Yakuza 5

2024-02-25
Man these games just keep getting better from 3 to 4 to 5. The graphics are better, you got plenty of cool new locations, each character has their own minigame with stats progression and storyline from a Taxi driving minigame to a baseball game to a singing/dancing game to a hunting game. There is SO much here. And I'd say that's it's strength and it's weakness. The story is the longest yet and half the story beats and twists and turns ultimately feel a bit like padding. Like Saejima's whole thing is kind of fun (besides it being in prison yet a-fucking-gain) in that it has nice characters but seems largely pointless. Haruka's is definitely pointless in terms of the plot. And I mean the whole thing ends up being "A guy wanted to bring together the strongest people out of two gangs to fight and kill each other" but it's sooo drawn out.

Anyway the reason why this game rules is because one of the characters is Haruka and she has a whole rhythm game built in which I of course went HAM on and maxed out. And Shinada's baseball thing is sick too.

And while the story feels a bit drawn out at parts I largely did really like it. You've got such a good cast of characters in Kiryu, Saejima, Akiyama, Haruka (eh), and Shinada that it's entertaining the whole way through. They do such a good job of bringing the characters together that really brings the charm up a lot. And Shinada really adds something special with his screwball, dumbass personality. Oh man and his pathos at the end when realizing he wasn't completely abandoned is up there as some of the best in the series.

All in all my main takeaway is that the series really has grown in a lot of ways.