Yakuza Kiwami 2 2017
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
January 11, 2019
Platforms Played
GOTY 2018 - NUMBER EIGHT
Video version
I trust these Yakuza posts will start to slow down next year. We’ve pretty much caught up now. Yakuza is now a global franchise, and you can play every game in the core series in English on HD platforms. Kiwami 2 is an odd duck though. Not only is it a remake of 2, it’s a sequel to Kiwami that references 0, and it uses the engine and core gameplay from 6. And being a lower-key entry in the series, it seems to have more in common with the PS3 games than anything we’ve had in the last couple of years. It kind of feels right for it to be the last numbered entry that I hadn’t played before. It’s something of a summary of the whole series up to this point.
The downsides of Kiwami 2 are mainly the things taken, reverentially, from the PS2 game. It feels odd going from 6 to a game with text-only cutscenes. Most of the old sidequests feel kind of tame and stale in comparison to what we’ve had in recent games, and the zanier new ones really stick out in a way that feels unnatural. It’s hard to get into the game when the tone and presentation jumps between generations constantly, and it takes a long time for it to really find its footing.
Like Kiwami 1, the pacing doesn’t feel as well considered as recent games. For the bulk of the game’s early hours, I was struggling to get into the story. Kazuma feels supplementary to much of its events for a long time, and is rarely offered direct emotional attachment to them. After 6, it kind of felt like cheating to play another Kiryu Kazuma game, but the Kaz I knew felt distant in the early hours. It’s worth sticking with though.
Yakuza 0’s big gimmick was its eighties period piece setting, and Kiwami kind of followed suit by presenting a Kamurocho that vividly reflected the mid-2000s through its music, story and little visual nods to the era. Kiwami 2 doing the same might lack impact for many, but having visited Osaka in the mid-2000s, I was heavily invested in seeing that time and location captured in a Yakuza game. It was a great big treat for me. The new engine offered 6’s Kamurocho a whole new level of tangibility. That improvement goes into creating the most detailed and believable version of Sotenbori too. It was a real treat for me to dig into alleyways and apartment corridors, feeling intense de ja vu. Approaching shops and restaurants I’d been in and smirking at how they’d been redesigned to fit within a Yakuza game.
For a game I’d never played before, there was a lot of nostalgia going into Kiwami 2. Not just the Osaka thing, not just that it might be the last Kazuma Kiryu story I’d play, but how PS2ey the whole thing felt. Yakuza’s often shlocky, but rarely as much as this. Some of the twists and dramatic stings are pure anime trash, and I loved it. Brought me right back to being a massive weeb teenager. There’s also the blending of all the elements from previous Yakuza games. This is maybe the last game in the core series I’d recommend to new players, but for someone who’d played all the rest of them, this was pretty much a perfect place for me to end on.
The Kazuma Kiryu era of Yakuza is supposedly over now, and there’s going to be a lingering nostalgia for it, moving forward. Maybe it’s hard to appreciate, having five of them come out within the space of two years, but I think Kiwami 2’s one I’m likely to come back to when I want to feel deep in the heart of it all. It doesn’t have nearly all the things I love about the series, but it almost feels like the most Yakuza Yakuza game. I have my issues with it, but I’m glad it’s here for when I need it.
Video version
I trust these Yakuza posts will start to slow down next year. We’ve pretty much caught up now. Yakuza is now a global franchise, and you can play every game in the core series in English on HD platforms. Kiwami 2 is an odd duck though. Not only is it a remake of 2, it’s a sequel to Kiwami that references 0, and it uses the engine and core gameplay from 6. And being a lower-key entry in the series, it seems to have more in common with the PS3 games than anything we’ve had in the last couple of years. It kind of feels right for it to be the last numbered entry that I hadn’t played before. It’s something of a summary of the whole series up to this point.
The downsides of Kiwami 2 are mainly the things taken, reverentially, from the PS2 game. It feels odd going from 6 to a game with text-only cutscenes. Most of the old sidequests feel kind of tame and stale in comparison to what we’ve had in recent games, and the zanier new ones really stick out in a way that feels unnatural. It’s hard to get into the game when the tone and presentation jumps between generations constantly, and it takes a long time for it to really find its footing.
Like Kiwami 1, the pacing doesn’t feel as well considered as recent games. For the bulk of the game’s early hours, I was struggling to get into the story. Kazuma feels supplementary to much of its events for a long time, and is rarely offered direct emotional attachment to them. After 6, it kind of felt like cheating to play another Kiryu Kazuma game, but the Kaz I knew felt distant in the early hours. It’s worth sticking with though.
Yakuza 0’s big gimmick was its eighties period piece setting, and Kiwami kind of followed suit by presenting a Kamurocho that vividly reflected the mid-2000s through its music, story and little visual nods to the era. Kiwami 2 doing the same might lack impact for many, but having visited Osaka in the mid-2000s, I was heavily invested in seeing that time and location captured in a Yakuza game. It was a great big treat for me. The new engine offered 6’s Kamurocho a whole new level of tangibility. That improvement goes into creating the most detailed and believable version of Sotenbori too. It was a real treat for me to dig into alleyways and apartment corridors, feeling intense de ja vu. Approaching shops and restaurants I’d been in and smirking at how they’d been redesigned to fit within a Yakuza game.
For a game I’d never played before, there was a lot of nostalgia going into Kiwami 2. Not just the Osaka thing, not just that it might be the last Kazuma Kiryu story I’d play, but how PS2ey the whole thing felt. Yakuza’s often shlocky, but rarely as much as this. Some of the twists and dramatic stings are pure anime trash, and I loved it. Brought me right back to being a massive weeb teenager. There’s also the blending of all the elements from previous Yakuza games. This is maybe the last game in the core series I’d recommend to new players, but for someone who’d played all the rest of them, this was pretty much a perfect place for me to end on.
The Kazuma Kiryu era of Yakuza is supposedly over now, and there’s going to be a lingering nostalgia for it, moving forward. Maybe it’s hard to appreciate, having five of them come out within the space of two years, but I think Kiwami 2’s one I’m likely to come back to when I want to feel deep in the heart of it all. It doesn’t have nearly all the things I love about the series, but it almost feels like the most Yakuza Yakuza game. I have my issues with it, but I’m glad it’s here for when I need it.