OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Incredible Remastering
Much Improved Combat
Short Length
Yakuza Kiwami shows how far the franchise has come by bringing the original into the modern age mostly successfully. It can't break out of the shell of its original design, but the improvements all lead to a pretty great package.
Fight and Play Through the Streets of Kamurocho in Yakuza Kiwami
Yakuza Kiwami - PS4 Trailer | E3 2017
The Dragon Rises Again in Yakuza Kiwami on Aug. 29
Yakuza Kiwami makes great strides in updating the classic original Yakuza game to modern standards. But while it adds better combat, bizarrely charming side quests, and a gorgeous graphical revamp, it also ignores some of the original's biggest problems in pacing and storytelling. And because of its relatively short length, Yakuza Kiwami's fun trip through the tangled web of Japan's criminal underground feels like a prelude to something bigger and better to come.
An entertaining but slightly unbalanced remake whose biggest draw is a regular distraction from one of the series' best stories.
Suffers in comparison to Yakuza 0, but is still a compelling drama and an important part of the series as a whole.
The original Yakuza has been remade into a sequel to its own prequel, but although it's perfectly competent it feels outdated compared to the newer entries.
Yakuza Kiwami is a sprawling adventure, but – as enhanced as it is – it's clearly a foundational entry in the series
Yakuza Kiwami makes it clear just how far the series has come, and just how far it still has to go. It's keenly designed to bring newly minted Yakuza fans more firmly into the fold by providing all the contemporary comforts they might expect, while also giving longtime fans more to chew on than a shot-for-shot remake ever would have. It's a patchwork, for better and for worse, and as much as I enjoyed my time with it, there's no denying that some of those patches are looking more tired than others.
Yakuza Kiwami picks up where Yakuza Zero left off, upholding its dramatic storytelling, offbeat humor, and flashy yet frustrating combat.
At X019 from London, Microsoft unveiled new games from first-party studios, showed off more Game Pass and xCloud expansions, and announced Black Friday deals.
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