Kiwami Means EXTREME: Yakuza Kiwami Review

Over a decade ago, Sega released the first game in what came to be one of the most interesting Japanese franchises that could fully encapsulate many of modern day Japan’s cultural “eccentricities” on the PS2. To celebrate 10 years of the franchise going strong, Sega rereleased the original Yakuza as Yakuza Kiwami, bringing the origins of the wildly popular beat ‘em up to modern consoles. As someone whose played bits and pieces of the Yakuza series throughout the years, it was good to play the first installment in a way that expanded and improved the series’ beginnings without making it an entirely new game.

Yakuza’s story opens with Kazuma Kiryu, a former member of the Tojo Clan with surprisingly noble views, getting released on parole from prison, trying to settle back into his life in Kamurocho, a fictionalized version of Tokyo’s Kabukichō district. Where the story goes from there is a mix of murder mystery, gang infighting for leadership, skeezy political deals, and shady underworld exploits centered around a missing ten billion yen and a little girl who may hold the key to it all. Plus there’s the rivalry between Kiryu and his old childhood friend turned fellow yakuza turned “guy who definitely wants to kill you” Nishikiyama as a backdrop to all these events. It’s a bit crazy, but presented in a non-confusing fashion, where plot twists feel genuinely thought out instead of just thrown in

Speaking of presentation, the PS4 version of Kiwami (the PS3 version remains a Japanese exclusive) looks, feels, and sounds better than ever. The game was redone almost completely, with new HD art assets, redone voice overs, and runs at 1080p/60 fps. While the audio is Japanese only, the subtitles feel fresh and like the localization team put care and love into them, doing their best to preserve the very Japanese-ness of the game while throwing in enough American slang and colloquialisms that nothing feels “too foreign” for those worried about not getting a joke or phrase. Kiryu’s permascowl has never looked so good, nor his pores so upsettingly detailed before. The remake also includes additional cutscenes, expanding upon how characters like Nishikiyama got to where they are in the years Kiryu spent in the slammer. If you played the original release, these cutscenes are a welcome addition to clear up some of the more vaguely presented story elements.

General gameplay has you exploring Kamurocho, fighting your way through the city’s underbelly. With Kiwami, there are now 4 main fighting styles (Brawler, Beast, Rush, and Dragon) at the player’s disposal, and several skill trees to upgrade fighting prowess. Early on, the fights can feel sluggish and frustrating, showing the underlying game system’s age compared to modern brawlers. However, by end game the fights feel great, and the unlocked skills make each fighting type a joy to explore. Nothing like beating a street harasser with a motorcycle to make you feel good. There is a particularly frustrating story sequence involving a car chase, and nothing showed the game’s true age more than the middling mechanics to beat it. Still, the gameplay upgrades are a welcome refresh, more closely aligning with the newer iterations of the franchise. Other new features include additional game difficulties and modes after beating the game, the most appealing of which is the “Premium Adventure”, aka “Roam Kamurocho unfettered by story mode”.

When you’re not uncovering the truth of the missing ten billion yen, Yakuza has all sorts of things for you to do. There’s roaming thugs to fight, jerks harassing the locals to set straight, side stories to complete, restaurants and bars to eat and drink at, and minigames. Oh goodness, the minigames. To be honest, Sega put more love and care crafting the minigames and the general feel of Japanese amusements than some companies put into their main games. There’s pocket car racing, complete with customizing each and every part for the best racer on the circuit. There’s parlors for mahjong, shogi, and actual casino games, each playing like their real world counterparts. There’s batting cages. A bar  with darts and billiards that will teach you the real rules of those games. There’s a fun karaoke bar with a rhythm game. There’s hostess clubs to charm ladies at. There’s an underground fight club to become the champion at. There’s even Sega arcades, complete with crane games and a card based fighter of ladies in bug themed outfits known as MesuKing. And I’m sure I’m forgetting some. Each of these minigames has their side quests to conquest, and I put more hours into playing them than the main story it felt. A completion point system encourages you to explore Kamurocho though, offering useful items and special stat increases for doing these tasks.

Then there’s honestly the best Kiwami addition, Majima Everywhere. Goro Majima is a long time rival of Kiryu’s, and with him having spent 10 years in prison, he feels that he needs to help get Kiryu back up to speed to be a worthy opponent. The Majima Everywhere side quests make up a bulk of how to upgrade the Dragon skill tree, but don’t worry, true to the name, Majima is indeed everywhere. Dressed as a cop. Subbing in as a taxi driver. Disguised as a hostess whom you have to charm. Hiding under giant traffic cones and in manholes, waiting to spring on you. His fights are some of the harder throughout the game, and these side fights are no joke. Not only that, but some of the fights aren’t fights at all, and instead are minigame challenges you need to complete in order to obtain more powerful skills, sometimes halting whatever progress you were making in that minigame. It got to the point where hearing him call out KIRYU-CHAN was enough for to me to slightly panic and then double check my health to ensure I was ready for the ensuing fight.

Yakuza Kiwami is not flawless however. The aforementioned old gameplay mechanics still residing in the game were clunky at the original release, and even more so now. I experienced some weird screen tearing as I wandered about town, but that was more annoying than it was game breaking. The final fights, even at maxed out stats, are drawn out and obnoxious. While load times are blessedly much shorter than the initial release, there’s still enough of them to get on your nerves, especially when fighting roaming baddies in town. Some of the side quests and minigames are a slog to complete, even for the most ardent of players. Did I mention the facial pores were unsettling? They’re unsettling, the men are much too scarily detailed, especially with the women so smooth and dewy.

Truer words never spoken

Still, for a remake of a game that seems like it would have niche appeal, especially given how authentically Japanese it tries to stay, it is very much worth playing. An open-ish world brawler with a charm and style all its own, I can’t recommend Yakuza Kiwami enough. It plays well for the most part, it’s got an interesting story in a setting we don’t see often in big budget games, it has so very much for a player to do, and it wraps it all up in a package that doesn’t feel strange for a second. And can be obtained for under $30! I hope Sega brings the recently launched in Japan Yakuza Kiwami 2 to the US soon, and look forward to Yakuza 6’s release in March.

-Janette G

I both adore and fear this man. He is EVERYWHERE.

Story: B+
Graphics: A
Sound: A
Value: A+

OVERALL: A

Pros:
+Overhauled gameplay helps bring the classic title to the modern age
+So many things to do beyond the storyline
+Richly detailed and vibrant world really pulls you in

Cons:
-Occasional sluggish controls and other gameplay relics show the game’s age
-Japanese only voice acting might be an issue to some
-Majima being everywhere is mostly unavoidable, and can stall minigame progress

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