Eventually, a remorseful Nishikiyama sacrifices himself to kill Haruka's father Jingu who was a corrupt politician bent on destroying the Tojo and his loved ones, and Yumi dies in Kiryu's arms from a gunshot wound. As war erupts throughout the streets of Kamurocho between many different factions (including government agents and the Triad), Kiryu decides to find Yumi and the missing money, and protect Haruka, a mysterious young girl whom everyone seems to be after.
A free man, Kiryu discovers that Nishikiyama is now a powerful but cold-hearted yakuza boss, his childhood friend Yumi has gone missing, and everyone is searching for ten billion yen that was stolen from his former organization, the Tojo Clan.
Similar to the plot of the original Yakuza, the game centers around yakuza lieutenant Kazuma Kiryu, who takes the blame for Sohei Dojima's murder, committed by his sworn brother and best friend Akira Nishikiyama, spending ten years in prison before being granted parole. Defeating Majima in different scenarios will increase the player's Majima Everywhere rank and unlock new abilities in Kiryu's Dragon style. Majima will also sometimes appear when playing a minigame (like darts or bowling) and will challenge Kiryu. Majima will appear randomly during exploration, as well as in predetermined challenges based on the player's progress in Majima Everywhere. Shakedown system previously present in Yakuza 0, in which rival character Goro Majima will appear frequently to challenge Kiryu to a fight.
Kiwami introduces a new gameplay system called "Majima Everywhere", which replaces the Mr. Completing certain objectives will also grant the player special Completion Point currency this CP can be spent to receive additional bonuses, such as special items or character upgrades. Money can be spent to purchase equipment or healing items, or to play various minigames and side-activities such as gambling, karaoke, and the card battle game Mesuking. Experience points can be used to acquire upgrades for Kiryu such as new techniques or an extension to his health bar. Players will earn both money and experience points by defeating enemies or completing side quests. Just like 0, Kiwami features four fighting styles that the player can switch between in combat: the balanced Brawler style, the slow and heavy Beast style, the weak but quick Rush style, and Kiryu's traditional Dragon style. Yakuza Kiwami entirely forgoes the combat system of the original game its combat is largely similar to the prequel Yakuza 0. In addition to the main story, players will randomly encounter enemies on the street to battle, as well as meet people that will offer Kiryu side quests which can be completed for rewards. The player controls protagonist Kazuma Kiryu as he explores the streets of Kamurocho, a fictional district of Tokyo based on the real-life KabukichÅ district.
Like the original game, Yakuza Kiwami is an action-adventure game with role-playing elements set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. Yakuza Kiwami was followed up by Yakuza 6: The Song of Life later in 2016, and another remake based on the second game titled Yakuza Kiwami 2 was also released in 2018. Critics praised the simplicity of the gameplay but were divided by the handling of the storyline and pacing. The game was well received, earning positive sales. Following the success of Yakuza 0, Sega started working on the remake of the first game and aimed to add new elements to the story while trying to make it more enjoyable than the original game. Sega had ideas to remake the first Yakuza game in 2015 as part of the series' 10th anniversary but were unsure about developing due to their team focused on making Yakuza 0. The gameplay was improved to resemble the prequel Yakuza 0, adding more depth to the fighting system. The remake adds extra elements to the story, including Akira Nishikiyama's corruption during Kiryu's imprisonment and constant struggles between Kiryu and his rival Goro Majima. After a decade in prison, Kiryu searches for his old friends who have gone missing. Like the original PlayStation 2 game, Yakuza Kiwami explores the life of a man named Kazuma Kiryu who is demoted from his clan after taking the blame for his boss's murder.
It was also ported for Microsoft Windows worldwide on Steam on February 19, 2019, and was released on Xbox One on April 21, 2020. Yakuza Kiwami was released on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan on January 21, 2016, and on PlayStation 4 in Europe and North America on August 29, 2017. It is a remake of Yakuza, the first game in the Yakuza series, originally released on Sony's PlayStation 2. Yakuza Kiwami is an action-adventure video game developed by Sega.