I really loved Yakuza 0, I want to play 6 - Should I play Kiwami?

[Maahniac]

I'm almost finished with Yakuza 0. I only need the Legend playthrough for my Platinum trophy. 

 

I really want to play Yakuza 6, both for the story and gameplay (and graphics!), but also because the trophy guide makes it seem like a MUCH more casual Platinum hunt. While I (mostly) enjoyed Yakuza 0's journey towards Platinum, I also had my share of annoyance, and grinding boredom. So I would definitely appreciate a more casual Yakuza, in terms of trophies. 

 

However...

 

I've got the impression that Yakuza Kiwami's story (which of course is a remake of the first game) is pretty important to understand the rest of Kiryu's journey, and I can imagine that jumping to the 6th game, with only having played a prequel, is a bit of a shame?

But there's little information about Kiwami in terms of the Platinum trophy. I haven't even found a trophy guide. Is it as long a journey as Yakuza 0? Does it have the same Mahjong requirements? Weapon & Item search? Batting? Please, no batting. Please. 

Thanks in advance!

[Tamikuz]

Well yes you could play 6 , but then you dont understand the whole Feels and  Plot , and of course you dont know any of the Returning Characters from the previous games , and you will sit there like * who the hell are these people ? and why should i care about them ?*  And since Yakuza 6 revolves around Haruka that is since the first game there  i would say yes at least play Kiwami to know why she is so important 

[Inuty]

Regarding the Story order. I started with Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 (because of PS+) and Play through  Yakuza Dead Souls and Yakuza 3 after that. Next one was Yakuza 0, then Yakuza Kiwami and the last one was Yakuza 6  I will buy Kiwami 2 next week  

 

4 > 5 > Dead Souls > 3 > 0 > 1 > 6 > 2

For me the order wasn´t that important. All games have a great Story and sure you will be spoilered in some degree but just to know what happened in the games before. After I played the other games there were also some plot Twist that I liked and didn´t know about. In Yakuza 6 there is an menu Point to get to know the plot of the previously games, so you should be good if you are interested.

 

Yakuza Kiwami is in my opinion the easiest one to platinum. You will get a lot of cheat items regarding the gambling games to fasten up the CP. Also I can tell you from experience, if you platinum one Yakuza, the next one won´t be so hard anymore because you know what you are dealing with. Yakuza 0 and 5 were for me the longest games for the platinum because they had so much side Content which was also really time consuming. So you have for one of the longest games in the series already the platinum in my opinion  

[Baker]

Yakuza 0 took me 150 hours to platinum and Yakuza Kiwami 75 hours so it’s a lot less time consuming. I did find Kiwami a bit harder, although opinions differ about that. It has all the minigames including batting. No weapon search but you do have to buy almost all weapons / accessories which cost a lot of money, if you play the game equip the money shoes (can’t remember the name) asap. If you liked 0 there’s no reason to not play Kiwami.

[jacks]

I played 1, 2 and platinumed 3 and jumped right into 6 without too much problem. I think one of the things that will be missing is the emotional impact of some of the recurring stories from the previous game, but it's more the result of the journey to that point being missed rather than not really know what's going on; most of the characters are explained as to who they are (and pretty much all of the major ones), the game features a "previously on..." optional text blurb for each game prior, and pretty much all of the Yakuzas that I have played have had their own self contained stories while the aforementioned "previously on..." segments that you can read in-game will fill you in on anything that you may have missed that might pop up in the game you are playing.

 

I can kind of relate to the struggle with the platinums in these games and wanting something a tad easier to take a break; having actually 100%'ed 1 and 2 prior to taking on the laborious task of platinuming 3 when I first got my PS3, I was a little burned out on the series since I would easily say 3 is both the most frustrating and difficulty platinum i have in my collection (as well as one of the most time consuming, clocking in at 110 hours). Having missed most of 4 and all of 5, I'm not really all that lost with 6, but I will admit that I'd probably be more invested in the stories of the characters that 4 and 5 introduced had i played them. I guess i can't also relate to not knowing anything about Haruka since I feel -- just short of seeing her blossom into the adult world of becoming an idol in 5 -- I have spent quite a bit of time with her in the games i have played, so that's definitely a YMMV if you were to drop right into 6.

 

All in all, you'd be safe to start 6, but I would highly recommend playing at least some of the games (including Kiwami and Kiwami 2) prior to get a feel for especially Haruka. I don't think 6's central conflict would be nearly as impactful had I not known who the hell she was. Yakuza 1 and 2 are also stellar games, so they should be played even regardless.

[Maahniac]

Thank you all, for your replies!