Is it as good as Yakuza 0? No, because we don't get Majima as a character, and thus the world feels smaller, combat less varied, etc. The comparison is unfair, because 0 is built from the ground up for modern generation consoles while Kiwami is the remake of a PS2 era game. Still, that was my baseline for a game and Kiwami did, in theory, come later, so...
I did find the Majima part kinda tiresome after he became very tanky and the events near a few places I used to go become too frequent.
Overall, very fun, long live this series

The grandpa of the current indie revolution, this is a darling of a game. I can't quite see what people define as a metroidvania in this one, which is not a demerit in the slightest. I just wouldn't put that in this genre, that's all.
Regardless of that, I really liked the game. Solid gun variety, nice XP system that allows you to be more risky the more you trust yourself. The platforming is nice, although Quote's jump takes some getting used to.
The story, probably due to my depleted af mental state, didn't hit me as hard as it did most people, and I could only appreciate it from afar.
Will one day replay it for the true ending, because I didn't have a backup save.

it's in the mid range games where you'll see a lot of interesting ideas and experimentation that you'd hope to see more of. a lot of interesting mechanics here, with the skill checks turning this visual novel esque game into a sort of rpg, where your character's abilities matter.
the story starts strong, and the voice acting is pretty solid. however, as is to be expected, full 3d facial animations from a small studio can't do the proper job of delivering the emotions you hear, and that breaks the immersion. also, as is the case in these types of games, a few paths of dialogue aren't as well connected, and thus some information just comes out of left field or your character reacts in a way that is just unexpected. most of the choices you make are somewhat relevant to the way the story unfolded, but, upon a deeper look, a lot of the events are fixed and there are very few possible conclusions, despite the wide array of choices.
i also didn't enjoy the final twists, even though they were not unreasonable. i feel like this game showed promise and structure that would make me curious for a sequel, spin off or whatever by the studio.