Yakuza 6: The Song of Life Review

There are – currently – eight Yakuza games now on Xbox, with a ninth one on the way in the form of detective spin-off, Judgment. Having been released at some rate over the past 14 months, players have hardly had chance to breathe! Yakuza 6 though represents the ending to Kazuma Kiryu’s saga – a journey that started in Yakuza 0 and 1980s Japan. Whilst being one of the best games in the series, it is also one of Kiryu’s most personal.

Yakuza 6's plot is immediately compelling, even if you're new to Kazuma Kiryu's punch-laden saga. After a three year stint in prison, he discovers that his adoptive daughter, Haruka, has gone missing. He returns to Kamurocho, only to find that she's been left in a coma after a hit-and-run. But there's one more bombshell: she's got a baby son called Haruto. In a state of confusion, he hoists Haruto into his arms and travels to the seaside city of Onomichi in search of answers.

And it's this switch-up from the hustle and bustle of Kamurocho to the quaint shores of Onomichi which sets Yakuza 6 apart from the rest. You'll flit between the two on occasion, but a large portion of the game is set in this peaceful port town. I adored its hushed streets and lazy orange glow, so much so I never wanted to leave. When the time did arrive, though, it elevated Kamurocho from a familiar crash of noise into a welcome injection of pace.

I reckon I became so attached to Onomichi because it felt like I'd started a new life there. I'd rocked up as a clueless Kiryu desperately in search of baby's milk to calm a bawling Haruto, and as I built relationships with the locals, they helped me transform into a fully-fledged dad who had no trouble getting a big smile off his adoptive son. (Technically grandson, I guess, but still.)

And Yakuza 6 had me grinning, too, not only because I'd seen Kiryu morph into a loving father, but because he was allowed to do so without a technical hitch; the game ran really well on PC. It has multiple frame rate options, with a slider that lets you jump between 30, 60, 120, and unlimited. I opted for trusty 60 fps, and I didn't experience any performance issues. If you've got a 4K monitor then you can crank the resolution right up too, although I only played at 1920 x 1080 with my RTX 2070. I found the higher quality presets available for PC gave environments and characters more presence compared to the PS4 version, too.

Whilst it may be a much quieter town, there are still plenty of undesirables to ground and pound in Onomichi. Over the years though it would seem that Kiryu has forgotten many of the other fighting styles he adopted, and has instead focused on honing his skills in one fighting style. There are still plenty of Heat Actions and the even more powerful Extreme Heat mode, but that extra tactical edge of selecting the best style of fighting has been lost. As a result, Yakuza 6 might be a bit easier for those more familiar with the series.

Yakuza 6 runs on the Dragon Engine – the same engine used for Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Like a Dragon – so you should know how good the Yakuza games look when running on it. Running on an Xbox Series X, there is a long initial load to get into the game itself, but after that everything is almost instantaneous; no loading screens between walking in and out of shops and buildings and even fights on the street are seamlessly woven into the exploration phases of both cities.

Yakuza 6 also shares several more similarities with Kiwami 2. If you have been playing through them chronologically as they have appeared on Xbox Game Pass, you will recognise the return of Clan Creator. This version is a little bit more RTS and less tower defence than Kiwami 2, but the basic premise is still the same: Kiryu et al. must team up and take down the Six Lunatics of JUSTIS. The EXP system has also been copy and pasted from Kiwami 2 and if you can remember the backstory and setup to that entry, you may remember the Jingweon Mafia who pop up once again. Including a major character from Yakuza: Like a Dragon…

In Chapter 3, Kiryu hops over to Onomichi but later on in the story he can move between there and the far more livelier Kamurocho; whether this be for business or pleasure, as once again Yakuza 6 has plenty of sidequests and substories. As well as the aforementioned stuff, new activities include an internet café, rescuing stray cats, spearfishing, posing as a city mascot, and even making new friends at the pub and hitting the gym.