A cold damp wind flows across town, invading the pores of your skin. To walk the streets of Kamurocho is being subjected to a freeze frame every 10 seconds as you move across streets, you will listen to the same whispers on the streets looping in the span of a blink or two. Which is why it speaks volumes that Yakuza is still able to envelop you inside itself; the combination of the thick atmosphere and the blaring soundtrack makes every fight feel like a battle for survival. It’s something that I feel has been lost from this franchise, with only 2018’s Judgement being able to replicate that feeling to some capacity. No doubt a million praises have been sung for this game’s atmosphere but every single positive comment is earned.

This is exactly the reason why every gesture of worship I offer the original Yakuza becomes nothing more than another point in a long list of reasons why I don’t like Yakuza: Kiwami. It’s easy for new fans of the series to look at the remake and make a false assumption that it must be better due to the fact it shares 0’s shiny combat as if the combat of the original game is something broken, something “outdated”. People will throw out the statement that the original’s combat “aged badly” as if it was something that needed to be fixed but actually playing the game it’s laughable at how this couldn’t be further from the truth. Every punch every kick has an oomph to it, and each heavy attack has this satisfying sound when your hits connect; although it’s more a question of if your hits connect because despite crafting up a combat system that’s still very enjoyable, there are inevitably a few shortcomings which hold it back from reaching the heights that it can, although maybe I’m just spoiled by later entries as even Yakuza 2 was a step up in this regard, with every entry after it slowly perfecting the combat, and subsequently elevating the legend of the Dragon of Dojima itself, and that is exactly why Yakuza is a game that shouldn’t be overlooked.

It’s easy to look at the bombastic stories of later entries like 0 and think the first game is tame by comparison but what Yakuza lacks in its set pieces, it more than makes up for with a narrative that’s just as enthralling as today as it was in 2005. It’s this game’s very simplicity that raises this entry by a significant margin, it’s a tale about two men who are done running from their problems. This is their destiny, any regrets they carry is baggage that will always weigh them down yet they keep moving onward, they keep moving towards each other. The Koi will shed everything to become the Dragon, even if it means hurting what it once held close. There’s no going back. They can only go forward.

𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗥𝗨𝗡 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬.