When it was announced that Yakuza 6 would be an ending chapter to the life of the main Yakuza series protagonist, Kazuma, not many thought that Yakuza 6 would also act as a new beginning to the now decade old series. Although Yakuza 6, expectedly, continues from Yakuza 5, the developers have provided enough recaps and info dumps that will help new comers to get familiar with the series background. Story this time is more personal and it is all about Kazuma on his path to salvation and hopefully, a normal life. The ending though is a bit disappointing with a noticeable shift in tone from the mid game kicking in.
With a new engine, comes new capabilities in the fight system. New moves are accompanied with increased enemy numbers and the ability to throw almost anything (even the enemies). In addition, fight do not magically happen in a closed off arena and happen in the same place as the encounters. There is also, as expected, numerous side quests and activities dotted around the city map. Although a tad smaller in size, the map is still filled to the brim with many stuff to do, such as going to gym or watching youtube videos! The game falters a bit in some mini games such as the clan wars, but overall the amount of things to do not disappoint. The biggest change in Yakuza 6 is that finally all the cut scenes and dialogues are voice acted, not only the main missions. Now it seems very weird that for so long, many scenes were just text based!
Although Yakuza series have followed a same formula over the past few years, they always have been popular with enjoyable gameplay. Yakuza 6 is not an exception; familiar game has received a facelift with a new engine and much more voice lines resulting in a yet another installment that is sure to please the fans.
Score: 85/100
