Have you ever started a series where even though you’ve only played one, you already know you want them all?

That’s how I felt after finishing Yakuza 0, a game that took me completely by surprise last year by becoming one of my favorites. So after taking a break to not burn out on the formula, I moved on and played the first game’s remake, Yakuza Kiwami.

Unlike 0, which had two playable characters, Kiwami follows Kiryu as the sole main protagonist. After serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Kiryu comes back to find that many things have changed, and he soon finds himself caught up in a mystery surrounding a little girl named Haruka and 10 billion missing yen.

The story isn’t quite as intense and epic as in 0, but it’s still a good story in its own right. It has a sense of mystery to it (although it felt strangely like an action movie by the end) and once again I fell in love with the characters.

Once again, there are plenty of substories (side quests) and mini-games. The substories disappointed me a little, especially since a lot of them were just variations on someone trying to scam Kiryu, but some of the others have shout-outs and nods to substories I remembered from Yakuza 0. It has many of the same mini-games as well, some even improved what was found in 0 (most notably MesuKing, which takes the broken Catfight mini-game and makes it much more playable).

Similar to how it worked in the prequel, you’ll get into random battles around the city, fight enemies in an action combat system using four different combat styles and/or weapons, and earn experience (yen is separate from experience this time) to increase your stats and learn new skills.

Yakuza Kiwami also has a new feature called Majima Everywhere, in which Majima can pop up… well, everywhere… and make you fight him. This was one of the shining highlights of the game.

While it can get annoying to fight Majima so often, especially when you’re trying to do something, there were so many strange and hilarious moments tied to the Majima Everywhere storyline, I loved it. There were times when I’d think about how I didn’t like Kiwami as much, but then Majima would do something so absurd it was pure joy. It took me a while to get used to his personality compared to how he acted in 0, but now that I have, I’m tempted to say I might like this Majima better.

With only one main character and a simpler story, Yakuza Kiwami took me about 45 hours to finish. It might not have been as amazing as Yakuza 0, but it’s still a pretty awesome game with exciting moments and fun characters.

Next up for me is Judgment, but I’m looking forward to continuing the main Yakuza series as well. Have you played Yakuza Kiwami?