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Yakuza Kiwami
Released On: Aug 29, 2017
80
7.9
Where to Buy
Where to Buy
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 73 Critic Reviews
80
81% Positive
59 Reviews
59 Reviews
15% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 73 Critic Reviews
80
81% Positive
59 Reviews
59 Reviews
15% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
I think Yakuza Kiwami, and the original game in general, had one of the best Yakuza plots in the series, and that holds true even today. The sole focus on Kazuma as the protagonist makes for a more focused adventure than Yakuza 4 and 5, and it’s nice to see how Kazuma builds his reputation as the Dragon of Dojima with this game. I’m also a sucker for betrayal/revenge plots, and the original Yakuza has one of the best in all of video games. So do yourself a favor and pick up Yakuza Kiwami when it releases on August 29th, it’s certainly not a game to miss.
Yakuza Kiwami is a worthy remake for the twisty, well-acted story alone and the fact that it is being sold at a cheaper price than current new release games is extra incentive to check it out. Combat is fun, the city feels live and there is so much stuff to do, from the mundane stuff like darts or shooting pool, to the very weird stuff like MesuKing, which is essentially rock paper scissors featuring sexy ladies in skimpy bug costumes. Long time franchise fans and newcomers will find plenty to like with Yakuza Kiwami, even if it falls slightly short of its later entries.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 714 User Ratings
7.9
76% Positive
544 Ratings
544 Ratings
14% Mixed
102 Ratings
102 Ratings
10% Negative
68 Ratings
68 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 714 User Ratings
7.9
76% Positive
544 Ratings
544 Ratings
14% Mixed
102 Ratings
102 Ratings
10% Negative
68 Ratings
68 Ratings
I never really knew about the Yakuza games growing up despite it being exactly my jam in the PS2 days, but I am happy that Shenmue's assets were put to good use and we got such an interesting game series because of it. Seriously the amount of twist and turns this series goes with how much fun they have with it, is rather impressive that it even leaks into the remake of the first game. While most people argue that 0 is the first game you should play, it really isn't; Yakuza Kiwami is a great remake and one that helps introduce yourself to the series, but only if you haven't played the rest of ****'t lie that a lot of what makes Yakuza Kiwami special is the fact I played it first, but it's important context for the rest of the series. The series starts at Yakuza, and nearly ended with 0 so there is a lot more to go with 0 both in terms of writing and gameplay that Yakuza Kiwami just can't compete with. Yakuza Kiwami though is a great intro to the series, is better paced to play for most anyone, and has a fun little "Majima everywhere" system that helps liven it up for newer players to be engaged in. To say that Yakuza Kiwami is a bad game is sad to hear, but when you go from 0 to Kiwami 1 you're just setting yourself for disappointment, and both games just work better when you play Kiwami **** for Kiwami, it's a great story about a man in the Yakuza that finds himself caught in the middle of a bunch of affairs out of his control due to just trying to do the right thing. Kiryu starts off as a rather stoic individual, but soon you realize just how much he bounds himself with honor and helping others. While Kiryu never really becomes expressive, his actions and words reflect the person he is throughout, and it's shown through weird substories, character interactions, and the story itself. In a very real way, this game is as much about Kiryu as it is about the mysteries that he is trying to solve.Gameplay wise, Kiwami is similar to zero, but a little stunted in terms of learning certain moves. While 0 required mostly money, often Kiwami demands that you go through certain actions or beat certain Majimas in order to become as powerful as you can. It's not a great system that feels as freeing as 0 does, but for your first time it does help streamline a lot of itself. What is a great addition to the remake and this game tho? Majima everywhere system! God this mechanic can be a pain in your neck at times, but it's mostly just a fun extra bit of walking around only to find out that store has Majima in **** that traffic **** THE SEWER? Seriously Majima is factually everywhere, and it really helps break the usual pacing of fights you playthrough in Kiwami that make for a more challenging run through. While the fights do end up dull after a while, it's not in the sense that they aren't fun anymore, but in the sense you have to grind an absurd amount to get certain things. Thankfully both these problems only present themselves FAR after the fact you're done with the game, but it's still an ever looming scare for completionists out there.Yakuza Kiwami is a wonderful story and start to the whole Yakuza series, but one I feel gets overshadowed far too quickly for it's brother in the series, 0. Both 0 and 1 are great compliments to each other, but when you think about how much more they added to 0, Kiwami can't compare, and I don't want people to look at it like that. It's honestly one of the best starts to a franchise, and a story that hits a lot of emotional moments and highs. Please start the Yakuza series with this game because even though it isn't as good as 0, it's still far better than your average video game.
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PlayStation 4
Unbeatable atmosphere, hilarious submissions, an excellent story and plenty of things to do in between the main missions. If you haven't played it, I don't know what you're waiting for.
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PlayStation 4
Although understandable being just a remake and not a new entry, Yakuza Kiwami lacks the huge amount of content found in recent instalments of the franchise, but it does a great job updating the plot of the first entry in the franchise to later innovations and improvements, as well as current (although a bit dated) graphics.
Yakuza Kiwami presents the strongest mechanics in the franchise’s history, as well as refined side missions and lots of fun distractions that create a fantastic reimagining of a great game.
Quotation forthcoming.
Yakuza Kiwami is a great remake, but it is not amazing. Even for a Yakuza game it gets very repetitive and it simply does not have the same quality as the other games. A bit of an anticlimax.
Yakuza Kiwami finds itself in a strange position. A remake that's technically a sequel to a much better game in Yakuza 0, it struggles to offer anything besides another engaging crime-drama storyline. Best described as a kind of expansion, Kiwami really shows its age in terms of narrative structure and gameplay design, but it's still worth playing through if you just can't get enough of Kaz. It goes without saying, however, that series newcomers are much better off starting with the far superior Yakuza 0.
after 50 hours of side quest and main quest, i can say that it's an incredible game in every way
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PlayStation 4
Recommend this game, maybe on sale.
The story is solid with fleshed out character arcs for each character and the main antagonist is executed well. I didn't play the original, but the remake keeps the same feel of Yakuza fairly well and looks fairly decent. Combat in general is pretty fun, but forcing you to seek out Majima to upgrade Dragon is a little annoying.
Only real con is the boss design can be a little mediocre. None of the bosses are really that difficult, but they are just incredibly spammy and it can get more annoying than anything (I'm looking at you, Jingu). There is a general issue with conflating difficulty with annoying spammy movesets.
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PlayStation 4
Nice story, lovabe characters,lot of opportunities, the fighting is fine, but got frustrated a lot during some fights about it's clumsyness.
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PlayStation 4
Significantly worse than Yakuza 0 despite ripping most of its assets from it. The story, despite being maybe half as long as 0 is somehow more padded out with totally unnecessary tangents. The game has practically no new mini games from 0 but also omits some of the better ones from 0 as well. The side stories here are all variations of "man tries to rip off Kiryu, Kiryu beats him up, man runs and apologizes". And the combat system here is the exact same with a couple of minor additions, Dragon Style restructuring and changes to certain attack properties. Overall the combat system is on par but missing the extra variety Majima added to the game. The true problem with the combat is that there are very few new enemy types from Yakuza 0 and more offensively the bosses here are a huge step down most of the time. There are a handful of really good bosses in this game, but many of the bosses have poorly fleshed out move sets which are embarrassingly easy to exploit one on one. To make up for this the game spams a massive amount minor enemies into every bad boss fight to distract from how half baked the boss is. This makes many bosses a repetitive slog on higher difficulties because you must pick off distant foes one by one before you can begin fighting the actual boss. This becomes ludicrous with the second to last boss who is perhaps the worst boss design I've seen in a game. Many will try to defend this by recommending exploitable strategies, but the fact that a large expressive move set has to be boiled down to only the most cheap and exploitable tactics for this boss fight is only more evidence of its astonishingly poor design. All that being said I don't hate this game but I find it very disappointing. It is both a sequel to 0 and a remake of the original Yakuza game. Maybe it is more commendable as a remake but as a follow up to 0 it feels like a massive step down. I only recommend picking it up if you are a major Yakuza fan, this is not the ideal introductory title
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PlayStation 4
I'm about 40 hours in to this game, and at the final save before the end of the game. I've unlocked every purchasable skill, and I got to say, this game is absolutely awful.
See it's not actually a third person action adventure game. This is actually a pinball game. Kiryu is the ball and the enemies are the bumpers, because in every battle, you just get pinballed and bounced around infinitely.
Imagine the fun of playing a fighting game where everything knocks you down, everything interrupts your attacks, Except the enemies are much more resistant to knockdowns, are immune to interrupts, and can teleport behind you.
The only redeeming factor this game has is the main story, and the side stories. The combat is garbage, the minigames are garbage. It should have either been a pinball game, or a visual novel - not a third person beat 'em up game.
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PlayStation 4
Summary In 2005, a legend was born on the PS2 – the legend of Kazuma Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima, in his video game debut with Yakuza. Now, 11 years after that release, a new generation of players is be able to experience the action and drama of the Yakuza series with the rebuilt-from-scratch HD remake exclusive to PlayStation 4, Yakuza Kiwami. ...
Rated M
for Mature
Platforms:
- PlayStation 3
- PlayStation 4
- PC
- Xbox One
Initial Release Date: Aug 29, 2017
Developer:
- Ryu ga Gotoku Studios
Publisher: Sega
Genres:
