An example of how the clunky presentation can lead to unexpected hang-ups: in addition to introducing the player to Heat Moves, which are special combat actions usable after hitting enough dudes in the face, the game also explains Kiwami Heat Moves as special actions when a particularly powerful enemy is taking a breather, and that they should be used before they can heal themselves. The menus tied to Kiryu’s skills are a little unintuitive and at times confusing to navigate, which makes strategically planning your upgrade path unnecessarily difficult. If any aspect of YAKUZA has aged less than gracefully, it’s the user interface. The four combat styles of Rush, Beast, Brawler, and Dragon make a return, but in order to buff them up, the player has to navigate upgrade systems that are largely similar to the ones from 0, with the exception that they don’t rely on money this time around, but standard experience points. KIWAMI bills itself as an action brawler, and the fighting feels satisfying and fairly sharp. Many of the gameplay systems are similar, most notably the reimagined combat. In what will become a common theme throughout this review, whatever your experience was when playing YAKUZA 0, you’ll feel more or less the same while playing YAKUZA KIWAMI. Visual puns are an important but oft-forgotten facet of the Yakuza code I’ve had limited experience with the Yakuza series prior to this game, by which I mean I was intrigued after watching a playthrough of YAKUZA 0, and was eager to dive headfirst into the series myself. Crossfader covered the game’s prequel, YAKUZA 0, earlier this year, which in retrospect seemed like a warm-up for the complete remastering of the original Yakuza story featuring Kazuma Kiryu’s expulsion and then rise through the ranks of the Tojo clan’s Dojima family. KIWAMI is a remake of the original YAKUZA game, released in the distant past of 2005 for PS2. According to YAKUZA KIWAMI, it means “extreme,” so I’m probably going to defer judgement on that one. “Kiwami” means “extreme.” Or it could also mean “climax,” even possibly “remake”-I’m still not entirely sure.
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