Yakuza Kiwami (2016)
Yakuza Kiwami is a 2016 fighting video game made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios and Deep Silver.
Yakuza Kiwami is a full remake of the 2005 PlayStation 2 original, rebuilding the model of Kazuma Kiryu's first story in the Dragon Engine's updated systems. Kiryu emerges from a decade in prison for a murder he did not commit to find his clan transformed and the people he trusted scattered or changed. The game retains the original's mix of serious yakuza drama and side-quest absurdity, adds a new progression system tied to encounters with series antagonist Goro Majima, and restores the Japanese voice track absent from the Western PS2 release.
Quick answers
What is Yakuza Kiwami about?
Yakuza Kiwami is a full remake of the 2005 PlayStation 2 original, rebuilding the model of Kazuma Kiryu's first story in the Dragon Engine's updated systems. Kiryu emerges from a decade in prison for a murder he did not commit to find his clan transformed and the people he trusted scattered or changed. The game retains the original's mix of serious yakuza drama and side-quest absurdity, adds a new progression system tied to encounters with series antagonist Goro Majima, and restores the Japanese voice track absent from the Western PS2 release.
When was Yakuza Kiwami released?
Yakuza Kiwami was released on 21 January 2016.
Who made Yakuza Kiwami?
Yakuza Kiwami was made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, Deep Silver and Sega Games.
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A few thoughts on Yakuza Kiwami
For Japanese crime drama that takes the yakuza world as seriously as the main story does, Violent Streets is a direct stylistic touchstone. Road to the Don Theatrical Version offers a more recent look at loyalty and betrayal inside Japanese organized crime.
Crime dramas about men bound by codes the law doesn't recognize
Yakuza Kiwami rebuilds Kazuma Kiryu's original story as a study of honor surviving inside organized crime. Violent Streets, Road to the Don, The Punisher: One Last Kill and Karuppu all put loyalty and payback above the law, following men who answer to a code their world barely still respects.
Manga about ex-fighters trying to walk away from violence
Kiryu spends Yakuza Kiwami trying to leave the underworld behind and finding it will not let him. Rurouni Kenshin's reformed swordsman, Largo Winch's outsider businessman, One Piece's found-family crew and Attack on Titan's soldiers all wrestle with the same problem: a violent past that keeps showing up at the door.
Open-world games about criminals who live by their own rules
Yakuza Kiwami hands Kiryu an entire district to fight through with fists and improvised weapons, taking the law into his own hands because the actual law failed him. Grand Theft Auto V, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War all put you in the hands of someone settling scores their own way.