A magnificent diegisis about the push and pull of pride and guilt, and how it is so important to come to terms with who you are before you lose yourself. It does almost unravel itself with all the twists, but the ending truly made up for it. The inclusion of the Majima saga alone bumps this above Kiwami 1 for me.
There were certainly stretches that felt like excessive padding and story elements I did not care for. Such as some reveals not getting enough time to sink in before the next plot beat happens or certain characters, Daigo in particular, not living up to my expectations.
Yet the highs are so high that I can overlook them unlike Kiwami 1 which had actively bad things that I couldn't ignore.
Ryuji Goda is an incredible antagonist, Sayama is a fantastic new introduction to the family of Kiryu and Haruka. I hesitate to be reductive and call her "love interest" because she's much more than that.
The closure Majima and Makoto got made me cry. This story was honestly amazing. It didn't consistently get there but a good number of scenes were up there with the best of Yakuza 0, and that's high praise.

The gameplay under the new dragon engine took some getting used to at first. Namely, not being able to switch battle styles but once I got the hang of it I had a blast. It packs way more oomph.

Now my eyes are set on Yakuza 3... I'm intrigued

A magnificent diegisis about the push and pull of pride and guilt, and how it is so important to come to terms with who you are before you lose yourself. It does almost unravel itself with all the twists, but the ending truly made up for it. The inclusion of the Majima saga alone bumps this above Kiwami 1 for me.
There were certainly stretches that felt like excessive padding and story elements I did not care for. Such as some reveals not getting enough time to sink in before the next plot beat happens or certain characters, Daigo in particular, not living up to my expectations.
Yet the highs are so high that I can overlook them unlike Kiwami 1 which had actively bad things that I couldn't ignore.
Ryuji Goda is an incredible antagonist, Sayama is a fantastic new introduction to the family of Kiryu and Haruka. I hesitate to be reductive and call her "love interest" because she's much more than that.
The closure Majima and Makoto got made me cry. This story was honestly amazing. It didn't consistently get there but a good number of scenes were up there with the best of Yakuza 0, and that's high praise.

The gameplay under the new dragon engine took some getting used to at first. Namely, not being able to switch battle styles but once I got the hang of it I had a blast. It packs way more oomph.

Now my eyes are set on Yakuza 3... I'm intrigued