Topic: Yakuza Kiwami

Release Date: August 29th, 2017

Yakuza Kiwami was recreated from the ground up exclusively for the PlayStation 4. A HD remake of the original Yakuza it's optimized for the 1080p/60fps environment, every line of the script was re-recorded by series actors and for the first time in the West, gamers will be able to hear the original Japanese language track.

Surprised there wasn't a thread for this game.

Yakuza Kiwami had a price drop on Amazon UK.
RRP was £29.99, which includes a steel book, but it has since dropped to £24.99!!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B071XP1DG6/ref=od_aui_det...

If you are interested get it while you can, as Sega put out EXTREMELY limited numbers of physical copies. I had to wait over 2 months to get a copy of Yakuza 0.

@Fight_Teza_Fight There's no need to worry, there's a digital version available.

@Tasuki Digital is £5 more expensive and you'd be surprised how many people will hold out for a physical copy . Both Yakuza 0 and Persona 5 sold out retail in a matter of days in some markets. I have little faith in Sega to keep the supply chains fed.

I'm so there. I'm getting it digitally I have no patience for games in the mail anymore.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Thanks for the heads up. Pre-order placed 😊

@KratosMD My entry point was Yakuza 0 so I would definitely recommend starting with that. I understand that the ending of Yakuza 0, immediately runs into the beginning of Yakuza (1).
However, at the end of the game there's a character synopsis that's kind of spoiler heavy, as it reveals some future game events. Might want to avoid reading that, otherwise I feel like Yakuza 0 is the perfect entry point. I genuinely can' think of a prequel that had such a fantastic world that it made me want to play the entire series.

I've been on PlayStation since the original PSone and I genuinely can't believe I've ignored this amazing series for so long.

The series story is the way it is. If you just jump in to watching 30 Rock in the second season it is still pretty easy to figure out, well the same for Yakuza. The cutscenes about what tragedy unfolded, and how it effects our dear protagonist happen early on. Though Yakuza 0 is worth playing just for Goro Majima, Sega's greatest character ever! Play them in any order who cares. They are fun games where you run around playing slot car races, meeting hostesses and beating people up. Enjoy

@KratosMD Yakuza zero is great go buy it like yesterday!

The issue I have with the trailer for Kiwami is it looked identical to zero. The mini games, locations etc. The selling points in the trailer were everything I played in zero and loved. But im unsure if I could invest more time in the world if its practically the same game with a fresh story.

@KratosMD sorry I re-read what i wrote and I didnt give enough information. the trailer portrayed it as practically the same game, the fighting is identical to zero, the side games are all the same, the two areas mentioned are the 2 hub areas of zero and its released so shortly after zero I reckon its going to feel like a huge story dlc rather than a whole new game.

Its funny actually the pushsquare review for zero said it felt all too familiar to the previous game (5?).
That said if you havent played yakuza before the games a beast.

Worth pointing out we'll have a review of this before launch.

@KratosMD no doubt its a good deal and I would consider it. Im sure theres more to the game than a tacked on story.

Its hard to describe, from being pretty excited as zero is my goty (ahead of persona and nex this year) to disappointed within 2 minutes due to the trailer. The biggest pull for me was the sheer variety of good stuff to do. Its all good, even the crazy tramps park gambling games. But the trailer was like Bam you can play some shogi, Bam the ultimate fighting technique, Bam fight in these busy streets. It was an odd trailer as that was all in zero. Unless youve played zero and seen the trailer for kiwami its hard to explain. But it doesnt exactly whet the appetite. But you should buy one of them. I probably will get kiwami in the end if the @shogunrok review is glowing.

When Yakuza 0 came out, I read all the hype but I was just like, "I don't know what Yakuza is so...whatever." I thought maybe it was similar to Sleeping Dogs...which didn't really grab me to keep playing (it was free on Xbox GWG). Then recently I saw the Kiwami steelbook and thought the back side looked amazing...so I thought I should give Yakuza 0 a better look. Started watching some gameplay videos and some bits of people's stream on Twitch (backing out if it looked spoilerish). Now I'm REALLY wanting to play it and to preorder Kiwami since I don't know how long the steelbooks will last.

@ArkhamKnerd haha your avatar made me laugh. Thats futuba prior to retrieving her treasure. That scene was sooo funny. Almost as funny as yusuke and the main protagonist in the church posing.

Anyway, you would absolutely love zero. I cant say enough good things about it.

I beat Kiwami last night. Took me just over 13 hours as I only focused on story. I feel better having played Zero first. I don't think Kiwami builds up the supporting cast nearly as well as Zero did. That familiarity with some of the cast helped when things go down.
I also think the story isn't as strong as Zero, but still very enjoyable & gripping nonetheless.
There we're some annoying moments in the game, but not enough to spoil the experience.

Also the Amazon page of Kiwami must be using PS2 screenshots! When I booted the game up I was surprised at how nice it looked! Felt like I was playing Zero.

@KratosMD Amazon delivered Saturday morning. £5 cheaper & I beat the game before it's actually out- PSN can suck it!

@KratosMD if you'd like to see how the series evolved, I say play the first two games on the PS2 I went on a Yakuza binge last year and it was great seeing the refinements made throughout the series. It's not the most ideal way of going back to experience the original games, but witnessing that next gen jump from PS2 to PS3 was awesome for me. I've still got to play Yakuza 5 but I'm definitely looking forward to getting my Kiwami steelbook edition (steal at $24).

Those in the UK who want a copy try Argos they've got it for £23.99 with the steelbook.

@KratosMD I'll be interested to hear if you like the order you're playing them in. I have never played a Yakuza game either, and there is just such crazy love for the series lately so I'm gonna have to dive in at some point (when my back log is a little more under control). The comments after the Kiwami review led me to believe I need to try Y0 first since it sounds to be universally accepted as the pinnacle of the series so far and it's an origin story I guess. I know you're taking the approach of trying the lesser game first and building up to the better one while you simultaneously are able experience the evolution of the series development time-wise, which is an interesting approach. (You're the kind of guy who saves dessert for last, aren't you? 😆 Some of us eat the thing we crave the most first, then if we still have room at the end of the meal, we'll eat the veggies)
Incidentally, I also have Yakuza 5 I think already sitting in my IGC from a year or two ago (when it was on PS+) that I could play, but seems probably the worst decision to play that one first, but the advantage is that it won't cost me anything.
Anyways, my plan is to buy Y0 at some point and start there, but I (as well as possibly other Yakuza noobs on the forum) am curious on your take, especially after you experience Y0.

Edit and correction: Both Yakuza 4 and 5 are in the IGC, having been given out in the past couple years. So I guess I have both of those I could play at any time on PS3.

@KratosMD Would be nice to have backwards compatibility right about now, wouldn't it? I guess you could consider trying out PlayStation Now service and stream the PS3 titles, if they are available.