Yakuza Kiwami Switch review - A near-perfect return to Kamurocho
Yakuza Kiwami is finally available on the Nintendo Switch, making Kiryu Kazama’s initial outing finally playable on the handheld console. One of my all-time favorite games, and truly an incredible remake of the original PlayStation 2 game, with plenty of quality-of-life changes and updates from the original, is now on the Nintendo console. With the intense violent and adult themes featured in Kiwami, I’m still a bit shocked that it’s available on the Switch, but it is!
However, the real question is how does Yakuza Kiwami actually play on the Nintendo Switch console? I’ve been spending a great deal of time exploring Kamurocho over the last few weeks, getting into fights and saving the regular folks who are just trying to get by. While there are a few quirks, I’m overall quite pleased with the game's handheld version.
Yakuza Kiwami brings Kiryu’s story to the Nintendo Switch
Yakuza Kiwami is the original story of Kiryu Kazuma, and how he ultimately got wrapped up in the Ten Billion Yen incident. We won’t spoil the major story beats, but it’s an incredible tale filled with drama, sorrow, and tragedy. There are comical moments as well to bring balance to the game, but that’s primarily done through the side quests - Substories.
The majority of the story takes place in 2005, so you’re gonna see a lot of retro stuff, if you’re new to the franchise. That’s one of the things I love about this series - it’s a snapshot of the past. Each entry in the series takes place in a different year, and you can see how Kamurocho, which was modeled after the real-world Kabukicho, has grown and evolved.
If you’ve never played the Yakuza series before and own a Nintendo Switch, now’s the time to dive in headfirst. It’s an unforgettable story, filled with some extreme highs and lows. Few franchises have given me the same emotional rollercoaster that Yakuza has, especially Yakuza Kiwami. But, how does it handle on the Switch?
Yakuza Kiwami’s loading and gameplay feel smooth on the Nintendo Switch
This is the one thing I was worried about when I began playing Yakuza Kiwami on the Nintendo Switch. The very first loading screen took a few moments - longer than I was anticipating. However, this is the only time that happened, much to my delight. Other than that one slightly longer loading time, all the others were short and sweet.
If you’re expecting 4K60 FPS, then you’re going to be disappointed - remember, this is the Nintendo Switch. It does run smoothly, feeling like a solid 30 FPS.
I put Yakuza Kiwami through as many paces as I could. Plenty of fights, lots of people on screen, anything I could to push the game. I can’t recall more than one or two very minor, tiny framerate dips in the early hours of the game. This game ran incredibly smooth on the Nintendo Switch, in both the docked and the handheld mode. I played the majority of the time through my capture card on my monitor, but I did run it on the handheld as well.
Whether demolishing people in the Coliseum with a floor covered in fire, or in Nakamichi Alley, smashing five wannabe gangsters with a neon sign, there wasn’t any real slowdown, lag, or crash to report.
Yakuza Kiwami offers players a wide mix of activities and gameplay options
For those new to Yakuza Kiwami, there’s so much more to the game than the main story's intense drama. Kiryu has plenty of activities to take part in - gathering Locker Keys for free items, and collecting MesuKing cards for an intense “Rock Paper Scissors” style arcade game are among them.
Pocket Circuit’s available too, where you customize and drive little cars around a track, and even Karaoke. Personally, I think the Karaoke system in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami is mediocre, though. When Kiwami 2 introduced a single line for the notes to appear on, that was a complete game-changer.
Kamurocho is a vast city with lots to see and do. Whether you want to visit the cabaret club and chat with women, go bowling, or hit the batting cages, there is so much to the game.
In addition, something not featured in the PlayStation 2 version, is the "Majima Everywhere" system. He can pop up in some truly ridiculous places, with the ultimate goal of getting a good fight out of Kiryu. From spinning on strippler poles to hiding under traffic cones, he can literally be anywhere. It's the best.
The presentation of Yakuza Kiwami is mostly very satisfying
I do want to say that Yakuza Kiwami on the Nintendo Switch looks incredible in the handheld mode. The visuals look sharp. However, players may encounter some blurriness in the docked mode. I didn’t notice it as much from my capture card, but I did begin to see some when there were lots of people around.
Now, this was a thing in Kiwami's original launch as well on PC - but players there had graphical options to adjust to stop that from happening. Unfortunately, there are no graphic options you can adjust in the Switch version.
The cutscenes all looked great, no matter where they were. Just idling in Kamurocho did show a little blurriness around the NPCs, but it’s not a miserable experience. You won’t find that you can’t read or understand things - it’s just not 1080p or 4K. The audio presentation is superb as well, but that’s what I expected from Yakuza Kiwami.
In conclusion
Being able to play this game on the Nintendo Switch is already better than I thought it was going to be. It’s not as good as playing on my PS5 or my PC, but that’s not what I was hoping for it to be. I wanted it to play smoothly, look decent, and not have terrible loading times. It didn’t disappoint me at all.
I haven’t played Yakuza Kiwami in years, so it was a real treat to go back and experience all those dramatic highs and lows again. Whether beating up a variety of enemies, racing Pocket Racer cars, or playing MesuKing, there’s so much to love here. Even if you’ve played Kiwami before, the Switch version won’t let you down.
Yakuza Kiwami
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch (Code provided by SEGA)
Release Date: October 24, 2024 (original release: January 21, 2016)
Developers: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, SEGA, Lab42
Publisher: SEGA