daughter Haruka (Rie Kugimiya) abandons her idol career to return to Morning Glory orphanage. When tabloids expose her Yakuza connections, she retreats from public life to protect the children’s future.
Kiryu awakens only to be arrested for politically convenient reasons. To shield those he loves, he accepts a prison sentence. Years later, upon his release, he returns to Okinawa to find Haruka missing. The search takes him back to Kamurocho—and eventually to a quiet seaside town in Hiroshima, the most picturesque exterior the series has ever depicted.
Avoiding spoilers, Yakuza 6 is a story about paternal responsibility and the cost of one’s choices. What defines a family? Can you belong to more than one? And what happens when you neglect one for the sake of another? The title’s “Song of Life” feels like a summation of the entire series, with Yakuza 6 serving as its final verse. The cutscene direction is among the best in the franchise, though the writing still stumbles over familiar plot holes and questionable villain motivations.
Where the game truly shines is in its character work. The new Hiroshima cast is excellent, grounding the narrative and providing emotional texture. Fan favorite Shun Akiyama (voiced by Kôichi Yamadera) also returns, effortlessly reminding us why he could carry a game of his own.
A genuine surprise awaits in the opening credits: Takeshi Kitano. Best known in the West for films like Battle Royale, Zatoichi, and Kikujiro, Kitano portrays the eccentric patriarch of a small Hiroshima Yakuza family—and his presence elevates every scene he’s in.
Despite the weight of farewell, Yakuza 6 retains the series’ signature absurdity. Substories are as imaginative as ever, though harder to find since they’re no longer marked on the map. Highlights include chasing an escaped cleaning robot that insults thugs as “dirt,” unlocking a live-chat minigame that showcases Kiryu’s hilariously stiff typing style, and a cat-feeding pastime.
The larger side activities fare worse. The baseball coaching simulator is dull, and the gang-war strategy game is nearly impossible to fail. I largely ignored the former (I don’t even know baseball rules), but the latter at least offers a decent narrative hook.
The standout new addition is the underwater harpoon-fishing rail shooter. It’s challenging, features its own progression system, and culminates in spectacular boss fights against legendary sea creatures. It’s the closest Yakuza has come to full-blown fantasy, and I absolutely loved it.
With fewer distractions, I finally learned Mahjong—and even won my first legitimate game. It turns out it’s not nearly as impenetrable as its reputation suggests. Now that I understand the basics, I’m genuinely excited to revisit it in future entries.
Some returning minigames feel constrained. Darts now rely on timing meters, karaoke offers fewer songs, and engine-induced lag throws off rhythm cues. The music remains excellent, though—especially “Fork in the Road,” dedicated to my preferred hostess route.
The dating sim is also streamlined, using randomized conversation cards unlocked through the charisma skill tree. While simplified, the variety of characters is strong, and some conclusions hint at a future where Kiryu might finally find personal happiness—if you choose to imagine it that way.
Without substories, Kiryu risks feeling one-dimensional. The main narrative paints him as an almost flawless hero, while the side content reveals his humor, vanity, lust, and occasional nerdiness. These moments make him human—far more compelling than an untouchable icon.
Yakuza thrives on tonal whiplash, and Ryu ga Gotoku Studio remains unmatched at making it work. A great Yakuza game is a carefully tuned machine, and while Yakuza 6 has missing or imperfect parts, the whole still functions.
Some elements are flawed, others absent, but new ones take their place. The Dragon Engine gives Kiryu’s final chapter the visual gravitas it deserves—and if it’s the images that linger in memory, then this upgrade arrived just in time.
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