Okay, this was a bit weird to give my full thoughts on. Despite my massive amounts of enjoyment for the game, it was hard for me to find a proper way to fully express my thoughts. Mainly due to just how massive this game is and having so much variety in its content, with each part having its own strengths and weaknesses. To make it easier on myself, I'm gonna separate this into each of the character's parts, along with the finale and miscellaneous thoughts I have about the game.

Kiryu's Story - Honestly, a very strong introduction to the game and what it has to offer. Kiryu's fighting feels like it was given a lot of rework from 3 and 4 which helps him become refreshing, Nagasugai is a great city to introduce the player in with locations being distinct from each other, and the story and the substories are great to witness. Probably the highlight would be the taxi and racing side story and just how fun it was to go through it all, especially the racing sections with its strong story, though the best part has to be how you can listen to Daytona USA's "Let's Go Away" while doing these races and makes them even better. The only real problem I have with this part is how one of the characters in this story was treated. For a character that was given priority on the front cover due to being a celebrity likeness over characters like Majima, Park (which I'll get to later), and Daigo, Mayumi doesn't do much. I thought she was going to be this game's equivalent to Yasuko from 4 and her being a driving force in bringing all the characters together, but no. She's mainly there just to check up on Kiryu to make sure he doesn't get hurt and eventually ends up becoming yet another love interest for Kiryu despite not him not expressing any romantic interest. I get that she is a celebrity likeness, but it just seems so odd that despite her very small role she still manages to be on the front cover. Thankfully, she isn't the worst character this game offers, just wasted potential if anything.

Saejima's Story - I heard a few people say this is the weakest/most boring part of the game, but I honestly have to disagree with that. I ended up really enjoying the prison section of his story, especially when compared to Yakuza 4, and I thought the hunting stuff was interesting and very refreshing. I ended up completing the hunting side story before tackling the rest of the story because I was just that invested in it. Tsukimino, while having a really nice aesthetic, felt a bit cramped to travel in due to how many parts you are not allowed to travel in, though there was still a lot to due and the story was still strong in this part.

Haruka/Akiyama's story - This was the part of the game I was most conflicted. On one hand, I did enjoy the dancing/idol sections Haruka did, and was a nice refresher from all of the fighting, and it did give a good look at just how difficult working as an Idol can be. On the other hand, this section lasted simply too long and this story introduces what is possibly one of my least favorite characters in the series, Mirei Park. While I do like the idea of a character who was affected by the difficulties of working as an Idol in a negative way and wants a shot at redemption through somebody else, the execution of it was simply terrible and is just another showcase of how RGG writers sometimes not knowing how to write women. Firstly, the first scene with her gave a pretty horrible first impression as to what she is like, with her gaslighting and manipulating Kiryu into giving Haruka to her and leaving the orphanage, over a dream which the game never really bothered explaining if Haruka wanted until the ending. Secondly, despite attempts at trying to show Park in a more positive light, that first impression of her has constantly made me question whether any of it was genuine, especially between moments with her and Haruka since I felt like she was trying to win her over by treating her to nice things and forgetting about Kiryu rather than being a properly supporting figure. Finally, the characters saying that Park was a wonderful and hardworking person after her abrupt death honestly felt really lazy and forced. It feels like the writers didn't have a proper way of showing Parks more positive traits so they just took the easy route and just have characters treat like Park was in the right and Haruka should follow her dream. Which like, hello????? Didn't the game ALREADY forget that she manipulated Kiryu into handing over someone she didn't know for long and only did it since it kind of reminded of herself when she was younger???? What am I supposed to feel towards her? Again, I feel like a rewrite of her character would have improved her significantly, but as it sounds, I ended up disliking her a lot and was frustrated at how the game poorly treated what could have been her more positive traits. On a more positive note, I did enjoy Akiyama's portion of the story, and was still fun to play as, though the like of a proper side story (Unless the club stuff at the end of the game counts which feels like post-game content more than anything) does greatly impact my enjoyment of him compared to all the other characters.

Shinada - I was worried that I was going to dislike this part of the game, especially given how I already missed playing as Tanimura from the last game, but I was gladfully proven wrong. I ended up enjoying the baseball drama-esque story and how it ties into the main story. I really ended up liking Shinada as a character and enjoyed both his serious and silly moments. His batting center side story I ended up enjoying a lot and ended up completing just to see how it all unfolds despite most of it being completely optional. I thought his fighting style was very unique and enjoyable, especially with being able to use the various durable weapons he gets. Overall, I ended up really enjoying this section and was a strong highlight of the game. The only real complaint I have if anything was that I thought Kineicho was a bit too similar to Tsukihimo minus some new areas and a different aesthetic, but I still enjoyed exploring it.

Finale - I was surprised by just how quickly the first four chapters ended up being, though I still got some enjoyment and it was nice to finally explore Kamurocho again after being absent for most of the game outside of the beginning of Saejima's story. The real highlight was definitely the final part where it had easily had some of the best story and gameplay moments in the game and the final boss between Kiryu and Aizawa ended up being my favorite final boss in the whole series (so far). I wasn't sure how to feel about Haruka's final speech and revealing to thousands of people how Kiryu is her uncle, though I think I'll get a more proper opinion on it whenever I get to Yakuza 6.

Miscellaneous thoughts
- I thought the side quests involving the chef guy Tatsuya were pretty neat, though I'm not sure how I feel about the boosts you get from eating food since it pretty much turns a game from a series known for being fairly easy into a bit of a cakewalk. In fact, it was the first time in a while that I didn't die a single time throughout the entire time I was playing. I'm sure if I was playing on a higher difficulty these boosts would have more benefit, but with how I played it, it just made things a bit too easy.

- I know everyone who played this game has said but JESUS CHRIST why are the enemy encounters so persistent? It feels like half of the population of Japan is trying to kill you and it makes it really hard to enjoy exploring through these cities since I was making sure I didn't run into enemies. This ended up making me enjoy Haruka's section more since it was the only time I could enjoy exploring these cities in peace, but I wish the other characters would get something similar, even something like the money-throwing move from 0 would have been really nice to have despite that game coming later.

- Graphically the game is very much a step up from the last few games. The models look more detailed and realistic for PS3 standards and the animations are a lot less stiff and have more weight to them. Of course future games that were released for the PS3 like 0 and Kiwami improve things even further, but there's definitely a noticeable improvement in graphics.

- The soundtrack is also really damn good. Looking past how this game gave the series' most iconic song, Baka Mitai, the entire soundtrack was really enjoyable to listen to and there wasn't one I felt was bad. In my playthrough specifically, I actually was playing a mod that uncensors and restores a lot of the songs present in the Japanese version, meaning I got to listen to songs not present or replaced in the international release. The real highlight of this has got to be the song that plays during the fight between Shinada and Daigo (Which is a licensed song called "Wild Romance" by Kyosuke Himuro) that helped make an already great boss fight even better.

- Despite some noticeable pacing issues in some parts in the game (Mainly from Haruka's chapter and most of the finale), I thought the game managed to keep me pretty engaged. There wasn't a moment where I was bored and there was plenty of variety in various parts of the game to make sure things weren't still. The long runtime of the game does make me miss how shorter earlier games in this series went, but this isn't the worst I have seen.

Overall, despite some minor to somewhat concerning issues I have with the game, the sheer size of the game, the variety of things you can do, and my overall enjoyment of the game easily make this one of my favorites in the series. It manages to improve upon many of the issues I have with Yakuza 4 while still managing to be really refreshing, bringing in plenty of new ideas for the series, and overall just being a good ass game. It is not my all-time favorite in the series, and there are many things I would like to see improved, but I am glad I finally got around to playing it.