Yakuza Kiwami

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Anyone getting? I pre-ordered the steelbook through Amazon, but it's not showing as shipping until release day. Gives me time to finish up FF12.

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I'm getting it. I've already played and beaten the first game, but the steelbook was an easy sell for me. Love the series.

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It's basically a re-skin of Yakuza 0

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I don't think that's very fair. It's a good game in its own right.

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I just wish we got Ishin. That's one game I'd love to import some day.

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Same. It came out at a time when Sega was very reluctant to localize anything from the series.

Picking up my reserve tonight. Also, Yakuza Kiwami 2 was announced for release in Japan. We will see it around late 2018 or early 2019. 2 is the only Yakuza game I haven't played.

0, it's my game of the year so far.

Same. My GOTY so far, too. It's like Metal Gear with gangsters

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I've never played a single Yakuza game. Which should I start with?

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Either get Yakuza 0 (which came out this year) or start with this. It's a remake of the first game.

Kiwami is a remake of the first game? If so, ill probably go with it first. I usually like to play games by order of release, not necessarily chronologically.

so if I get this game do I need to have played zero to understand?

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so if I get this game do I need to have played zero to understand?

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No. You won't be confused by anything. All playing through Zero will do is give some more background info for the first game.

It's still very good though. Worth your time.

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so if I get this game do I need to have played zero to understand?

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I'm on chapter 6, but I wouldn't say playing Zero is essential to understanding Kiwami. Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the very first game in the franchise. Obviously, it's what all the other games in the main franchise built off of.

Yakuza 0 is a standalone story set in the 1980s before the events of the first game. You get a little bit of background on Kiryu and Majima's past, but it's not at all necessary from a storyline perspective.

I would encourage anyone to play 0 before Kiwami for two reasons. First, 0 is (thus far the better game. The story is longer, there are more side activities and substories (the substories in Kiwami are also not as entertaining as they are in 0), and there are two cities to explore instead of just Kamurocho.

Secondly, and I'll just come right out and say it since it happens in like the first 10 minutes of Kiwami, your best bro Nishikiyama turns to the dark side and is your primary antagonist. I feel that playing through 0 first fleshes out Nishikiyama's character that much more.

Overall, if you're on the fence about the series, I understand the appeal of Kiwami. It's cheaper brand new than a used copy of Yakuza 0 and is also a solid starting point to get into the franchise. If you have no prior experience with the franchise though, I would strongly suggest starting with the better game between the two so that you can get the best idea of why people really like these games.

Kiwami is much more a game about fan service. It's $30 price tag is an admission that what you're getting isn't really the full experience. It's essentially an expansion pack for 0 with content based on the first Yakuza game.