Yakuza 5

Yakuza 5 Remastered, reminds me of that classic Simpsons bit where Homer gets sent to hell and is forced to eat donuts… lots of donuts. To say that Yakuza 5 has a lot of content would be a disservice, this game is literally bulging at the seams with things to do and can easily take hundreds of hours to reach 100% completion. Even if you simply want to enjoy the story, Yakuza 5 easily dwarfs past games in the series. This is the biggest Yakuza game yet: there are 5 playable characters, 5 different maps to explore and 4 core mini-games each with their own unique mechanics and leveling systems. Yakuza 5's wide scope of content unfortunately hurts the game due to a lack of focus and direction.

The story meanders in a typical Yakuza-like fashion. If you’ve played any of the other past games in the series you should come to expect betrayals, secret relationships and shirtless fights on rooftops. The problem is that Yakuza 5 is like a typical Yakuza game but on steroids. There is an excessive amount of long cutscenes that it feels like you are watching a Japanese crime drama rather than playing a video game. The story is also completely incomprehensible. There are multiple characters who are somehow supremely gifted actors, have the ability to think 10 steps ahead and can keep relationships secret from close friends for almost two decades. Hideo Kojima would have probably blushed at reading the script because of how ridiculous it is and how it doesn’t explain away things with sci-fi bullshit (nano-machines).

The gameplay in Yakuza 5 is similar to its predecessors. The combat is a beat-em-up action fighter with special devastating Heat actions that can be unleashed by building up the heat meter. New to Yakuza 5 is a special Red Heat action that’s unique to each character. Kiryu for example can expend his heat meter to temporarily become invincible and can unleash unblockable attacks. Outside of combat, there are the usual side-missions which often lean on the goofy side, such as dealing with an annoying newspaper salesman. Each main protagonist except for Akiyama, also gets their own mini-game. What I like about Yakuza 5 is that these mini-games are integrated with the main plot unlike in previous entries where our heroes get randomly asked out of the blue to run a hostess club or do some other ridiculous task.

The remastering effort for Yakuza 5 feels unfinished. At times the game looks worse than Yakuza 4 Remastered. There are numerous main story cutscenes that are left unpolished and look very dated compared to the in-engine graphics. There are visible glitches, like NPC shadows clipping through the environment or side characters talking without moving their mouths. There is also an inconsistency in the player models. For example when Kiryu is wandering the streets of Kamurocho his model is highly detailed with fluid animations. However when Kiryu is driving his cab, his model is noticeably less textured and his animations are very rigid.

Yakuza 5 stumbles into the same problem as Yakuza 4 by breaking the game up into 4 parts. Each part has you play as a different character, in a different city/town and with a completely unrelated storyline. The progress you make for one character does not transfer over to other characters. I abhor this fragmented structure because it discourages the completion of side quests. Keep in mind that the time spent leveling up a character is reset once you are done with their part. All 5 characters do meet up in the finale with their levels persisted, but only Kiryu and Saijama get worthwhile conclusions.The other 3 characters get pretty lame endings that don’t leverage the skills you’ve built up during their storylines.

If Yakuza 5 only consisted of Kiryu and Haruka’s story, the game would have been an easy recommendation. I found Kiryu's part entertaining, especially when doing his day job as a Taxi driver. I also found Haruka’s story unexpectedly engrossing due to its realistic depiction of the entertainment industry. There are producers who want sexual favors, rival idols who will do anything to get ahead and “friends” who want to capitalize on Haruka’s newfound fame. I simply did not find the other three characters' stories as compelling and they were a slog to play through. I was still happy that I played Yakuza 5 remastered as it had some of the biggest highs and biggest lows I’ve ever experienced in the Yakuza franchise.

My Yakuza Ranking:

1. Yakuza 0
2. Yakuza Kiwami 2
3. Yakuza 5 Remastered
4. Yakuza 4 Remastered
5. Yakuza Kiwami
6. Yakuza 3 Remastered