Recent reviews by Abunda Tidau

Relive the game that started it all! Take GTA and The Warriors, add Quentin Tarantino and a Japanese soap opera writer and you get the Yakuza series which spawned not one, not two but five sequels and one prequel. This was the first game way back from the PS2 era way back about 13 years ago.

Get ambushed by a rival one-eyed yakuza cross dressing as a sexy cabaret girl, race toy cars against little kids, save a puppy, play claw machines and retro SEGA arcade games in a SEGA arcade, survive a roofie ambush, sing karaoke, play a Pokémon-card based For Honor minigame where all the characters are sexy Japanese women in silly tiny bug costumes beating each other up against little kids. You might think this is a comedy game, something that is almost lighthearted or trivial.

It's not.

Yakuza Kiwami begins 7 years after the event from Yakuza 0. The central chunk of this game is a pretty serious crime drama revolving around your main character Kiryu being convicted for murdering the head of the Dojima crime family of which he is a part of. Kiryu spends 10 years in jail and is finally released and heads back to Kamurocho where the entire game takes place and he is no longer a member of the yakuza.

Those wacky Japanese stuff, powerful storytelling, captivating characters and unexpected plot twists really make this game one of a kind in video games history. I laughed, I cried.

In sum, the remake is top notch and shows SEGA's genuine care and love for both the series and for its fans. At $20 or less, you can't go wrong with picking this up - whether you're new or a series veteran. Buy this game. Support SEGA and their continued work to bring this awesome series to the PC. Can’t wait for Kiwami 2.

PS: As I said in my review for Yakuza 0, whoever did the localization for Yakuza Kiwami is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ genius.

I've seen a lot of reviews try to win people over with an endless list of amusing anecdotes - winning chickens in a bowling game and making them a real estate manager. Training a dominatrix to be more assertive. Obliterating people in combat with a motorcycle.

It's all true, of course. Yakuza 0 can be an immensely funny and absurd game with moments that's genuinely make you laugh out loud - largely because you could have never expected them.

But I also think that's had the side effect of selling the game short. You might think this is a comedy game, something that is almost lighthearted or trivial.

It's not.

Yakuza 0 is a very serious game - a fact you might find surprising. Its plot is complex and is centered on a fairly dry subject of real estate intrigue in a booming market. It deals with mature, often terrible issues and has a cast of immensely realistic - and likable - characters set in an equally realistic city. Yakuza has the pacing and tone of a drama, and it must be enjoyed slowly like one.

The comedy, then, is not the driver of this game, but rather serves as a much needed relief of tension. It's almost like there's a swinging pendulum in which the game is allowed to present you with increasingly intense and dramatic moments so long as it's all offset by an equally increasing level of absurdity. It helps space out the moments of self-seriousness in a way that just...works.

Beyond just the tone and story is a very enjoyable brawler that constantly mixes it up with minigames, tough bosses, and other diversions. I do want to stress that this isn't necessarily a game you're coming back to for the gameplay - rather, you'll be coming for the story, the characters, the city itself.

This isn't a bad thing, though, and I wish more games would take this approach. Yakuza 0 is a wonderful game.

PS: Whoever did the localization for Yakuza 0 is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ genius.

This game made me think one thing. If you don't speak English you don't deserve a computer.

11/10

Just edited for Steam 2021 awards