After years of fans demanding Yakuza's fifth instalment make it to Western shores, Sony gave in and released it... as a downloadable PS3-only title. Hopefully some day this will make it onto PS4 through backwards compatibility (upcoming Yakuza 6 and the remastered original are also coming in 2016), but for now just rejoice that another sequel in one of the most consistently successful franchises of all time is here. If you're unfamiliar with Yakuza overall - and thanks to the initial 'it's GTA in Japan' marketing spins that misrepresented it, you might be for all the wrong reasons - Y5 is a continuation of the brawler-meets-RPG gameplay that's made it such a massive hit overseas. Once again you're pulled into a ridiculously fun story of Metal Gear Solid proportions, with plot-twists coming every few minutes, characters revealing their true intentions and overarching motivations only becoming clear as the bigger picture comes into view. You'll see all this through the eyes of five playable characters, all getting stuck into the series' brutally iconic combat. Spines meet lampposts, feet meet faces and all sorts of random items get slammed into waves of enemies, the story rocketing forward as you explore five intricately designed fictional Japanese cities. Ironically, Yakuza is the 'GTA of the East', but only when it comes to cultural impact and sales figures over there - and it's high-time you found out why.
