Look, I’ve never really spent a lot of time doing the minigames in Yakuza games. They can be a fun distraction, but to me, that’s all they are: a distraction. However, I acknowledge that Yakuza fans REALLY love their distractions, and so they cherish each and every minigame that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio manages to cram into each and every Yakuza title.
Those are the fans that are most disappointed by the decision to take the pachinko minigames out of the remastered versions of Yakuza 4 and 5 that just recently made it to PC. Both games are completely devoid of their pachinko minigames and their associated completionist list requirements. This is especially strange considering the console versions of the remaster still include the pachinko minigame.
So what gives? Well, ResetEra users have pointed out that Yakuza 7 didn’t include pachinko minigames on PC at launch either. Those were added as a separate free DLC in January for anyone who wanted them. It’s speculated that Sega did this to ensure that Yakuza 7 didn’t run afoul of any country’s anti-gambling laws by omitting pachinko machines from the base game.
This could be the same thing with Yakuza 4 and 5. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see an optional DLC come out later on that puts the pachinko machines back in.
If you still can't get enough Yakuza once you're done Yakuza 5, Yakuza-spinoff Judgment is headed to next-gen consoles and Google Stadia on April 23. The game will include all the DLC that was released for the original and feature a higher resolution, improved loading times, and 60fps playback.
Although Sega hasn't confirmed this yet, there might also be a Steam release of Judgment in store. We'll have to wait to find out, though.