![]() The quiet moments are some of Yakuza Kiwami 2’s best. It’s sublime that even a brief moment between Kiryu and Date reminiscing over whiskey and smokes can so thoroughly arrest your attention. Kiwami 2 is rich with brilliant cut scenes to tell its tale, with some great characters (again, discounting the prior examples) and excellent voice acting. While the story itself pales to others in the series, Sega once again proves its mastery over brilliant pacing - discounting the final act. Kiwami 2 is thankfully not completely doomed. With Kiwami 2, however, Haruka feels more like an afterthought. It’s really a shame, considering how great a character she’s already proven to be. She’s missing for the majority of the story, only to get kidnapped for the umpteenth time in a later chapter (hello, women in the refrigerator trope). Haruka Sawamura also makes a return, somewhat. You don’t know what just took place, but you’re too stunned to look away. When romance did happen, it came about as unexpected as fish flying through your bathroom window. It would have been more believable if there was any chemistry between the two. In a strange turn, Kaoru somehow ends up as Kiryu’s love interest. But unlike Date, whose character ran deeper than the simple “hard-boiled detective” routine, Kaoru doesn’t stray far from her banal tough cop convention. ![]() However, she and Kiryu become allies, and thus begins another buddy cop adventure, much like the one we had with detective Date. Kaoru Sayama is a detective charged to take Kiryu into custody so she can get dirt on what’s happening with the Tojo Clan. Ryuji Goda is Kiryu’s self-proclaimed rival, but he really doesn’t stand out on his own. I would have expected someone with amnesia showing up if the first game hadn’t already pulled that card. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is less Japanese crime drama and more Spanish soap opera. ![]() The game’s denouement is a baffling ordeal, where boss fights lead to twists on top of twists with multiple antagonists, followed by betrayals and more brawls. However, Ryuji never seems to fully enter his part as the top bad guy. In fact, the Jingweon dominate the majority of the game’s narrative, occasionally dragging Ryuji out of timeout just long enough to remind you that there is still a shirtless final boss fight on top of a large building to look forward to.Ī fight is had, of course. However, Ryuji is often held aside for the mystery surrounding the Jingweon Mafia, a Korean mob that suddenly resurfaced after once thought to be wiped out. Is he the antagonist? That’s what we’re led to believe. His motivations to start a war with the Tojo Clan are vague, however, and the story often has a difficult time defining his role. A meat popsicle with bleached air, Ryuji has but one desire: to be the only Dragon worthy of the name. Enter the Dragon of Kansai, Ryuji Goda, Kiryu’s self-proclaimed rival. Unlike the original, which introduced a cast of interesting and complex personalities, Kiwami 2 resorts to predictability. ![]() It is here that Kiwami 2 falters somewhat. One of the fundamental foundations of the most popular Yakuza games is rich storytelling with compelling characters. But while the bread and butter of the game - combat, sense of humor - stands tall, the listless story ends up tripping on its disco shoes. This breathes new life into its gritty streets and grouchy denizens of Kamurocho, as well as Sotenbori, the other city you visit. Like its predecessor, it borrows its engine from a previous Yakuza game. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a complete remake of Yakuza 2 from 2008 on the PlayStation 2. And this time, he’s not the only Dragon in town. Of course, things never seem to go Kiryu’s way, as he’s once again dragged into the world of gangs and violence. However, a year has passed in the story, and protagonist Kazuma Kiryu has enjoyed some relative, well-deserved calm from the turmoil of the original’s final act. It’s barely been three months since we dropped our review of Yakuza Kiwami on PC. ![]()
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