Quick Look: Yakuza Kiwami

There is definitely some old school game design in this one, I would not want the crew to Beast in the East this game. I liked the story a lot but it was tougher to get through.

I would LOVE to get a Beast In the East for this, but it feels like that's not happening. And sadly, skipping it would basically ruin the following games by removing any attachment you might have to the characters.

Also, y'all have to realize this is a nearly annual series with a small team and a limited budget (Kiwami in particular is more jank than the others). Just about every game after 1 introduces a new location, but by and large they heavily take place in Kamurocho. So you have to learn to appreciate all the changes to the city each game (being able to explore the underground, explore the rooftops, seeing new businesses pop up, major construction projects starting in one game and finishing in the next). It's like coming back to your hometown- you always notice what's different.

Also, Dan, it's not finicky. If you payed attention more than not at all, you'd execute the heat moves flawlessly. The requirements are unbelievably simple. Don't blame the game for you jamming feverishly on the Triangle button instead of just waiting for the prompt.

Everytime i see Millenium Tower on the map I get sad thinking about a certain person who is buried under it.

Dragon Style becomes OP when you get the hang of Tiger Drop.

@noah_n_bridger said:

Even if they don't do another Beast in the East, I do hope that at least Alex or Vinny will try to mainline Kiwami. It's always fun to hear them both talk about Yakuza games.

Hey old timers! I'd like to punch you in the face!

Watch out for Majima everywhere... except this quick look.

I haven't played any Yakuza for the ps2 and ps3, but after Yakuza 0 I got to watch the trailers for the previous ones. I clearly remember the Yakuza 5 trailer showing you playing through Idol stuff with a playable girl, looks like its Haruka.

Since the game is the first entry to the series, during the ps2 era, I would reckon that most of the characters presented in this one will be major things throughout the next games.

Last thing that blond kid looked like the kid, from junior high that was tall as hell. I say this cause I've recently watched that episode. Is he the same kid, but now 10 years older?

@alvarofaraujo said:

Nope. Ryuji is the main antagonist in Yakuza 2/Kiwami 2. Kiwami takes place 17 years after 0, so he'd already be 29 at this point in the timeline.

He's not really buried there, he just died there. They dug up a watch where he should have been buried if thats what you are implying.

unfortunately you have to grind through a lot of non-so-fun stuff (fighting majima/komaki, repetitive sidequests) to build up kiryu's skills for combat to be enjoyable (i.e. even kiwami finishers need to be unlocked first so it's understandable that the duders were confused by boss-type just standing there "charging up") and i am afraid this game makes a poor candidate for BITE playthrough...

maybe they could just set the game to easy and make it a mini-series where they bee-line through the main story just so they could bridge to kiwami 2. I wish I could give them my save file I think they might have more fun in a NG+ setting with a leveled up kiryu.

It makes sense that they're not doing it now with so many shows going on, I think no one was expecting a new BitE series to come up right now. But it's good to know that they're willing to do it in the future.

BitE was my favorite show from the East crew this year, I like it way more than Steal My Sunshine and Exquisite Corps (barely watch those two). I hope they don't keep leaving Yakuza behind and focus on other shows. I think the best way to go with this would be like they did Metal Gear Scanlon, with some months separating each game but still a "regular" show on the site. If they return in January/February it would be awesome!

I'm sure I'm an easy "mark" for saying this, but IT WASN'T A DUCK

Will this not be BiTE?noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The original localization of Yakuza 1 actually dubbed the game, so it was quite a bit different than this version is. Hell, they had Mark Hamill voicing Majima! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaXXG0cNMVc

Yes Dan, America's system of just throwing away non violent and/or even first offenders until they get out elderly, or die in jail, is indeed a much smarter justice than having maximum sentences, which is just "silly".

Maximum sentences are not just more humane, but also saves millions upon millions of tax dollars that would otherwise be used to keep someone who sold acid in their twenties in jail for decades.

Must suck to get so old you cannot remember the ending of a game you finished two months ago....

I feel Vinny should play when the full thing happens.

I wasn't being critical, its just a fact of the series that I think people should know going in. People pop in Yakuza 0 and are excited by the amount of things you can do, all the silly side stories, and a long refined battle system..... then they go to the other games and are surprised that its largely the same. The series is a testament to the gains of iterative design, but I think western audiences are not used to a series going 8+ installments without huge changes..... I mean every game features Kamurocho, 1 and 4 ONLY feature Kamurocho and really only Yakuza 5 has a substantial amount of areas other than it.

Will be very interested in seeing if they do a Beast in the East on this one, if they just mainline the story or if they just watch a clip show of all the cutscenes and then skip to Kiwami 2, since that looks to be a bigger improvement on the original than Kiwami 1.

I think what he meant is that there are heinous crimes that do merit life in prison. Not that overblown sentences for lesser crimes are a good thing.

Just noting my interest for a possible future beast in the east with Kiwami. It looks fun.

As much as I loved Beast in the East, I would be OK with you guys skipping over this one if you did that Shenmue II ER instead. ;)

Why am I seeing so many people asking y'all to skip this one?

I get it, the side content in 1 is poor, and you're mostly better off mainlining it, but honestly, it's unskippable. These games thrive on player's attachment to the characters. Without, you'll just be left shrugging when someone triumphs, or gets put in the ground.

Without 1, you won't have context to care about any of the crazy stuff that happens in 2. Without caring about 2, the change of pace in 3 would just confuse you, and it just snowballs into the remaining games.

So what year does this take place in? is it 2005?

Edit: Wait, Kiryu was in prison?

@gregalor: There are criminals in Norway that spend their entire lives in jail though. Anders Breivik for example will never get out. The 21 year maximum sentence thing only sounds silly if you don't understand how it really works.

It's just funny when Americans throw shade at other countries criminal justice systems.

Say what you will about Yakuza games: they make some ADORABLE children.

Is it just me, or is it a running gag in the series to come across punks torturing dogs (and get you really fired up)?

@oni: unsurprising the guy that never ate a salad for 20 years doesn't realize that just because you have a maximum sentence doesn't mean everyone gets out of jail after 21 years. Anders Breivik is in jail in Norway, and he will probably never get out.

RIP beast in the east 2017 - 2017

I'm super glad that Alex is playing it and seemingly enjoying it, though! 33% conversation rate to Yakuza ain't half bad.

Put this series on PC already Sega.

Haruka's anime eyes are kinda weird, though, considering the series devotion to realistic rendering.

I really hope they don't give up on Beast in the East, though from the start it's been a very intimidating undertaking that might end up taking almost as long as GB has been around as a company. I remember Alex being excited that Kiwami was set to release right when they planned to get done with 0. But if you're going to back down, I suppose it's a good time to do so.

RIP Beast in the East? I might be getting ahead of myself here, but you guys shouldn't set yourself up for a cool video series if you're not willing to follow through on it.

that question "Does she come back in the latter games?" little do they know

I just finished Yakuza 4 last night and even after watching all of Beast in the East I'm amazed at how much better this game looks. The garbage and papers in the street really got me, nothing like that in 3 or 4. And Kiryu looks so much younger. I need to play 5 next and keep the plot going but I can't wait to come back to this. Also, Alex was so close to Sky Financial, I wanted him to pop up one more flight of stairs and see if they had a fun text reference to it on the door but he would have no reason to know to look there. It also threw me for a loop when Alex didn't know where Millenium Tower was but I guess it would still take getting used to having only played 0.

I really hope they end up Beast in the Easting this one.

The story is much much shorter than Yakuza 0 and of a smaller, more personal scale. The sidecontent is not great and should be skipped. It'd be about 6 to 8 episodes I'd recon, and a great little story to boot.

You know... maybe you guys should continue where you left off....

Is Dan trolling when he says the map "looks identical"? It looks markedly different to me (which makes sense...)

I also have to wonder just what he thinks would be better about water from Poland vs. water from Maine.

@nukleon: I actually thought the story was severely improved with the added Nishiki cutscenes, the only downside being there isn't much new content to differentiate this game from 0. Each Yakuza game has at least had its own share of mini-games, locale and combat.

Hope youse guys do Shenmue 2 instead of this game, feels like there's unfinished business with Shenmue

I really wish GBE to continue the Beast in the East with this game. Preferably with Alex on the pad.

Hope there's still a Beast in the East for this coming.

While I really want to see Yakuza continue here, I think Shenmue 2 would provide more entertainment value, for better or worse. Kiwami is going to be a lot more of the same too soon.

Just a quick look?! Nani?!

Sky finance is not yet there. Explosion in this game that allows it be around.

Idk how he can forget that instead of all the alleys there's the giant ass millenium tower right in the middle of the map but w/e

hope they do those PC ports

I don't think any of them pieced together the connection between the tower and the Empty Lot.

@the_nubster: Yeah, in the first couple of chapters, some shit goes down in 1995 and Kiryu has to serve 10 years in jail for it, it's why he's on the outs with the Yakuza again. Alex makes reference to it right before Dan's comment on jail terms when they're talking to Reina in Serenity.

I really want them to do a BitE of this, preferably with Alex at the helm. I'll really be waiting warmly for it, even knowing it probably won't happen for a while, likely next year.

@ghoststalker: I know, I was playing around. Vinny seemed to totally miss Alex's entire summary and kept repeating the same questions, I was just poking fun.