The game features a new graphics engine, unlike previous games in the series that have been re-utilizing the same engine since Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!. For the first time in the series, it features five settings across Japan along with five playable main characters. Yakuza 5 was followed up by the spinoff Yakuza Ishin and the prequel installment Yakuza 0 in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

This way of survival makes the blood of men start to stir!

The game for the third time using a multi-protagonist system (the second time is the gaiden of the end), there are five protagonists, by Kiryu Kazuma when the beginning as the first chapter, Saejima Okawa for the second chapter, Sawamura Yao when the third before the beginning (also the first time you can control the character), Akiyama Jun as the third after the beginning, adding new people Pinta Tatsuo when the fourth beginning, and finally the five in one final chapter route, Sawamura Yao in operation with other The main character is different As this game spends money to enhance the system, the number of play points on the street is the largest of all generations of works. Combat and scene transitions are more fluid, and related operations have been improved. The final development time invested in this work is twice that of the series so far. So in the later works related to some combat materials and other materials are to take 5 generations of this side of the reference with, and even the future 2017 launch of the remake version of the Dragon Pole 2 of the body is to take 5 generations as the basis for improvement, so at the time Dragon 5 is a masterpiece.

In April 2010, the dispute between the yakuza organization "East City Association" and "Ueno Seiwaikai" triggered a series of events, for their respective paths and beliefs, as well as a young girl's "dream", decided to enter the vortex of the war again, to uncover the conspiracy of the five major cities in the country as the stage...

The gameplay is relatively similar to previous games in the series, with a few changes. Similar to past games, the gameplay is divided into two components: Adventure Mode and Combat Mode. Adventure Mode allows players to explore different areas and participate in activities including mini-games and retro games such as Virtua Fighter 2 and Taiko No Tatsujin. The cities are also significantly bigger than previous games, providing more areas to explore in the game, and are said to feature the greatest volume of play spots across cities in the series' history. The change between the game's Adventure Mode and Combat Mode is also said to be more seamless than previous games, which involved a transitional change when encountering enemies whilst in adventure mode. Controls for the game have also been said to have been improved "dramatically" as with the tempo of the game's combat mode.