I knew within the final 2-3 hours of this game that this wasn't only the best Yakuza game that I've played so far, but one of my favorite games of all time.
I was floored by how good the ending of this game was. I was a bit annoyed at the pacing of the 5 different chapters, and it felt like the game was intentionally dragging itself out at times. Given the fact that I knew this was the longest game in the series up to this point, I tried to prepare myself for some slog here and there. But when all these stories came together in the end, it more than made up for any padding I feel like the game might have had.
This was a beautiful gaming experience; I came to care about these characters and their stories, triumphs, grief and dreams more than most other fictional characters, video games or otherwise. This was the first time the story of a Yakuza game really clicked for me--I've enjoyed them in the past but this one felt special. I did make the mistake of rushing through the story and not doing much of the side content (I was planning to do side content in another play-through, I usually play games the first time through for the story) and subsequently got my ass handed to me by the final boss and had to watch the last few minutes on Youtube (I plan on kicking their ass in my second play-through once I can max myself out). But this was such an incredible game, and I can't wait to see how Kiryu's story wraps up in Yakuza 6.
I was floored by how good the ending of this game was. I was a bit annoyed at the pacing of the 5 different chapters, and it felt like the game was intentionally dragging itself out at times. Given the fact that I knew this was the longest game in the series up to this point, I tried to prepare myself for some slog here and there. But when all these stories came together in the end, it more than made up for any padding I feel like the game might have had.
This was a beautiful gaming experience; I came to care about these characters and their stories, triumphs, grief and dreams more than most other fictional characters, video games or otherwise. This was the first time the story of a Yakuza game really clicked for me--I've enjoyed them in the past but this one felt special. I did make the mistake of rushing through the story and not doing much of the side content (I was planning to do side content in another play-through, I usually play games the first time through for the story) and subsequently got my ass handed to me by the final boss and had to watch the last few minutes on Youtube (I plan on kicking their ass in my second play-through once I can max myself out). But this was such an incredible game, and I can't wait to see how Kiryu's story wraps up in Yakuza 6.