The Grand Theft Auto series has a lot to answer for,
controversy aside, it probably single-handedly changed gaming as we know it,
between 2001 and 2004 we were treated to GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas,
3D adventures with adult situations which were incredibly well-made, very
clever and fun to play, sales were massive for each release and games companies
were scrabbling over each other to bring out their own version to capitalise on
this surge in popularity for third-person sandbox titles. A lot of them proved to be too similar to GTA, without the
polish or anything unique, the majority drifted into obscurity, in 2005 Sega
released Ryū ga Gotoku "Like a Dragon", or to give it its western
title “Yakuza”, at first look you’d be mistaken for thinking this was simply a
GTA clone set in Japan, but what set this title apart was the emphasis on
far-less gunplay and high-speed driving, and more on character, story and above
all else, fighting.
You explore the fictional district of Kamurocho in Tokyo, a
veritable haven for Japan’s criminal underworld, interacting with passers-by,
visiting eateries, bars, shops, and even a number of gambling houses,
occasionally getting stopped to help someone in need or finding yourself at the
receiving end of a shakedown or simply someone who doesn’t like the look of
your face. The story follows "the Dragon of Dojima" Kazuma
Kiryu, a member of the Tojo clan wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his
boss, on his release ten years later he finds himself marked for death by the
rest of the yakuza community, add to the mix a missing ten billion yen, a
friend’s betrayal, and the appearance of a mysterious young girl who everyone seems
to be searching for, and you’ve got a tale with more twists and turns than the Suzuka
Circuit. The game was very well received and spawned a number of
sequels and spinoffs, eventually getting re-released for the PS3 in 2012
alongside the second game in the series in one package with HD graphics and
tweaks to the controls and gameplay, this time for PS4 however, we’re given
Yakuza Kiwami “Extreme”, a full-on remaster of the original game, with improved
graphics and textures, re-recorded speech and audio, as well as some brand new
additional story content. Now, I’ve never played the PS2 originals despite owning
number one, I got into the games from the third in the series on PS3 and have
enjoyed each version since, not so much Dead Souls, but that’s not considered
canon so I’m okay, anyways, Yakuza Kiwami takes everything most of us know
about the PS2 original and despite any scripted sequences playing out almost
identically, it works off the PS3 engine, with a closer third-person viewpoint
and smooth transitions from walking the streets, to the many fights you’ll have
with your fellow pedestrians that inhabit Kamurocho. You start the game as Kiryu at the peak of his abilities,
and it’s only once you’re given free-reign after his release from prison, you
find that the ten years inside have dulled his strength and you have to build it
back up again, either through experience points gained via story missions,
side-quests, or the random fights you get into, thus adding new moves and
abilities, raising your maximum health and “Heat” meter, and even gaining
special abilities through encounters with fan-favourite character Majima Goro. Each of the new abilities go into one or more of the four fighting
styles available to Kiryu, Brawler, Beast, Rush, and Dragon, allowing for
differing moves or techniques in battle depending on the situation, Beast works
well for crowd control, Rush allows for rapid attacks and quick dodges, whilst
Brawler is an all-rounder, good for most street encounters, with Dragon only
truly becoming effective after you’ve fought Majima a few times, each of these
is easily changed during battles by hitting the D-pad, the controls stay the
same, but what changes are your combos, movement speed or the special attacks
available once you’ve built up your “Heat” meter. The “Heat” meter is a regular feature in the Yakuza series,
build it up by successfully landing attacks, or blocking and dodging, and once
it reaches the right level you can unleash more powerful one-off moves against
enemies, this time however, Kiwami introduces “Ultimate Heat Actions” able to
be performed against bosses when they enter their recovery state, match their
recharge aura to your fighting style and you’ll enter a sequence which’ll
inflict massive damage, especially handy when the majority of bosses you’ll
face are as tough as nails.
You start the game as Kiryu at the peak of his abilities,
and it’s only once you’re given free-reign after his release from prison, you
find that the ten years inside have dulled his strength and you have to build it
back up again, either through experience points gained via story missions,
side-quests, or the random fights you get into, thus adding new moves and
abilities, raising your maximum health and special meter, and even gaining
special abilities through encounters with fan-favourite character Majima Goro. Things start slow as you reacquaint yourself with the place
you once called home, though mostly unfamiliar to Kiryu, players will recognise
its many shops, restaurants and bars each displaying their signature signs in
their usual locations, Theater Square, The Champion District and Purgatory, all
standing proud in glorious HD, lights shine, advertising is bright and legible,
down to the attention to detail on things like the cinema posters, the many
varieties of booze available in the clubs and bars, to even the magazines on
the shelves in the little markets dotted around. The game looks great for a remaster of a PS2 title, the
visuals are crisp and it really comes alive, but compared to the previous
Yakuza PS4 release, Zero, it just doesn’t quite have the same sheen, it’s a weird
bridge between the PS3 & PS4 titles in the series, almost baffling why the
Zero engine wasn’t used, but I guess it was easier to upscale the PS3 version
than completely rebuild the game inside the framework of the PS4 prequel. Originally the game served as an opening to the series, an
epic cinematic story within the world of Japanese organised crime, from Yakuzas
1 through 5, the amount you can do outside of the story missions grows and
grows, games playable in the arcades, karaoke, fishing, to running hostess
clubs and ferrying passengers around in a taxi, culminating in last year’s
Yakuza Zero which allowed for the running of businesses, working as a phone
chat-line operator, bowling, and even disco dancing, and this is where my only
real problem with Kiwami lies. Once I was let loose and able to explore Kamurocho, my first
stop was CLUB SEGA, I expected to be able to play an early 00’s arcade machine
but couldn’t, not even Boxcelios was available, all I could play on was the UFO
Catcher, which I thought a little odd, only to remember this is a remaster of
the very first game and not to expect so much, the one welcome return I
appreciated was the finding of the random locker keys around the city, the
opening of each locker then rewarding you with a weapon or armour of some
description. But apart from that, eating at restaurants, drinking in
bars, and playing some board games, you’ll find not a lot else going on, by
today’s standards the game is pretty light on anything other than what is
happening in the story or the side missions, other areas in the game show their
age too, with the controls proving stiff at times, as well as finding yourself
getting stuck on items of scenery whilst trying to turn down an alleyway or get
into a shop. The game plays like every other in the series, the
music is atmospheric, the dialogue is well-acted and luckily free from the
cringy dub of the PS2 original, with the only real difference being the
graphics, Yakuza Kiwami is a good game, but finds itself a little irrelevant,
big fans of the series will love seeing the original game all tarted up for
PS4, and it’s perfect for anyone who hasn’t checked out a Yakuza title before,
however my personal recommendation would be, get Zero instead, it does a better
job as an introduction, you’ll get more replay out of it, and it’s likely cheaper
now too, either way though you’ll be ready for when Yakuza 6 hits western
shores in 2018.