Open World Action RPG Review: Yakuza Kiwami

Before the release of Yakuza 0, Yakuza was the beginning of Kazuma Kiryu's story. Yakuza 0 proved to be one of the best games in the whole series. With the release of Yakuza Kiwami, which brought the game up to modern standards yet kept the core story intact, the original Yakuza actually holds up quite well.

The game begins in 1995, seven years after the events in Yakuza 0. Kazuma Kiryu, a twenty-seven-year-old member of the Dojima family within the Tojo Clan, has climbed the ranks within the clan. He is just about to become the patriarch of his own family when he takes the blame for the murder of Patriarch Shimano, although he was not the one that killed him.

Ten years later, Kiryu is paroled and he is released from prison. He now has to deal with members of the Tojo clan that want him dead, as well as the usual violent thugs that wander around Tokyo's Kamurocho district. A decade in prison has made his skills rusty, so he has to gain experience so that he can regain his former strength.

In the Kiwami remake of the game, Goro Majima, the Mad Dog of Shimano, vows to help him restore his strength so that he can battle him properly. This is called "Majima Everywhere", and the name is apt since the battles take place all around the city. This is simultaneously both the funniest and the most frustrating part of the remake since Majima will pop up from just about anywhere at any time. The best way to handle this is to keep leveling up, especially health and beast style moves. Defeating Majima will add moves to Kiryu's dragon style. and other than learning moves from Master Komaki, is the only way to do so. Like Yakuza 0, Kiryu can use the aforementioned beast and dragon style move set. Kiryu can also use moves in his brawler and rush styles. Each of these styles can be accessed by pressing a direction on the directional pad.

Kiryu's story picks up steam when he comes across a young girl, Haruka, that is somehow tied to the one billion yen that has been stolen from the Tojo clan. The Kiryu saga of the Yakuza franchise has always been about family, and that is true here as well. Yakuza 0 had Kiryu protecting his adopted father, Shintaro Kazama, and his sworn brother, Akira Nishiyama. Yakuza picks up that trend, as Kiryu does everything he can to protect Haruka, the little girl that ended up in his custody.

In Yakuza Kiwami, the Japanese voices are left in the western versions, but in the original western release of Yakuza for PlayStation 2, the English voices were dubbed by famous voice actors. It pains me to recommend the Japanese voices, as the English cast was amazing. Among others, it included Mark Hamill giving Joker vibes as Majima and Bill Farmer doing his best Sam the Canine Shamus as Detective Date. The English voices are actually really good. It's just the janky script that let them down. Not only is the dialog in the original English PlayStation 2 version clunky. but names of places and people have been shortened or even changed for little reason. To this day, no one but the translator knows why the Florist of Sai was given the name of Kage in English. He certainly never received a given name in the original Japanese version. Thankfully, Yakuza Kiwami has a much less awkward translation with the original names intact.

In the original Yakuza, the minigames were regulated to the UFO catcher, visiting with cabaret club hostesses, hitting baseballs at the batting center, blackjack, pachinko slot, and roulette. Yakuza Kiwami keeps the UFO catcher, batting center, blackjack, and roulette and removes the pachinko slots as well as four of the six hostesses. However, it adds minigames from Yakuza 0, including billiards, bowling. cee-lo, cho-han, darts, a karaoke button-based rhythm game, koi-koi, mahjong, oicho-kabu, Pocket Circuit slot car racing, poker, roulette, and shogi. The Sega game centers in Yakuza Kiwami also contain Battle Bug Beauties: MesuKing,  based on the Catfight Arena from Yakuza 0.

All of the minigames are fun diversions, but the best part of any Yakuza game outside of the main story is the side missions. There are many sidequests, and Yakuza Kiwami thankfully doesn't remove any sidequests from the original. Kiwami also adds a few new ones to tie the game back to Yakuza 0. Like any Yakuza game, some of them can be quite off-the-wall hilarious. There's nothing like the adult baby gangsters seen in later games, but the wackiness the series is known for definitely started here. As with any Yakuza game, the last side mission is an extremely hard fight with a member of the Amon family.

Yakuza is a great game regardless of which game you are playing, even if it is the PlayStation 2 version or the Japan-only Wii U and PlayStation 3 high-definition versions. However, the best way to play is definitely the Kiwami remake. It does remove 2 out of 6 hostesses and the pachislot games, however, it adds 12 minigames, adds three fighting styles, and brings the presentation up to modern standards. In doing so, it restored the original game's status as one of the best games in the series.

Final verdict:

4 out of 5

Yakuza Review

Streets of Kamurocho Review

Open World Action RPG Review: Yakuza Kiwami 2

The second Yakuza game was bigger than the first, with the addition of a new district, Shinseicho, based on the real-life Shinsekai, as well as including the usual Yakuza series hangout spot, Kamurocho, based on the real-life Kabukicho. In the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake, the second district was replaced by Sotenbori from Yakuza 0, which is based on the real-life Dotenbori. In the case of both Yakuza 2 and the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake, in many ways, bigger does indeed mean better.

In this game, Kiryu Kazuma is approached by the fifth chairman of the Tojo Clan, Yukio Terada, who wishes to broker an alliance between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance. After Terada is murdered, Kiryu decides to take on this goal himself, as he was the one who appointed Terada as the fifth chairman. Thus, he places his adopted daughter, Haruka, in the care of the orphanage where they both grew up, and sets out on the dangerous task to broker peace between the two biggest yakuza organizations in Japan.

The story of Yakuza 2, which takes place a year after the events of Yakuza, is often praised as being among the best in the series and within the top two with Yakuza 0. That praise is well deserved, as it is an exciting murder mystery with a lot of twists and turns thrown in. On top of that, the female detective, Kaoru Sayama, whom Kiryu first meets in this game is written superbly. The writers are good at writing for interesting female characters, but they usually are relegated to the women at the cabaret clubs. It is fun to interact with these women, who range from ultra-feminine to tomboyish. However, they rarely have a tough, yet feminine woman who can hold their own in a fight. That's a shame because Yakuza 2 showed that they could do it well. It took over a half a decade, with the release of Yakuza 5, for another tough, feminine woman to appear in a Yakuza game, and over another half a decade for a playable strong, feminine female character to become playable with the release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Another awesome character is the Kansai dragon, Ryuji Goda, who is one of the main villains of the game, as he wants to defeat Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima, to stake the claim as the only dragon in the yakuza. He is written and performed so well that he became popular with the fans enough to become a playable character in Yakuza: Dead Souls.

As for gameplay, this game is the one that shows its Shenmue lineage the most. Yakuza showed it with quick-time events, fetch quests, and a puzzle near the beginning of the game where Kiryu had to infiltrate the funeral of the third chairman of the Tojo clan. Yakuza 2 has these as well, but it has an actual adventure puzzle near the middle of the game where Kiryu has to interpret clues to open a safe. The puzzle is done very well, and, as a fan of adventure games, I'm happy that it was kept intact in the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake.

Speaking of the remake, compared to Yakuza Kiwami, the controls are still a bit stiff and there is only one fighting style for Kiryu. In addition, some locations with mini-games are no longer accessible in Yakuza Kiwami 2, such as bowling, pool, and the Club Adam host organization. In addition, with the replacement of Shinseicho for Sotenbori, the Shinseicho minigames have been moved to Kamurocho and Sotenbori or removed entirely. Making up for it, however, some mini-games have been added to the Kiwami remake, including the Majima Construction clan creator and cabaret club management. 

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is an excellent game with multiple locations to visit, well-written and excellently voiced new and returning characters, and a superb plot. Any version is worth playing, from the PlayStation 2 original, the Japanese-only high-definition versions on PlayStation 3 and Wii U, or the Kiwami remake, although I wholeheartedly recommend playing the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake. Yakuza 2, and by extension, Yakuza Kiwami 2, absolutely deserves its praise as one of the best games in the series, and the remake cements it there, even when compared to later games in the series.

Final verdict:

5 out of 5

Yakuza 2 (HD) Review

Yakuza Kiwami 2: Majima Saga review

Open World Action RPG Review: Like a Dragon - Ishin! Kiwami

Like a Dragon: Ishin! was originally released only in Japan for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in 2014. However, in February 2023, the game was finally released to worldwide audiences in a remake for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The remake is simply titled Like a Dragon: Ishin! in the West, but it is known as Like a Dragon: Ishin! Kiwami (Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin! Kiwami) in Asia.

The Kiwami subtitle should tell you the treat we're in for, as Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio produced a remake similar to Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 where the content from the original release is there, albeit remixed a bit, but new content has been added as well.

The story takes place right before the Restoration period of Japan, hence the Ishin in the title, as Ishin means Restoration in Japanese. The story follows a samurai named Ryōma Sakamoto who takes on the identity of Hajime Saitō and infiltrates the special army for the Shogunate, the Shinsengumi, to discover who murdered his foster father, Tōyō Yoshida.

Ryōma Sakamoto, Hajime Saitō, and Tōyō Yoshida are all historical samurai who had an influence on Japan, but in real life, Ryōma Sakamoto and Hajime Saitō were separate people. The story mixes the lives of both men, as it begins with the life of Ryōma Sakamoto, with his friend Takechi Hanpeita, the head of the Tosa Loyalist Party. It twists things a bit, with Tōyō Yoshida being Ryōma Sakamoto's foster father in the game. This is where it diverges with the life of Hajime Saitō as it details his joining of the Shinsengumi, although in the game it is to find the person who killed Tōyō.

It's a very dramatic story filled with betrayals and bittersweet triumphs mixed in with craziness, especially in the side stories. In other words, it is very much a Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio game.

The characters are portrayed by Like a Dragon series staples, as well as those characters who are lesser known. The likeness of Kazuma Kiryu, complete with the marvelous deep voice of Takaya Kuroda, plays Hajime Saitō, aka Ryōma Sakamoto. The likeness of the wonderfully crazy Goro Majima portrays Soji Okita. You'll be glad to know Hidenari Ugaki plays Okita with all of the passion of Majima, complete with taunts of Hajime-chan! Many of the likenesses and voice actors of other characters that were playable in previous games also appear here as historical and fictional characters including Haruka Sawamura, Shun Akiyama, Taiga Saejima, Ryuji Goda, Koichi Adachi, and Tianyou Zhao. Other series characters are also represented in supporting roles.

In the change from Like a Dragon: Ishin! to the Kiwami remake, some of the characters from games released after the original release of Ishin!, such as Koichi Adachi and Tianyou Zhao from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, were used for characters that had no counterparts as well as those from games that were recently released at the time of the original release but aren't as well remembered now, such as Shigeki Baba from Yakuza 5.

It is an action RPG as opposed to the turn-based RPG style of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. However, it does represent a change from the usual fare as swords and guns are available with unlimited use as fighting styles. Like Yakuza 0, Ryōma can use four styles of combat. These include brawler which uses fists, swords, guns, and a combination of guns and swords. These styles can be leveled up and new moves can be learned from masters of the various styles. Master Komaki even serves as the master of the brawler style.

Happily, minigames made it into the game despite the pre-Restoration era setting of Japan. Karaoke is available, including a mix of "Baka Mitai (I've Been a Fool)" with a backing track of traditional Japanese instruments. The usual Japanese gambling games are present, as is the Western gambling game of Texas hold 'em poker. The latter does make sense within the context of the game, as the era is set when the "black ships" from Britain came to Japan. As expected from a Like a Dragon series game, there are also odd yet fun minigames included such as cannonball slicing and cannonball skeet shooting. You can also fish, farm, cook, and then sell the results of your hard work with help from Haruka. 

Side stories are also here, and many are just as crazy as you'd expect. The creators also had fun with the time period with some side stories, as there are some here that just wouldn't work in modern Japan. Speaking of the time period, Atlus has once again gone far and above in localizing the game into English, as there is a glossary of terms for players unfamiliar with the setting of the game.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is finally in English, and it was worth the wait. This is a fantastic game, with all of the series staples that you would expect from a Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio game. The voice actors, as usual, have brought their A-game, delivering fantastic voice performances. The plot is interesting as well, weaving together the stories of two famous historical samurai in a story with both historical and fictional elements. If you are a fan of the Like a Dragon series, or just interested in historical Japan, this game is one that is well worth playing.

Addendum April 17, 2023: I meant to mention how much Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise resembles Like a Dragon: Ishin! As the former was released before the latter, it is obvious where Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio got the inspiration to delve into the post-apocalyptic world of Fist of the North Star. As I was playing the Kiwami remake of Ishin!, I noticed the similarity right away due to the rustic feel of the in-game villages between the two games. However, once Haruka's villa was available, it became more apparent. Lin's expressions, comments, and movements are identical to Haruka's here. It works in both games, though, as it gives off a cute vibe that suits both characters.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Review

Yakuza 0 review

Point and Click Adventure Review: Simon the Sorcerer 25th Anniversary Edition

Simon the Sorcerer has had many adventures over the years, but the original still remains the best.

The game follows a British teenager named Simon, who is transported to a magical world when he follows his dog into the attic.  He soon finds himself on a quest to become a sorcerer so he can save the wizard who has seemed to have brought him there.

The game's premise is pretty bare, but it is bolstered by its humorous take on the game's magical world. From the ogres trying to make Simon into a stew to the creatures in the forest, there is plenty of humorous whimsy to be found.  The entire Simon the Sorcerer series is a bit rough around the edges, simply because Simon is a bit of a harsh protagonist.  However, Simon's voice actor delivers his lines in a way that manages to make him a character that you root for, despite his shortcomings. It also helps that Simon's sadism is toned down a lot here compared to his future outings.

Some of the games in the series can get a bit crazy with the logic of its puzzles, but, the puzzles here are quite well done.  This game is often regarded as a classic, and the presentation has a lot to do with that. The art style is fantastic.  The backgrounds have a lot of detail despite their low resolution.  The animations of Simon and the other characters are also fantastic.  The art in this game easily stands up with the best that Sierra and LucasArts had to offer at the time.  The music also helps to set the tone of the game, including a memorable title song that is bolstered by some fantastic credit animation.

On the other hand, there is the 25th Anniversary Edition. It is developed by MojoTouch using ScummVM. It intends to simplify things by giving options from a custom menu to use alternate sound sources such as MT32 music, or James Woodcock's excellent remake of the music in the game. It also gives an option to have original or high definition graphics, but the latter simply uses one of ScummVM's graphics filters.

The biggest drawback of the 25th Anniversary Edition is that, despite using ScummVM, the shortcut key to get back to the ScummVM menu doesn't work. This means that you'll be stuck using the options in the custom menu, and they're severely lacking from what you can do in ScummVM proper. The good news is that the data hasn't been rearranged, so the 25th Anniversary Edition is still worth buying, as it's a snap to load up ScummVM and have it detect the game. After that, you can play the game with whatever bells and whistles you want, even if you choose to have none at all.

Simon's first outing is by far his most welcoming.  The humor can get a bit dark, but it's nowhere near the level of the sadism that Simon shows in later games.  The game's presentation is where it really shines. The art style, voice acting, music, and puzzles are all well done. Even the 25th Anniversary Edition is worth picking up, as long as you use ScummVM externally. It is a game that is worth playing for any adventure game fan.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5