It’s already been seven years since the release of Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami in the west in 2017, which sparking a major surge of interest in the Like a Dragon / Yakuza franchise. The continued upward trajectory of the series helped developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio expand Yakuza to other platforms, including PC and Xbox, over the years. Now, the Nintendo Switch is finally getting its first entry in the series with Yakuza Kiwami. Thanks to SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, I was able to replay Yakuza Kiwami and experience its classic crime drama story in handheld and docked modes.
Yakuza Kiwami is regarded as one of the best entry points for the series, as it’s a remake of the very first Yakuza game from 2005 using Yakuza 0’s engine. This sentiment still holds true in 2024 for many fans, while others prefer to start with late 80s-themed Yakuza 0, since its the first story in the series chronologically. Nevertheless, Yakuza Kiwami is still a pivotal chapter for the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu, and the setting of Kamurocho, which will serves as the center of conflict for this yakuza underworld.
Yakuza Kiwami Brews Turmoil at the Very Start
The events of Yakuza Kiwami begin in 1995 in the Kabukicho-inspired district of Tokyo, Kamurocho. Tojo Clan lieutenant Kazuma Kiryu is fulfilling his duties and prepping to become the patriarch of his own family. During the first chapter, Kiryu also prepares for the birthday of his childhood friend Yumi Sawamura. The chapter also explores his friendship with another childhood friend Akira Nishikiyama, Dojima Family member Shinji Tanaka, and Serena bar proprietor Reina in what appears to be the life Kiryu always wanted.
After celebrating Yumi’s birthday and visiting his adoptive father, Kazama Family patriarch Shintaro Kazama, Kiryu’s life takes a turn for the worst. After being alerted of an incident in the Dojima Family office, Kiryu discovers that Nishikiyama killed the patriarch of the family, Sohei Dojima. While holding Yumi, who’s in an emotionally distraught state, Kiryu decides to take the fall for Nishikiyama and urges the both of them to leave before cops arrive. After a decade-long stay in prison, Kiryu’s good behavior gets him a release on parole in 2005.
Kiryu missed out on quite a lot in the outside world, as you would expect. Tension is building in the Tojo Clan after ten billion yen was stolen from the Tojo Clan vault, third chairman Masaru Sera was killed, and Nishikiyama’s rise in power behind the scenes is ringing alarm bells for Kazama and Kiryu alike. To make matters worse, Yumi is missing and a young girl called Haruka is being pursued in every direction. The Dragon of Dojima’s story truly begins here, and it’s one that’s aged beautifully with Yakuza Kiwami.
Bustling District of Kamurocho
Serving as the main setting of Yakuza Kiwami and Kiryu-led Yakuza games, Kamurocho is a sprawling urban district in the heart of Tokyo, with tons of pedestrians commuting and loitering on its streets. As Kiryu, you will be experiencing the busy nightlife, helping fellow citizens, and getting into fights with enemy gangs and yakuza, even those in the Tojo Clan. You can even go gambling, eat at fast food restaurants, and play a crane game at the local arcade, just to name a few side activities.
Kamurocho is relatively modest in size, and it only takes a minute or so to run from the north end to the south end of the map. The allure of Kamurocho lies in its many intricate details, sights, and sounds. Every single corner of Kamurocho has something to see or do, especially with the over 70 substories and several minigames you can enjoy. There are many NPCs in Yakuza Kiwami that will comment on what’s happening in Kamurocho as the story progresses as well, making the city feel even more immersive.
Fortunately, the vibrant city lights, dense crowds, and wealth of side activities, shops, and locations are beautifully maintained in the Nintendo Switch version. Content-wise, Yakuza Kiwami on Switch is identical to the existing PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions, so there wasn’t any compromises in that regard. There’s upwards of 50 hours of content to explore in Kamurocho, if you’re up to doing a 100% run.
The City’s Charm
Kamurocho plays a big role in the overall identity of the Yakuza series, and players will certainly recognize this by exploring Yakuza Kiwami and subsequent titles as they see the district evolve. Although the story is serious most of the way through, you can expect a lot of comedic relief by traversing this city, starting substories, and just talking to NPCs.
These substories can be quite zany, but it certainly expands on Kiryu’s personality and makes him a more nuanced character than you might expect at first. You’ll be chasing after scam artists and a dine-and-dasher in Kamurocho’s streets, racing RC cars in Pocket Circuit, chatting up hostesses in clubs, and playing provocative card games, to name a few instances. This is just a sample of what you can expect in Kamurocho, and the city eventually feels nostalgic when you experience more games in the series.
Yakuza Kiwami sets the stage for what you can expect in the other games, but it’s also a spruced-up time capsule you can look back on later into Kiryu’s journey. This is especially true in Yakuza 0, a game that leads directly into the pre-timeskip portion of Yakuza Kiwami. The franchise’s setting has charm that isn’t easily replicated, as Kamurocho is both limited and lively since it’s making use of every street and alleyway.
The Kiwami Fighting Experience
Like its predecessors, Yakuza Kiwami is a brawling/beat ’em up-style action game with Kazuma Kiryu at its center. The Brawler, Rush, Beast, and Dragon fighting styles from Yakuza 0 return for this remake, and they’re all really satisfying to use. Brawler emphasizes a balance between speed and strength, Rush focuses on quick strikes and evasion, Beast trades speed for brute strength, and Dragon carries on tradition as Kiryu’s original fighting style.
Each of the fighting styles, with the exception of Dragon, can be upgraded with EXP points earned by leveling up in fights. From the pause menu, you can upgrade the Brawler, Rush, and Beast styles from the Abilities menu, with each style having a literally sphere grid-like ability tree. It’s a really straightforward upgrade system, and the most powerful of upgrades and stat boosts require more EXP points as you fill up the sphere grid. Unlike the original Yakuza, Kiryu’s signature fighting style must be upgraded by fighting everyone’s favorite, Goro Majima, over and over again in the Majima Everywhere system.
Early in the story, Majima will challenge Kiryu to a fight in hopes of bringing the Dragon of Dojima back to his most powerful form. From there on, Majima will show up randomly across Kamurocho to fight Kiryu, even in some story segments. Completing these fights and training with Komaki unlocks more Dragon abilities in the sphere grid. Majima Everywhere can get somewhat tedious since you will need to fight him countless times to rank up and unlock most of the Dragon abilities.
Bringing the Heat
It’s not a Yakuza game without the Heat system, and it’s back to the extreme in the remake. In Yakuza Kiwami, the standard Heat gauge allows you to unleash a powerful move on an opponent, dealing great damage by consuming Heat. These moves include smashing an object over an opponent’s body, stomping on their face, or dealing consecutive strikes to their core by rapidly pressing a button. In short, they’re meant to take out grunts or deal great damage and bring a boss back into neutral.
As you’d expect, Heat Actions are unlocked by using EXP points on any of the ability trees, training with Komaki, or fighting Majima. Some Heat Actions are exclusively performed in boss fights and other encounters and aren’t tied to progression, but they do look awesome. When the Heat gauge gets red, Kiryu will be able to perform advanced Heat Actions and other maneuvers, including Essence moves. These moves are very situational though, so don’t expect to pull these off very often if you’re just trying to wail on enemies with punches and kicks.
Nintendo Switch Performance
Yakuza Kiwami on Nintendo Switch isn’t a perfect port, but it’s certainly fun and impressive for RGG Studio’s first Switch game. The game targets 30 FPS (frames per second) in both handheld and docked modes during gameplay, but it can dip into the upper 20s in densely crowded areas, such as the areas outside the Millennium Tower. You will definitely notice these frame rate dips if you’re sprinting down Tenkaichi Street and into Theater Square, for example.
Despite the frame dips, the Nintendo Switch version still feels responsive, and it’s a joy to play in handheld mode. I wasn’t expecting the Joy-Con’s layout to feel so right with Yakuza Kiwami, since I’m used to playing the franchise on PlayStation controllers for the past decade. It was definitely meant to be, as I ended up playing a majority of the game in handheld mode on the Switch OLED.
In terms of visuals, its clear that some environmental and character model textures were slightly scaled back, and there’s a bit of a blurring effect whenever you try to look far into the distance in Kamurocho. However, the city still looks amazing, as if I was playing it for the first time in 2017. Character models still look really great as well, so I’m pleased with how the Switch version looks.
Yakuza Kiwami is an Admirable First Outing on Switch
All these years later, Yakuza Kiwami is still a memorable game for me due to its impactful and dramatic story, simple and addicting combat system, and the nostalgia that early 2000s Kamurocho brings. Along with the story, the plethora of minigames and side activities kept me drawn to Kamurocho again.
SEGA and RGG Studio needed to start somewhere on Nintendo Switch, and I believe porting Yakuza Kiwami over was a great call. Although it has its fair share of flaws in performance, the Nintendo Switch version is a good port, and RGG Studio should continue to work with the hardware to make even better and more optimized ports for fans.
For $19.99, Yakuza Kiwami lets Nintendo fans finally dive right into the series, and it feels right at home on the portable system. I certainly hope Yakuza 0 and other games in the series come to Switch sooner rather than later. With a Switch successor on the horizon, the floodgates for Like a Dragon on Nintendo hardware can very much open.
Lastly, you can check out gameplay in our video review below:
Disclaimer: SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio provided Final Weapon a Nintendo Switch copy of Yakuza Kiwami for review purposes.
