Can’t wait to jump back into the rough-and-tumble world of Yakuza? How about a flashy new trailer to tide you over for now?
Our new video shows off some of the fun activities you can indulge in to pass the time in Yakuza Kiwami! It should come as no surprise that the streets are filled with thugs who are just asking for a beat down, but luckily Kiryu is equipped with four deadly fighting techniques waiting to be unleashed. Educate enemies in the art of fisticuffs with the balanced Brawler, all-powerful Beast, lightning-quick Rush, and unstoppable Dragon styles. Once the riffraff has been dealt with, cool off by exploring the various vices that Kamurocho offers! Classic minigames like Mahjong, pool, and karaoke are back, but new distractions like Pocket Circuit car racing, new hostesses, MesuKing: Battle Bug Beauties, and more can be enjoyed as Kiryu passes the time between fights.
Oh, and be sure to check out the Yakuza Experience website, a Yakuza portal where the world of Yakuza can be explored via an interactive timeline and character map. It’s a great resource to use if you want to learn about the history, characters, and families in the series. The site also features a 10-issue digital comic, starting with some of the key events of Yakuza 0 and taking you along for the ride all the way up to Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (coming to PlayStation 4 early next year). Speaking of the comic, we’ve uploaded the third issue today! It sets the stage for Yakuza Kiwami, with an all new flash back and perhaps the most life-changing moment in Kiryu’s life.
Without further ado, learn what makes Kamurocho such an enticing destination for Yakuza members in the trailer above!
• A Family Patriarch’s Ransom of New Content – “Kiwami” literally translates to “extreme,” and the game was named that for good reason. Not just a simple graphical upgrade, Kiwami adds nearly 30 minutes of cutscenes alone, providing all-new insight into the game’s plot and creating common threads with series prequel Yakuza 0. There’s also added distractions (Pocket Circuit car racing, MesuKing: Battle Bug Beauties, new hostesses, and more), side quests, combat updates, re-recorded Japanese dialogue, and more to bring the original Yakuza game into the latest console generation.
• A Place for Newcomers and Veterans – Yakuza Kiwami is the ultimate bridge in the series: newcomers or those whose Yakuza experience started with Yakuza 0 will have familiar, exacting controls, top-notch SEGA localization, and a solid starting point for entering the Yakuza franchise fresh. Veterans will experience a familiar Kamurocho and plot, but with new levels of story depth and graphical polish.
• But it was me! Majima! – Completely new to Kiwami is the “Majima Everywhere” system, where the series’ deranged, one-eyed maniac will constantly surprise and challenge Kiryu to combat when he least expects it. We’re talking “popping out of a goofy costume” levels of surprise, so players must stay on their toes and be ready to defend themselves from Kiryu’s chief rival.
• Extreme Revitalization – Kiwami is rebuilt from the ground up with all new HD assets, exclusive Japanese voice audio re-recorded by the series cast, and more; optimized for the PlayStation 4 and running in 1080p/60fps. And following suit with SEGA’s commitment to the Yakuza series, the game will release in both physical and digital formats in the west.
Yakuza Kiwami will be released on PlayStation 4 physically and digitally on 29 August for £29.99. Yakuza Kiwami provides an excellent starting point for those who have always heard about the series but have yet to try it. It preserves the charm of old-school, PS2-era beat-em-up gameplay, but deftly combines it with a hard-boiled crime drama punctuated with the liveliness of Kamurocho – the fictional red-light district of Tokyo the game is set in – and all the distractions that a red-light district can offer.
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