Monday, December 16, 2019

Yakuza Kiwami: Boss Fights

More boss videos, more liner notes. This time it's Yakuza Kiwami, which unfortunately can't hold a candle to Yakuza Zero's boss lineup. It's still a decent game, and pays off the story that Yakuza Zero builds up.



Koji Shindo - As I said above, Yakuza Kiwami fights absolutely pale in comparison to Yakuza Zero fights, especially the last three of that game. The fight controls aren't as good, the bosses aren't as intense, and for whatever reason this game always throws a ton of goons in with the boss that just detract from what should be a one-on-one battle. The boss music is good, at least. Koji Shindo isn't actually the first boss, but he's the first one that felt like more than a tutorial fight. This guy shows up in Kiwami 2 and is a lot more of a menace there.

Lau Ka Long - This guy is cool because he sports a Kwondo.

Kazuto Arase - When people talk about how bad the boss fights in this game can be, they're mainly talking about this guy. He spends all of his time dodging away and shooting at you at the same time. It's frustrating, but it's only the second-lamest fight in the game. Luckily, after this we rebound with...

Goro Majima - The Bass to Kiryu's Mega Man. You fight this guy a bunch of times in miniboss-like skirmishes, but here we have the big boss fight to culminate all of the little fights. Like every time you battle Majima, it's a great fight.

Futoshi Shimano - This big dude could be the villain of the game, and kinda is outside of the final act. Not really crazy about how the game turns most boss fights into huge gang brawls though. The focused one-on-one fights of Yakuza Zero are more fun. In this game, once you take out all of the minions and get the boss down to a one-on-one confrontation, it's usually pretty bland.

Kyohei Jingu - My least-favorite fight in the series. Bosses that dodge 90% of the time and fire guns at you seem to only be a thing in the first Yakuza, at least I hope so. The goons endlessly respawn, as well. Everything about this fight is drawn-out and obnoxious, plus this fight comes out of nowhere in the final chapter just to drag things out before the final battle.

Final Boss - And by contrast we follow that with the best fight in the game. We finally got a one-on-one duel. This fight is a big spoiler though, so beware.

More Yakuza tomorrow, as I take a gander at Yakuza Kiwami 2.



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