Yakuza Kiwami 2

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 427 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 364 out of 427
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 427
  3. Negative: 36 out of 427
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  1. Zeydlitz
    Sep 3, 2018
    6
    This game could be the most perfect Yakuza game, but for some reason authors add a piece of crap: 26 bouncing missions with 3 diffictulies on each. So full completion is impossible without HUGE and stupid grind.
  2. pongkrit03
    Sep 3, 2019
    7
    Coming from Yakuza 0 and 1, I think the high praise in Yakuza 2 is exargerated. I love Yakuza 0 very much, I gave it 10/10. For Yakuza 1, despite an old remastered game, I still gave it a 8/10. However, Yakuza 2, even though it uses Dragon Engine, which make it has the best graphic. I don't feel like it. The main problem is because the MAIN STORY is WEAK , boring. Side quests are also theComing from Yakuza 0 and 1, I think the high praise in Yakuza 2 is exargerated. I love Yakuza 0 very much, I gave it 10/10. For Yakuza 1, despite an old remastered game, I still gave it a 8/10. However, Yakuza 2, even though it uses Dragon Engine, which make it has the best graphic. I don't feel like it. The main problem is because the MAIN STORY is WEAK , boring. Side quests are also the same, uninspring and short. Story has been strongest selling point of Yakuza series thus far, but for Yakuza 2, in my opinion it is the weakest of all 3. Mini games ?, well, there is new mini games called Majima Construction, which is decent fun. However, the cabaret club is basically copy paste from Yakuza 0 with a little new trifle gimmick. It is a shame. Other minigames are not my liking. I love dancing game in Yakuza 0 and I am disappointed that I didn't see it here. Battle styles has been removed. You only have 1 style, rather than 3, which makes combat seems repettive.

    On a bright side, now the level system is involved eating, which I find it makes sense. I like it this way. Heat gauge is also easier to use. Moreover, they added Majima episodes in here.

    In sum, Yakuza 2 is a letdown for me. It is still a good game, but for new comers, I highly recommend to play Yakuza 0 instead. If you already played Yakuza 0 and 1. I don't think you need to buy this one . In term of main story, Yakuza 2 is just ok, but could not compare with Yakuza 0 and 1 at all. The fact I give at as high as 7/10 is because it has quantity and improved graphic, and has cabaret club, otherwise, the score may be lower to 6.    … Expand
  3. HTGamer
    Feb 29, 2020
    7
    Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a nice entry to the series, but is let down by technical downgrades, a horrible combat system and an unfocused story. For reference, I'm a new fan to the series, and have played Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 to date.

    If the Yakuza series has one strong selling point common to every entry, it's the writing and the fully fleshed out characters. Yakuza    Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a nice entry to the series, but is let down by technical downgrades, a horrible combat system and an unfocused story. For reference, I'm a new fan to the series, and have played Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 to date.

    If the Yakuza series has one strong selling point common to every entry, it's the writing and the fully fleshed out characters. Yakuza Kiwami 2 doesn't disappoint in that regard. Series protagonist Kiryu Kazuma is one of the best videogame characters ever, with an overwhelming aura of charisma and a heart of gold. Returning characters such as Terada, Goro Majima, Haruka, Daigo Dojima, Makoto Date and Kaoru Sayama round up the main cast. New additions are limited to Ryuji Goda (the main antagonist), Jin Goda (Chairman of the Omi Alliance) and their various lieutenants.

    The set up is great, but the actual plot is a mess of conspiracies, revenge tales and out-of-nowhere plot twists. I'll try to give an idea while also keeping spoilers in check. It starts out with Kiryu expressing the need to establish Daigo Dojima as the new Chairman of the Tojo Clan, but the plot soon forgets about Daigo altogether in favor of a love story between Kiryu Kazuma and Kaoru Sayama in the 2nd half of the game's plot. In fact Daigo is alive but isn't even mentioned in the game's final scenes, so what about Daigo being the future of the Tojo Clan, huh?

    Gameplay is the same as it's always been on the Yakuza series. Kiryu navigates an open map (not open world, just a small map) crammed with tons of content in every corner, and fights goons in random battles to gain experience points. But the actual combat system, while functional, is a huge step down from that of Yakuza 0 and especially Yakuza Kiwami. There are no fighting styles to choose from. Combat has been oversimplified, and the challenge is nowhere to be found. I played the entire game on Hard difficulty, and don't think I lost more than 2 battles (and even those were in the beginning while still adjusting to the game). By comparison Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami were much more challenging on the same Hard difficulty. Another combat system complaint: the weapons are OP and, combined with the game's overall low challenge level, make boss battles a joke. I battled my way to the top of the Coliseum arena just by brainlessly mashing buttons, and only the last 2 Coliseum fights are difficult (or rather, seriously unbalanced). Last combat system complaint: the tiger boss fight at the Osaka Castle stage. It was meant to make Kiryu look like a beast, but it feels so out of place it's just laughable.

    Yakuza Kiwami 2 is full of mini-games scattered throughout the map. You can enjoy games such as Virtua Fighter, darts, golf, as well as some "activities" designed to make westerners feel uncomfortable (Toylets, anyone?). The Cabaret Club returns from Yakuza 0, as well as the Clan Creator from Yakuza 6. The Cabaret Club is a fun addition (just like it was on Yakuza 0), but the Clan Creator left me bored.

    On the technical side, Yakuza Kiwami 2 makes use of Sega's new Dragon Engine (which debuted with Yakuza 6 and is featured on Judgment and presumably Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon), but the graphics ain't much better than those of Yakuza 0/Kiwami. The Dragon Engine brings more physics to the fights (debris is flying around when tossing enemies on destructible objects), but the new engine comes with some serious drawbacks: a) resolution drops from 1080p of Yakuza 0/Kiwami down to 900p coupled with tons of visual noise, and b) frame rate drops from 60 fps of Yakuza 0/Kiwami down to 30 fps and even lower. This way the game is very unpleasant to look at and the sub-30 fps bring lots of judder and uneven motion. However, I must admit the game is still playable, there is no noticeable input lag.

    Overall, I think Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a game with lots of potential but has some serious flaws which affect the experience. Nevertheless, it's still a Yakuza game, and I think everyone has to at least try out Yakuza 0 and the first Yakuza Kiwami. The sequel should be experienced only by Yakuza fans, it's not good enough for making a first contact with the series.    … Expand
  4. daikengo
    Sep 15, 2020
    7
    그래픽은 아주 좋아졌는데, 알맹이는 극1과 달리 거의 그대로라 좀 실망했던 기억이 있다. 솔직히 본편은 고다 류지 빼면 남는게 없다. 하지만 마지마를 플레이할 수 있는 추가 시나리오는 대단히 매력적.
  5. Kinokee
    Jul 7, 2019
    7
    As a fan of the series I really wanted to like this game. However, the sub stories are nothing new - literally the same things from other games with the same characters. The bouncing missions were inflated to add extra grind but don't contribute anything else, and the new engine combat is worse than the previous. There a boxes in this game where you have to attack them to retreive weapons.As a fan of the series I really wanted to like this game. However, the sub stories are nothing new - literally the same things from other games with the same characters. The bouncing missions were inflated to add extra grind but don't contribute anything else, and the new engine combat is worse than the previous. There a boxes in this game where you have to attack them to retreive weapons. But you cannot break this box by facing it and attacking - because the attacks will auto aim to enemies - even if they're quite far away. There's been a lot of times where I'm standing around punching circles around a stupid box because the targeting will not let me break it.
    This also leads to times in combat where I cannot combo the same enemy or predict where they will be and hit them there. Because the targeting swaps around to different targets as I'm hitting them. It's not smart either, as half my attacks miss all their targets now. There IS a lock on feature, where you can lock on to your enemy. But stronger enemies who you may actually want to use this on have a dodging sort of move which will break your lock, and worse so your attacks can just carry you past the enemy so you're not hitting them anymore and then you break your own lock-on.
    The running in the game is frustrating, just trying to turn a simple corner you walk and bump into every stupid wall and recoil like an idiot. I don't walk like that in real life, why does this dude do that? The walking controls are straight out of the PS1 days. Times and controls have evolved since then.
    Also using heat actions sucks. They're cool but half the time I try and use them the triangle disappears and I don't do the right thing and end up dying in the process. It's stupid and frustrating and I hate the combat in this game when they try and make things more difficult because the game controls end up fighting against you.

    Some of the mini games have been improved though, and finishing the completion list is relatively easy, although it's also inflated with pointless grind. Making you do things like hit some 200+ home runs mindlessly for a few hours for no reason other than to get points to buy items.    … Expand
  6. tomvs123
    Mar 2, 2020
    7
    Another great Yakuza game. Overall, not as good as 0, but better than 1.

    I'll keep this short since everyone reading this should have already played another Yakuza game and knows what to expect. This is likely exactly what you expect. The story is good, better than 1, but not as good as 0. Less brutal masculinity when compared to 0, and has a few more plot holes than 0 or 1, but is    Another great Yakuza game. Overall, not as good as 0, but better than 1.

    I'll keep this short since everyone reading this should have already played another Yakuza game and knows what to expect. This is likely exactly what you expect.

    The story is good, better than 1, but not as good as 0. Less brutal masculinity when compared to 0, and has a few more plot holes than 0 or 1, but is still more believable than most video games. Again, the main plot hole is your protagonist's fists. He will win every fight he gets into, regardless of the number of opponents he's facing or the weaponry they're using.

    Something I noticed in Kiwami 2 when compared to 0 and 1 is that your opponents on a few occasions will spill their master plans before they decide to kill you (which of course, they fail to do). Thankfully there's an equal number of events where your opponents don't do this, or even refuse to do so before starting their attack, so it's still acceptable story-wise in my opinion.

    Also, the game seems like a direct sequel to Yakuza 0 due various references to that game. You get to play a short 3-chapter side-story as Majima, where he revisits people and places from Yakuza 0, while simultaneously setting up the events that lead to Yakuza 2. There's some well-written storytelling going on in Majima's story, so it shouldn't be skipped, especially if you played 0.

    I loved the wacky side quests in 0 and 1. In this game though, they're a bit less wacky overall. Also, the side games were overall less interesting to me. I didn't like Virtua Fighter and Virtual-on, so I rarely went to the arcade. The pissing mini game is very basic with not much variety, and the Majima construction company side-business wasn't very fun, with its incredibly basic and drawn-out real time strategy gameplay. I had a good amount of fun with the cabaret club game, but it's essentially identical to Yakuza 0.

    The video booths are also a bit disappointing, with you only hearing what's on the video and seeing your protagonist's reactions. Though there is a camera gravure section, where you see real models posing. They have slightly different reactions based on what you say to them. The gravure section is okay, but there's not much gameplay to them. You essentially just pay money to see all of the girls, so unlocking them isn't very satisfying.

    Despite my nit-picking, it's still a great game and a must for anyone who liked 0 or 1. Though I'll be taking a break from Yakuza for a while before playing 3.    … Expand
  7. MoniWhite
    Feb 7, 2022
    5
    Pretty average as far as Yakuza games go, the best feature is being on the same engine as Yakuza 6 so there's no loading when you go in a shop
  8. Jollyolfun
    Nov 18, 2022
    7
    Pretty darn good game but the final boss was kinda a pushover. The side missions are what really make it.
  9. JesseDillinger
    Feb 1, 2023
    7
    Story isn't bad, but man, the combat just got sucked out of this one compared to the first Kiwami. I swear they basically forced you to use weapons in this. Using weapons is lame, I wanna punch ****

Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best PS4 Game of 2018
45
#45 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
94
#94 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 69 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 69
  3. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. CD-Action
    Dec 4, 2018
    80
    Not having played Yakuza 6 yet, at first I was disappointed with the Dragon engine, which offers only painful 30 frames per second. New tech has its advantages though, as you may enter most of shops, restaurants etc. without annoying loading, which is a significant step forward from the first Kiwami, as are the physics engine, animation system and enhanced control over combat. Overall it is a very good game, but not as brilliant as Yakuza 0, especially in terms of the story. [10/2018, p.70]
  2. ZTGD
    Sep 27, 2018
    90
    It’s an odd feeling to be back in Kamurocho after wishing a bittersweet farewell to the Dragon of Dojima. Even though Kiwami 2 doesn’t quite achieve the emotional highs of the Song of Life, the polished gameplay as well as one of the finest antagonists the series has to offer makes it a must play for Yakuza fans, whether they played the original on the PS2 or not.
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  3. GameCritics
    Sep 24, 2018
    85
    Minor flaws aside, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a great reimagining, reworked with love and pride by a team who clearly understand what makes their games shine. Even though there are loads of Kiryu’s adventures to choose from at this point, this one stands apart as one of the best. It may not dethrone 0 as the definitive Yakuza experience, but it’s still an excellent entry in its own right and has essentially become the gold standard by which all remakes should be measured.
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