skeleseer
Yakuza Kiwami 2 2017
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
19h 58m
Days in Journal
2 days
Last played
May 23, 2023
First played
May 19, 2023
Platforms Played
Library Ownership
"A real man oughta be a little stupid."
I was surprisingly very satisfied with this one, especially after having heard how much of an apparent "fall from grace" it was compared to 0 and Kiwami, after having actually played it myself instead of listening to others, I kept an open mind and really enjoyed it.... however, there are some pretty major gripes I do have with this game and this stems from the combat alone.
Jesus, the combat here was such a let down. I loved the combat in the first two games and having seen how seamlessly the combat transisitioned between gameplay in clips for the Dragon Engine, I very much expected the combat here to be the magnum opus of Yakuza and boy was I wrong.
The first issue is the complete abandonment of the style system, having to rely on ONE style was painful for the first half of the game, that early on, you don't really have much breathing room at all until you start upgrading shit, so it felt very unsatisfying and was the only thing that I avidly tried to avoid while playing through the game. Thankfully, as you progress, it does become a lot better in certain respects, learning techniques from Komaki is definitely a life saver and I cannot recommend it enough because otherwise, I don't know if I would have stayed sane enough without using what I had learned.
Combat aside, this game is actually very great in every other aspect. I found the narrative was a lot more thought through than Kiwami, things were a lot more inticing and interesting and I actually think the extra layers to the plot added so much more especially since they all merged together in a satisfying end. The stakes felt much, much more higher and Ryuji was such a fucking good Yakuza villain, arguably the best, I just really wish there was more Majima but that's more than made up for with the Majima Saga and tenfold even with being able to reunite with Makoto one last time.
Holy fuck is the Dragon Engine gorgeous, though. Never has Yakuza ever looked so good, imo, I really liked the way Kamurocho and Sotenbori stood out compared to 0 and Kiwami, the cutscenes were pretty well done too. Had a blast doing more minigames here as well, not as much as the first two, but still pretty fun. Put hours into darts and batting respectively, it was really satisfying actually taking time more to care about those sorts of things, but the Four Shine club wasn't given as much attention as I would have in 0 with the cabaret club substory as Majima, mostly because I wasn't really feeling it.
In the end, a great game, a great Yakuza game and a great remake. I'll never understand why this is apparently regarded as mediocre or even in some cases trash, because I fucking loved it and I will be a Yakuza Kiwami 2 defender until the day that I die... just don't mention the combat.
I was surprisingly very satisfied with this one, especially after having heard how much of an apparent "fall from grace" it was compared to 0 and Kiwami, after having actually played it myself instead of listening to others, I kept an open mind and really enjoyed it.... however, there are some pretty major gripes I do have with this game and this stems from the combat alone.
Jesus, the combat here was such a let down. I loved the combat in the first two games and having seen how seamlessly the combat transisitioned between gameplay in clips for the Dragon Engine, I very much expected the combat here to be the magnum opus of Yakuza and boy was I wrong.
The first issue is the complete abandonment of the style system, having to rely on ONE style was painful for the first half of the game, that early on, you don't really have much breathing room at all until you start upgrading shit, so it felt very unsatisfying and was the only thing that I avidly tried to avoid while playing through the game. Thankfully, as you progress, it does become a lot better in certain respects, learning techniques from Komaki is definitely a life saver and I cannot recommend it enough because otherwise, I don't know if I would have stayed sane enough without using what I had learned.
Combat aside, this game is actually very great in every other aspect. I found the narrative was a lot more thought through than Kiwami, things were a lot more inticing and interesting and I actually think the extra layers to the plot added so much more especially since they all merged together in a satisfying end. The stakes felt much, much more higher and Ryuji was such a fucking good Yakuza villain, arguably the best, I just really wish there was more Majima but that's more than made up for with the Majima Saga and tenfold even with being able to reunite with Makoto one last time.
Holy fuck is the Dragon Engine gorgeous, though. Never has Yakuza ever looked so good, imo, I really liked the way Kamurocho and Sotenbori stood out compared to 0 and Kiwami, the cutscenes were pretty well done too. Had a blast doing more minigames here as well, not as much as the first two, but still pretty fun. Put hours into darts and batting respectively, it was really satisfying actually taking time more to care about those sorts of things, but the Four Shine club wasn't given as much attention as I would have in 0 with the cabaret club substory as Majima, mostly because I wasn't really feeling it.
In the end, a great game, a great Yakuza game and a great remake. I'll never understand why this is apparently regarded as mediocre or even in some cases trash, because I fucking loved it and I will be a Yakuza Kiwami 2 defender until the day that I die... just don't mention the combat.