Yakuza Kiwami [Review]

Originally released on the PS3, Yakuza Kiwami is the remake of the first game of the series while also bringing some of the narrative consequences from Yakuza 0.

With the close release of Kiwami 3 I decided to replay them all. Kiwami 1, originally released in 2016 for the PS3, falls short of its prequel (Yakuza 0), unfortunately. While its great cast and story carry the whole thing, the simplistic gameplay and overall production value are not really quite there, and the story still feels a bit disconnected from "the real world".

Although the frame-rate is stable and the rendering is indeed at 4k, all the pre-rendered cutscenes are terribly compressed and very blurry. The ability to save everywhere is nice, though, but nothing much else was made when compared to its original release.

The game is named "Yakuza", but the amount of time that Kazuma Kiryu is at the organization it is negligible in terms of player interaction. Kiryu chooses to pay for another one crimes, and the consequences of this decision not only expels him from organized crime, but also takes 10 years of his life – to be spent in prison.

It is a tragedy and a drama, sure, but it is the least melodramatic of all Yakuza games. Melodrama is still present, but the relationship between Kiryu and Nishiki – his childhood friend, basically his brother – is the strongest and best developed in the franchise, in my opinion.

One is removed from Yakuza because of a hasty decision, to shield someone he loves. The other continued, then, alone, feeling just as a replacement, and this is the strongest aspect of not only the story of the game, but the game as a whole.

I say that because Kiwami 1 lacks a better supporting cast and in the end many people just exist to make the story continue. Late reveals, new names and forgettable "never heard of" enemies that come and go just to propel the relationship between the brothers. Another big focus of the game is Haruka, a 9 year old girl that needs to be protected from all of this gang-related drama, while at the same time being the center of it all. Outside Nishiki, Kiryu and Haruka, though, no one is really that memorable. Sorry, Shinji.

The gameplay is a big reduction of what Yakuza 0 had before, while clearly being the biggest inspiration here, and not the PS2 original (that I've never played). Maybe that's the biggest problem on Kiwami: it feels better to play as the same character in the previous game. The unlock system for abilities is too simplistic and slow, most bosses fight the same way and some minigames are great, like billiards, while others are sorely missing.

Overall, the neighborhood of Kamurocho is as remarkable as ever, but the lack of voice acting in many substories makes enjoying the majority of them a challenge. Fortunately, this is the first game to have some of them being voice acted, a trend that the franchise fortunately kept iterating on. A mini game here and a fun substory there can make some hours fly by, though, and there is fun to be had in most of Kiwami's systems, even if too bare bones.

As the series progressed, fringe groups of society started to get more and more representation on the Yakuza franchise, making the world believable. For better or worse, Kiwami 1 is the remake the first, 2005 game, and that wasn't a strong aspect of the series yet. There are hints of self awareness, but the character-centric drama barely touches the world around these horrible realities that some characters of this game goes through. This is not an issue of Yakuza 0, but it is here.

The remake of the first game is a steppingstone. It isn't the start of the franchise anymore – as it is Yakuza 0 or Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It is just another chapter in Kiryu's life. An important one, but a mediocre game.

7/10