Yakuza 5 Remastered Review Summary

Character development and uniqueness: The game features multiple playable characters, each with their own unique stories, abilities, and development arcs. This diversity in character design and progression adds depth and emotional stakes to the gameplay.

Enjoyable minigames and side activities: The game includes a wide variety of minigames and side activities that are enjoyable and add to the overall fun of the gameplay. These activities range from taxi driving to rhythm games and hunting.

Rich side content: The game is packed with extensive side content, including numerous minigames, side quests, and activities. These side elements are well-made and add significant depth and replay value to the game.

Strong character arcs and emotional depth: The game features strong character arcs with emotional depth, particularly highlighted in characters like Haruka and Shinada. These arcs add significant emotional stakes and make the story more engaging.

Variety of gameplay elements: The game offers a diverse range of gameplay elements, including multiple protagonists with unique fighting styles, various minigames, and side activities. This variety keeps the gameplay fresh and engaging.

Story and narrative problems: The story is widely criticized for being messy, convoluted, and poorly executed. It is described as lengthy, incoherent, and difficult to follow. The narrative is seen as uneven and lacking emotional impact, with some parts feeling unnecessary or overly complex.

Excessive and repetitive content: The game is criticized for being too long and filled with repetitive content. This includes excessive dialogue, frequent street fights, and tedious side quests. The sheer amount of content can feel overwhelming and lead to player fatigue.

Pacing and structural issues: The game's pacing is criticized for being inconsistent and poorly structured. Some parts of the game feel rushed, while others drag on too long, leading to a disjointed and frustrating experience.

Character and protagonist issues: The game features multiple protagonists, which can make the narrative feel fragmented and tedious. Some characters, like Saejima and Haruka, are particularly criticized for their weak storylines and gameplay mechanics. Players also express fatigue with managing multiple characters.

Technical and design flaws: The game suffers from various technical issues, including long loading times, visual bugs, and save mechanism problems. The design of some mini-games and side activities is criticized for being frustrating, poorly implemented, and repetitive.

Multiple protagonists with unique stories: The game features multiple playable characters, each with their own unique storylines and abilities. This includes characters like Kiryu, Saejima, Akiyama, and Haruka, each bringing a different perspective and gameplay style.

Engaging and complex main story: The main storyline is praised for its complexity and engaging narrative, involving themes of loyalty, passion, and brotherhood. The story is divided into sections for different characters, each with their own arcs and interactions.

Variety of mini-games and side activities: The game offers a wide range of mini-games and side activities, including taxi driving, hunting, rhythm games, dancing, and more. These activities provide a break from the main storyline and add depth to the gameplay experience.

Extensive side content and mini-games: The game is filled with a large amount of side content, including mini-games, substories, and side missions. These activities provide additional context and depth to the game world and characters.

Improved combat and gameplay mechanics: The combat system has been improved with new Heat Actions and special battle techniques. The gameplay is noted for being more fluid and engaging compared to previous entries in the series.

Performance and Optimization Issues: The game has mixed feedback regarding performance. While some players report stable performance and smooth gameplay at 60 FPS and 1080p resolution, others experience framerate problems, occasional frame drops, and performance issues. The game is noted to run on the same engine as Yakuza 0 with passable graphics.

Graphical Improvements: The game has seen graphical improvements compared to its predecessors, such as Yakuza 4, and the PlayStation 3 version.

Loading Times and Slowdowns: Players have reported intermittent slowdowns and long loading times during gameplay. Additionally, there is no option to skip loading screens, which adds to the frustration.

Audio Issues in Cutscenes: There are notable issues with voice and subtitles during cutscenes, including incorrect audio sources being swapped in some CG sequences.

Game Crashes: Some players have experienced crashes during field loading, which disrupts the gaming experience.

Highly recommended for story and gameplay: Many players highlight the engaging story, impressive combat, and enjoyable experience as key reasons to recommend the game. Despite some mentions of length and flaws, the overall consensus is that it is worth playing, especially for fans of the series.

Worth playing despite length: Despite its length, many players find the game worth playing. This point is reiterated in multiple clusters, indicating that the game's quality outweighs its lengthy gameplay.

Recommend buying at a discount: Several reviews suggest purchasing the game at a lower price, indicating that while it is worth playing, it might not be worth the full price for everyone.

Recommended for Yakuza fans: The game is particularly recommended for those who are already fans of the Yakuza series. It is seen as an essential experience for devotees and those who enjoy crime dramas and Japanese culture.

Selective content engagement: Players suggest focusing on the content you enjoy and skipping parts that may not be as engaging. This approach helps in managing the game's length and potential tedium.

Steam Deck: The Steam Deck experience is marred by several technical issues, including frequent game crashes, audio and video synchronization problems, and save system issues. These problems significantly impact the user experience and require attention to improve stability and usability.