Yakuza Kiwami 2

Game Title: Yakuza Kiwami 2
Released: May 9, 2019
Game Length: 35 Hours
Grade: A-

Settings

Graphics: When it comes to the "third" game in the series, I must say the graphical upgrade is pretty top-notch. They drastically improved everything inside the PS2 game to match the PS4 style of the Yakuza 6 engine. A lot of things were tweaked behind the scenes from extending heat move sequences, applying dramatic introductions and exits to boss fights, amplifying the glow effect from power moves, and adjusting how the fights are choreographed during the cutscenes. Food is more realistic than ever with its new highly-textured models. Objects now carry weight wherever you go. Accidentally bumping into bicycles while under the drunk effect, for example, will cause them to fall over onto the floor. Enemies will fly across the street whenever you pick them up by their shoes and toss them with its new humorous ragdoll physics. Speaking of thugs, there is now a visible health bar shown above each one of them. Performing certain moves or using explosives in or out of the Majima Construction mini-game can cause the glass to shatter from various store entryways. If you choose to destroy the innards of a Popo convenient store by starting a fight within those closed doors, the owner will get upset and refuse to do business with you. However, all is forgiven after you transition into another area. Some conversations now have cinematic panning. People now drive cars down certain streets and annoyingly honk whenever they are forced to stop for pedestrians.

Map: One of the first things you will notice is how much the mini-map has improved. It reads which direction your next destination is, whether it is from a story point of view or if it a waypoint you marked on the map. You must make sure you don't have a location marked while trying to generate a waypoint. Every NPC is physically distinguished as their own separate dot. The overhead map now has a 3D layout of both cities, including a large sculpture of the Millennium Tower. Like before, you can take taxis across different points of the map. Unlike Yakuza 0, you can travel between cities very early in the game and to specific locations in the middle the street like your hide-out or in front of the Millennium Tower. Although the map does list several of the key locations on the map, there are quite a few locations unusually missing from the list. Part of this is because the clubs like Jewel or Stardust cannot be visited unless you are at a particular part in the main campaign. Your hide-outs, bouncer missions at Club Debolah, and Four Shine are all also mysteriously absent from the list. Another unfortunate thing that was removed was the ability to transition smoothly back-and-forth between the main menu and the map.

Interactions: When it comes to your settings, a lot of things can be changed. You can modify your Field-of-View, change your cell phone from your basic tune to vibrate. You can walk around in first-person mode and take photos to add to your album. Although there is no physical reward for taking specific photos, it will help you whenever the game refers you to a specific landmark instead of actual location. The game still does a splendid job with its save feature by auto saving every now and then into three different slots or providing you the ability to manual save with difficulty setting, a timestamp, and the number of hours you played. The music is hit-or-miss (with some areas still playing Christmas music over the intercom system), but I do personally like the detail they put in creating different sound effects when bumping into certain objects or walking on different surfaces. The world is practically free without boundaries as you can walk inside stores, run up stairs, use the elevator to visit multiple floors, go into underground passageways, visit inside various buildings whether there is something available or not, check out various rooftops, and choose to flee from a fight without an invisible wall blocking your escape. One thing that still remains a constant - you cannot switch out your outfits until after you unlock Premium Mode by beating the game.

Storage: Inventory management has practically been eliminated. You have 15 slots for weapons and 15 slots for armor. Because you can now stow away weapons from fights, they have given you the option to store up to 100 slots for weapons & armor at the equipment locker located at either hide-out, any Popo store, or potential checkpoints within the story. There is no longer a "bag" to keep all your items. You can carry up to 10 of almost every item - food, drinks, disposables, potions, or other miscellaneous objects. So go ahead and splurge on items from the convenient stores or buy some teriyaki take-out. There is one minor inconvenience - you are unable to buy or sell items at the same time. Whenever selling items at the Pawn Shop or selling weapons at Kamiyama Works, you must first "leave" the store before given the option.

Cabaret Club

Four Shine: I'm sorry for fans of the original game, but Host Club Adam and Anna from Jewel were both removed from the game. You will have to forego being the #1 host in the remake. Instead, the developers have reconstituted a near carbon-copy of the Cabaret Club from Yakuza 0. Just like the follow-up of Yakuza Kiwami Pocket Racing, this mini-game has a ton of reoccurring characters from the first event. You will get to visit with Yuki as the new owner of "Four Shine" as she battles against her old "Sunshine" club. The physical location of the place might be different in the front, but the insides are identical to every aspect of the old place. They even have the manager room where you could send postcards that eerily has no purpose other than to exist. You cannot change the interior this time around. Instead of walking around buying gifts for girls interested in being a hostess, you now send out fliers for a small fee. Although the process might seem random with how the price slowly increases, it really isn't. Once all the slots are filled, the option of sending out fliers is greyed out. The only other option is to recruit girls from certain sub-stories, and even then one of them is only available after showing Haruka around in Chapter 13.

At the very least they managed to sneak in a few minor changes under the hood. The UI has undergone a transformation where you are given the option to buy an item first and then change the color afterwards. This means you no longer have to buy each individual dress with a different color palette. The arbitrary stats for accessories still exist, but it feels less burdensome when it comes to making combinations. There are a few more outfits you can buy, including a bikini for 1 million yen. Hostesses will carry a few more bonuses or inconveniences that you will need to be aware of before adding them to your line-up. Platinum girls have the option to tend to an escort before a round even begins. After each round ends, there is an option to mash the X-button to impress an "oil baron" for additional cash rewards. However, one thing that hasn't changed was that over-the-top music that plays while toying around with the makeover menu.

Instead of "training" the various platinum girls you obtain after winning a tournament in an intimate setting inside the club, the game sets up a simple meet-up with the girl inside a public location (normally somewhere you get to eat). Whatever you choose as their outfit during club hours is the exact outfit they will wear in public (even if you decided to make them wear the maid outfit). Your conversation choices usually reflect how you want to perceive the event. You may flirt with them, casually converse with them as a friend, or play the role as their manager. Although there are seven platinum hostesses, the owner does not go out with you. In fact, you will have to run a few more rounds after winning the final competition in order to see all of Kirara's storyline. All of the girls were interesting to listen to, even if their lifestyle didn't appeal to me. We have Kana the over-eater, Aika the over-drinker, Shoko the manga artist, and Yua the "dumb" one. Koyuki is perhaps the only girl I found likeable for her child-like personality (despite the ridiculous side-story you get dragged into). After eating out with them a couple times, you are given the option to sing with them at the Karaoke Den. I adored the group meeting you have with them, the surprise guests, and that gift you buy for Yuki. Overall, this mini-game was quite enjoyable a second time around.

Clan Creator

Majima Construction: Despite the heavy criticism this part of Yakuza Kiwami 2 received, I found it perhaps the best part of the whole game. Who wouldn't want to spend some extra time with everyone's favorite goof-ball? It is really hard to put into words why I enjoyed it so much. It plays out somewhere between a Real-Time Strategy and a Tower-Defense mini-game. You pick out 9 members out of your employee line-up and defend the construction items from being beat-up from a bunch of hooligans. Each member is unique with some having an "ability" they can use randomly in battle. You can choose four that have "skills" you can use to help shift the conflict in your favor. These include speeding up your employees, increasing their attack damage, increasing their defense, slowing down enemies, increasing overall cash flow, preventing damage to your construction, repairing them, or healing your various units. Then there are certain members who have skills you can manually have them perform like a secondary "strike" against their foes.

There is a huge number of employees to choose from. You can recruit people by sending out that ridiculous flier for a good chunk of cash, gather up some heavy-weights by completing matches against them in the Coliseum, hire some people off the street by assisting in their sub-story, or picking up some street bosses you threw down in a fight. You will even earn the respect of your rivals when you defeat them in a match. Of course if you really want to, you can also buy the Clan Creator Bundle for $10 and get a bunch of the main characters to carry you through the whole process. The one minor gripe I have about all of this is that the process isn't automatic. What I mean is that you have to physically locate and converse with each person to receive their "card" for the mini-game. So, for example, that one janitor you helped early in the game can't be accessed until you visit him inside the Millennium Tower after it gets unlocked in Chapter 8.

What's very impressive is how much passion they put into this mini-game. Not only is there about a hundred known members to choose from (including the Pocket Racing Fighter), but they all have their own attack style, personal abilities, and stats. A person might be defined as "support" but they may be utilizing a rocket launcher, a grenade, or a pistol. Brawlers who use their fists might use wrestling moves, punch rapidly, or kick fiercely. A few employees carry a bat with them into battle. If only they would have shown their fighting style while choosing them from your organization. Instead, this information is only shown within the training menu. These individuals will perform according to their fighting style whether it is dealing out quick blows or dishing out giant swings. However, the one problem I encountered that remained consistent is how your team "locks onto" foes. There is something weird when you have seven members all rushing over to pound on one dude hiding in the corner when you have a squad of twenty approaching from the opposite direction. There also seems to be a "reset range" if someone walks out a member's boundary. I've seen all my employees idling by in the front line when three thugs were swinging their bats at my crane. What I'm trying to say is that there is room for improvement in their AI.

Then there is everything else you experience inside Majima Constrution. If you manage to get any employees on your payroll that you personally fought, they will perform the same moves within the mini-game. The missions will reflect the current time of day in the real world, night or day. Certain things can be seen from your employees like how they cautiously approach enemies or how they clap their hands after the "Turf Secured" message gets displayed on the screen. There is that very catchy Majima victory song that plays with all your favorite members and at a lower volume inside the mini-game interface. Let's not forget Majima's motto that somehow changes between matches. Oh and the hilarious one-liners during the cutscenes. You get to have two very hilarious scenes with the crew. Other than the sheer fun of doing the missions, the only drawback for participating is the lack of rewards for completing them. Any yen earned is redirected in finding more recruits. Other than adding a few gold stars to your completion list, I can totally see people dropping out before completing all 24 missions.

Combat

Brawler Style: Returning to the original style of the game, it becomes immediately apparent you are no longer able to switch between battle styles. That doesn't mean the combat in the game has become dull. On the contrary, your movements and precision is sharper than ever. Although you start the game with a basic skill set of strikes, you are given the option to adapt multiple avenues of engagement. You can perform certain combinations to evade enemy blows, circle around the backside of your opponent, and surprise them with a charged attack. You can grab their feet and swing them around or put them in a choke-hold as you contemplate guarding against a bunch of his friends. You no longer have to "climb the ladder" in deciding where your experience points should go. All purchaseable abilities are buyable without limiting one over the other. Even your core stats have their own individual leveling system. Much of the game opens up around Chapter 4 and its combat becomes a breeze when thugs fall after one strike from your fists. If you do find yourself in trouble, you can always apply one specific buff from any of the various drinks found in vending machines around town. Make sure to check in with the color of the vending machine to see what kind of drinks you can buy.

Heat Style: If manually swinging your fists isn't your passion, you can always rely on using your handy dandy Heat moves. Wait for a certain condition to occur and smash open that Y-button for a special move. Some of these include tossing people over the railing into the river, provoking some civilians into the foray, or shoving a person's face into a microwave. The game also provides you a lot of avenues to unlock certain skills. You can watch home videos inside Fusion, read scrolls from Master Granny, or learn how to counter from the professionals. Do be aware that you still need to apply the right number of experience points after unlocking the option. You can also befriend certain "Allies" by helping them with their sub-story problem. This doesn't mean you suddenly are able to summon them into battle like in Final Fantasy. No, the only benefit is being able to utilize a unique weapon if you happen to be fighting within their vicinity. Sadly, this can prove pretty difficult when half the thugs you are pulling into the area get caught up behind chairs, tables, and poles. The good news is that the game provides a preview of the action inside the skill menu. Actually what really helps is all the shiny weapon maneuvers - toss a bowling ball, pour salt into someone's eyes, melt their face with a hot pan, or slice them open with a blade. Certain weapon moves - like the golf and bat swings - require a little more effort in completing their mini-games. This can be advantageous when you can buy or find weapons from all over.

If you do miss switching to Beast mode, then Extreme Heat Mode is the next best thing. When available, you can press the right trigger button on your controller and enjoy endlessly punching enemies, automatically picking up objects as you stumble over them, and perform exclusive moves that amplify the damage of your blows. Some of these moves will prompt you to press a certain button or require consecutive button mashing. Others will occur if all the enemies are standing in the right position. On top of that, you can always end your rage early by pressing the right trigger button again. Do not underestimate the power this provides to your character.

Weapons: Remember always ditching weapons to the wayside in the previous versions of the series? Yakuza Kiwami 2 brings weapons to the forefront. Without the option to switch between fighting styles, you can now load up weapons into the three available slots on your directional pad. Pressing the down button will not only revert you back to your fists but allow you to pick up any items that might have dropped on the ground. Press it again while in control of the weapon and you shall stow the weapon away into your inventory in order to be used at a later date. Weapons can also be stolen from foes if you properly counter their strikes. These weapons are everywhere. There is a chance of finding at least 20 weapons in any given chapter. You can choose to throw them into the Equipment Locker until you really need them during a Bouncer Mission or Coliseum, or you can also decide on selling them to a weapon seller. You are given a third option to repair the weapons, but the conditions to do so is pretty strict. There is only one guy that can do it - Kamiyama - and he charges about the same price of buying a new one. Since an item without charges nets you 0 yen, it is safe to simply discard the weapon to the wayside. The only weapons I would keep are the ones that have fancy names, look extremely rare, or do not break. There is no way to obtain weapon kits either. Most items have some sort of unique animation, whether it be from using a heat move or holding down the Y-button. There are perhaps only a handful of items that default back to smashing a guy's face in because it's a blunt object.

Mini-games

UFO Catcher: I might not have touched on the little plushie machine in the past, but I feel obligated to talk about it now. In the previous games, the UFO Catcher was a fun little side thing you could do to catch toys for your girlfriend, complete certain sub-stories, or fulfill certain completion points. However, there is something about Yakuza Kiwami 2 version that is simply rage-inducing. Instead of steadily dropping down and firmly grasping the objects, the claw is very finicky when it comes to picking up the stuffed toys. For one thing, the camera will not pan sideways if Kiryu cannot physically be present next to the glass. Second, the claw is much larger than ever before and tends to give some wiggle room for the objects to fall straight out of the its grasp. The last nerve-wracking problem is how the claw stops immediately after the tips come in contact with something. This makes it ten times worse as you try to gather up your precious little morsel. My strategy shifted from trying to pick up the items to gently nudging them into the hole. I do not recommend playing the mini-game this time around.

Gravure Photoshoot: This is truly a Japanese thing. When you are first introduced to this mini-game, you are introduced to a black screen as Kiryu takes a few photos. If you decide to talk to the front desk afterwards, you are presented with a mini-game where you compose three separate phrases together to make coherent sentences as one of two girls talks dirty to you. That's about it. Not only does the girl's outfits reveal more skin the further you go along, but your words also become more... intimate. Considering there are no rewards other than a completion star, I highly recommend skipping this one.

Toylets: This is the answer to the question "What will Japan think of next?" Before you get all high-and-mighty, I just want you to realize that this is something real that SEGA came up with in 2011. In the game, you get a wrist bracelet that gets put in your valuables list that tells you how much "power" you have after consuming a number of beverages. Reaching the maximum amount of 3000 is very easy to do by consuming about 10 bottles of liquid. Inside the restroom, there are two different scenarios to choose from (with three difficulties each). I'm not going to go into any more detail besides that. If you are really curious, you should try out the mini-game yourself.

Batting Cage: Out of all the renditions, they really made this one the best. Not only do you see a digital man pitch the ball to you, but now a small reticle box comes up when striking the ball. Instead of worrying where to move your analog stick, all you need to do is make sure your swing matches up with the right square. If the mini-game still proves difficult, keep trying your best until you earn 200 tokens to buy a serene bat. Although you only receive 0.7x the number of tokens, its larger hitting radius and relaxed swing time makes completing the challenges a breeze. However, there are still a few problems I must confess to. First, the music is terrible. Something about hearing that repetitive grinding for every match-up got on my nerves. The other thing is how long it takes to get the batting skills. I didn't do the math since I stopped trying after playing the endless Home Run Competition for a total of 10 rounds. No wonder they tied the other songs to this mode. You'd probably be swinging there for an hour or two just to get the tomes.

Darts: Here is another mini-game that has gone through a renovation. I will miss pulling back on the controller to launch those darts. This time around they added a little adjustment bar that judges how accurately you launch your dart at the board. You have all the time in the world to get it right, but you must make it within a centimeter of the center to accurately hit where you are aiming. You do have a choice of playing alone or against someone. The easy competitor will miss a few times to provide you the opportunity of winning, but the intermediate and advanced ones will not be so forgiving.

Bouncer Missions: Over at Club Debolah, there will be a suspiciously buff bartender who is willing to offer you some interesting little side-jobs. I hope you remember where this place is because there is nothing on the map that directs you back here. The game is rather simple: Blow through a parade of thugs with the help of weapons littered everywhere. However, those weapons come with a catch. For example, using them in a heat maneuver will instantly destroy them. Instead of striking an enemy with a dagger and pulling it out, you now jab it even further and watch as the hilt breaks off. The fragile weapons seem to break at the simplest action. This also means that you can't store them away to use at a later date. Once you drop or throw the weapon, it is as good as broken. The good news is that these weapon conditions do not apply to any weapons you bring into the run. Although these missions can be rewarding, it takes far too long to eventually reach that mark. The completion star requires you to do 20 of them, but there are 26 unique scenarios (78 if you count the added difficulties). I think I got tired of doing them right around Mission 12.

Coliseum: Here is another spot I hope you remembered how to get to. Located in the belly of Purgatory, you are tasked to fight off against a series of opponents in a high-stakes cage match. Not much has changed from Yakuza Kiwami here. The rules and setting of the match depends on which tournament you enroll in. Certain opponents will appear inside the match as you slowly progress through the game. Don't bother trying to unlock the final two tournaments unless you complete the Clan Creator or finish every substory in the game. Other than providing you with more employee cards for the Clan Creator, the Coliseum isn't very rewarding. In the previous games, you were able to learn new moves and barter for better equipment. Now, they practically hand you a potion for a job well-done. I highly suggest trying out the free-for-all matches since it provides you with massive fun by dropping tons of opponents with all kinds of weapons to try out on them. If you do wish to progress through the Coliseum, you might only need to complete each round maybe once or twice to unlock them all.

Golfing: Now here is something new to the series. Like the Batting Cage and Darts board, this mini-game is all about lining up your club properly. However, this isn't as simple as it sounds. The distance on your target is visibly shown on the screen, but the distance gauge only shows in increments of 25 yards. Not just that, but you have to calculate how strong that "wind speed" is going to push your ball away from your target. Despite performing admirably in the core levels of "Closest to the Pin," I could not get around those stupid wooden billboards that pop up in the advanced settings. I might have done well doing "Bingo Challenge" as well, but even Haruka seemed disappointed in the fact I didn't perform a perfect game. So I decided to forego getting the golf tomes before I gave into my urge to toss my controller at the screen.

Street Bosses: After defeating a number of thugs, you will receive a text about a strong guy strutting his stuff down one of the side-streets. Defeating them is rather advantageous as it provides you with a nice weapon and a recruit for the Majima Construction.

Lockers: You betcha' the lockers are back! Go find shiny hidden objects all around town and open the designated compartment. One of the earliest ones you unlock provides you with the Locker Key Watcher item. Although this won't make a sound for any of the plates laying around the city, it will alert you when a key is near your location. Make sure to check every corner, including the inside area around the Millennium Tower. I managed to open up just about every slot without looking at a guide.

Karaoke: Long gone is the system of the scrolling text. We now have a new sliding bar to contend with! The bar might have a few frame issues when the resolution is stretched to the max, but the prompt will still match-up according to the beat. However, there is a now a new major problem to contend with - the multiplier. If you make one or even two mistakes, chances are you won't be hitting that 90+ requirement for the completion task. At least it was fun to sing with friends. If you follow through certain conditions, you can find yourself singing with Majima, Haruka, or one of the many hostesses from Four Shine (they wear their default clothes). Inviting them to sing is as simple as checking in with the clerk at the front desk.

Other Games: A few games you won't be seeing around this time include Pocket Racing, Bowling, or Pool. What you will find is all the gambling games: Mahjong, Shogi, Poker, Blackjack, Koi-Koi, and Oicho-kabu. You can still obtain items and cheat like you did in Yakuza Kiwami, but you won't be earning much more than what you might get from the Cabaret Club. The whole process of getting yen from the exchange is exhausting as well. You must barter for chips, use those chips to win more, barter those chips for plates, and visit the Pawn Shop to sell those plates for yen. As for the arcade games, Virtual Fighter 2 and Virtual-On are the ones to choose from. Make sure not to confuse the two.

Story

Majima Saga: There are three chapters that unlock in which you get to play as Majima. I highly suggest waiting until you have all three chapters unlocked. I made the mistake of playing the first two chapters and the story fell flat after waiting for the third one. Once I did unlock the final chapter, I realized my game didn't save my progress. So I had to skip through the final cutscenes in Chapter 2 to get back on track. You can't really do anything as Majima. You can't grab opponents, pick up items, use weapons, or anything Kiryu could do within the cities. The only thing the game provides you with is a list of street bosses you can fight if you want to have the thrill of taking on a challenge. However, Majima doesn't have anything more than his basic skill set. He has a couple of heat moves and a few rudimentary strikes no matter if you are pressing X, Y, or B. What is required from you is to fight a few thugs before taking on the chapter's final boss. Make sure to pay keen attention to your objectives for a little bit of Majima flair. For fans of Majima in Yakuza 0, this is a real treat. But please be aware that it is all bite-sized since you only venture through a couple of hours worth of content so trivial that you could watch the whole thing on Youtube.

SubStories: Aw yes, the substories. Where to begin? There is the rich man who loses everything, the man who takes photos of Kiryu without his shirt on, the man who wants to record your voice for something questionable, the leader of a gang who is far too interested in being a giant baby, a man who attacks you for bumping into his car, the group wanting you to participate in an interview, the manager of the orphanage asking you for help, the scariest video alive with a woman that eventually comes out to haunt you, the collector who wants you to buy a ton of samurai figurines in the search of a specific one he needs, the millionaire who won't get down from the top of a building, a loan shark scamming people, and a producer needing a little confidence boost when making more movies (eerily similar to the Yakuza series). Those are the ones I remember off-hand. Honestly, a ton in the list were just a means to an end as if they were only there to help you unlock other features in the game. A few of them like the janitor requiring a new pair of pants were too obscure to pay any close attention to.

But what about Haruka's requests? Well there is this cute segment where she plays "detective" and solves the mystery of the Cabaret Killer. She isn't familiar with all the restaurant names, so she will ask you to seek out certain food items, sometimes by identifying specific landmarks in town. Oh, and for some reason she really makes some of the oddball requests. She wanted me to score something higher than 4 on the Bingo Challenge at the golf course. She wanted to see me win 100 chips in poker. Getting 300 points in darts? Doesn't she know that takes like 6 bullseyes? Then she wants a plushie, but it can't be any of the 4 I was able to get. Well I'm sorry Haruka, you will have to take the one I got and you are going to like it! I find it pretty adorable slowly cruising through the city while she holds my hand, but the "I have an idea" knockback she experiences gets really annoying. I might have only fed her a total of 8 times before asking her to stay back in Serena.

Main Campaign: I liked how the developers included 5 cutscenes highlighting Yakuza Kiwami to get people up-to-speed on previous events. They also added every opportunity for people to skip past the cutscenes in their entirety if it was something one wanted to forego. Sadly, I felt the main storyline was rather weak in keeping my attention. After the major events of seeing the majority of the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance fall apart in the first two games, the remaining members of the Yakuza are left vulnerable as the leaders who occupied the chairs in the main hall are dwindling. They propose an Alliance. The problem is that - and I'm going to try and say this with a straight face - the one guy who could make it official was stolen away before a contract could be forged. So whatever feud that was happening between the factions boils over as an impending war threatens the entire city. Kiryu isn't exactly important enough to be involved with forming a rescue party, so the game keeps you entertained by developing a subplot around the missing Jingweon Mafia members. You try to visit a Mahjong player underground, learn more about the police force, check in with old friends, talk to a tattoo artist, rescue a bunch of people, hang out with your girlfriends, fight ninjas, and have the obligatory car chase sequence. You find out that some really scary stuff happens in the city that gets resolved rather quickly without you. That doesn't mean your actions are futile! Little by little your influence makes an impact as the paradigm shifts into your favor. As the Florist pointed out, "When the cat's away, the rats will play." The good news is that you are able to change the time of day before the final mission in Chapter 16.

The problem I have with the main story is that a lot of things happen that don't really contribute to the plot generated in the first few chapters. Take for example Chapter 12. For some weird reason, they decided to generate this "princess in a castle" sequence where one of the "bad men" kidnaps Haruka and hides away at the very top of his fortress. Kiryu must then fight through a bunch of ninjas with spikes coming out from the ground, fire a mini-gun that is coincidentally placed right in front of a bunch of ninjas, and punch down two tigers before taking Haruka back. The whole sequence is fun and entertaining! Does it help me rescue the old man? Well, not really. Oh and let's talk about that ending. There is this brief moment where it feels like everything is going to go up in smoke when suddenly the unskippable credits roll. After leaning back in my chair being blind-sided from such a cliffhanger, I had to wait until the next cutscene - which appears like some sort of first chapter of the next game - narrates what really happened at the top of the tower. It just glided over all the important stuff!

Ironically, the best parts of the game had to be anytime Majima entered the scene. He wasn't the goof-ball madman from the previous game or the cool-collected one from the first one. He appeared more free-spirited, helpful, and serious. He still has the best entrances. He still does things in his own weird way. Majima also still fully trusts in his instincts. He definitely made things worthwhile.

Music: I don't know what happened with the original composer, but the music in the game was pretty wacky. It falls right between the crack of interesting and annoying. Take your typical fight melody Outlaw's Lullaby and try to figure out what it is trying to say. "Chaos" is what comes to my mind. Though I must acknowledge that some music had to be replaced because of legal reasons, I'm not exactly sure if the original music was any better. You had scenes like this one (non-spoiler version here) where the Crazy Ken Band song gets replaced with something completely different to fill in the gap like the song playing in the remake. The songs Evil Itself and Northern Menace were also stated to have been removed. I'm not exactly sure what they were replaced with.

Summary

Review: While exploring elements not previous seen in the Yakuza series, Yakuza Kiwami 2 builds upon the Yakuza 6 engine by renovating the cities in a whole new light. The fighting mechanics are smooth with its long list of abilities branching out with the help of usable weapons, allies, and special moves. The introduction of Majima through his construction project and his enstranged relationship with Kiryu helped brighten up the mood. There is a mixed bag of feelings when finding all of the previously known mini-games revolutionarily changed with some for the better and others for the worse. The main story is a coherent mess filled with wonderful moments that don't really contribute much to the developing plot. Side stories are less than memorable as half are mere bridges that extend the mechanics of the main game. Since most of what happens within the city isn't fully detailed, explained, or shown to the player, much of it is forgetable. However, being able to find new ways to take on foes and watch additional sequences to those fights helped make the game enjoyable to the end. After playing for 49 hours, I do recommend getting this game.