A rather obvious attempt at testing the waters for Kaito to take over for Yagami if they couldn’t get the latter’s actor back but which works well because Kaito is a neat character who can definitely carry his own. Kaito himself is an interesting character in that he obviously has a bunch of similarities to Kiryu including their fighting styles, but one major thing that separates the two is that Kaito has an actual healthy sense of self-awareness to him. Kiryu has a massive martyr complex, he is always willing to throw himself into the fire time and again with very little thought of how it would affect his loved ones and it looks like he will never change. (Which is not a bad thing mind you, it’s a unique character flaw amongst video game protags.). Kaito, on the other hand, is able to recognize his hang-ups and to grow from them. The plot of the Kaito Files itself is a clear echo to the plot of Yakuza 1; just like Kiryu Kaito is dragged into investigating the disappearance of an old flame all the while protecting her kid. But it’s interesting how they play with it, mainly with how as I mentioned, Kaito, despite being a gorilla of a man, is more emotionally mature than Kiryu and ultimately the game’s conclusion eschews the usual denouements of Like a Dragon games and especially the rather bleak ending of Yakuza 1 for something quite cathartic. Kaito Files is overall just a really well done story focused DLC campaign and a great conclusion to the Judgment sub-series if that ends up being the case. Also an additional half-star for that final boss, holy shit.