The Kaito Files is currently the latest entry in the Yakuza franchise though it isn't its own game necessarily. It's an extra campaign that can be purchased as DLC for Lost Judgment, releasing a little over half a year after that game's launch.
The Kaito Files is set shortly after the events of the main campaign, though it's a more self-contained story with minimal references to Lost Judgment's main events. With Yagami handling a case elsewhere, we instead see everything through his partner's eyes - Kaito. We learn a great deal about Kaito's past, particularly a girl he was dating back during his days in the Matsugane Family and the effects that his Yakuza life had on his relationship. Compared to most Yakuza plotlines, Kaito Files is refreshingly simple and straightforward but that's far from a bad thing. The main mystery revolves around the whereabouts of Kaito's former lover Mikiko and the reasons behind her disappearance.
One of the biggest standouts of the campaign is the main villain who much like the Mole from the first game, is inhumanely devious for the sake of no one but himself, serving a nice contrast to the main story's antagonist, who killed to serve justice for bullying victims and their families. Seeing Kaito take on a fatherly role to Mikiko's son Jun was also nice to see, we'd seen briefly prior that he has a soft spot for kids, like when he played ball with a kid who believed he was a superhero called Captain Cop or showing some how to play a game at the arcade, it's nice to see them delve deeper into that and it gives Kaito's character some nice closure, not that we won't see him ever again.
This DLC campaign is quite light on content with really the only thing to do being the main campaign which in it of itself is around 6-7 hours in length but considering how massive the main campaign was, this hardly matters though it would have been nice to handle some side cases as Kaito or to perhaps have the ability to play as him in the main game. Speaking of, Kaito has a moveset unique from Yagami's. I highlight it being unique from Yagami specifically because his moveset is reused from Kazuma Kiryu of all people, with Kaito utilising what is essentially his Brawler and Beast fighting styles from Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami with a sparkle of Lost Judgment polish. Kaito also some extra abilities pertaining to his detective skills, being able to his primal instincts to not only detect things by sight but also via his smelling and hearing. In the mode's short duration, they do enough to distinguish Kaito from Yagami and I hope that if we ever get a third entry in the series, Kaito returns as a playable character, much like how Miles co-stars in Insomniac's Spider Man 2 after taking the reigns of his own mini-adventure.
I suppose that's the best comparison I could draw really, Kaito Files is Lost Judgment's Miles Morales, a smaller little adventure that expands upon the main protagonist's partner character, both being more personal tales that explore the relationships of their respective characters. Kaito Files is easily RGG's best DLC and I hope we get more additional content of a similar vein in future entries.
The Kaito Files is set shortly after the events of the main campaign, though it's a more self-contained story with minimal references to Lost Judgment's main events. With Yagami handling a case elsewhere, we instead see everything through his partner's eyes - Kaito. We learn a great deal about Kaito's past, particularly a girl he was dating back during his days in the Matsugane Family and the effects that his Yakuza life had on his relationship. Compared to most Yakuza plotlines, Kaito Files is refreshingly simple and straightforward but that's far from a bad thing. The main mystery revolves around the whereabouts of Kaito's former lover Mikiko and the reasons behind her disappearance.
One of the biggest standouts of the campaign is the main villain who much like the Mole from the first game, is inhumanely devious for the sake of no one but himself, serving a nice contrast to the main story's antagonist, who killed to serve justice for bullying victims and their families. Seeing Kaito take on a fatherly role to Mikiko's son Jun was also nice to see, we'd seen briefly prior that he has a soft spot for kids, like when he played ball with a kid who believed he was a superhero called Captain Cop or showing some how to play a game at the arcade, it's nice to see them delve deeper into that and it gives Kaito's character some nice closure, not that we won't see him ever again.
This DLC campaign is quite light on content with really the only thing to do being the main campaign which in it of itself is around 6-7 hours in length but considering how massive the main campaign was, this hardly matters though it would have been nice to handle some side cases as Kaito or to perhaps have the ability to play as him in the main game. Speaking of, Kaito has a moveset unique from Yagami's. I highlight it being unique from Yagami specifically because his moveset is reused from Kazuma Kiryu of all people, with Kaito utilising what is essentially his Brawler and Beast fighting styles from Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami with a sparkle of Lost Judgment polish. Kaito also some extra abilities pertaining to his detective skills, being able to his primal instincts to not only detect things by sight but also via his smelling and hearing. In the mode's short duration, they do enough to distinguish Kaito from Yagami and I hope that if we ever get a third entry in the series, Kaito returns as a playable character, much like how Miles co-stars in Insomniac's Spider Man 2 after taking the reigns of his own mini-adventure.
I suppose that's the best comparison I could draw really, Kaito Files is Lost Judgment's Miles Morales, a smaller little adventure that expands upon the main protagonist's partner character, both being more personal tales that explore the relationships of their respective characters. Kaito Files is easily RGG's best DLC and I hope we get more additional content of a similar vein in future entries.