Yeah, this is the one with the door meme.
Graphics are improved from Kiwami 1 but the animations are still a bit stiff at times since it's based on a PS2 game. I liked the map of the first game and I got used to it but this one has a new map plus visitation to the old map so in my opinion, that automatically makes it better.
It's been about a year since I played Kiwami, as well as a year in-game, so what's new? Vending machines. Some new mini games. It doesn't show its hand at first but I feel like it adds a lot of new content, maybe not on the combat side of things but everything surrounding it makes it feel like a more complete experience.
You can fight in the stores and tear stuff up. And if you do, you can't buy from there until its cleaned up. I actually kinda like that detail even if it can be inconvenient, it gives you reason to control the situation but almost makes me WANT to bring thugs into places just to be chaotic.
The interface has changed a little but I can't tell if it's clearer or not, I'm indifferent. There are also side jobs now which act as side quests, like being a bouncer which basically acts as a Collesseum. You can even manage a cabaret. These aren't really mandatory but fun little additions and give more initiative to do more side stuff.
The story feels like where it would naturally go but I do feel that the setting can be changed. We spend just a little too much time in Kamurocho compared to Sotenbori. I've seen and fought in a lot of these places and while the scenes and setups are different...do we need another funeral fight? In fact it goes out of its way to include it because it starts with a small skirmish then has you leave and go back to town, so sure, ok, they know that it's similar but then it has you come right back once the funeral is over and do the run sequence and boss 😂 I'll admit that it's a shorter sequence than last time and doesn't take place at the very beginning though. It also made for one of my favorite fights thus far. He used a sword, I used a knife and still kicked his arse.
It has some really good shots but it feels the need to keep reiterating itself and telling the viewer what they're seeing. There's a scene at the beginning where it shows a sign to show you the setting (in Japanese mind you, so I can only assume it said Sotenbori but it looked cool!) then pans down to Kiryu, it then flashes back to just before then with the woman telling him about her son, explaining why he's there and then it shows the sign AGAIN and pans down to Kiryu in a different manner than before. It's like they had scenes in mind but weren't sure which perspective to use so they just use both. This doesn't really affect the story, just the visual nature and sometimes makes the characters seem dense. For another example, there's a time where someone mentions 'fireworks' in a cutscene and then Kiryu basically goes "I wonder what that means" and then he hears a commotion and is like "Must be the fireworks." Then they show an explosion on TV "Those must be the fireworks." No dip Sherlock, I think the audience can put that together. I'm viewing this from a movie standpoint because there are so many cutscenes (which isn't a problem but you're going to bring out another critique in me) I talked about how bored I was with Xenoblade's cutscenes, this isn't quite at that level but while this game drags sometimes, it has some really good highlights.
I'll be honest, I was against playing Yakuza 0 whenever I started this series because it just looked overrated but now I think the more of these games that I play, the more I wouldn't mind playing it. Especially seeing clips of it in the karaoke (and maybe seeing that Yuki is in both)
As far as length goes, I spent about 17 hours on the first Kiwami and while I did do more side-quests with this one, I never would've expected it would put me over 26 hours! So really, this game improves on the last one in almost every aspect, making it the superior model.
Graphics are improved from Kiwami 1 but the animations are still a bit stiff at times since it's based on a PS2 game. I liked the map of the first game and I got used to it but this one has a new map plus visitation to the old map so in my opinion, that automatically makes it better.
It's been about a year since I played Kiwami, as well as a year in-game, so what's new? Vending machines. Some new mini games. It doesn't show its hand at first but I feel like it adds a lot of new content, maybe not on the combat side of things but everything surrounding it makes it feel like a more complete experience.
You can fight in the stores and tear stuff up. And if you do, you can't buy from there until its cleaned up. I actually kinda like that detail even if it can be inconvenient, it gives you reason to control the situation but almost makes me WANT to bring thugs into places just to be chaotic.
The interface has changed a little but I can't tell if it's clearer or not, I'm indifferent. There are also side jobs now which act as side quests, like being a bouncer which basically acts as a Collesseum. You can even manage a cabaret. These aren't really mandatory but fun little additions and give more initiative to do more side stuff.
The story feels like where it would naturally go but I do feel that the setting can be changed. We spend just a little too much time in Kamurocho compared to Sotenbori. I've seen and fought in a lot of these places and while the scenes and setups are different...do we need another funeral fight? In fact it goes out of its way to include it because it starts with a small skirmish then has you leave and go back to town, so sure, ok, they know that it's similar but then it has you come right back once the funeral is over and do the run sequence and boss 😂 I'll admit that it's a shorter sequence than last time and doesn't take place at the very beginning though. It also made for one of my favorite fights thus far. He used a sword, I used a knife and still kicked his arse.
It has some really good shots but it feels the need to keep reiterating itself and telling the viewer what they're seeing. There's a scene at the beginning where it shows a sign to show you the setting (in Japanese mind you, so I can only assume it said Sotenbori but it looked cool!) then pans down to Kiryu, it then flashes back to just before then with the woman telling him about her son, explaining why he's there and then it shows the sign AGAIN and pans down to Kiryu in a different manner than before. It's like they had scenes in mind but weren't sure which perspective to use so they just use both. This doesn't really affect the story, just the visual nature and sometimes makes the characters seem dense. For another example, there's a time where someone mentions 'fireworks' in a cutscene and then Kiryu basically goes "I wonder what that means" and then he hears a commotion and is like "Must be the fireworks." Then they show an explosion on TV "Those must be the fireworks." No dip Sherlock, I think the audience can put that together. I'm viewing this from a movie standpoint because there are so many cutscenes (which isn't a problem but you're going to bring out another critique in me) I talked about how bored I was with Xenoblade's cutscenes, this isn't quite at that level but while this game drags sometimes, it has some really good highlights.
I'll be honest, I was against playing Yakuza 0 whenever I started this series because it just looked overrated but now I think the more of these games that I play, the more I wouldn't mind playing it. Especially seeing clips of it in the karaoke (and maybe seeing that Yuki is in both)
As far as length goes, I spent about 17 hours on the first Kiwami and while I did do more side-quests with this one, I never would've expected it would put me over 26 hours! So really, this game improves on the last one in almost every aspect, making it the superior model.