Yakuza Kiwami, while not as memorable as Yakuza 0, is still a game worth playing and a strong entry into the series.
The gameplay is largely the same as it was in Yakuza 0 and Kiryu has all of the same moves he had in Y0, with maybe a couple new additions. You're still playing in Kamurocho and many of the activities are still there. Because of all the similarities, I recommend that you don't play this game directly after you play Y0, play one or two games in between.
Regarding the combat, I believe Kiryu's combat in this game is much better than it was in Y0. First of all, you're still able to switch between different styles, but this time, the dragon/legend style is accessible from the start. I really like what they did with the dragon style. When you first start out, it's practically useless, I would only use as a desperate last resort to try and get a couple extra hits in. However, as you progress through the game, you gradually unlock the full potential of the style and it becomes Kiryu's strongest style by the end (tiger drop is so broken and I love it). Also, I prefer how they set up the skill tree in this game as opposed to how they did it in Y0. In Y0, you used money to upgrade the skill tree, and even though it was really easy to get money in that game, I still found myself unable to max out the skill tree in the 90 something hours I put into the game. However, this game uses upgrade points that you get from defeating enemies. Because you're not able to use upgrade points for anything else, this system works much better in my opinion, and I was able to max out the skill tree after about 30-40 hours or so. Because of this, I enjoyed the combat in this game much more than I did in Y0 (at least for Kiryu).
The side activities in this game are also still just as fun as you'd expect from a Yakuza game. I will note however, that this game has more erotic activities than I remember the other games in the series having (although to be fair I haven't played most of the games so I'm only guessing). That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I thought I'd point it out.
Perhaps the highlight of this game is the Majima Everywhere system. Majima popping up all over Kamurocho was so funny and Kiryu's reaction every time was just golden. I never got tired of fighting Majima and I really liked how his encounters really felt random, like he was truly popping up out of nowhere.
Finally, Kamurocho has always been a really fun location to explore and it's still done justice in this game.
Okay, I'm going to tear into this game a bit, but I want you all to know that I still like this game and you should definitely play it if you like JRPGS or are into the Yakuza series.
Perhaps my biggest complaint with this game is its boss battles. They suck. There are twenty four boss battles in this game, and only like three of them are actually good. What's more is that two of them are against Majima, who by those points in the game you've already fought dozens of times. The rest of the bosses are honestly just pretty lame. Some bosses, like Hayashi and Lau Ka Long, have a decent move sets, but their large health pools and defense combined with the lack of QTE's make their fights feel repetitive and stagnant. The lack of memorable bosses was a real letdown, especially after playing Yakuza 0, which had a lot of incredible bosses.
Second of all, the story for this game is not as good as Y0's. Again, I haven't played past Kiwami 2, but so far Yakuza 0 has had the best story. That being said, I do think the story is pretty solid and is definitely better than Kiwami 2's. Nishiki's journey in particular was very compelling, it gave a lot of emotional weight to the story considering the relationship that Kiryu and Nishiki had in Yakuza 0. Haruka is a great character as well and adds a lot of depth to Kiryu's character. Also, I love Shinji, he's awesome. Overall, I would say the characters are good for the most part while the plot itself is a little shaky at times.
My last big issue with this game is its substories. For the most part, they feel very repetitive and aren't very creative or memorable. This is especially apparent when you compare it to the substories in Y0 or Kiwami 2, which feature some incredible and hilarious substories. There are a few standouts, but by and large they're not very interesting.
Overall, this is a great game and a solid entry into the Yakuza series, though it is lacking in areas that the series is known for.
The gameplay is largely the same as it was in Yakuza 0 and Kiryu has all of the same moves he had in Y0, with maybe a couple new additions. You're still playing in Kamurocho and many of the activities are still there. Because of all the similarities, I recommend that you don't play this game directly after you play Y0, play one or two games in between.
Regarding the combat, I believe Kiryu's combat in this game is much better than it was in Y0. First of all, you're still able to switch between different styles, but this time, the dragon/legend style is accessible from the start. I really like what they did with the dragon style. When you first start out, it's practically useless, I would only use as a desperate last resort to try and get a couple extra hits in. However, as you progress through the game, you gradually unlock the full potential of the style and it becomes Kiryu's strongest style by the end (tiger drop is so broken and I love it). Also, I prefer how they set up the skill tree in this game as opposed to how they did it in Y0. In Y0, you used money to upgrade the skill tree, and even though it was really easy to get money in that game, I still found myself unable to max out the skill tree in the 90 something hours I put into the game. However, this game uses upgrade points that you get from defeating enemies. Because you're not able to use upgrade points for anything else, this system works much better in my opinion, and I was able to max out the skill tree after about 30-40 hours or so. Because of this, I enjoyed the combat in this game much more than I did in Y0 (at least for Kiryu).
The side activities in this game are also still just as fun as you'd expect from a Yakuza game. I will note however, that this game has more erotic activities than I remember the other games in the series having (although to be fair I haven't played most of the games so I'm only guessing). That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I thought I'd point it out.
Perhaps the highlight of this game is the Majima Everywhere system. Majima popping up all over Kamurocho was so funny and Kiryu's reaction every time was just golden. I never got tired of fighting Majima and I really liked how his encounters really felt random, like he was truly popping up out of nowhere.
Finally, Kamurocho has always been a really fun location to explore and it's still done justice in this game.
Okay, I'm going to tear into this game a bit, but I want you all to know that I still like this game and you should definitely play it if you like JRPGS or are into the Yakuza series.
Perhaps my biggest complaint with this game is its boss battles. They suck. There are twenty four boss battles in this game, and only like three of them are actually good. What's more is that two of them are against Majima, who by those points in the game you've already fought dozens of times. The rest of the bosses are honestly just pretty lame. Some bosses, like Hayashi and Lau Ka Long, have a decent move sets, but their large health pools and defense combined with the lack of QTE's make their fights feel repetitive and stagnant. The lack of memorable bosses was a real letdown, especially after playing Yakuza 0, which had a lot of incredible bosses.
Second of all, the story for this game is not as good as Y0's. Again, I haven't played past Kiwami 2, but so far Yakuza 0 has had the best story. That being said, I do think the story is pretty solid and is definitely better than Kiwami 2's. Nishiki's journey in particular was very compelling, it gave a lot of emotional weight to the story considering the relationship that Kiryu and Nishiki had in Yakuza 0. Haruka is a great character as well and adds a lot of depth to Kiryu's character. Also, I love Shinji, he's awesome. Overall, I would say the characters are good for the most part while the plot itself is a little shaky at times.
My last big issue with this game is its substories. For the most part, they feel very repetitive and aren't very creative or memorable. This is especially apparent when you compare it to the substories in Y0 or Kiwami 2, which feature some incredible and hilarious substories. There are a few standouts, but by and large they're not very interesting.
Overall, this is a great game and a solid entry into the Yakuza series, though it is lacking in areas that the series is known for.