this game thinly layers the plot and side content from the original yakuza on ps2 over top of yakuza 0 and the results are... somewhat mixed to say the least. at the end of the day its still a yakuza game, and there's a lot of fun to be had here, but the content here is so similar to 0 in many ways that it feels like a much lesser entry in comparison, especially if you're playing this one right after y0 as is recommended (though I ended up playing this one first).
rather impressively, the story is nearly one-to-one with the original game, with the cutscenes from the original being recreated frame for frame in the new FMV engine. this is an early yakuza story and it is certainly rough around the edges. the first two yakuza games are structured much more like feature films than the later games much to their detriment, as the length of the game spreads the plot rather thin. as someone who had not played y0, this game spends a lot of time building up a rather large roster of characters with a rather cursory explanation of how they are all related. considering how many deaths there are in the game (a series staple), it feels like many of them were introduced simply to add an emotional moment to a scene, regardless of whether the character was ever properly fleshed out, which most of the characters are not. coupled with a poorly executed twist, this remains one of the weaker stories in the franchise. however, the game has the benefit of crafting many yakuza hallmarks from scratch, including date's role as police liaison, the florist of sai's use as an eternal deus ex machina, and characters fighting in the coliseum in exchange for information. considering that these were created from wholecloth rather than leaned upon as a crutch in later games, I find them much more novel here. it helps that nishikiyama is absolutely one of the better villains in the franchise, especially with the addition of new scenes in kiwami to flesh him out.
other than that... it's just yakuza 0, restrained to kamurocho only. the minigame list has also been axed from yakuza 0, with many of the notable unique minigames being removed with no replacements. other than the now-ancient bowling/batting cages/billiards/darts/gambling/karaoke games, the pocket circuit returns with a new (and less charming) story involving the grown-up children from the original. the terrible catfight betting game from y0 has been nicely reformatted as the sega self-parody mesuking arcade game, with collectible cards and custom builds being added for your fighters and no more mashing. hanging out with hostesses is also back, and the two girls are rather charming, even if that mode is really not my cup of tea. substories here mainly draw from the original, with a couple new ones sprinkled in both to clarify story points as well as provide some spice that the older substories lack. they aren't bad by any means, but they often seem rather brief, with a couple here and there being virtually just a cutscene without anything backing it up. overall the game feels uncomfortably bare, and desperately in need of unique minigames or side content to provide an identity beyond "yakuza 1 using assets from 0."
kiryu also retains his multiple styles from yakuza 0, which I dislike here as I did there. unlike that game, your dragon of dojima style is now on offer throughout the entire game... with the caveat that it must be built from the ground up through komaki's training and majima everywhere. majima everywhere serves as the combat sidestory in this game, and while it's much more unique than victory road or honest living association, it also gets old quickly and is riddled with other issues. majima constantly roams the city much like mr. shakedown in yakuza 0, and defeating him will fill up a gauge to a maximum rank SSS. he will also occasionally confront you at random, sometimes jumping from above or attacking you from open manholes. while he use different styles from y0 depending on the fight, these boss battles get old quickly, and can be rather dangerous before you have enough equipment/moves to deal with him. in between ranks, you will get invitations to play minigames with him or meet him for certain events to advance the gauge. while this is neat in theory, the system can conflict with substories and cause majima to not spawn, or send you multiple emails with different events that can be confusing without realizing that they must be done in a certain order. it wouldn't be much of an issue if getting to max rank did not take a ridiculous number of fights, even with how easy tiger drop renders many of them. fans of majima in y0 may appreciate his costumes taken from that game or the many other references he makes to it, but the fanservice isn't enough to salvage the rather tedious system. it's also worth noting that leveling this up is highly recommended, as this is the most difficult game in the franchise from what I have played. the balancing seems very off compared to previous entries, and getting tiger drop through komaki at the very least before the endgame is the best way to deal with very frustrating boss battles.
in favor of this game, I can't say much other than that it is yakuza, and fans of yakuza games will still get a kick out of this entry no matter what. it pales in comparison to many of the others, but it's such an important stepping stone that fans will need to play it, whether they want to get it over with as quickly as possible or not. people looking to start the series should start with yakuza 0, but kiwami is a decent stepping stone on the way to future games. it's still a good game at its heart, even if the budget and time were very obviously lower than for other entries.
rather impressively, the story is nearly one-to-one with the original game, with the cutscenes from the original being recreated frame for frame in the new FMV engine. this is an early yakuza story and it is certainly rough around the edges. the first two yakuza games are structured much more like feature films than the later games much to their detriment, as the length of the game spreads the plot rather thin. as someone who had not played y0, this game spends a lot of time building up a rather large roster of characters with a rather cursory explanation of how they are all related. considering how many deaths there are in the game (a series staple), it feels like many of them were introduced simply to add an emotional moment to a scene, regardless of whether the character was ever properly fleshed out, which most of the characters are not. coupled with a poorly executed twist, this remains one of the weaker stories in the franchise. however, the game has the benefit of crafting many yakuza hallmarks from scratch, including date's role as police liaison, the florist of sai's use as an eternal deus ex machina, and characters fighting in the coliseum in exchange for information. considering that these were created from wholecloth rather than leaned upon as a crutch in later games, I find them much more novel here. it helps that nishikiyama is absolutely one of the better villains in the franchise, especially with the addition of new scenes in kiwami to flesh him out.
other than that... it's just yakuza 0, restrained to kamurocho only. the minigame list has also been axed from yakuza 0, with many of the notable unique minigames being removed with no replacements. other than the now-ancient bowling/batting cages/billiards/darts/gambling/karaoke games, the pocket circuit returns with a new (and less charming) story involving the grown-up children from the original. the terrible catfight betting game from y0 has been nicely reformatted as the sega self-parody mesuking arcade game, with collectible cards and custom builds being added for your fighters and no more mashing. hanging out with hostesses is also back, and the two girls are rather charming, even if that mode is really not my cup of tea. substories here mainly draw from the original, with a couple new ones sprinkled in both to clarify story points as well as provide some spice that the older substories lack. they aren't bad by any means, but they often seem rather brief, with a couple here and there being virtually just a cutscene without anything backing it up. overall the game feels uncomfortably bare, and desperately in need of unique minigames or side content to provide an identity beyond "yakuza 1 using assets from 0."
kiryu also retains his multiple styles from yakuza 0, which I dislike here as I did there. unlike that game, your dragon of dojima style is now on offer throughout the entire game... with the caveat that it must be built from the ground up through komaki's training and majima everywhere. majima everywhere serves as the combat sidestory in this game, and while it's much more unique than victory road or honest living association, it also gets old quickly and is riddled with other issues. majima constantly roams the city much like mr. shakedown in yakuza 0, and defeating him will fill up a gauge to a maximum rank SSS. he will also occasionally confront you at random, sometimes jumping from above or attacking you from open manholes. while he use different styles from y0 depending on the fight, these boss battles get old quickly, and can be rather dangerous before you have enough equipment/moves to deal with him. in between ranks, you will get invitations to play minigames with him or meet him for certain events to advance the gauge. while this is neat in theory, the system can conflict with substories and cause majima to not spawn, or send you multiple emails with different events that can be confusing without realizing that they must be done in a certain order. it wouldn't be much of an issue if getting to max rank did not take a ridiculous number of fights, even with how easy tiger drop renders many of them. fans of majima in y0 may appreciate his costumes taken from that game or the many other references he makes to it, but the fanservice isn't enough to salvage the rather tedious system. it's also worth noting that leveling this up is highly recommended, as this is the most difficult game in the franchise from what I have played. the balancing seems very off compared to previous entries, and getting tiger drop through komaki at the very least before the endgame is the best way to deal with very frustrating boss battles.
in favor of this game, I can't say much other than that it is yakuza, and fans of yakuza games will still get a kick out of this entry no matter what. it pales in comparison to many of the others, but it's such an important stepping stone that fans will need to play it, whether they want to get it over with as quickly as possible or not. people looking to start the series should start with yakuza 0, but kiwami is a decent stepping stone on the way to future games. it's still a good game at its heart, even if the budget and time were very obviously lower than for other entries.