PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PC
Many Yakuza games could find a place on this list, considering most take place around the winter holidays, but Yakuza 5 leans into that aspect of the setting and season the most. Christmas in Yakuza’s Japan is great, but we’re going to highlight one particular part of the game here: The Santa Hunters. Taking place in Chapter 4, when you get close to a certain hideout entrance you’re tasked with finding, you encounter a man on the ground dressed as Santa. You decide to help him by finding the Santa Hunters, a group of people who beat up Santas. It’s as comical and as Yakuza as it sounds. If you change into a Santa outfit as instructed to find the group, you learn that the Santa Hunters might be a group of children who want their presents early. Saejima yells at them that they’ll get their gifts on Christmas day, but that doesn’t do it, so he flees. After a short chase, Saejima runs into the real Santa Hunters – a group of criminals who enjoy beating up Santa Clauses because they don’t like the holiday. Essentially, you’ve found the Grinch(es) of the Yakuza universe. While Dr. Seuss’ famous story lets the Grinch run rampant and almost ruin the holiday, Seajima stops these Grinches right in their tracks with some roundhouse kicks and a couple of solid sucker punches. It’s what we all wanted to do to the Grinch the first time we heard the story, right?
