It's actually kind of insane how good this is despite its position as a post-launch DLC. RGG took Kaito, a fan favorite character who deserved more time in the spotlight, and wrote an immensely compelling personal story for him. I wouldn't call any of the mainline Yakuza games bloated (maybe 5, but personally I don't feel like it's a bad thing), but trimming the usual fat and instead writing a no-nonsense 7 hour campaign was genius.
Purely by chance, I replayed the ending to the Majima Saga last week, and it's night and day when comparing the quality of these two releases. MS was lacking in unique content with only a couple fights, no real side objectives, and no fighting styles, making it feel pretty blatantly like reused content. Kaito Files, on the other hand, gives Kaito two unique styles with a large skill tree to upgrade through, some pretty funny side content in the form of his primal senses, and an absolute BOATLOAD of fights. In fact, the Kenmochi fight is maybe one of the best in the series.
The story itself is paced to perfection, jumping from beat to beat at a solid chop. For only 4 chapters and about 6-7.5 hours, it covered way more than I expected. The antagonist's motives aren't that shocking if you're familiar with the series, but the lengths he goes to end up being way darker than I expected, resulting in a pretty original tonal structure for the series. The finale is quite good. The epilogue after it, however, is hilarious. The mix of current and past Kaito is really interesting, Mikiko is a strong contender for best female in the series, and Jun's storyline is grounded and hits the mark 9 times out of 10. Special points for all the fanservice, like the constant Higashi gags and funny interactions with other series regulars. Yagami's texts explaining his absence are a treat.
On the gameplay side, Kaito's moveset is fantastically fun, adapting parts of Kiryu (some literally canonically taken from what Kaito has heard of Kiryu) but adding unique animations and new options to make it feel very fresh and fun. There are actually a few DMC-esque button + stick motion input moves, which are pretty rare for this series. I think 0 has a few? There are some pretty funny QoL things too, like Kaito getting an upgrade to wear his disguises freely around Kamurocho, something Yagami couldn't do in either game. The boss fights are fantastic, with some really good choreography and setpieces. The overall presentation here is slick as hell. Also, KF might actually make better use of the detective sequences than the main game does, there's some cool stuff in here.
I wasn't really sure what to expect with Kaito Files, especially for the $30 price point, but it delivered way more than I expected. This is essentially a mini Yakuza game with a surprisingly tight and impactful storyline, fantastic character moments, and the usual addictive gameplay. Highly recommended.
Purely by chance, I replayed the ending to the Majima Saga last week, and it's night and day when comparing the quality of these two releases. MS was lacking in unique content with only a couple fights, no real side objectives, and no fighting styles, making it feel pretty blatantly like reused content. Kaito Files, on the other hand, gives Kaito two unique styles with a large skill tree to upgrade through, some pretty funny side content in the form of his primal senses, and an absolute BOATLOAD of fights. In fact, the Kenmochi fight is maybe one of the best in the series.
The story itself is paced to perfection, jumping from beat to beat at a solid chop. For only 4 chapters and about 6-7.5 hours, it covered way more than I expected. The antagonist's motives aren't that shocking if you're familiar with the series, but the lengths he goes to end up being way darker than I expected, resulting in a pretty original tonal structure for the series. The finale is quite good. The epilogue after it, however, is hilarious. The mix of current and past Kaito is really interesting, Mikiko is a strong contender for best female in the series, and Jun's storyline is grounded and hits the mark 9 times out of 10. Special points for all the fanservice, like the constant Higashi gags and funny interactions with other series regulars. Yagami's texts explaining his absence are a treat.
On the gameplay side, Kaito's moveset is fantastically fun, adapting parts of Kiryu (some literally canonically taken from what Kaito has heard of Kiryu) but adding unique animations and new options to make it feel very fresh and fun. There are actually a few DMC-esque button + stick motion input moves, which are pretty rare for this series. I think 0 has a few? There are some pretty funny QoL things too, like Kaito getting an upgrade to wear his disguises freely around Kamurocho, something Yagami couldn't do in either game. The boss fights are fantastic, with some really good choreography and setpieces. The overall presentation here is slick as hell. Also, KF might actually make better use of the detective sequences than the main game does, there's some cool stuff in here.
I wasn't really sure what to expect with Kaito Files, especially for the $30 price point, but it delivered way more than I expected. This is essentially a mini Yakuza game with a surprisingly tight and impactful storyline, fantastic character moments, and the usual addictive gameplay. Highly recommended.
2 Comments
@slashermcgirk it definitely is. I came out feeling like it was well worth it but I could see some people not feeling like that. Unfortunately I doubt they'll ever do a "GOTY" edition or anything with it bundled in :/
SlasherMcGirk
1 year ago