Yakuza 5 (PS3) - Review
by Jared Katz , posted on 03 January 2016 / 6,811 Views
After experiencing Yakuza 4 in 2011, western fans of the franchise have been salivating at the prospect of continuing the grand saga of Kiyru Kazuma in Yakuza 5. That time has finally arrived, but only after four and a half years of uncertain waiting. Yakuza 5, like its immediate predecessor before it, builds upon the series' foundations and is arguably the most thrilling and entertaining game in the franchise to-date.
Yakuza 5 takes place two years after the events of Yakuza 4, and quite a bit has changed for our heroes since we last saw them. Kiyru now works as a taxi driver in Fukuoka, Haruka is an up and coming Idol, Akiyama is opening up a new Sky Finance office in Osaka, and Saejima is in jail… again. The fifth main character is Shinada, a former pro baseball player who is now an adult entertainment writer. As always with Yakuza, a new danger has emerged that is threatening the very existence of the Tojo Clan. Fate once again brings our heroes together in order to protect the Tojo Clan.
Like past games in the series, the storyline is over the top, overly complicated, cheesy, and often unintentionally hilarious. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. It would be best to compare Yakuza 5’s story to that of a soap opera; each chapter in the game has multiple twists and each is somehow progressively more 'twisted' than the last. It’s often crazy and illogical, but it’s also genuinely entertaining.
While I do feel Yakuza 5 has a stronger story overall than its predecessor, there are more low points. These lulls specifically drag down the middle section of the game, which tries to focus on Haruka and Akiyama at the same time, and as a result little time is left to grow Akiyama’s character in comparison to the rest of the cast.
It's also worth noting that Yakuza 5 is not friendly towards series newcomers. There's a general assumption that you'll have played Yakuza 4 and if you haven't then you'll find little in the way of background information in this entry. Unlike in previous two entries there is no Reminisce option, which would allow players to view key cut scenes from past Yakuza titles, so if you're not a series veteran you may find yourself flailing around in an ocean of story details without anything in the way of a life jacket for support.
The simple action beat-em up gameplay receives some minor improvements, including new moves/techniques for the three returning heroes, and Shinada is given his own unique fighting style that relies on grappling and using weapons. The majority of the fights in Yakuza 5 are a breeze and are never nerve-wracking or challenging. This is largely due to the simplicity of the gameplay, as well as the lack of threat posed by most enemy grunts, but while the core combat gameplay lacks depth it never actually becomes stale because there are so many varied ways to dispatch enemies and because it's consistently fun to pull off Heat moves.
Throughout Yakuza 5 you can find both normal weapons (katana, sledgehammer, shotgun, etc.), and slightly odd, comedic weapons, like frozen bananas that can be used as nunchucks. A new system has been put in place that gives you perks for using various different weapons against enemies (such as more damage or more durability). Your characters also now need to level up their weapon usage levels in order to use the stronger weapons for each type. These are both welcome changes which make weapons more viable than they were in past entries.
Sadly, for various reasons, the developers behind the Yakuza series didn’t feel it was suitable to have a petite 16 year old girl fight her way through town, beating up thugs, gang members and yakuza alike. Instead, while the other four characters fight with their fists, Haruka fights by singing and dancing. Haruka’s segments therefore consist of simplistic rhythm gameplay and it unfortunately feels very lacking. Fans of the rhythm genre will find even the hardest of difficulties to be overly easy, and Yakuza fans who don’t like the genre will hate every moment of it, although they're granted some mercy by being able to set the difficulty to easy for all story related missions that involve rhythm gameplay.
But the 'core' gameplay is just one small facet of Yakuza. You'll actually find yourself spending most of your time running around the city getting caught up in an extraordinary number of different mini-games and side stories. Each of the five cities you visit in the game (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, and Fukuoka) has multiple different mini-games and side activities to play through.
You can, for example, visit Club Sega and play some Virtua Fighter 2, Taiko: Drum Master (the first time the game in any form has been released outside of Japan since 2004), or waste thousands of yen trying to get a Hatsune Miku figurine from a UFO Catcher (it took 4,500 yen to be exact). If video games within video games aren’t your thing, you can go bowling, play darts, pool, or even golf. There are also unique mini-games that can only be found in specific cities, including a chicken racing game that has Monster Rancher-like training and breeding aspects to it.
Then there are the side stories and missions. Kiyru’s side story, for example, has you working his day job as a taxi driver, and these side missions either have him racing on the highway with Eurobeat music playing in the background or simulating a more typical day in the life of a taxi driver. Sadly, neither of these particular side activities are great gameplay-wise (the former activity boasts absurd rubber-banded AI and the latter quickly becomes dull).
Fortunately Saejima’s hunting side story, by contrast, is really enjoyable. It's fun trekking your way through the snowy mountain regions, attempting to find the perfect angle to take down your prey. To top it all off, you also get to fight a bear Takamura style (from Hajime no Ippo).
If you ever tire of the mini-games or side stories then there are also sub-stories to look forward to. There are over seventy in total, divided up between the five characters. These missions can be as one dimensional as chasing down a stalker to as unique as playing out the role of tour guide/bodyguard to the music star Lady Ga… I mean Daddy Papa. Though there are a few duds throughout, most of them are amusing and they're a joy to discover.
There wasn’t much visual improvement from Yakuza 3 to Yakuza 4 and for better or worse the same is true of Yakuza 4 to Yakuza 5. While the visuals of this entry would be slammed as a brand new release, for a three year old PlayStation 3 game it gets passing marks and runs smoothly throughout, even during chase sequences. There were some improvements I had hoped to see which didn't actually materialise, like more detailed facial expressions, but as things stand Yakuza 5 is average in the graphics department.
Where it excels on a presentational front is with the soundtrack and voice work, both of which are top notch quality. The game’s soundtrack includes a variety of genres, from rock and jazz to J-pop, and the choice of music works especially well at pumping you up for boss fights. Just as the game’s music helps set the mood, the voice work is really well delivered.
Stand-out voice talents include Rie Kugimya as Haruka (Kagura from Gin Tama, Rise from Persona 4, and Taiga from Toradora), Kochi Yamadera as Akiyama (Spike from Cowboy Bebop and Togusa from Ghost in the Shell), and Rikiya Koyama as Saejima (Kogorou Mouri from Detective Conan, Takamura from Hajime no Ippo, and Kiritsugu Emiya from Fate/Zero). These seiyuus, as well as the rest of the cast, help bring life to the world of Yakuza 5.
Yakuza 5 is far from perfect but, as flawed as it is, it's nonetheless the most complete and enjoyable entry in the franchise. Those that fall down the rabbit hole that is Yakuza 5 will find it truly difficult to put down, and given the sheer amount of content that's to be found that could mean you'll be occupied for quite some time.
This review is based on a digital copy of Yakuza 5 for the PS3, provided by the publisher.
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this game is so amazing. PLAY IT!
@ every japan-fan!
Haruka gameplay is a + for me.
Should I play 4 first? I got it from plus. I don't think story is related but will I appreciate 5 more if I go through 4 first? thanks
You should definitely play Yakuza 4 first since you have it free and see if you like it before purchasing Yakuza 5.
Thanks :D
The story is always great and the cut-scenes high quality. But te mini-games really aren't my thing in the series. They feel like chores. It would make more sense if the games were actual realised sandboxes likeShenmue where you live in, but the immideacy of the main plot makes me resent all these average mini-games thrown my way. Virtua fighter 2 is pretty cool though.
Still currenty playing this game and loving every bit of it!!! So amazing!!!
Bought this when it was released, waited for it to finish downloading, loving it ever since ^^
I'm a few chapters in Yakuza 4 so maybe I will start Yakuza 5 in a week or two. The first 3 were a slog, but 4 is really good so far. I hope 5 is as well.
Extra money on the table for them if they do, if not then wasted opportunity.
And my dad works at 3DS
