Yakuza Kiwami

للي يبيها عربي يلقاها هنا https://backloggd.com/u/Ammar_114/review/4985832/ My entry ticket to the renowned Yakuza series, and what a start it is. The Story & Atmosphere: The thing I loved most about the game is its contradictions. I mean, how am I supposed to be in a game focused on revenge, gangs, and serious themes, and then Majima pops up chasing me every second, alongside side quests that make you die of laughter and the mini-games? The comedic situations here are even funnier than they should be because Kiryu is such a calm and mostly silent character in certain moments. Aside from the main characters—whose appearances are rare or almost non-existent—Kiryu feels like the only sane human being around. Gameplay: The combat is a blast because I have 4 different fighting styles suited for any situation I find myself in. Surrounded by a lot of enemies? I use Beast. The guy in front of me is fast? I counter with Rush to match his speed. And if my opponent has a heavy defense? I use Brawler. Last but certainly not least is the strongest style in the game, especially once you unlock a few extra abilities for it: the Dragon style. This style works whether you're facing 1 enemy or 10. It’s terrifyingly broken, specifically if you unlock the Tiger Drop ability—it's beautiful and fun, though it completely breaks the game. The game utilizes a specific system called Majima Everywhere. Majima's character will relentlessly stalk you and pop up everywhere (I'm not kidding, he appears everywhere, even as a stripper). Sometimes his appearances are frustrating, like when I'm out of healing items or he jumps in while I'm already fighting other enemies. I feel like I should hate him, but honestly? I loved the system and found it incredibly fun. The Game World: True, the Kamurocho map is small if I compare it to massive open-world games, but the game knows exactly how to pack the world in a way that makes the map feel huge and lived-in. The streets are packed with restaurants and arcades that steal your time, making you easily spend hours on side activities (or at least, that’s what happened to me). Rating: 8/10 Play it, people! ⚠️ Spoilers regarding Nishikiyama and the game's events: Nishiki's character arc—how he started off as my buddy, hanging out together, only to turn into a villain—flowed in a really well-written way (at least based on my playthrough of this entry, as I still don't know what happens in Yakuza 0). The way they show his transformation is built perfectly: starting with Kiryu taking the blame for the boss's death and going to prison, followed by his sister's death, right down to his own subordinates causing him trouble due to their insubordination. Then Kashiwagi tells him that if Kiryu were in his shoes, none of this would have happened. All of this ultimately drove him to a point of intense envy and jealousy toward Kiryu, to the extent that he constantly plotted to kill him. I don't think the change was unjustified. Losing Kiryu, who was like a brother to him, and realizing that even if he got out of prison he would be expelled from the Kazama family, noticeably affected Akira. It felt to me like Akira didn't trust anyone in the Tojo Clan except Kiryu. Shintaro Kazama did step up by letting him establish his own family and giving him men, specifically so there would be a family ready to welcome Kiryu once he got out. Unfortunately, the men Akira was given were savages and troublemakers, treating him like he was their servant. This was especially true for that piece of trash, Matsushige, who acted as if he was the actual boss of the family, not Akira. He even made the boss (Akira) bow down to him to beg for the money needed to treat his sister, and to make it worse, that scumbag stepped on his head while he was bowing. That completely broke Akira, but what could he do? His hands were tied. That is, until he meets Futoshi Shimano, who gives him a quick life lesson about how he isn't cut out to be Yakuza, and that Kazama only let him form a family because he wanted Kiryu to eventually step in and forcefully take it over from him. Then we see Akira at his sister's grave, contemplating ending his own life. This births the "evil" Akira, whose sole ambition in life becomes reaching the top of the Tojo Clan and killing Kiryu out of pure envy. This is made brilliantly clear by his tattoo: a Koi fish (which aspires to become a dragon), while Kiryu's tattoo is already the Dragon. This simple detail perfectly highlights the contrast between the two. But at the very end of the game, he steps up and decides to sacrifice his life for Kiryu? That was a beautiful touch. It shows you that Akira doesn't actually hate Kiryu, but rather was consumed by jealousy and envy of him. A beautifully handled transformation journey, and definitely not one that happened for no reason.