Siactro does it again! "It", being making another cool little retro inspired 3D platformer!

While Toree 1 and 2 felt like really cool speedrun games that got a bit of inspiration from Sonic with their emphasis on the fact, Kiwi goes for more of an N64 collectathon inspired design, while still keeping true to what makes Toree what it is. That being, a dirt cheap 3D platformer that you can get through in about an hour or so, and being pretty good! The small handful of levels on offer have enough to explore in order to find all the mcguffins, that you only need 40 of to complete the game, even if the platforming isn't the most insanely intricate or in depth of its genre. Rather, Kiwi focuses on aerial movement, with a single jump, but also a glide and the ability to impale yourself into a wall to scale them. The levels give you plenty of chances to cruise through the air, and it's really fun to just let loose and glide over grand stretches of landmass, like Knuckles in Sonic Frontiers if he was actually fun. The movement really resonating with me in the same way as plenty of the 3D Mario games and the like. The environments might not be as big as the average other title in the genre, but the movement on offer is plenty fun, even if I personally am partial to Toree's more breakneck ground-based gameplay.

But you know what Kiwi really nails? Those vibes. It nails the N64 aesthetic without being hampered by the draw distance issues, complete with a catchy OST. Between the beach, desert and haunted castle, it all just feels like an N64 game that got lost in time, in all the right ways. Its difficulty is also pretty chill, so it's a great game to just unwind with if you're home from work and wanna kill some time before bed. Might leave players in search of a harder experience wanting, but I can get behind the dev team's commitment to making short burst experiences that just about anybody can play. And at the end of the day, even if the game doesn't end up clicking with you? It isn't gonna cost you much in the way of either time or money, so there's no harm in giving it a shot!

With a pretty damn short dev cycle of around 11 months, RGG got off lucky by having the groundwork of the original Yakuza laid out for them. Even still, making a sequel to be bigger and better than the original Yakuza, a game that was both made on a pretty huge scale, and had a massive budget, would still be a hefty feat. But goddamn, did they deliver.

Sure enough, Yakuza 2 manages to be bigger than its predecessor in just about every way, even if it's due to a lot of the groundwork with both combat and the overworld being laid out from the 2005 original. The vibes of Kamurocho, as well as the new Sotenbori and brief trip to Shinseicho are as on point as ever, as they were in the original. The combat's taken a massive jump, with a few essential moves from Yakuza 1 being unlocked from the start; a really cool and handy feature! There's also a lot less lock-on related issues, and small but appreciated quality of life improvements like weapons taking up their own slots on the inventory, and the ability to send an item back to the hideout if you collect something with a full inventory. There's a few new moves, some insane new Heat Moves, the good stuff. It's everything a good sequel should be, and that especially extends to the OST, and the story.

While the OST is something I'd need to give a few more listens to, mostly so I know track names and can hear them better over the sounds of punching and weapons, the music of the game was absolutely fantastic. From regular battles in the streets, to the major bosses closing off the chapters, just about every battle track had me gripping my controller, locked into the moment and only served to hype me up to kick ass. The good shit, definitely going to have it on the Spotify playlist for a bit.

And man, that story. Between expanding upon Kiryu as a character, both on his own and with his relationships with the extended cast of both returning and new cast members alike, to the much grander scope it goes onto take with Japan and Korea going to blows. Ryuji has gotta be one of the sickest rivals I've seen in a game in some time; basically the closest this series would have to a Vergil, if I had to guess. Sayama was a great female lead to tag along with Kiryu, with the pair getting a ton of both heartfelt and somber moments throughout. And Daigo was a chad who I wish got more screentime, but I'm pretty sure he shows up later throughout the series, so hell yeah. But without giving too much away, one of the best things Yakuza 2 manages to do is absolutely throttle the players with twists, especially by the end of the title. From the cold opening covering the Jingweon Massacre, all the way through to the climax, it's sincere, heartfelt, dramatic, hype, everything I look for in a great story.

And all in all? Yakuza 2's just about everything I look for in a great game. Long as it took me to complete, thanks mostly to work kicking my ass, I had an absolute blast with it from start to finish. It's one of those cases where I'm basically bordering on giving the game a flat 10/10, so consider my 9/10 subject to change. Might be my favourite of the series thus far, at least until I replay 0 at some point later down the line, though it's really the DMC3 VS 5 sort of toss up, where I could go back and forth. Excellent game regardless of any internal debate, sure glad I didn't play that whack ass remake as my first experience with the game!