What is the appeal of Yakuza games? The badassery of Kiryu Kazuma? The thrilling narrative of the Tojo Clan’s strife against themselves and its rivals? The Silly substories and plot twists that occur throughout this franchise? Well, Yakuza Kiwami 2 has all of these for sure. Entering after my slight disappointment of Kiwami 1 considering that Yakuza 0 is my favorite game of all time, I honestly couldn’t expect much from Kiwami 2 to really engage me. Just played the game because of a weak reason, that is “since I really loved one of the games, I might as well play the whole franchise”. But Kiwami 2 really reminded me of all the things I loved in Y0 with how gripping these yakuza characters can be and a story that actually has some meat to it, if not for some hiccups near the end.

From what I understand, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is using a different engine from Y0 and YK1 which many have told me to be a significant downgrade in terms of combat. Surprisingly, I am honestly fine with it as the ragdoll physics made it very hilarious to see whenever Kiryu punches the lights out of someone. It is disappointing that the other styles are not being included in this game, but for the most part I never actually got bored mowing down mafia goons. One thing I was worried about is how my friend told me that the enemies in this game have inflated health and defenses, so I just opted in to playing easy despite playing in harder difficulties with previous games. Honestly, playing on easy made this game so much fun since it builds way better to the narrative of how Kiryu is this unstoppable force of nature that can take down anything that stands in his path.

Further discussing that immersion factor, Yakuza Kiwami 2 really goes all out in presenting the Yakuza narrative with how much better the direction and visuals look in both cutscenes and gameplay. Scenes that had or were related to Sayama Kaoru in particular really stood out to me where the cinematography felt so intended to evoke something meaningful that really captures the emotional beats of the story. Adding to this was an especially memorable soundtrack this time around with the banger SiM song that just elevates the scenes further and Yakuza Kiwami 2 comes really close to Yakuza Zero in terms of an overall game if it wasn’t for a few hiccups in its narrative.

I say hiccups in the narrative but honestly Yakuza Kiwami 2 has a very strong story for the most part. Compared to Kiwami 1 where I couldn’t really grow to like any of the characters with me just thinking Nishiki being overall pathetic, Yakuza Kiwami 2 was a breath of fresh air with how distinct the new characters are during their own spotlight be it how intimidating Ryuji Goda was at taunting Kiryu or how much you want to root for Sayama Kaoru as a woman trying to complete her duties. The story overall between the Tojo clan trying to spring back up is pretty engaging to see considering Kiryu and the player is the cause for all of it. The mutiny of the Omi alliance is also interesting, especially the investment from playing Zero and Kiwami 1. My biggest issue has to be the Jingweon Mafia plot line where all the soap opera level plot twists occur where it turns out every new character is actually Korean lul. This story is close to being up there with Yakuza Zero but is disappointingly dragged down by trying to have a less compelling plot thread weaved in.

Overall I definitely enjoyed Yakuza Kiwami 2 a lot, far more than I did Kiwami 1 be it in terms of story or gameplay. It doesn’t come close to Zero but it's definitely a worthwhile 20ish hour game especially with how low the price gets during steam sales. After playing this game I’m definitely looking forward to playing the rest of the yakuza games to see more of Kiryu’s misadventures of being dragged into this silly yet gripping world of Yakuza. 7.5/10, Sayama best girl.

What is the appeal of Yakuza games? The badassery of Kiryu Kazuma? The thrilling narrative of the Tojo Clan’s strife against themselves and its rivals? The Silly substories and plot twists that occur throughout this franchise? Well, Yakuza Kiwami 2 has all of these for sure. Entering after my slight disappointment of Kiwami 1 considering that Yakuza 0 is my favorite game of all time, I honestly couldn’t expect much from Kiwami 2 to really engage me. Just played the game because of a weak reason, that is “since I really loved one of the games, I might as well play the whole franchise”. But Kiwami 2 really reminded me of all the things I loved in Y0 with how gripping these yakuza characters can be and a story that actually has some meat to it, if not for some hiccups near the end. From what I understand, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is using a different engine from Y0 and YK1 which many have told me to be a significant downgrade in terms of combat. Surprisingly, I am honestly fine with it as the ragdoll physics made it very hilarious to see whenever Kiryu punches the lights out of someone. It is disappointing that the other styles are not being included in this game, but for the most part I never actually got bored mowing down mafia goons. One thing I was worried about is how my friend told me that the enemies in this game have inflated health and defenses, so I just opted in to playing easy despite playing in harder difficulties with previous games. Honestly, playing on easy made this game so much fun since it builds way better to the narrative of how Kiryu is this unstoppable force of nature that can take down anything that stands in his path. Further discussing that immersion factor, Yakuza Kiwami 2 really goes all out in presenting the Yakuza narrative with how much better the direction and visuals look in both cutscenes and gameplay. Scenes that had or were related to Sayama Kaoru in particular really stood out to me where the cinematography felt so intended to evoke something meaningful that really captures the emotional beats of the story. Adding to this was an especially memorable soundtrack this time around with the banger SiM song that just elevates the scenes further and Yakuza Kiwami 2 comes really close to Yakuza Zero in terms of an overall game if it wasn’t for a few hiccups in its narrative. I say hiccups in the narrative but honestly Yakuza Kiwami 2 has a very strong story for the most part. Compared to Kiwami 1 where I couldn’t really grow to like any of the characters with me just thinking Nishiki being overall pathetic, Yakuza Kiwami 2 was a breath of fresh air with how distinct the new characters are during their own spotlight be it how intimidating Ryuji Goda was at taunting Kiryu or how much you want to root for Sayama Kaoru as a woman trying to complete her duties. The story overall between the Tojo clan trying to spring back up is pretty engaging to see considering Kiryu and the player is the cause for all of it. The mutiny of the Omi alliance is also interesting, especially the investment from playing Zero and Kiwami 1. My biggest issue has to be the Jingweon Mafia plot line where all the soap opera level plot twists occur where it turns out every new character is actually Korean lul. This story is close to being up there with Yakuza Zero but is disappointingly dragged down by trying to have a less compelling plot thread weaved in. Overall I definitely enjoyed Yakuza Kiwami 2 a lot, far more than I did Kiwami 1 be it in terms of story or gameplay. It doesn’t come close to Zero but it's definitely a worthwhile 20ish hour game especially with how low the price gets during steam sales. After playing this game I’m definitely looking forward to playing the rest of the yakuza games to see more of Kiryu’s misadventures of being dragged into this silly yet gripping world of Yakuza. 7.5/10, Sayama best girl.