8.5/10
story stays pretty consistently great overall, aside from how rushed kaoru and kiryu's relationship seemed and the cringeworthy moments that came from that like the bar scene or the ending.
combat feels a bit fucky starting out, so as w/ kiwami, upgrades are a big help in enjoying fighting in the early game at all. it picks up as soon as you can upgrade quicksteps and basic combat moves, though.
substory writing is s tier at points, especially when compared to 80% of kiwami 1's mugging and scam substories.
graphics are amazing but npcs can be a bit buggy when entering / skipping dialogue
as a remake, 4.5 stars, but that ending and the romance side of the game is the wrong kind of goofy that i want in a yakuza game.
story stays pretty consistently great overall, aside from how rushed kaoru and kiryu's relationship seemed and the cringeworthy moments that came from that like the bar scene or the ending.
combat feels a bit fucky starting out, so as w/ kiwami, upgrades are a big help in enjoying fighting in the early game at all. it picks up as soon as you can upgrade quicksteps and basic combat moves, though.
substory writing is s tier at points, especially when compared to 80% of kiwami 1's mugging and scam substories.
graphics are amazing but npcs can be a bit buggy when entering / skipping dialogue
as a remake, 4.5 stars, but that ending and the romance side of the game is the wrong kind of goofy that i want in a yakuza game.