Adventure Mode allows players to explore different areas and participate in side activities including mini-games and retro games such as Virtua Fighter 2 and Taiko No Tatsujin.

There are also two returning protagonists from Yakuza 4, namely Shun Akiyama (Koichi Yamadera) and Taiga Saejima (Rikiya Koyama).

One of the new main protagonists is Haruka Sawamura (Rie Kugimiya), a recurring character of the series since the original game.

Nonethless, her gameplay incorporates mechanics similar to her combat-based counterparts, including a Heat gauge.

[8] According to general director Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer/writer Masayoshi Yokoyama, it would be like the "San Andreas" of the Like a Dragon series, as a "massive expansion on the core concept that takes the franchise to new heights.

Daigo Dojima (Satoshi Tokushige) leads delegations to negotiate with Yamagasa Family patriarch Tadashi Madarame (Kenji Utsumi).

Daigo then meets Kazuma Kiryu, who is working as a taxi driver under the alias Taichi Suzuki.

Kiryu meets detective Kazuhiko Serizawa (Eiji Okuda), who points out Omi Alliance Captain Masaru Watase (Rintarō Nishi) as a suspect.

Afterwards, Kiryu learns from Madarame that Daigo had gone into hiding in fear of Aoyama, who looks to start a conflict with the Yamagasa.

While making preparations for his return, Serizawa reveals that Goro Majima (Hidenari Ugaki) has died.

The deputy warden helps Saejima and his cellmate Shigeki Baba (Shunsuke Daito) escape.

They conclude Park's suicide note was forged, at the behest of Naoyuki Katsuya (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), CEO of Osaka Enterprises, a subsidiary of the Omi Alliance.

Former pro-baseball player Tatsuo Shinada is hired by a disguised Daigo to investigate a match-fixing scandal that led to his banishment from professional baseball in 1997.

Shinada investigates the scandal with Koichi Takasugi (Show Aikawa), his loan shark, and finds that his former manager, Fujita (Junpei Morita), is responsible for framing him, which led to the police investigation and subsequent expulsion of the local Tojo and Omi families.

They, along with Watase, reach Katsuya, who intends to lure out the actual mastermind, Serizawa who is revealed to be Chairman Kurosawa.

With Haruka's concert underway, Akiyama and Kiryu fend off Kurosawa's men while Shinada fights Baba.

[16][23] Hobby Consolas called it "one of the best games in the history of PS3" and "an incomparable piece of art that has everything: five main characters, five cities, an attractive script, lots of missions, a great combat system.

[24] GameSpot also liked the handling of her story due to how the character of Haruka has matured ever since her debut although the reviews had mixed opinions about her career.

[18] HobbyConsolas stated while idols might not be interesting to Western gamers, Haruka still offered more variety to the game.

[26] In Japan, approximately 21,047 physical units for PlayStation 4 were sold during its PS4 release launch week becoming the second best selling game of any format.