Yakuza 0 was an INCREDIBLE experience. But now in Yakuza Kiwami, the characters I fell in love with are almost unrecognizable (LTTP?)

[Vex]

While I agree with everything else you said, I'm not sure what you don't understand about majima leaving makoto. It made sense at the end of zero (especially where he punked her current bf then) and it still makes sense after kiwami 2 when .... Uh you'll see. He just doesn't want her in that life anymore and she benefits from that decision plenty. Trust me on this. Ngl, I almost cried at the end of zero. ALMOST. But majima made it right and we get closure later on in 2.

 

[Unfriendly TimeTraveler]

Isn't there a character in zero that kinda foreshadows/explains why Majima becomes the way he does?

With zero I think it's an amazing game but it hurts 1 because how good it is. Though 2 is just as good if not better than zero so stick with the series most questions/issues get answered in time.

 

[halcali]

How's that, though? Hoping you don't mention stuff like the replaced music and the cut small area you visit for 20 minutes, since those are quite minor compared to what Kiwami 2 offers over the original.

Click to shrink...

I concur. The original Y2 was nearly perfect and Kiwami 2 gives us a different lens, albeit with a tonal shift that may, or may not, be jarring. =p

 

[Deleted member 17643]

But majima made it right and we get closure later on in 2.

Click to shrink...

This was my favorite part of Kiwami 2 and I absolutely loved that game.

 

[tiebreaker]

Some stuffs happened between 0 and 1.

 

[oni-link]

Majima's craziness is an affectation, one that becomes clearer in the series but isn't, like, unexplained between 0 and 1/Kiwami. He was played like a fiddle in 0 by his family patriarch because they knew exactly how he would react, so he decided to become inexplicable and unpredictable. That's it. It's not as confusing as people keep wanting to make it.



At the end of 0, his star has fallen, and he becomes an empty suit. If not for Kiryu, he'd be nothing.



Edit: I just realized we are talking about different scenes. Nishiki is explained better, but he killed Dojima in self-defense.

If anything, it reinforces the idea that once you kill, you can't come back.



Majima has no problem with killing, he was ready to go on a murder spree with his sworn brother before the events of Yakuza 0. He was ready to kill Shimano if it came between him and Makoto. Sera convinced him not to drag Makoto down to hell with him, because it was in Sera's interests not to start a murder war within the Tojo clan.



Play Kiwami 2, but again, 0 does a good enough job explaining this? He's a hardcore gangster and he doesn't want her life tainted by him. It's not like he was happy about it, but he would rather sacrifice his feelings for her innocence and safety.


The politics of the Tojo clan at work! In the end, Kiryu wanted to rise up to the ranks Kazama did, because Kiryu has a pathological need to do everything Kazama did. Dojima was a wounded puppy and wasn't able to move against Kiryu, especially with Kazama and Sera protecting him. There's actually no other safer family for him to be in.

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Great post

I read the OP and kind of went through all these answers in my head, but you articulated them here better than I could have done

The games don't do the absolute best job from 0 to 1 to explain everything, but it's not all random and out of the blue as some people seem to think

 

[bell_hooks]

The only things I didn't like about 0 was moments like "so that's how he got his jacket!" (with the exeption of Kiryu learning LEGEND style, that was badass)
So I'm glad I started with this game, because I did not know these characters and did not eyeroll as much as I would if I knew that game shoehorns origin story for every staple of the series. I heard that Kiwami is lesser game but I'm glad I started with 0 and meet these characters without it feeling like it's just fan service

 

[oni-link]

Kiwami isn't as good as 0, but it's a remake of a 2005 PS2 game, whereas 0 basically carries on the momentum and iterations from 3, 4, and 5

Kiwami is a good game, it's just going to be disappointing to those who started with 0 and expect that quality to continue

If 0 is a 10/10, Kiwami is a 7/10

4 and 5 are both 8/10 in my opinion, and I'm yet to play Kiwami 2, 3 or 6

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

Yakuza 1 is the first game so there are some shortcomings but by and large, characters are consistent with 0. It's not because that you don't find it the best that we should pretend that 0 wasn't written with 1 in mind :/


He's not crazy though. Dude is sharp and we knew this before 0.

Nishitani became his inspiration. He didn't turn crazy, he played a role that allows him to never be crossed with and do things he couldn't do if he played normal Yakuza politics. There isn't a gradual transformation because he didn't transform, he just put on a mask.

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Glad someone mentionned nishitani and understood why majima is acting that way! Sure they had to find something to make it work with his future self, but it's definitely not the worst they could come out with, i was satisfied with that!

 

[DimitriLH]

It's one of the reasons why I always make new players start with Kiwami 1 first, then go 0. It's less jarring of a transition gameplay wise and you appreciate the characters more in 0.

 

[Tomasdk]

From a story perspective, it makes no sense to start with Kiwami. Kiwami is a sequel to 0, so many things would not make sense. But I don't care about gameplay differences, since Kiwami is a remake it's clear it will be different from 0, I never expected othewise. I also don't understand how people are confused by Majima's trasformation from 0 to 1, it's imo perfectly explained in 0 why he does that. They are even selling 0-Kiwami-Kiwami 2 as a bundle because those games are pretty much a trilogy now. I don't take into acount the original ps2 games anymore since they structured the remakes to be played after 0.

 

[Deleted member 401]

I'm playing through Kiwami right now, but the difference in the depiction of Majima in the story cutscenes and his depiction in side activities is extremely jarring. You spend several hours randomly running into him and him doing goofy, relatively harmless things like staging a fake zombie apocalypse, but then he kidnaps Haruka and the next time you see, he beats one of his minions for not laughing at a joke. And then shortly afterwards, you play that bikini bug girl wrestling game against him.

Honestly, though, what really bugs me about this game is the cutscenes that got transplanted from the original. They might have looked impressive on the PS2, but using the same angles and camera movements and animations but with PS4-quality assets feels like it's in the uncanny valley. You simply don't see these awkward close-ups and camera movements in any other modern game, or in film for that matter.

 

[Deleted member 21411]

2. Majima's decision to leave Makoto actually makes perfect sense. Majima painfully learned that being in the yakuza is what he wants to do above all else (for reasons that won't become entirely clear until Yakuza 4). No sense on potentially putting Makoto in danger. And this entire arc gets some much needed closure in Kiwami 2, so hang in there.

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I was gonna skip the 2 remake but I didn't realize they added some story beats in there

 

[Mendrox]

Glad someone mentionned nishitani and understood why majima is acting that way! Sure they had to find something to make it work with his future self, but it's definitely not the worst they could come out with, i was satisfied with that!

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Not only Nishitani but also Lee! He fused both of them for his own new personality.

I was gonna skip the 2 remake but I didn't realize they added some story beats in there

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It's about 2 hours of content or less so you could just Youtube it. It's absolutely worth it.

 

[Quantum Nottle]

It's kind of weird, because if you played the games in order of release, you would have played Yakuza 1 like 10 years ago, so things probably would be a bit fuzzier and you could hand wave it away when 0 retcons stuff.

 

[CannonFodder52]

How's that, though? Hoping you don't mention stuff like the replaced music and the cut small area you visit for 20 minutes, since those are quite minor compared to what Kiwami 2 offers over the original.

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I don't really care about the missing area, the host club or the bulk of the cut content you'd see on a list. For me, the music alone made Y2 my preference, but you can now patch the original tracks back in with the K2 PC version, so I should prefer the remake.
Though, I still think there's like a feeling that was missing in K2, like a more memorable sense of style and energy, something that I just didn't get from K2. Maybe I've gotta revisit the PS2 version and see if I'm just overly nostalgic about my first time going through that story.

 

[Rotobit]

Still playing through Yakuza Kiwami and I think it explains things like Nishiki pretty well (he lost Kiryu, who was essentially his counterweight, and had joined the Dojima family himself which he didn't have the fortitude for, something I'm pretty sure 0 even says). Majima's "wild side" was also strongly alluded to be inspired by the people he met on his journey, that and a general disillusionment with the Yakuza after all the crap they pulled. Later games pretty much confirm he isn't bonkers 100% of the time.

I do agree that them getting their original costumes was a bit silly though, especially in the case of Majima, whose haircut and jacket look very out of place in the 1980's.

My biggest issue with Kiwami is the bizarrely fast pacing and awkward cutscenes. I played 3-5 then Judgment THEN 0, where every plot point is given a long time to stir, whereas a billion things happen in Kiwami 1 in the first hour and you barely get a chance to breathe. I'm guessing they remade the PS2 game shot-for-shot for the most part.

 

[CannonFodder52]

My biggest issue with Kiwami is the bizarrely fast pacing and awkward cutscenes. I played 3-5 then Judgment THEN 0, where every plot point is given a long time to stir, whereas a billion things happen in Kiwami 1 in the first hour and you barely get a chance to breathe. I'm guessing they remade the PS2 game shot-for-shot for the most part.

Click to shrink...

It's pretty much shot for shot. They even kept the camera angles and movement from the original.
Although, the Nishiki flashbacks are new and a substantially good addition.

 

[LiS Matt]

For me 0 is great for those who've seen everything up until that point and largely works as an origin point for characters you've known for 5+ games.
Going from 0-1 though (or kiwami) I imagine is very jarring though and like others have said, some things won't really make sense for another couple of games.

I suppose its also worth remembering there's almost 20 years (in game time) between where the characters end in 0 and where kiwami/1 really starts (late 80s to mid 2000s)

 

[Dysun]

Even though the entire point of Majima's arc in Y0 is to become unpredictable and take the lessons he learned from Shitani (forgot exact name) it is jarring to go into Kiwami and see where that unpredictability led him. It makes more sense if you played Y0 after Y4. I played the series out of order, so I was more acceptable to changes in characterization. (3-4-5-0-Kiwami-6-Kiwami 2)

 

[Cerulean_skylark]

I appreciate Kiwami 1 much more after playing 2. It establishes a lot of recurring and key players who i HOPE matter later on (waiting for ps4 physical for 3,4,5)

 

[Inugami]

This is why I'm glad my first experience was Kiwami and not Zero honestly. I fell in love with this series with Kiwami, Zero made me a fan for life, but there is absolutely zero chance I would have finished Kiwami if I played that after Zero. You can see where they literally cut Kiwami out of Zero and the one or two new features just doesn't make up for the dozens they cut out.

 

[Dalcop]

the resounding majority answer to the eternal "where do i start with yakuza" is always 0

ive never seen otherwise

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I'll always recommend starting with Yakuza 1 over 0 if someone wants to enjoy the series as a whole. If they want a single game and nothing more, obviously 0 is better for that. People's only reasoning for 0 is because it's "the best one" and that they added some references in Kiwami for people that go into it specifically from 0, in response to the positive reception that game got among new fans. It might be easier to start with 0, but it's harder to finish with the rest.

 

[metalgear89]

In zero you get glimpses of majimas crazy side, he was actually crazier before zero in that small cutscene you get of him that got him into trouble with the yakuza. I think the biggest problem i had with majima was we don't get to see enough of his more "normal" side it's just full on nutcase mode, but i guess that's not possible with the whole kiwami 1/2 story being fixed to what was on ps2.

At this point i don't know if i will bother with 3-6. Alot of opinions i here is zero is the best followed by kiwami 2 and i found kiwami 2 story unbearable garbage and kiwami 1 was serviceable. I might just watch the cutscenes to catch up on kiryus journey and play like a dragon when it eventually gets released in the west.

 

[francium87]

I've always said, it's a shame that 0 was sooo good, but a prequel to 1.
Character progression is questionable, and really most of them shuffle out of the picture by the end of 1 and 2.

I'm turned off enough by this (and that 2's main female lead has tossed aside at the start of 3) that I have no interest in 3-6.
My recommended order is 0-1-2, and then just stop.

Grateful that the dev team started doing new stories.

 

[CannonFodder52]

At this point i don't know if i will bother with 3-6. Alot of opinions i here is zero is the best followed by kiwami 2 and i found kiwami 2 story unbearable garbage and kiwami 1 was serviceable. I might just watch the cutscenes to catch up on kiryus journey and play like a dragon when it eventually gets released in the west.

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Personally, I think people really over blow the whole "Yakuza 0 is hands down the best" thing. I see a loads of folks who's favorite game is Y4, Y5 and Y3.

For me, I had a much more meaningful experience with Yakuza 6 over Y0. Plus, Y3 has elements that I loved more than anything in Y0.

 

[vixlar]

One of my favorite moments in Yakuza Kiwami is when you meet the boys who used to play car racing, even the narrator.

And I found the combat in Kiwami better than 0.

Even the Mahjong is harder, I liked that too.

For me, Kiwami was a proper sequel... well, the only downside is that I couldn't play Out Run.

 

[PerrierChaud]

Considering they had to retcon the entire backstory of a secondary made-to-be-annoying background character who was never supposed to be a protagonist in any way shape of form and gained traction solely on his (expected) popularity among fans I gotta say they did the best they could. Now I could def have lived with his constant shoehorning in Yakuza Kiwami.

 

[RedSwirl]

People playing Kiwami 1 should know the difference between "Majima Everywhere" and Majima's actual canonical scenes. You have to understand, in 2005 Majima wasn't a main character, he was a supporting anti-villain. He became a main anti-villain in the following games and wasn't considered a main character until Yakuza 0. His only actual canonical scenes in Yakuza 1 are the part in the alley where he almost kills that guy, the batting cage scene, and the Shaingri-la scene.

Later games did two things: they fleshed out Majima's backstory (you mainly see this in Yakuza 4 and 5), and they made him mature somewhat as he rose higher and higher in the Tojo clan.

And yeah, looking back, Yakuza 1 probably is the bleakest storyline in the series. It's essentially The Fall of Kiriyu. He goes to prison and doesn't recognize the world around him when he gets out. It's like a Japanese video game version of Carlito's Way.

When I first played Y1 back on the PS2 (I think the English version came out in 2006?) I was still impressed with its depiction of Tokyo and with Kiriyu's characterization, along with the major fight scenes, but there were definitely a lot of rough edges that got ironed out in later games. Kiwami 1 is a low-budget remake of that initial rough draft.

 

[Dremorak]

I started with 0 and then played Kiwami.
Its a well told story with a satisfying ending, even tho I agree Majima's change at the end makes no sense.
2 Tho is really good. I felt the story was on par with zero as well.
Also the physics based combat was neat :D

 

[Deleted member 13798]

This is one of the reasons I really don't recommend starting with zero. Everybody always mentions it and threads, I honestly think it's better to start with one and two, then zero. Partly because the game players more refined in zero, and partly because while you'll still have questions about why the characters are the way they are, which gets answered as the series goes on, it's less jarring then if you're going from zero to the first game.

 

[Ænima]

Kiwami is a 1:1 remake of the 1st Yakuza, while Yakuza 0 is one of the lastest games where the series evolved alot since the 1st game. Kiwami runs in the same engine as Yakuza 0 and has some extra cutscenes new minigames and sidequest, but the characters was like that since forever. Majima was always batshit crazy, to me the surprise was how toned down he was in Yakuza 0. But there was a reason for that.
Saying that, Kiwami 2 is amazing, despite also being a 1:1 remake of the 2nd Yakuza the story is still one of my favorite in the series, and Cabaret Grand Prix from Yakuza 0 is back.

This is one of the reasons I really don't recommend starting with zero. Everybody always mentions it and threads, I honestly think it's better to start with one and two, then zero. Partly because the game players more refined in zero, and partly because while you'll still have questions about why the characters are the way they are, which gets answered as the series goes on, it's less jarring then if you're going from zero to the first game.

Click to shrink...

Thats a bad advice for anyone doing sidecontent, thers alot of follow up sidequests and secundary characters in Kiwami and Kiwami 2 that started in Yakuza 0.

When they remade Kiwami and Kiwami 2 sidecontent, they made it to be played after Yakuza 0.

 

[Red UFO]

Makoto should have died.

 

[Aeron]

Zero isn't actually a good starting point for newcomers, for you to be okay with the changes to the characters and have a deeper understanding you have to have played most of the games. You don't see major Majima backstory explaining things deeper till what... 4 or 5?
This is a series that plays the long-game with characters (or in the case of Kiryu, stuck being pulled back into the mess, even if to his own fault), you see children grow to become adults, friends become enemies, enemies become friends. It isn't really about wrapping things up in one game (besides the main story of each game).

It is really sad that people have been turned off the series after 0-1-2, because as someone who jumped on when 3 came out... 3-4-5 are the best in my eyes (still need to play 6) and it's a shame people will miss out on the rest because Kiwami 1 and 2 are actually pretty weak titles in the series. (Despite 2, the original 2 in particular, being considered one of the best).

Zero and the two Kiwami games are fanservice first and foremost.
Whether they're intended to also be starting points or not, they're not actually that friendly to newcomers.

 

[ZeroX]

Start with 0, play that to completion, and then just blast through K1 and K2. They're not very long if you smash through them. But K1 really doesn't offer anything new, you should play it just for the story and move on.

At this point i don't know if i will bother with 3-6. Alot of opinions i here is zero is the best followed by kiwami 2 and i found kiwami 2 story unbearable garbage and kiwami 1 was serviceable. I might just watch the cutscenes to catch up on kiryus journey and play like a dragon when it eventually gets released in the west.

Click to shrink...

3-6 are all much better than K1 and K2.

 

[WarpSpeedMolasses]

Kiwami is a 1:1 remake of the 1st Yakuza, while Yakuza 0 is one of the lastest games where the series evolved alot since the 1st game. Kiwami runs in the same engine as Yakuza 0 and has some extra cutscenes new minigames and sidequest, but the characters was like that since forever. Majima was always batshit crazy, to me the surprise was how toned down he was in Yakuza 0. But there was a reason for that.
Saying that, Kiwami 2 is amazing, despite also being a 1:1 remake of the 2nd Yakuza the story is still one of my favorite in the series, and Cabaret Grand Prix from Yakuza 0 is back.


Thats a bad advice for anyone doing sidecontent, thers alot of follow up sidequests and secundary characters in Kiwami and Kiwami 2 that started in Yakuza 0.

When they remade Kiwami and Kiwami 2 sidecontent, they made it to be played after Yakuza 0.

Click to shrink...

So is the reason for the jarring difference between 0 Majima and Kiwami 1 Majima explained properly down the line in Kiwami 1 or 2?? I also still don't understand why Kiriyu went with Dojima..

I'm also on Chapter 3 of Kiwami 1, and recently just beat 0.

 

[Ænima]

So is the reason for the jarring difference between 0 Majima and Kiwami 1 Majima explained properly down the line in Kiwami 1 or 2?? I also still don't understand why Kiriyu went with Dojima..

I'm also on Chapter of Kiwami 3, and recently just beat 0.

Click to shrink...

In Yakuza 4 is when they start explaining Majima past and is when you start understanding him better. But to anyone expecting Majima to be batshit crazy in Yakuza 0, the reason was explained in Yakuza 0. He was kicked out of the yakuza and was being watched out, he pretty much was playing it nice to go back to the yakuza and climb the ladder once again.

 

[OldGamer]

At this point i don't know if i will bother with 3-6. Alot of opinions i here is zero is the best followed by kiwami 2 and i found kiwami 2 story unbearable garbage and kiwami 1 was serviceable. I might just watch the cutscenes to catch up on kiryus journey and play like a dragon when it eventually gets released in the west.

Click to shrink...

At least check out Yakuza 5. By most accounts the gameplay is just as good and has a bigger world to explore. The only real downside is the story and for that reason alone, 0 tends to be ranked better.

Yakuza 4 is also one of the better games as well, aside from the overall story (great setup, lousy execution)

 

[Rover]

I prefer Yakuza 0 Majima. I know he's been a fan favorite but I was sad when he transformed.

 

[Kyle Cross]

This is why I tell people not to start with 0, but to play the games in release order. 0 was about seeing more of the past of these characters you've grown to love, not starting there. It was also the 9th entry in the series, so greatly benefited in terms of overall production and is widely considered along with 2/Kiwami 2 to be the best in the series. Kiwami instead was a very faithful remake of the original game from 2005. Tho, in my opinion, it wasn't faithful enough. They completely changed Majima's presence in Kiwami. In Yakuza 1 original, he was one of the games main villains. He would only appear a few times throughout the game and his appearances and boss fights were highlights. They really fuck this up by having him appear all the time, and even make him an ally to Kiryu in ways.

 

[Yogi]

I watched Giant Bomb play through all of Yakuza 0 and absolutely loved it, previously I'd never checked out the series out. Then I saw Majima in Kiwami and was pretty put off. I still bought the games on Steam but I haven't bothered starting them for the same reason. Just not excited to go through all that and have that massive disconnect afterwards.

 

[Keith Stat]

So far I've played 0 through 4 in that order and Kiwami was my least favorite so far. Saying that, I still enjoyed Kiwami, but I think I would have disliked Kiwami exponentially more if 0 hadn't filled in the story gaps and add "importance" to many of the characters of Kiwami. For instance, the main antagonist in Kiwami wouldn't have had nearly the emotional impact without playing 0 first.

Basically, in retrospect I look as Kiwami as almost an "expansion pack" to 0. I know that's weird with the release order in all, but 0 added so much "weight" to the things that happen in Kiwami. Kiwami is shorter, more bare-bones in nature, so it kind of is a jarring whiplash going from 0 to Kiwami. Saying that, I still HIGHLY recommend playing 0 first.

Also, Kiwami 2 is excellent. If the OP is struggling to get through Kiwami, I'd just suggest mainlining it and getting to Kiwami 2 ASAP.

FWIW, my rankings so far as a newby going in order: 0 > Kiwami 2 > 4 > 3 > Kiwami.

 

[amon37]

0 completely spoiled me.

Afterwards I played kiwami, kiwami 2 and 6 and none of them pulled me in like 0.

 

[RedSwirl]

Basically, in retrospect I look as Kiwami as almost an "expansion pack" to 0. I know that's weird with the release order in all, but 0 added so much "weight" to the things that happen in Kiwami. Kiwami is shorter, more bare-bones in nature, so it kind of is a jarring whiplash going from 0 to Kiwami. Saying that, I still HIGHLY recommend playing 0 first.

Click to shrink...

Looking back, you sort of can look at Kiwami 1 as a sort of dark epilogue to 0, and in some ways it's been marketed as such. It launched at a lower price (people need to remember the MSRP for Kiwami started at like $20 I think) and is usually advertised alongside 0.

 

[FiveHandsMusic]

Im the same boat. I absolutely loved Yakuza 0 when I beat it last month, but I am not as into Kiwami.

Does Kiwami 2 get closer to 0?

 

[Kard8p3]

Of course you should start with 0, what is this nonsense, if you think Kiwami is clunky with 0, try it without.

Click to shrink...

This. Tons of bad takes ITT.

 

[Tatsu91]

Really glad to hear y'all say this after seeing almost this entire website recommend 0 as someone's first game in the series.
0 does so much right in perfecting the combat, making exploration as open and interesting as possible, and actually giving characters backstory and chemistry with one another instead of the usual, "passes away after one game," concept they always go with.

I started with the third game, which made playing the other games that came after it so great as they always improved one after the other (except 6, but that's for another topic). I can't imagine someone playing 0, and then playing the rest of the games of the series, because they will for sure be disappointed by the fact that nothing is as good as the entry that started with.

Click to shrink...

i sort of disagree the emotional scenes in 0 made the plot carry more releveance and the theme of 0 carrys over well into kiwami that once you kill you are never the same again is executed nicely without 0 the ending would not have made nearly as much of a emotional impact

As someone that played Kiwami 1, then 0, then Kiwami 2..

I think that's a good playing order, you are following the original order AND you won't get disappointed with gameplay because the games' gameplay mechanics get better in that order IMO.

In fact you get super curious when you get introduced to Majima in Y0 after playing Kiwami (why is Majima not effing crazy!?), and it kinda makes you appreciate Nishiki's bromance with Kiryu.

BUT I can't say I loved Kiwami's 2 story.. after everything I have read online, most people saying it was the greatest yakuza game.. it just felt not that good? Like the gameplay is solid, probably my favorite of the bunch I played, but the story was kinda predictable and boring.

Also.. was the Majima everywhere system in the original Yakuza 1 or was this invented for Kiwami?

Click to shrink...

its the characters the make the story in 2 Sengoku and Ryuji alone make it great without such a great cast it would just be an okay story

 

[Spinky]

Makoto should have died.

Click to shrink...

You will suffer for posting this.

Spoiler

I was 1000000000000% expecting it to happen, though.

 

[FFNB]

It's generally why I prefer to play games in release order instead of chronological order. Prequels are almost always weirdly executed in gaming, because the prequel will often feature refinements, mechanics, and polish that the "sequel" does not.

I only played a little bit of the original Yakuza when it released on PS2, so I was excited to play Yakuza Kiwami. I beat it, and loved it, and then went on to Yakuza 0 (which I believe I'm only in chapter 7 or so at the moment). For me, it was more enjoyable experiencing them that way because 1), I was able to appreciate Yakuza Kiwami on its own merits (it's still a fun beat-em up with an entertaining story), 2) It was really enjoyable to see the 80's version of the district I spent so much time roaming around in Kiwami, and had grown rather familiar with, so it was really fun, and 3) The tighter mechanics, polish, and expanded gameplay/narrative wasn't as jarring to me, because I played it after Kiwami.

It's going to be interested when I get to Kiwami 2, however, since it's not going to have some of the features that I've grown accustomed to with 0. I hear it's the best game in the Yakuza series anyway, so I'm not terribly concerned though.

 

[BadWeddingSpeech]

[*]Majima all of a sudden becoming 'crazy'

Click to shrink...

He didn't. That is exactly what DIDN'T Happen. His whole arc was one of pain and sacrifice with him knowing he can never be with an innocent women he loved because his life would ruin her....He covered the pain with being "Crazy." It shows that his "Crazy" is all a choice.

I thought it was effing brlliant and easily one of the best if not THE best character arc in gaming.

Once you play Majima's story in Kiwami 2 it is clear as day why he left Makoto. Best story arc in the series imo.

Click to shrink...

You don't need to play 2 to know why he did this.

0 had the chance to give you 40 hours of him turning crazy. Instead it happened in about 5 seconds at the end.

Click to shrink...

Geesh, its like yall missed the entire point....The whole point is that he wasn't crazy....Rather, he was acting in a crazy manner to live life like that dude in the purple did and more specifically to deal with the pain of him being relegated to this life forever. That 5 seconds is showing you that decision.