This one was interesting. The engine and general gameplay were definitely improved over 0, but it definitely had the soul of a PS2 game. The remaster improved models and textures and so on to PS3 standards, but didn’t make more major structural changes. So crowds were thin, some cutscenes had really empty backdrops, and so on. Still, the major setpieces were great.

General Thoughts#↑

The game opens with a Kiryu far stronger than the endgame of Yakuza 0, which was awesome. Got to jump right into some good action. Then shortly into it Kiryu spends a decade in jail which makes Kiryu rusty–and you can really feel it. You spend the rest of the game shaking off that rust and regaining your former strength. It was a very satisfying progression system. I appreciated the move to skill points instead of cash-as-xp. The cash thing was neat for the setting of the first game in which the economy was booming and investment/throwing-money-at-things was a major theme. It wouldn’t have made as much sense for this one. And honestly, I was kinda glad to never have to worry about cash. It also feels great to defeat a boss and see I now have 500 skill points to spend (roughly 6 new skills at that point in the game), instead of a bunch of money that’s harder to put into progression terms. I also almost maxed out progression because it’s based on story progress in this one instead of side content like the last one.

Combat#↑

I enjoyed the combat in this one way more. It might be because I actually got deeper in the progression system and unlocked deeper combos, but I also felt like it was more polished in general. Kiryu’s 3 fighting styles from Yakuza 0 are back, with the addition of a 4th he developed during the time gap between games. Much like 0, the best fights felt designed to be defeated by a specific fighting style, encouraging you to invest points in all of them. Even better, some fights actually changed their preferred style multiple times, making them even more dynamic. Even better, every boss could now trigger a healing phase, which would cause them to glow one of the fighting styles’ colors, and if you switched to it you could unleash a massive finisher attack interrupting their healing. Was extremely hype every time it came up. The heat system including a new level, “climax heat” was also great. So many active and passive skills got unlocked in that mode that it felt great to work up to it and stay in that mode. However, there were also tons of new ways to spend heat in fun and powerful ways, so it was constant decision making. Excellent stuff.

Story#↑

The story was definitely weaker than Yakuza 0, but not to a crazy degree. I feel kinda spoiled with Yakuza 0, as it felt like two Yakuza Kiwami games in one. Yakuza Kiwami was just shorter. I also felt like the main antagonist was kinda weak. I didn’t have much motivation against him. He just seemed kinda comically evil for no reason, and was introduced way too late. The rest of the drama around the story was excellent though. It’s pretty clear this game was never intended to have a sequel. Everything wraps up by the end, so I’m interested to see what the hooks are that create 8 more games of content.

I was also happy to see they had more budget for full animation cutscenes. Hoping that continues.

Rating#↑

I feel like this was a game that was made even better by Yakuza 0. So many characters that died in Yakuza Kiwami had a much bigger impact due to my interactions with them in 0. Even some plot threads left open in 0 got wrapped up in Kiwami due to this. I’m glad I played the prequel first. It did an excellent job as an introduction to the series, and even improved another game with its existence.

8/10 game. Very good stuff. Excited for more.