Hello ladies, gentlemen and those of a non-binary nature, my name is Daibhi and this is the Gamerhub Community. Following the lovely responses we had here to me reviewing Yakuza 0, I have been commissioned to have a go at reviewing the sequel, so before I start, I’d like to address something. You might have noticed I’m only recently back, and people who follow me know I struggle with my health. So: if you need to talk to someone, reach out and talk to someone. I’ll leave some links after the joystick ratings and my usual sign-off.
Yakuza Kiwami was commissioned pretty much immediately after Yakuza 0 broke records for the PlayStation 4, as the game became an unexpected hit. Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio aren’t fools, and so they got busy developing the next game. During my background research for this game, it shocked me to find out how quickly this game got made, and I’ll address some of that later on. Overall, I’m not as enamoured with this game as I was with Yakuza 0, but I’m still very surprised by a lot of it.
Plot
Yakuza Kiwami picks up immediately where Yakuza 0 left us, but only because of the plot set up. Akira Nishkiyama and Yumi are kidnapped and Kazuma Kiryu does his usual heroic schtick to save them. Unfortunately, Nishkiyama has gone and shot his kidnappers, one of the patriarchs of the Tojo clan, and Kiryu takes the fall for it. This leads Kiryu spending over decade behind bars for murder, and once released, becomes a man outside of the Yakuza again. To make matters either worse, the Tojo clan had ten billion yen stolen from them at the end of the first game. Nishkiyama has changed too: he’s become one ruthless, cold hearted b*****d intent on making sure Kiryu doesn’t reveal his secrets now that he’s got power.
For the sake of our rules on spoilers, I can’t say any more, other than what goes on with the other protagonist of the first game, Goro Majima. No longer trapped in Sutenbori, Majima now works as enforcer for the Tojo clan, and is hell bent on toughening Kazuma Kiryu up. If you’re picking this game up for the first time, I’ll warn you: he pops up whenever you least expect it.
Gameplay
A lot of this seems to have been copied and pasted from Yakuza 0, but I’ll be fair to this game: there are a lot of improvements made to it, and heck, if ain’t broke… I’m sure you know how that phrase ends. There isn’t the money mechanic that was shown in the previous game, which does make this game a bit harder to complete, and instead, you have experience points levelling up Kiryu as required throughout the game. This makes sure that you can’t just gamble your way through the game (as I discovered people had during Yakuza 0), and Kiryu has forgotten a lot of how to do some of the crazy s**t he did in the previous game. Fortunately, there’s a solution for that. Remember how I told you that Goro Majima learned how to pop up out of nowhere and sneak attack you? Well, beating him when he randomly attacks you and pops up at different side activities (and we’ll get to that) allows you to relearn some of the crazy stuff. These points build up on a skill wheel in a redesign from the previous game, and allows us to do some crazy things. Want to beat thugs by throwing motorbikes on them? Check. Throwing opponents into lampposts? Check. This game plays well, and the combat gets utterly bananas.
OUCH!!!
Side activities time, and this game takes everything we love about the previous game and dials it up a notch. Want to play an even more nuts version of pocket circuit racing? You can. Want to sing your heart out at really bad J-Pop? You’re in luck. I personally enjoyed channelling my inner James Bond and kicking the game’s ass at Poker, Blackjack and Roulette. There’s also an even crazier underground fight club, as well as other crazy stuff. Basically, Kamurocho and Sotenbori didn’t get better after the events of the predecessing game, it just got… crazier.
So… Majima wants to race?
Graphics and Audio
This game is built off the same engine as the first game, but there’s a marked improvement in what the game has to offer visually. For example, Kamurocho really has changed in terms of what you can see and experience. We now have a first person mode (although you can’t move whilst using it). This really does help with finding hidden objects, and to be honest, I’m glad it was there. Instead of finding phone cards for Kiryu going to a phone café of an adult nature, the collectibles hidden around are keys to lockers. Once you use them, you’ll find rare objects to sell which allows you to purchase things. Be that things to improve your heat and health points, or if you’re a big kid like yours truly, stuff to improve your pocket car.
Overall, there is a graphical improvement, but I can’t really go crazy about it as there’s not too much to report on. Yes, Millennium Tower looks amazing, but for such a big thing in the middle of the map, you don’t really see too much of it until the end of the game, and that was a big disappointment to me. However, all the bright lights look amazing, and I was very pleasantly surprised to see how the areas had changed since the first game.
As for the audio, there’s a huge improvement in sound quality. The voices are clearer, there are better (or cringier) songs on the karaoke, and the ambient sounds of the crowds are a lot more immersive than in Yakuza 0. It was a genuine joy to have the sound up as I got busy in my playtime reviewing this game. I seriously enjoyed how much an improvement this game had in the audio department.
Final thoughts
This game is a step up from Yakuza 0, particularly when it comes to a good difficulty curve and audio. Sadly, the graphics and plot department are somewhat lacking, but I can’t blame that entirely on either Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio or SEGA. Yakuza 0 was an unexpected hit in the gaming world, and both were under serious pressure to improve and release a sequel quickly. It’s not a perfect game in any way, but as a sequel to a very good game, it’s serviceable at the very least.
I summarily give Yakuza Kiwami a rating of 4.3 out of 5 Joysticks.
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