Originally posted by Kayla-Denton
ugh I get so close on the climax battle and screw it up this is probably gonna be a bust platinum for me, thank you for the guide tho! I'm just lacking in skill
For the Kiwami battles -- I think I've written more about this elsewhere in comments -- I found the dodge-heat mechanic useful. A lot of people use Tiger Drop really well. I don't. I think the timing is too risky. Know that it's been a while since I've played Kiwami and I sometimes get the mechanics of the various Yakuza games mixed up. I once posted some of this info in either a Yak 0 or Yak Kiwami 2 thread where it doesn't apply. But I think it applies in Kiwami, almost positive of it. And it's how I got through the Climax Battles.
So the way you do a tiger drop, if I recall, is R1 and Triangle. The R1 is to lock onto the enemy, because Tiger Drop will only activate while locked on and when an enemy is charging (and close enough -- this is why I think the timing is risky, because a split second later they have hit you). It's a very strong heat action.
Here's what I prefer: Dodge around like crazy with the R1 button. You can also use the L1 button, but I prefer the R1 button unless there's a need to dodge to the left, like if I've dodged into a corner. As you're spamming dodge, you build up heat as you avoid enemy attacks. So doing this, you're both (1) avoiding enemy attacks, mostly avoiding damage, and (2) building heat. Then anytime you have enough heat, just spam a quick heat move. You don't have to put yourself in danger to do that. There are plenty of opportunities to just throw somebody's face into something with Triangle then go back to R1 dodging.
None of those heat moves are as strong as Tiger Drop, but you also don't have to get the timing right. You'll take some damage each fight of the Climax Battle, but in between fights you'll also heal a bit, I think 10 percent. Some fights might be more tricky for you than others. And since this method takes longer than the Tiger Drop method, it means there's also more room for just getting complacent (it takes about 40 minutes for the last Climax Battle doing this method). Every once in a while, you can accidentally hit a Tiger Drop, just because the dodge and lock-on button are the same, and this is the reason why I prefer R1 to L1 for the dodge-around-like-crazy button.
Hope that helps.