Yakuza Kiwami takes you back to the series’ roots on Nintendo Switch this October

Yakuza Kiwami, the remake of the very first game in the Yakuza series, is coming to Nintendo Switch. Announced during the Nintendo August 2024 Showcase, the game invites players to check out the story that kicked the epic franchise off and follow protagonist Kazuma Kiryu on a path of redemption.

Kazuma Kiryu is a yakuza accused of murdering his clan’s patriarch. After a lengthy prison sentence, Kazuma heads out in search of his friends, who have now gone missing. Along the way, he’ll meet a young girl, the key to a fortune, and as their fates intertwine, it leads Kazuma on a bloody path that will see him battling it out with pretty much everyone in Kamurocho, Tokyo.

One more battle

Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza title that really put the series on the map. However, many additional elements have been added to the story in this version of the game, making it a bigger and, in some ways, more complete entry that feels as though it fits better with the rest of the games.

For example, an expanded storyline about Akira Nishikiyama’s corruption during Kazuma’s prison sentence, and constant struggles between the protagonist and his biggest rival, Goro Majima. But it’s more than story additions that have been made.

The gameplay in Yakuza Kiwami has been tweaked to match that of Yakuza 0, which was the most recent release at the time of the remake’s launch. New systems such as Majima Everywhere were introduced, and combat was aligned with Yakuza 0‘s to make it feel like a more coherent entry in the series since it was released after that title.

The gameplay in Yakuza Kiwami is pretty simple. There are major story beats, but for the most part, you’re exploring a sandbox open world filled with activities, way more than you’d expect, and dozens of enemies to fight. In combat, you’ll swap between fighting styles to best your opponents, as well as using parts of the environment to beat them to a pulp.

The Yakuza series has an incredible sense of humor that might feel like it doesn’t fit at first, but by the time you’re a few hours into any of the games, you’re completely invested in this mad world. The stakes are often high and very serious, but the comedy between those story beats and the way they flesh out the world make it one that you never want to leave until you’ve completed everything there is to do in it.