Yakuza Kiwami Review (No spoilers)

 The Dragon wakes from it's slumber

So there's a predictable title, wouldn't you say? With the amount of adoration I've sent towards Yakuza 0 it was only a matter of time before I swooped up Kiwami too, no? Now I honestly absolutely loved Yakuza 0, to the point where I've seriously considered re-examining my top 10 favourite games of all time. I mean that game has easily one of the best feeling combat systems, with the most enjoyable story, the most funny sidequests, well written cast and range of inconsequential nonsense for players to partake in, that I've ever seen in a game. At the time of release, Yakuza 0 was a new beginning, another chance for Sega to push this franchise out to a western audience and they did that with as much gusto and talent as they were able to muster because I do not think that Yakuza 0 could have been any better with the time and budget allowed. Of course, in an ideal world I'd want some of the basics that bigger games in the world enjoy, such as all-round voice-acting and a bigger openworld space with less walls, but for what it was, Yakuza 0 excelled. Fully deserving of the various nearly-perfect scores it has received. So what about Yakuza Kiwami? Well that's an interesting story. (But before I get into it, I shall ensure no spoilers today, ya'll can read freely. The picture above, literally is in the description of the game; so it's not a spoiler either, 'kay?)

So Yakuza Kiwami was the very next Ryū Ga Gotoku game to come out of the studio, and as Yakuza 0 was a prequel, Kiwami was designed to be a remake of Yakuza 1 with the style and lessons of Yakuza 0 taken to heart. This would serve as a perfect springboard for new fans to really get into the meat of Kiryu-and-friends journeys into the Japanese Underworld. This means that Kiwami enjoyed the improved engine, character models and various combat styles from the previous game, as well as the basic improvements that time allowed for. (Although the game was still bought to PS3 as well, so there was some obvious holding back in terms of what the game engine could handle at that time.) And in keeping of the promise that Yakuza 0's credits presented, the narrative jumps forward 17 years, which honestly seems a little jarring but is indicative of the, aforementioned, new beginning.

Now before anything is said I have to regurgitate the fact which the game shoved down my throat; "Kiwami means extreme", and that's their description for the improvements which hit the game. And in comparison to the first Yakuza which released in December 2005, this January 2016 complete remake is certainly a whole world apart. But isn't that what you would expect? This isn't Blizzard at the helm, these are competent developers who can handle their own work without an army of contractors, so the game was going to be a step up. The question really is how this game compares to it's direct predecessor, since Yakuza 0 introduced so many new systems and ideas to the franchise, so how do they all face up to the brave new face of Yakuza 1? Well actually I would have to say that things turned out surprisingly well.

The combat, in my opinion, is where the most obvious improvements can be seen. Rather than stripping Kiryu of all his styles, the game merely uses his 10 years in prison to say that he's grown rusty and thus lost the specific techniques which made those styles strong. Additionally, you even have the secret 4th style from Yakuza 0 unlocked from the start, and improving it pretty much coincides with your journey of growth and restoration throughout the narrative. (I love it when game and story marry like that, it makes me all gooey inside) The combat skills have reached a nice comparative level where you could feasibly tackle most operations with each style, and some of the new techniques the team added in are simply divine. That one technique which allows you to instantly switch styles at the end of a combo finisher is the final piece of glue that this system needed to become as fluid as the Ganges. The only thing I don't like is the reworking of the heat bar which is a little obtuse to interpret at times, some moves require the blue bars to be reached while others require the red bar; there was nothing wrong with how the old system worked, why change it?

Progression has cleverly evolved as well, with the game taking note of the severe economic downturn that Japan went through and thus removing the 'spend money on skills' system in favour of a more traditional levelling mechanic. (Also, the amount of money earnt from fights is miniscule in comparison) The team even found a way to throw a practical element into the progression through the 'Majima Everywhere' mechanic, which retools Majima's appearance in Yakuza 1 (sometimes in direct contrast to the events of the main narrative) to have him become a hands-on teacher who'll attack Kiryu in random places all over Kamurocho. It's actually quite novel to fight a character who has all the movesets you used in the last Yakuza game, and it's how I learnt that Breaker is the worst thing ever. (How did all my opponents not rage quit in Yakuza 0?) Beating Majima improves that powerful 'Dragon' 4th style in a manner that turns it from literally the worst style in the franchise to a one-stop shop for demolition. (People who've played Kiwami will know exactly what I mean when I say that 'Tiger Drop' is so nasty I had to refrain from using it in the final fight.)

Unfortunately, the cost has come from just about everything else which makes this game special. The substories, for example, aren't even in the same league as what Yakuza 0 had to offer, and that's likely because a great deal of them were lifted right from the original. In 0, literally every single substory has a message or emotional pathos which makes every single character in the one hundred-or-so stories somewhat significant and memorable; Whereas in Kiwami, most of the stories are just single fights against fraudsters and thugs without any real story to speak of. They would just be random encounters in any other game. It's really telling, how any story which was added in as a callback to Yakzua 0 is infinitely more meaty and memorable. The side activities too, are fewer; although those that are there have been improved. For example, that 0.02 or whatever it was offset to Karaoke which made the button prompt just slightly off from the beat of the music has been resolved. (Praise the sun for that one.)

But the biggest failing in Yakuza Kiwami, in my opinion, is the main narrative. As much as it sucks to say. Firstly, it's pretty clear that not nearly as much attention was paid on the fully CG cutscenes here as was done for 0. In the last game literally every one of those CG scenes was immaculate, and cinematography was on point; whereas here there's often moments where a scene will feel disjointed, poorly edited, or just completely irrelevant altogether. And even though attempts were made, certain character shifts feel wildly inappropriate given the events of Yakuza 0 and it makes it hard to call upon that game in emotional moments of reflection. (Although the game still tries anyway) The only time I felt any significant emotion was actually from my own imagination as we're shown the aftermath of a brutal tragedy that, whilst shocking me, also simultaneously robbed all sympathy the writers might have otherwise played upon. That's important because a big element of Yakuza 0 are characters that had layers and who evolved alongside the player's perspective. Hell, by the end of Yakuza 0 even majorly dickish characters were having redemption arcs. I was left speechless and heartbroken when one of these supposed villains got killed in the wrap up of that game. Kiwami just hit me with the shock value, and it cheapens the whole affair.

Aside from the emotional angle, Kiwami's actual mechanical story pretty much devolves into almost incoherence at the end, to the point where the main badbuy actually never explains his plan. (Almost like he doesn't have one!) and that final twist they do with Kiryu is... honestly it angered me a little. That unbelievably important plotpoint is thrown up out of literally nowhere, completely contrasting with everything we know about the characters so far, and completely goes unutilised in the overall story. It's just mentioned for no real reason whatsoever, and then is completely walked back in a gag scene at the end. Why even bother to begin with? However, despite it all I will admit that the story was still fun, for the most part. (If wildly inferior to Yakuza 0)

Rather curiously, it seems that all the elements which seriously holds Yakuza Kiwami back are those that tie it back to the original 2005 game. Poor writing, ill-thought out scenes and scuppered character motivations just aren't present when this team are working on new content, and strangely that makes me excited for when I finally get around to 6 and Like a Dragon, which are both completely original and released after 0. The quality of the gameplay does pick up the slack, thankfully, and I'm seriously down for following the series just to see the evolution of the storytelling to figure out how the team got so good, so Kiwami 2 is already in my sights. But would I recommend Kiwami? Absolutely, it's still a hugely above average title in most respects that only flounders in comparison to it's own series. Provided that you go in with the knowledge that nothing quite hits the soaring narrative heights of Yakuza 0, you're still in for a great time. But the jerky, sometimes unfocused and inexplicable narrative does bring down the grade a bit. So I'll give Yakuza Kiwami a solid B Grade in my rating. Better than average, but still not as good as it could have been. I have high hopes for Kiwami 2 and the grand return of everybody's idol; Goro Majima.