The PC release also received a substantial frame rate update to 60 FPS, making it a pleasure to watch on screen.

While the graphics look mildly dated, with many characters vaguely resembling marionettes, character animations are excellent, giving the combat a wonderful sense of fluidity. The character designs are distinct and, in the case of Kiryu’s white suit, iconic. Graphically, Kiwami has received a considerable upgrade, looking like a polished late-era PS3 game. This lack of smooth scene transitions could be an artifact of its PS2 origins, but it especially stands out given the otherwise modern presentation.

This style of storytelling continues well into the game, as most cutscenes awkwardly end with a fade to black, even if another immediately follows. The prologue set in 1995 is particularly a mess, with flashbacks layered upon flashbacks and few visual cues to differentiate between time periods. The pacing of the storytelling, however, is less enjoyable, ranging from well structured to randomly disjointed. Overall, Kiwami tells a delightfully melodramatic plot with dozens of over-the-top characters, crazy twists and turns, and some genuinely funny side stories along the way. Desperately navigating shifting loyalties and alliances to reunite with his beloved Yumi, Kiryu finds himself pulled into a vast yakuza conspiracy that will reshape the future of the Tojo clan forever. Returning to his home of Kamurocho, Tokyo after spending ten years in prison, Kiryu is shocked to discover his former best friend is now a ruthless yakuza boss, and his love, Yumi, has been missing for years. The Tojo Clan is in crisis! Kazuma Kiryu, an up-and-coming member of the Dojima family, takes the blame for the murder of his patriarch, a crime actually committed by his best friend, Akira Nishikiyama. That’s a lot of gaming history to plow through! Thankfully, we are in the age of remakes, and SEGA has taken the template of its prequel, Yakuza 0, to rebuild the first game from the ground up!

The Yakuza series, for example, has released more than eight entries (not including spinoffs) since the original Yakuza on the PS2. My biggest issue with a long-running game series is that it can be challenging for a new player to break in.

Yakuza kiwami majima everywhere missing