Republished on Wednesday, August 10, 2022: Following the announcement of the PS Plus Extra, Premium lineup in August, I’m reviving this review from the archives. The original is below.
Coming out behind the fantastic Yakuza 0 that launched earlier this year – Yakuza: Kiwami feels too much like a quick and dirty narrative expansion. It’s got a definite sting, but it’s a hard observation to deny. .
Part of the reason is due to the fact that Kiwami is a complete remake of the first Yakuza game released in 2005. Originally his PlayStation 2 roots in storytelling, gameplay, or this design will come across some very rough edges during this latest trip to the Kamurocho red light district.
Developed with a decidedly low budget and/or small team, Kiwami is a baseline Yakuza experience and nothing more. Once again jumping into the shoes of real estate protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, running around the same old streets, beating up the same old thugs, and participating in the same old side activities. offers no surprises.
For those who remember playing the PS2 version, it’s clear that they aren’t expecting any surprises anyway, but additional cutscenes and dialogue are introduced to create a more coherent narrative. There are still some glaring plot holes dotted throughout the story, and generally speaking, the pacing, character development, and overall tone fall short of the standards we’re used to today when it comes to Yakuza. Hmm. Franchise. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a story beyond what most video games have to offer, but again, these last-minute origins of the last generation show up regularly.
The amount of boring story mission filler is a prime example of this. It’s rare for a Yakuza title to start off at a breakneck pace, but the first few hours of Kiwami were incredibly boring and disjointed, and I could barely make out what I was playing. One sees Kazu walking up and down the same two streets in Kamurocho looking for items stolen from him. No action, no voiced dialogue. The game gleefully sets itself on a wild goose chase that seems to go on forever. is.
If anything, Kiwami struck down on the fact that the entire series was in dire need of a revamp, and while Yakuza 0 felt relatable at first, it had great storytelling to fall back on. This is what this game lacks. So even if quirky side stories can make you smile, or bone-crushing combat can make you feel like you embody brutality, you’re left with an old and tired title.
Come to think of it, Kiwami borrows directly from 0 when it comes to action. Use Kaz’s three primary fighting styles (Brawler, Rush, and Beast) and reworked Skills to unlock the same moves and abilities again via his tree. Now, it turns out that you can’t do the biggest Kiryu blasts throughout the game, but if you’ve played 0 all the way through, the process of rebuilding Kazu’s awesomeness seems like a chore.
His legendary dragon style is also available here, but the road to unlocking its full potential is even more difficult than in previous releases. Running around Kamurocho, he comes into frequent contact with Goro Majima, a one-eyed madman who was his second playable character in 0. Infatuated with our hero, Mashima makes it his mission to help restore the hero’s military strength by challenging him. he into a street brawl. It’s a fun idea to add a little spice to the general traversal and exploration, even if the fight with Majima starts to get a bit repetitive later on.
The problem is that you have to kick Mashima countless times to fully awaken your dragon style. You have to complete several separate side activities that take time. Completionist definitely chews them all up, but it still fails to maximize its dragon-style potential until near the end of the game, making us wonder what the point is in the first place.
Conclusion
Yakuza Kiwami finds himself in a strange position. Technically a remake of a much better game sequel to Yakuza 0, it struggles to offer anything other than another compelling crime drama storyline. The poles described really show some age in terms of narrative structure and gameplay design, but it’s worth playing even if you can’t get enough of Kazu. It goes without saying that starting with Yakuza 0 is much better.
