Yakuza 6 offers one of the finest, most realized crime stories of the medium. It also marks the conclusion of Kiryu Kazuma’s story, granting him an ending befitting such a well-rounded character. And the best part is that you don’t have to be a Yakuza expert to appreciate how it all ends.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life tells a truly gripping tale – a story that blows most games out of the water. Combine that with a refined combat system and a new engine capable of making the game's world feel more alive than ever, and you've got a stellar Yakuza title. Although the experience does feel a little stunted in places outside of the main plot, this is still a fitting final chapter. Yakuza 6 is a gloriously dramatic send off for one of the greatest characters in modern gaming.

After 13 years SEGA brings us the final chapter of the Yakuza series. Albeit it doesn't offer many new things than change drastically its established formula and its world maps and activities feel a little bit reduced when compared to the previous entries, Yakuza 6 is an awesome game with fantastic visuals and a great and deep narrative that concludes the story of Kazuma Kiryu in a terrific way.

Yakuza 6 succeeds because its core story is so compelling. Every seemingly disconnected part serves a purpose: Without fights, it’d just be a movie; without cutscenes, it’d just be a series of contextless fights; without exploration, it’d be an on-rails punching simulator. All of those unexpected pieces and the (oh-so-long) cutscenes interact to make an equal parts story- and punching-driven game that is heart-wrenching. This is so much more than that game about a crime guy that I had expected.

A fitting end for the tale of Kazuma Kiryu. With so much to see and do on top of an engrossing crime drama, it's well worth the trip. [Apr 2018, p.77]

The Dragon Engine is certainly a welcome upgrade, creating a gorgeous Karumocho and Onomichi. But this visual change does not come without sacrifices, which can be seen in the other aspects of the game, equally or more important: combat, exploration and secondary content.

Yakuza 6‘s thematic consistency is impressive, though the game scarcely gives women the space to be more than props or damsels or to speak up when they’re shamed for having lives outside the constraints of possessive men. The game wants to be about parents in general, but in a series steeped in the kind of male bravado where expensive suits are cast off in one swift motion to reveal extravagant back tattoos, it’s mostly just about fathers.