ITS BEEN A WHILE

Oh it has been a hot minute since the last time I was able to sit down to game. School and work have been piling up over the past month so I haven’t been able to game. But now that I finally found some time, I decided to go binge Yakuza Kiwami.

Dan me dan ne, Kiryu-chan. You just cant ever catch your breath can you? I binged Yakuza and now I am now at Chapter 11. So much has happened but here are some thoughts.

Why the heck does Kiryu get knocked down so easily but some flimsy street thug? That part doesn’t make much sense to me. Also — why the heck was there a boss who was like Neo? I didn’t have the bulletproof amulet with me so it was sooooo tedious fighting that boss battle. He kept dodging. He kept firing his gun. And meanwhile I had to keep falling down after being shot. Ugh that was such a pain in the butt to go through but I finally knocked his lights out.

Narrative-wise, I can definitely feel the tension in the game now. So much has happened. People have been dropped dead left and right. Conspiracies are starting to unravel. You don’t really know who you can really trust anymore. And nothing makes sense! Like why is **** such an important figure to ****? And is **** really ****? I can’t wait to see what the story will show me next.

Now that I think about it, the Koi tattoo makes a lot of sense. Legend has it that when a Koi swims up the waterfall (dragon’s gate), the Koi turns into a Dragon. This is seen in a ton of Japanese lore and stories. We even see it in Pokemon — Magikarp evolves into Gyarados. Yes, Gyarados is not a Dragon. But you get my point.

I feel this story is ending soon, and so I’m really excited to see what the climax is. I know I will be fighting Nishikiyama in the end as shown in the game’s starting animations. But does he die? Does Kiryu forgive him? Does he repent his sins? Or does he die a miserably death or is he exiled from the clans to live a life of mediocrity? I really can’t wait!

Last note — Long live Kiryu-Kai. As a Kiryu Coco fan, I would like to dedicate my Yakuza series gameplay to our one and only Kaichou. May you retire peacefully and live life how you desire it. Thank you for all your hard work and goodbye, motherfucker.