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So, while Yakuza 0 quickly became one of my favorite games of all time when I rented and eventually bought it last year, the remake of the original Yakuza  game, subtitled Kiwami (meaning "extreme" in Japan) really brings attention to and intensifies some of the issues I had with the former game. 

First, let's talk about the crux of Yakuza's gameplay: the battle system. You're not going to find the fluidity of Arkham combat here, but you will experience an arguably deeper, more involved system of combos, special moves, defensive tactics, RPG-like equipment supplements, and contextual finisher moves. 

In one sense, Kiwami  improves on 0  by making experience points and money separate, where in the booming late 80s setting of 0, money is everything. This means instead of having to gather a billion yen for each of the best moves in a particular skillset, you'll earn experience in combat by, wholda thunk it, involving yourself in combat. In 0, you would have more or less been forced to play the real estate and cabaret club management minigames in order to get the billions of yen needed for some of the latter parts of your skill tree, so this is something I consider an improvement. 

Above: Yakuza 0's yen system; Below: Kiwami's exp system

However, while combat is still mostly the same in Kiwami as in 0, there are some things that really bugged me in Kiwami. First and foremost: the speed of your enemies, especially boss enemies. Both games emphasize the need to keep your distance from an enemy you're not likely to be able to throw and make sure you use defensive tactics that include blocking and running away when necessary. Both games have characters that are hard to land a hit on. But only Kiwami seemed to throw such a multitide of annoying Speedy Gonzales types my way, to the point it was a noticeable frustration throughout all of the main game. 

To make matters worse, while 0 eventually allows you to throw money into the street to avoid random battles you may not have time for on your way to another mission, substory or minigame, Kiwami not only does away with this system, but starts planting 3-5-health-bar-having boss character Goro Majima (who was the other playable character in 0) at random places on the map for its Majima Everywhere system. Oh, and make sure you have a ton of medicine on you at all times, because if you happen to choose the wrong style to perform heat actions in, Kiwami bosses can gain dramatic amounts of health back very quickly, something that was never as big of an issue in 0. 

Having story-based boss fights take a while and provide a good amount of challenge is one thing, but when all you want to do is head to karaoke and instead get cornered by someone with 5 health bars, recharging health, and superhuman speed on a regular basis, it really starts eating into your play time in a bad way. 

Having said that, Majima's not as bad as some of the actual boss characters with guns, and he at leasts makes his way into your fights in a humororus fashion. Still, having a system where you're constantly having to wait for an enemy to finish their attack, move out of the way, land a quick combo and rinse/repeat really doesn'y do Yakuza's battle system any favors. 

As you can see from the video, it's still an over-the-top and funny good time, but 0 was able to balance enemies in a way that was much more complementary to your character's moves and skillset. 

This a-hole and his guns ...

Then we have story and substories. 

Now, I'd say 0 still has a leg up in the main story department, with incredibly emotional scenes at times and a backdrop for two distinct characters that feels like a Japanese version of The Godfather at times. But Kiwami's storyline is still plenty interesting, if a bit standard, and I have no major complaints about it other than 0 having a bit more going on and being somewhat more emotionally engaging for me. As Kiwami is a budget title and remake of a 2005 game, it's not even necessarily a fair comparison and Kiwami still managed to hold my attention throughout, so no complaints here. 

The substories on the other hand were a big part of Yakuza 0's lifeblood and a big part of what made the game a cut above a lot of other story-driven action games. I found myself laughing out loud or getting emotionally invested in a good number of substories in 0, but while Kiwami has its moments, it also has repetitive four-part substories, substories that rely on callbacks to 0, and some substories that too heavily involve certain minigames. 

I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but I think 0 is a few steps above Kiwami in terms of its side content. 

Above: Hilarious substory; below: ok substory with 4 samey parts

There are some substories that require you to have Kiwami kid Haruka in tow to trigger and the fact Kiwami gives you a cellphone with email hints but expects you to figure out on your own 1) to bring Haruka along and 2) to figure out where to go is a bit annoying; especially considering a couple of these stories are very much tied to the main story and I would have missed them without consulting a guide. 

As for the minigames, they're mostly the same in 0 and Kiwami, with some notable exceptions: dancing is gone from Kiwami. The disco club Maharaja is replaced with a very 2000s rave club called Debolah that you can only dance in if you consider fighting a YMCA-type Majima in his breaker style dancing. 

Which, in Kiwami's defense, is one of the better substories. 

You're also no longer running a real estate or cabaret club business with their own substories that could be their own games, but that can be forgiven as again, Kiwami is a budget title based on a 2005 game with a lot less content in it. 

Now, don't misinterpret this blog listing all the ways I prefer 0 to mean I don't like Kiwami. Kiwami is still a solid title and a decent introduction to the Yakuza series. I just think 0 is a much better jumping off point and a better overall game with less frustrating combat. Even having said that, Kiwami's skill tree and and a couple other things in it have a leg up on 0. Just don't expect this remake to be as good as the prequel that preceded it.