
Many of the sub-stories are presented in a way that makes it feel as though Kiryu has stumbled into the right place at the right time, instead of them being placed there by design. Where most open world games fill the player’s map with question marks or highlighted points of interest, Yakuza demands that players spend time exploring the world to uncover its secrets. The optional nature of these quests and the way that players discover them is what makes the world of Kamurocho so believable.


There are 51 plots overall spread across Yakuza 6’s two regions, which see Kiryu go fishing, dressing up as a company mascot and even meeting a girl that has supposedly leapt through time. It’s something that’s grown through the series’ long run and Yakuza 6 doubles down on its sub-stories, adding a surprising amount of variety to the quests players can choose from. It’s this quest that really introduced me to the depth, absurdity and comedy found in equal measure throughout the Yakuza series. He can also be found hiding in a comically oversized traffic cone along one of the city’s main roads. On one occasion Majima accosts Kiryu as a police officer, challenging him to a fight should he find any weapons in the player’s inventory. Some of these are quite obvious, with Majima walking down the street looking for Kiryu, while others can be more surprising and humorous. Adequately titled the Majima Everywhere sub-story, Kiryu must fight the eccentric gangster every time he bumps into him. After finding out Kiryu had lost his skill of fighting after spending ten years in prison, Majima takes it upon himself to continuously challenge Kiryu to fight. A close friend and rival of Kiyru, Majima is the head of his own family within the Yakuza and is prevalent throughout the entire series.
CIRCUIT RACER YAKUZA 0 SERIES
My first real experience with the side-stories in the series came with one of the biggest additions to Yakuza Kiwami, revolving around series mainstay Majima-san. Plainly llabelled as sub-stories in-game, each one is individually written and offers a different view of the city through the people that we commonly ignore in many other video games. As the series’ main protagonist Kiryu goes about his business in the city, he runs in to a number of individuals in need of help. What makes Kamurocho so interesting isn’t the seediness of the red light district, but the people that live within it.

When the industry at large continually pushes for larger landscapes and more complex game spaces, prioritising exploration over engagement it’s refreshing that Sega has spent the best part of 13 years doubling down on two of Yakuza’s best features: its environment and the inhabitants within it.Įach iteration in the series takes place in Kamurocho, a fictional Tokyo district based on the real-life district of Kabukichō. Continued abuse of our services will cause your IP address to be blocked indefinitely.The Yakuza series is one that, despite having only recently discovered it, manages to charm me with its captivating universe that surrounds the main narrative. Please fill out the CAPTCHA below and then click the button to indicate that you agree to these terms. If you wish to be unblocked, you must agree that you will take immediate steps to rectify this issue. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior.

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