After willingly going to prison in the events of Yakuza 3, protagonist Kazuma Kiryu of Like A Dragon returns to Kamurocho hoping for a normal life with his foster children. Instead, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life opens with Kiryu returning to a city with unsavory forces in a rather wild goose chase to fill in the power vacuum, with his foster daughter Haruka now in hiding. To make things worse, not only does he discover that she has been hiding in Onomichi, Hiroshima, but she has a son named Haruto, and is currently unconscious after a hit and run.
Left in charge of the infant Haruto, Kiryu begins his quest for a new and peaceful life struggling to make ends meet and discovering the heritage of Haruka’s newborn. Unfortunately for the Yakuza 6 protagonist, his stay in Onomichi won’t be as peaceful as gangs and other unsavory criminal elements are also aware of his previous reputation. While these are all things Kiryu has to worry about for the short term, players need to help him with one thing first: making money. And thankfully for players, there are actually strategies to speed up the earning process.
Get A Head Start In New Serena
When players explore the huge open world of Yakuza 6 for the first time, it can get pretty overwhelming - especially when a lot of the buildings seem completely interactive as well. However, players in the game for a money speedrun might want to get to New Serena first, a bar in Kamurocho’s Tenkaichi street. This is usually a safe haven for Kiryu and his pals, with their hideout located in its back room.
By the time players explore this area, they’ll likely notice a mysterious safe on its rooftop. However, inside that safe is actually 1 million Yen, which can be a big deal, especially for players who want to use these funds to also help with their leveling-up progress. The code to access this cash in New Serena, which originally came from the Yakuza comics on the game’s website, is as follows: KP56VFA9MX2B7LH.
Boost Fortune Skills
As with the Yakuza trend of making RPG-esque gameplay in its modern setting, Yakuza 6 playthroughs do offer ways for players to raise Kiryu to have a lot of luck with money. As players may notice, the game can be very generous when it comes to EXP and skill points depending on how they progress through the game. However, for players to max out Kiryu’s odds of getting more money from encounters, they need to tap into Boost Fortune. This Skill, found in the Other Skills tab, has a rather demanding Purple (Charm) stat requirement, but progressively boosts money found in encounters per level:
- Boost Fortune Lv.1 - 120 Purple EXP
- Boost Fortune Lv.2 - 180 Purple EXP
- Boost Fortune Lv.3 - 240 Purple EXP
- Boost Fortune Lv.4 - 300 Purple EXP
- Boost Fortune Max - 600 Purple EXP
Grab The Right Drink
Just like how people usually need coffee or even alcohol to get in a grinding mindset, Kiryu generally follows the same principle in Yakuza 6 combat gameplay. Depending on whether players can access a BOSS or Lucky Soda Vending Machine, the right kind of drink can boost not just Kiryu’s stats but especially his monetary gain.
Players looking to grind for money in particular may want to grab two (2) specific drinks depending on the Vending Machine closest to them. Fortunately for players, only Lucky Sodas have money-gain boosters, specifically from these drinks: Sengoku Coffee, Lucky Soda, and Mystery Drink #9. Drinking these prior to pursuing quests and other tasks may give players more money than expected.
Gear Up Properly
Despite being set in modern times, Yakuza 6 playthroughs typically play like RPG games, and Kiryu could be outfitted with various Yakuza 6 Gear that enhances his stats and help him perform better in combat. Such is the “modernization” of these Gear that Kiryu could also possess Gear that helps him earn more money, albeit indirectly.
This comes in the form of the Charismatic Photo, which Kiryu can obtain in Ebisu Pawn for 8,400 Yen. Aside from giving him a bonus +10 Heat, it also boosts his chances of having encounters. This means Kiryu has more chances of beating up crowds and therefore boosting his earning capacity. These encounters might not necessarily net huge sums on the get-go, but they still pile up to be a lot in the long term.
Breeze Through Clan Battles With The Right Gang
As soon as players hit Chapter 5 of the game, Kiryu gets thrust into yet another Yakuza 6 mini-game: Clan Battles. Here, players assemble a gang that eventually grows in numbers, with Kiryu being forced to prove their supremacy against the like likes of JUSTIS Clans. Players can participate in increasingly-difficult real-time strategy-esque matches where players watch their team duke it out against other Clans. On top of being a cool way of showing the “yakuza” side of the game, winning difficult Clan Battles and spamming them can net huge amounts of money. This is especially more so when players input codes that unlock powerful Clan Leaders and Characters that give them an edge in Clan Battles to earn money the fastest:
- Amon: 7R30M9ZDUH0MJIA1
- Daigo Dojima: the6thheadofTojo
- EVIL: 0Banshee0Muzzle0
- Goro Majima: T2OMQ7FM5KBJPOUR
- Hiroshi Tanahashi: MisterTokyoDome0
- KUSHIDA: TheSupernovaRana
- Katsuyori Shibata: shibataGotoSleep
- Kazuchika Okada: RainmakerMrOkada
- Kazuma Kiryu: S66X7BAQN4ECAEE9
- Koumei: BLACKPANTSKOUMEI
- Makoto Date: detectivemanDate
- Satsuki: mystrymansatsuki
- Tetsuya Naito: ELingobernable00
- Toru Yano: BinwanProducer00
- Yuji Nagata: NagataLockNagata
Master Spearfishing
One of the many mini-games players can encounter in Yakuza 6 gameplay would be Spearfishing, where Kiryu visits the docks in Onomichi and he’s outfitted with a spear gun and sent to the deep seas to catch fish. The mini-game in itself is similar to an on-rails shooter, where players aim at fish and various rewards in order to catch them. Tougher stages may feature rarer fishes, which nets higher rewards.
Players may want to pay attention to Dragon’s Den, the third and most difficult area of the available Spearfishing courses. Despite its difficulty, this course features the best rewards, so players may want to invest in getting through this area as fast as possible. While doing this still takes a bit of time compared to other mini-games like Clan Battles, Spearfishing still provides a reliable source of income for players.
Get Into Mahjong
Perhaps the hardest yet best way of earning money in Yakuza 6 gameplay would probably be playing Mahjong. And similar to how Yakuza often tries to mimic legitimate life experiences, Mahjong in Yakuza 6 completely follows the rules of the original game, complete with an in-game tournament between Kiryu and the NPCs. At its core, players should aim to compete in the Battle Royale in the Modern Mahjong Tournament, as winning this gives players 1 million Yen up top.
A general piece of advice here is to set Mahjong to a half-game format, and try to direct hit an opponent with a Mangan (>2,000 basic points) or a Haneman (>3,000 basic points), and then secure the win with a fast-paced Kuitan (open Tanyao) hands. And if players don’t have the right pieces with them, they can always reload their save!
Frequently Get In Fights
With Kiryu not being one to stay away from conflict, it’s natural for the Yakuza 6 protagonist to end up being in a couple of fights. However, players may actually want to consider knocking heads with other NPCs, especially since choosing the right opponents can regularly net high Yen for Kiryu in his playthrough.
In particular, players may want to fight Yakuza or Triad members as soon as they encounter them. Members of these gangs usually spawn in the same general location, with more Yakuza located in Onomichi compared to Kamurocho. Two (2) groups of Yakuza in particular spawn between National Route 2 and Hana-no-kubo and may drop as high as 75,000 Yen per encounter.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life was released for the PS4, PC, and Xbox One.