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What are the best destructive games on PS4?

11

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16

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Apr 4, 2021

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11 Games Considered

Best destructive games on PS4	Price	Genre	Platforms
-- Terraria	$19.99	2D platformer / Minecraft-like	Windows, Mac, Xbox 360/One, Playstation 3/4, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
-- MineCraft PS4 Edition	$19.99	-	-
-- Just Cause 3	$25.75	-	-
-- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege	$33.95	FPS	Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
-- Far Cry 5	$59.99	Action-Adventure, First-Person Shooter	PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows

Terraria

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Intriguing world

Terraria uses a bright color palette and an upbeat chiptune soundtrack to ease you into its world. However, once you start exploring and spend time in it you'll notice it's not as cozy as it first seemed to be. Blood Moons that rouse the dead from their graves. Goblin armies trying to destroy everything in their wake. Vast and dark cave systems, filled with odd creatures and various dangers. Ancient ruins, teeming with the restless dead and evil spirits. Pockets of decaying land, thriving with misshapen monstrosities. It's really fun to explore and discover something new about the world of Terraria. See More

Top Con

Progress can feel slow

Quite often you'll have to collect tons of materials to craft the necessary tools, equipment, and boss summoning items to advance. This can take a really long time, especially if you're unlucky with the items dropped by mobs. See More

Specs

Genre:2D platformer / Minecraft-like

Co-Op:8 Player Online / 8 Player LAN

Controller Support:Android (MOGA / HID), Steam (Full)

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Playing with friends allows for endless scenarios

Up to 8 players can join any Terraria world. You can progress through the game normally, build a race course and compete in it, or split into factions and wage war against each other. The scenarios are endless, you just have to let loose your creativity. See More

Top Con

Low replay value for those who play it as an adventure game

Terraria is a sandbox platform-adventure game, so it partly hinges on beating various bosses. If you play it purely for the sake of defeating all the bosses, you might have little else to do afterwards. Restarting the game won't be as enjoyable either because you'll already know what to expect, causing continued play without a new goal feel mundane or boring. See More

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Fun combat

It starts out simple, with you whacking away at slow moving zombies and flying eyes, gradually shifting to more fierce and fearsome enemies such as flying demons, agile lizardmen, and many more. To survive you'll have to be always on the move, dodge enemy attacks, and be accurate when you retaliate. There are also plenty of weapons to choose from. Melee weapons such as swords, hammers, lances, and flails. Ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, rifles, and miniguns. And various items that allow you to cast spells. Whatever you choose, it feels great to destroy hordes of enemies. See More

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Lots of community servers, tutorials, and streams

Terraria has a large community of players on every platform including mobile, desktop, and console. Because of this, there are many servers to play on, as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. Finding content or help getting started is quite easy. See More

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Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pace

Terraria has all kinds of tools and materials you can use to build whatever you can imagine. From housing, to furniture, to weapons, to types of structure, the possibilities are almost endless. This is great for children who enjoy building and problem solving, and for adults who enjoy the same. It also makes for a great objective-less game, where you can do just about anything you want at your own pace. See More

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MineCraft PS4 Edition

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Great creativity tool

If you prefer building, creative mode is the way to go. It immediately gives you unlimited blocks, the ability to fly, and immortality. This allows you to easily build anything you want without worrying about height or enemies. Things like giant castles, villages, roller coasters, and even unique builds such as the Enterprise from Star Trek. You can really let your creativity loose. See More

Top Con

Limited amount of players on a server

There can only be 8 players on a server and 16 during battle mode. This might be disappointing for players coming from the PC version where you could have thousands of players on a single server. See More

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Randomly generated worlds and distinct locations keep the gameplay fresh

Each new world is randomly generated, making for a different experience every time. There can be plains, rivers, beaches, ravines, giant mountains, hidden villages, and a lot more. There are also 38 biomes, which includes snow, desert, forest, swamp among others. Each one has its own set of unique blocks, plant life, and creatures. You won't get tired of exploring above ground or underground because every location will seem new and exciting. See More

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Local multiplayer option for when there is no internet

Minecraft can be played by 4 players locally via splitscreen. This makes it a great way spend time with your friends and family when you don't have access to the internet. See More

Just Cause 3

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Massive open world

The total area of JC3 is 400 square miles (1,000 km2), which makes its world one of the largest in gaming. You can explore rural settlements, military bases, grassy plains, dense forests, damp subterranean caverns, and even snowy mountains. There's so much to explore it almost never feels like there's an end to it. See More

Top Con

Story missions feel tedious

Just Cause 3 severely lacks story mission variety, having mostly tower defense and escort missions that start getting really repetitive after a while. As a result, you might find yourself hoping a story mission ends sooner, so you can get back to the free-roam and destroy-at- your-own-leisure aspect. See More

Specs

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Entertaining over-the-top action

Just Cause 3 is all about going crazy in its open world environment. To help with this, your character has a wide variety of weapons, including assault rifles, rocket launchers, and even a limitless supply of C4 explosives. You can stand on top of a plane as it flies over an enemy base and rain down fire and death down on it with your RPG. Or you can attach a C4 charge to everything you see, and watch the world's most colorful fireworks simulator. You even have a grapple gun that allows you to perform various hilarious shenanigans. This includes connecting two helicopters with a rope, causing them to spin out and tangle into a massive explosion. Whatever you decide to do, it's guaranteed to be over-the-top action goodness. See More

Top Con

Poorly optimized

Sometimes you might get sudden fps drops, even when there's practically nothing happening on screen. It can make playing the game very difficult, which is especially annoying during very intense moments. See More

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A really fun way of getting around

To explore have a wide selection of vehicles available to you, including bikes, sports cars, tanks, helicopters, and airplanes. However, all of the vehicles combined are nowhere near as fun as the combination of your grapple gun, wingsuit, and parachute. This combination gives you one of the most fun open-world traversal methods to date. You use the wingsuit for gliding, the parachute for gaining height and accurate steering while the grappling hook helps you latch onto various vehicles such as helicopters. It takes a while to get used to, but once you do, you'll probably not look back at regular vehicles. See More

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

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Great variety of playable classes

You can choose from 10 characters on each side (total of 20) to find the ones that suit your preference, or to explore new, unfamiliar aspects of the gameplay. As an example, there is Sledge who uses a hammer to break through walls, Flash who can blind the enemy with flash bombs, and Frost who can set up traps to neutralize enemies. Having such a wide variety of classes not only adds depth to the gameplay, but also keeps it interesting for a long time. See More

Top Con

Lacks single-player content

Rainbow Six Siege is mostly about competitive multiplayer, so it doesn't have a single player campaign, any meaningful storylines, or stuff do alone. If you don't enjoy playing versus other players, Rainbow Six Siege is not the game for you. See More

Specs

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Destructible environments make for a lot of fun

Even though you can't raze buildings to the ground, you can make considerable amounts of structural damage to them. You can destroy walls, floors, and various other objects in the environment using gunfire, explosions, or by just slamming something with your weapon. This is a lot of fun, especially when you're new to this game since everything will seem so amazing. See More

Top Con

Ranked play can be discouraging

Not only does Rainbow Six Siege have a very steep learning curve, requiring you to learn map layouts, classes, weapons, and various gadgets, it also has a pretty volatile and demanding community. Even though you can play in ranked matches when you reach level 20, you'll probably get your butt kicked and get promptly flamed by your teammates. This is mostly because of the expectation that you should know everything about the game before you play ranked matches, which is only around the level 60 mark. If you happen to make the mistake of trying them before then, it might leave you with a bad memory that prevents you from wanting to try ranked play again. See More

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Excellent slow-paced gameplay

Rainbow Six Siege is unlike most modern FPS games. Instead of a super fast, twitch-based gameplay, it focuses on a very slow, methodical, and tactical approach to combat. You'll carefully navigate a building, peeking around every corner, using gadgets to scout out rooms, rappelling on walls, and listening to every sound around you. It's less about just shooting first and more about finding the enemy while staying hidden yourself, which is a refreshing change in the over saturated competitive FPS genre. See More

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Rival teams have unique objectives and strategies

Rainbow Six Siege makes players' experience truly unique and engaging by giving both teams different perspective, tools, and objectives. Defenders have to hold their ground against enemy who can burst through walls at any moment. They can fortify the base using barricades and barbed wire, reinforcing doors and windows. The Attackers have to strategize, find the weakest spot in opponent's defence. See More

Far Cry 5

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Your teammates have cool specialties to help you with missions

You get to choose which of your teammates to bring along for missions, each with their own different specialties. You have regular human teammates who have their own weapons like stealthy bows and arrows or powerful rocket launchers, but then you also have three animals to choose from. There's a dog that runs ahead and marks enemies for you, a cougar that takes down enemies with stealth kills, and a huge bear that tears at anything in its path. If you want to take a certain approach for a mission, your teammate's specialty can help you out. See More

Top Con

The story is unfocused

Gameplay comes first in Far Cry 5 at the cost of a story that doesn't have much direction. The plot is disjointed because of how scattered the missions are in between your open world shenanigans. This might not be a problem for players who care more about gameplay, but anyone else who wants a meaty, polished story will probably be disappointed. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-Adventure, First-Person Shooter

Co-Op:Two-Player Online

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You can explore however you want while still making story progress

You have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want while still making progress with the story as you go. You're part of the Resistance against the game's violent cult, so you get what are called resistance points every time you take out one of their bases, kill a group you find out in the open, or just disrupt their operations in any way you can. Once you get enough points, that triggers the next boss in the story. This means can go wherever you want on the map right from the start without worrying about "falling behind" with the main plot. It's a cool system that really puts the open world gameplay first. See More

Top Con

Your character is only an avatar without much presence

You can choose whether to have a male or female character, and you'll get to customize their clothes, but that's about everything you can do to make them feel like someone. Other characters just call you Deputy while they do all the talking, like filling you in on plot details and reacting to the story's events. You're very removed from the plot without getting to make any real decisions, like you're only along for the ride more than anything. See More

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Chaotic and destructive gameplay

The gameplay in Far Cry 5 is filled with firefights and tons of chaos everywhere. You have all types of guns, vehicles, and explosives that you can use in any situation, and so do your enemies, meaning every fight has bullets flying everywhere and explosions going off all over the place. You can do things like shooting down enemy helicopters and blowing up enemy bases whenever you want. Seeing the destruction everywhere you go is a lot of fun. See More

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Unique open world setting in rural America

The fictional location of Hope County, Montana in rural America is a new type of setting that looks realistic and works well for the game. It's a modern version of Montana with people who look like real residents of the area, and a bunch of small, shoddy buildings everywhere that are spread out across farmlands and forests. Not many games are set in these types of places, making this setting a breath of fresh air. See More

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You can co-op the whole campaign with a friend

You can bring a friend along with you for the single-player campaign through co-op. It's a great way to have fun with a friend if you don't want to play a dedicated multiplayer game. Just note your progress will only be saved to the host's playthrough, so the guest won't be able to continue alone from where the two of you left off. See More

Titanfall 2

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Gameplay makes you feel like a badass

The fast, fluid and powerful style of FPS gameplay makes you feel like you're taking on the entire army yourself. It's not just that you can kill a lot of people quickly, but the movement is so fast and dynamic you can simply out-maneuver everything. It's parkour meets Call of Duty with really fun weapons and abilities. See More

Top Con

The single-player campaign is short

The whole story is only about five hours long. Even though the plot itself is good, the short length takes away from the enjoyment. What's here has plenty of potential for the devs to build upon for a possible sequel in the future. See More

Specs

Genre:First-Person Shooter

Co-Op:6-8 Player Online

Top Pro

Great singleplayer campaign

Titanfall 2 comes with a single-player story campaign that also acts as a warm-up for the multiplayer component. Whilst the campaign is short, it's a quality narrative with a great main protagonist and supporting characters. The voice acting is strong and the cutscenes are a spectacle to watch. For those who played the first Titanfall and were disappointed by the story, you can look forward to a much better one this time around. See More

Top Con

Story mode is too easy

The campaign is too easy. If you're a fan of shooters, especially, you won't find much of a challenge here unless you play on the hardest setting. But for players who are new to the genre, you might not notice too much. See More

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You can use powerful mechs called Titans for their added defense and high-powered weapons

Aside from playing as a regular infantry soldier, there are also huge mechs on the battlefield, known as Titans, that you can control. As soon as a player gets in the cockpit, that's when you know that the tides are about to turn. Titans are big enough to act as tanks for your allies, soaking up damage and dealing a ton more with their specialized guns, giving your team a huge advantage just by having one with you. But they're not all-powerful, since a normal soldier can get on a Titan's back to dismantle it and take it down, even though it won't be easy. Titans are strong without being overpowered, turning battles into power plays to see who can take out the enemy team's mechs the fastest. See More

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Jetpacks and wall-running let you move around more freely

While playing as a regular soldier, you have great mobility with jetpacks that allow you to run on walls. Maps are designed with verticality in mind, giving players options to use their jetpacks to climb above the opposition for a better vantage point. It also gives you a leg up when facing against a Titan, since you can always run along a nearby wall to get on top of the mech to take it down. This helps to make sure than infantry soldiers aren't just weak fodder for Titans to take out, with their speed and parkour abilities as their main advantages. See More

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Thrilling first-person shooter gameplay

Titanfall 2 is a great team-based FPS game with well-designed gunplay. Running and gunning with your team of six friends or online players is fast-paced, with tons of destruction on the battlefield all around you. You rely on twitch reflexes to gun down enemies as soon as you see one rounding a corner, or to react in time to someone shooting at you and taking you by surprise. Everything feels balanced in a way that's well thought-out, leading to frantic and intense multiplayer matches. See More

Fortnite

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Different combat classes to master

The hordes of enemies can be challenging to mow down in order to reach objectives around the map while defending your base, and that's where the different combat styles come in to make things easier. Mastering the different classes will give you an edge, like the constructors can quickly build a shield to defend your base from a sudden horde of enemies, and the ninja's boosted mobility and deadly melee attacks. See More

Top Con

Progression is convoluted and grindy

There's a lot to upgrade, such as weapons, traps, your base, and much more. These unlocks are gated behind other progression trees that use an entirely different form of experience currency, mixing everything together in a hodgepodge of systems and menus that don't mesh well together. After a certain point, gaining rewards after unlocking upgrades results in fewer returns for the amount of time it takes to reach the next progression goal. Lootbox availability becomes scarce after a while, slowing progress to a crawl. See More

Specs

Genre:Survival, Battle Royale, Co-Op, Sandbox, Third-Person Shooter

Co-Op:4 Player Online

Top Pro

Fort building is simple, but with plenty of depth

While all the building and demolition options the controls might look complicated at first sight, you'll soon notice that the building itself is quite basic since there are only four major blocks you can use. Using these four major blocks in different combinations opens up many possibilities for all sorts of forts to build. Players can choose to keep things quick and easy with simple bridges in the air to traverse from point to point, or they can go much more in-depth to build impressive fortresses to defend from enemy attacks. You can keep expanding on what you build, growing it over time with stronger walls or scattering traps to cover your blind spots. See More

Top Pro

Free battle royale mode

The battle royale mode of the game is available for free, capitalizing on the latest surge of the genre's popularity. In Fortnite's battle royale mode, players have unlimited freedom to build their own bases and explore while defending themselves from other players or actively hunting them down. See More

Yakuza 0

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Very addictive mini-games

In most titles the mini-games are poorly done, but Yakuza's developers put a lot more effort in them. As a result, they're a great way to spend time. There's dancing, fishing, baseball, playing arcade games, slot car racing, and many more. Going to the karaoke is especially awesome. It starts out with your character just trying to sing and turns into something similar to a music video. See More

Top Con

Minor graphical issues

You'll occasionally notice screen tearing and texture pop-ins when running around the town. This doesn't affect the gameplay in any way, but can be annoying. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Immersive world

Most open world games tend to have large empty locations, making you feel like they're there just to make you travel longer. The Yakuza series tries to solves this by making smaller, but more densely packed areas. The environments are very detailed. There's loads of pedestrians everywhere. The streets are filled with food stalls and neon signs. Most of the locations are memorable enough that you'll soon be using landmarks for navigation instead of the minimap. All of this makes the world feel alive and fun to be in. See More

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Exciting street brawls

Even though combat in Yakuza 0 is quite simple it's also a lot of fun. It usually starts with punks looking for trouble and you stepping up to teach them a lesson. You'll be throwing punches, kicks and various objects near you such as bikes or trash cans. Each move you land has a great impact behind it, making it all the more satisfying. See More

Yakuza Kiwami

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New cutscenes add more depth to the main antagonist

In the original Yakuza 1, Nishiki's change from Kiryu's best friend to a cold-hearted villain didn't feel natural, but new scenes in Yakuza Kiwami flesh out this transformation. The cutscenes give more context and background on why Nishiki made such a drastic change, portraying him in a sympathetic light that helps the player understand him more. It helps a lot to see his sorrows and his struggles against his own subordinates in the yakuza who disrespect him, as well as his resentment toward his superiors who think he'll never live up to Kiryu. See More

Top Con

Majima Everywhere system is annoying

The Majima Everywhere system features the fan favorite character Goro Majima who sneaks up on Kiryu around the city and challenges him to random fights. It's an amusing idea at first, with Majima hiding in giant cones or manholes and popping out to surprise the player. But sometimes these encounters are too frequent, and they can go on for too long as Majima gains more health. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Compelling story

Yakuza Kiwami tells the story of Kiryu getting dismissed from the yakuza, only to get swept right back into their world once his loved ones are in trouble. As he tries to find out what happened to his love interest, Yumi, he meets Haruka, and learns to care for her as if she were his own daughter. While protecting Haruka from the yakuza who target her, Kiryu discovers more about how she and Yumi are both connected to a larger crime of ten billion yen that's gone missing from the crime syndicate, all the while his best friend Nishiki pulls strings from the shadows. Overall, the story leans successfully on its memorable characters and Kiryu's attachments to them. Finding out what happened to the missing ten billion yen also includes figuring out why Nishiki went down such a dark path, finding Yumi, and keeping Haruka safe. It's compelling to play through the game and discover these answers while also getting to know the characters more along the way. See More

Top Con

Boss battles are cheap

Getting stunlocked during boss battles is all too common in Yakuza Kiwami, like when the enemy uses a weapon to constantly hit you over and over. There's also an infamous battle against two gang leaders who enjoy knocking Kiryu to the ground again and again, leaving little room for recovering or dodging. Even if you love the game's story, these annoying fights could be a deal-breaker, especially on harder difficulties. See More

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Memorable cast of characters

You'll encounter a diverse batch of characters in Yakuza Kiwami, like Kiryu's childhood friend Nishiki who goes down a dark path that changes him, creating an intriguing drama throughout the story. There's also Haruka, a determined young girl who is looking for her mother, and ends up forming a strong bond with Kiryu as he tries to protect her from the yakuza who want to harm her. Goro Majima, one of the antagonists, is a foil to Kiryu in how wild and unhinged he is, often throwing a wrench into the game's story with his over-the-top antics when you least expect them, such as driving a truck straight through a building. It's easy to grow attached to the cast in Yakuza Kiwami and want to follow their stories throughout the rest of the games in the series. For players who jumped into the franchise with Yakuza 0, they'll have even more backstory on these characters and their struggles in this installment. See More

Top Con

Graphics aren't impressive

Yakuza Kiwami looks like it could have been a PS3 game with weak textures, stiff character animations outside of cutscenes, and too many repeat copies of NPCs around the city. Invisible walls also block off the city's boundaries. Thankfully the characters and facial animations look great during story scenes, helping to make up for the poor visuals elsewhere. See More

Top Pro

Great amount of side content

In between story missions, Kiryu is mostly free to run around the city and engage in optional side quests or mini games. Side quests in Yakuza Kiwami mostly deal with various shady characters trying to scam Kiryu out of his money, like a supposed loan collector who calls his cell phone and demands that he pay up or get beaten up, and a thuggish guy collecting toll money on a street and also threatening to fight Kiryu if he doesn't pay. Mini games can be found in the SEGA arcades, like the classic UFO catcher, or elsewhere at the mahjong parlor, the shogi building, the karaoke parlor and much more. See More

Yakuza Kiwami 2

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Mature crime drama with a strong main villain

The story in Yakuza Kiwami 2 is one of the best in the franchise. It starts off with a flashback to the 1980s where the Korean mafia gets wiped out, and a policeman arrives on the scene, helping the dead leader's wife with a young child. That type of humanity shows itself throughout the plot, where the villains and the protagonists are never quite black and white. This shows itself again when the protagonist Kiryu gets taken into protective custody by a fiery Osakan cop named Kaoru, who hates the yakuza, but eventually falls for Kiryu as she gets to know him. The powerful and charismatic villain, Ryuji Goda, also acts as a perfect foil to the honorable and stoic Kiryu, with their fights testing the strength of will between rivals. Learning about Ryuji's and Kaoru's motivations and discovering the true details of what happened with the Korean mafia gives the plot plenty of twists and turns. See More

Top Con

Feels soulless compared to the original Yakuza 2

Yakuza Kiwami 2 has a nice, shiny coat of paint for modern audiences, but it lost something from the original game during the remake. The tangible dark and shady atmosphere from the PlayStation 2 version isn't here, replaced with a soulless, sterile purity. Losing the old soundtrack with the hard-hitting rock and trip-hop tracks in favor of electronica music is another negative. While it's great that new players get to experience Yakuza 2 for the first time, longtime Yakuza vets may miss out on a lot of nostalgia, preferring to stick with the original game. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Beat 'em Up

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza Kiwami 2 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. Each punch and kick you throw out builds up a certain gauge for you to pull off special moves, and you can use items in your environment as weapons against your opponents in punishing ways. You can hear your opponent's bones crushing as you smash your fist or foot into them, with successive hits building your heat gauge over time. Once your heat gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. The combat here is intense, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

Top Con

Too many melodramatic story twists and events in the finale

The story is mostly pretty good up until the end where things fall apart. Way too many reveals happen here with the villains, padding the finale with cutscenes filled with people talking and talking, giving away their true motivations, and taking forever to get to the point. The added melodrama surrounding the events during the final chapter is also way too much, like a bad, hokey Hollywood movie, pulling you out of any suspension of disbelief you might have still had left. The writers could have done with some serious editing here to keep things in line. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan

Yakuza Kiwami 2 takes place in the districts of Kamurocho and Sotenbori, both of which are painstaking recreations of the actual Kabukicho and Dotenbori districts in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively. They're not huge locations, but they're packed with details that make them seem much larger. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho and Sotenbori are filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. The districts are realistic enough that they make you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Con

Cut content from Yakuza 2

While Yakuza Kiwami 2 added content, like Kiryu managing a cabaret club, and fan favorite Goro Majima getting his own short playable campaign, there's also content that's missing. An entire area connected to Sotenbori is gone, with the story events there relocated and jumbled around. The substories from that cut area are gone as well. It's unclear why the devs made these cuts, but they take away from the game for longtime fans of the series. See More

Top Pro

Tons of side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza Kiwami 2, with plenty of quality and polish to keep you entertained for hours. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. There are dozens of side quests, some of which land Kiryu in hilarious and wacky situations that never seem too far-fetched. And there are a bunch of other mini-games, like singing karaoke, bowling, golf, gambling at mahjong, "watching" racy videos, managing a cabaret club, and many more. It's hard to get bored with Yakuza Kiwami 2's plethora of side content. See More

Top Con

Noticeable animation issues during combat

Even though the Dragon Engine significantly improves the graphics over the original Yakuza 2, the wonky combat animations are signs that the engine is still a work-in-progress. During combat, when you knock characters down or get knocked down yourself, there are a lot of weird ragdoll animations. Characters crumple to the ground or flail about in ways that look lazy and unfinished. The Dragon Engine is beautiful for serious story moments and the open world, though it really needs some more work and polish during the battle segments. See More

Top Pro

Incredible English localization

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is fully voiced in Japanese with an amazing English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Con

Annoying cliches with the love story

Kiryu and Kaoru's love story is nice for the most part, but it's really predictable. If you're seen any typical romance movie or read a romance novel, you will more than likely know how the two fall for each other. The love story doesn't change the overall plot in any meaningful way or add to it, either; it's just there for entertainment. See More

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

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Nuanced and thought-provoking story about the bonds of family

Yakuza 6's subtitle, The Song of Life, is a clever thematic reference to the ways that the story explores the meaning of family in non-traditional ways. The main protagonist Kiryu doesn't have any living relatives, yet his father-daughter bond with the young woman named Haruka is a mainstay of the story and the series. In Yakuza 6, Haruka finds herself caught up in the middle of a yakuza war, and Kiryu is determined to protect her no matter the cost. Kiryu also struggles to come to grips with the decisions Haruka makes and the circumstances she finds herself in, prompting the player to wonder how they might react if their own daughter were in a similar situation. He also forms strong familial bonds with his yakuza brothers who fight for him and for Haruka, showing that the underworld syndicate isn't just about crime and intrigue, but also about finding a family among other outcasts of society. Seeing the lengths Kiryu will go to protect his family is a moving experience that almost anyone can find strength in. See More

Top Con

Noticeable animation issues with faces and combat

Even though the Dragon Engine significantly improves the graphics, the stiff facial animations and wonky combat animations are signs that the engine is still a work-in-progress. When characters speak during normal conversations, their mouths and jaws often don't move enough, making them look lifeless and robotic. It's not like this during dedicated CGI cutscenes where characters are much more expressive, but the difference is pretty noticeable. During combat, when you knock characters down or get knocked down yourself, there are a lot of weird ragdoll animations. Characters will crumple to the ground or flail about in ways that look lazy and unfinished. The Dragon Engine is beautiful for serious story moments and the open world, though it really needs some more work and polish in other areas. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure, Action RPG, Beat 'Em Up

Top Pro

Incredible English localization

Yakuza 6 is fully voiced in Japanese with an amazing English localization for Western audiences. The localization team did more than simply translate the game -- they made sure everything is relevant for a non-Japanese audience to understand and relate with. Since there's no option for English voices, the subtitles do a great job at bringing the game to life for those who don't know Japanese but still want to appreciate the culture and support the Yakuza series. See More

Top Con

Disappointing ending for Kiryu's final sendoff

Because this is Kiryu's final game in the series as the main protagonist, it's both disappointing and heart-breaking that he doesn't get the proper sendoff he deserves. All of the plot points are resolved by the end and wrapped up with finality, and yet this comes at the cost of Kiryu not getting proper closure. The writers should have gone a different route to give both Kiryu and Yakuza fans a more satisfying ending, because what's here is far too crippling to be an acceptable end to the Dragon of Dojima's saga. See More

Top Pro

Dense and realistic open world set in Japan

Yakuza 6 takes place in two very different districts, Kamurocho and Onomichi, both of which are painstaking recreations of actual locations in Japan for you to explore. Neither of the locations are all that big, yet they're still packed with details that make the districts seem much larger than they actually are. Gleaming with city lights and brimming with people, Kamurocho is the red light district of Tokyo, filled with all types of restaurants with various cuisines, stores for you to shop at, and places for entertainment and mini-games. By contrast, the sleepy seafaring town of Onomichi is set in Hiroshima, with activities like spearfishing and drawing fortunes at the temple, peaceful venues for sightseeing, and nice touches like statues scattered around town that are engraved with thoughtful poetry. While the districts themselves aren't necessarily huge, they're so realistic that they make you feel like you're actually there. See More

Top Con

Most of the beloved characters from the series are absent

Longtime Yakuza fans may be disappointed to find that most of the characters that they know and love are largely absent from the story. These characters are the backbone of the series that's been around since the mid-2000s, so it's bizarre to not see them feature for Kiryu's final game. If you're a newcomer to the series, this won't be much of a problem for you, and actually makes the story easier for you to follow since there are mostly brand-new characters here. However, dedicated Yakuza fans will more than likely miss seeing the old gang around, possibly souring their experience with the game. See More

Top Pro

Improved graphics from the previous games

The jump in graphics from Yakuza 5 on the PlayStation 3 to Yakuza 6 on the PlayStation 4 is astounding, giving characters and locations more vibrant details than they had before. Kiryu in particular looks great, with just enough wrinkles on his face to show his age, along with protruding muscles and veins running down his arms that make him true-to life. The game's two main districts are also incredibly detailed, with Kamurocho's neon lights and bustling city life, and Onomichi's romantic view of the sea and cloudless skies at night. It's a stark contrast to the bland environmental textures and less-detailed character models from the previous games. The Dragon Engine improves on the graphical fidelity, making everything look incredible for the current generation. See More

Top Pro

Accessible for newcomers to the Yakuza series

With a cast of mostly brand new characters, a story that stands on its own, and helpful resources to help you get caught up on the previous games, Yakuza 6 is a fine entry for newcomers to the series. Other than Kiryu and Haruka, a large majority of the cast are introduced in this game, making the story self-contained with no need to know what happened before Yakuza 6. You won't feel the full emotional impact surrounding Kiryu and Haruka, but the story is written in a way to help you still care about what happens between them. The main menu also has brief recaps of the events from the first five Yakuza games, meaning you won't have to search around online to find them. If you've just recently become a fan of the series, or you're thinking about jumping in, this is a good place to start. See More

Top Pro

Tons of high-quality side content

There's so much to do in between story missions in Yakuza 6, with plenty of quality and polish to keep you entertained for hours. All of the mini-games and side quests almost have a life of their own with plenty of variety and detail. For the mini-games, you can play old SEGA arcade games like Fantasy Zone and Out Run, sing karaoke songs, have drinks and flirt with beautiful women at a hostess club, play full games of baseball, have a sexy video chat at an internet cafe, work out at a gym, and so much more. As one of the standout mini-games, working out at the gym pairs you with a personal trainer who guides you through workouts and a meal program. The video chats are pretty realistic too, with actual video footage of real-life women stripping for you and other people in chat who have hilarious X-rated usernames. The side quests are wacky and unique, standing out from the more serious main story missions. While wandering around Onomichi's graveyard, you'll get attacked by ghosts that you have to fend off, branching off into more mini stories from there. If you explore Kamurocho's buildings, you'll find a niche cafe that the owner wants to populate with cats for customers to hang out with, so it's your job to find stray cats and feed them, and then get them over to the cafe. There's also an optional Clan Creator game with its own storyline, where Kiryu assembles a band of specialized fighters for his own clan, with detailed strategic play similar to a real-time strategy game. With so much variety, it's hard to get bored with Yakuza 6's plethora side content that could take up an entirely separate game See More

Top Pro

Brutal and entertaining brawler combat

The beat 'em up fights in Yakuza 6 are brutal, with impressive up-close-and-personal cinematics that make the fights a lot of fun. Each punch and kick you throw out builds up a certain gauge for you to pull off special moves, and you can use items in your environment as weapons against your opponents in punishing ways. You can hear your opponent's bones crushing as you smash your fist or foot into them, with successive hits building your heat gauge over time. Once your heat gauge is full, you can use a special move against an enemy with a nearby trash can, bike, crowbar, or anything else you can pick up, showing a neat cinematic straight out of an action movie as you smash your makeshift weapon into your attacker. Or you can choose to enter Extreme Heat Mode where your body glows with a cool blue aura as you throw out a flurry of swinging punches, culminating into a close-up where you can mash a button prompt as you break your fist through your enemy's jaw. The combat here is intense, making you feel powerful while keeping your interest at the same time. See More

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