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The open-world action adventure game was originally released in Japan in 2012, but gangster enthusiasts in the Americas and Europe can now experience the dark side of Japan through the eyes of five interconnected protagonists. Gamers take control of legendary former yakuza Kazuma Kiryu, infamous enforcer Taiga Saejima, aspiring idol Haruka Sawamura, dubious money lender Shun Akiyama, and disgraced ex-pro baseball player Tatsuo Shinada as they get dragged into the conflict between two powerful yakuza syndicates on the brink of all out war. Moreover, players will explore five different cities (Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Tokyo) as they unravel the chaos that is gripping the seedy Japanese underworld.

When someone has ties to the Yakuza, their life is probably not boring. In fact, it’s probably filled with violence, money, and legally ambiguous activities. While I don’t personally know anyone who is connected to the Yakuza to confirm this, I do know that the protagonists in Yakuza 5 get caught up with numerous gangsters, desperate civilians, and unsavory characters that make up the Japanese underworld.

One of the most important things a Yakuza must know is to how to beat people’s faces to a pulp. We’re talking about brutal, bloody and no-holds-barred street fighting. Kiryu and Saejima didn’t get street cred by adopting puppies and saving the trees, they got it by beating the ever-living crap out of everyone who dared stand in their way.