Yakuza Kiwami is now available to play on PS4 and if this is your first foray into the world of Yakuza, you’ve picked the perfect entry point. Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza, with updated graphics and added bonuses. However, it can be a little intimidating exploring Kamurocho, because there’s so much to see and do there. Here are a few tips to get you started on the right path.

Saving The Game

Yakuza Kiwami doesn’t automatically save everything, so you’ll need to make sure you save every now and then to avoid losing progress. Saving isn’t as easy as pausing and scrolling to the save option either. To save your game in Yakuza Kiwami, you’ll need to visit a phone booth. Thankfully, phone booths are fairly common sights on the streets of Kamurocho.

Finding Side Missions

Side missions feature some of the most interesting stories in Yakuza Kiwami, but can easily be missed if you aren’t looking for them. When you start the game, be sure to TALK TO EVERYONE. Just talking to as many people as possible is sure to get you started early on different side missions.

Once you are far enough into the main campaign, you can buy a special item that will allow you to locate side missions are on your map quickly. The item can be bought from Bob the Clown, who is standing under the Tenkaichi Street Gate on the southern edge of the map. Trade your Combat Points (or CP) to get the side mission locator item, and equip it in your items screen on the pause menu.

Combat Guide

Most enemies can be defeated with any fighting style by mashing buttons and performing combos. However, some enemies are faster than others, and some are big and strong. Use a fast fighting style like Rush to get the upper hand if you seem to be getting blocked by normal attacks. If you are facing against a strong boss, Beast is a great option to deal large amounts of damage. However, try all four fighting styles and find which one works best for you. Pretty much any style will work fine in any situation. To swap between the styles, simply press a different direction on the D-pad.

Chapter Changes

Yakuza Kiwami is divided up into different chapters, and there’s an easy way to tell when you are about to move on to the next chapter. If Yakuza Kiwami ever asks you to save after talking to someone, you’re about to start the final mission to lead into the next chapter. There’s no major reason why you wouldn’t want to move to the next chapter, but if you are in the middle of a side mission or want to buy some items before the final mission, you’ll know when it’s coming.

Buying Upgrades

Players can buy combat upgrades with experience earned from playing Yakuza Kiwami. At the start of the game, it may seem like many upgrades are way out of reach due to how much XP is needed to unlock them. Don’t worry too much, because completing side missions (especially towards the end of the game) will unlock tons of XP. Focus on getting all of the cheaper upgrades first in the early chapters; don’t save up to get the bigger unlocks. Those will come in time.

Side Activities

You don’t have to participate in any of the side activities like karaoke, pool, darts, pocket racing or anything else. However, the more you do, the more XP and additional unlocks you’ll earn. If you don’t necessarily care about that, don’t worry too much. You can get through the game without any of the added distractions if you want to focus on the story.

That said, if you want to get lost in all the different activities there are to do in Kamurocho, go for it! Try and get a perfect game in bowling or hit a homerun in the batting cages.

So what do you think? Are you ready to get started in Yakuza Kiwami? Are there any other questions you have? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.