Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Xbox One)
Following the events of the first Yakuza game, the Tojo Clan was left in tatters. After the disappearance of 10 billion yen, this group of Japanese gangsters that operated primarily in the fictional Kamurocho district of Tokyo tore each other apart as old grudges and buried secrets resurfaced, many high-ranking members dead by the end and the groups coffers diminished greatly. While making for a riveting crime drama in a single game, a sequel starring the same characters and world would definitely have a lot of pieces to pick up, and so Yakuza 2 chooses to focus on a diminished Tojo Clan trying to restore its strength as others push to try and wipe it out while it’s down. With Yakuza Kiwami already reinventing the first game following the series’s rise in popularity, it’s no surprise such a direct follow up to its plot would get the remake treatment too, Yakuza Kiwami 2 polishing up the PlayStation 2 title so new fans would have a chance to continue to follow the life of Kazuma Kiryu and his uneasy ties with his former life within the Tojo Clan.
Having put the Tojo Clan behind him at the end of the previous game, the stoic yet altruistic Kiryu was eager to live a normal life with his new adopted daughter Haruka. However, the diminishing clan comes to him in their hour of need, his sense of honor and incredible strength that helped him weed out corruption in the group seemingly their only hope for survival. An Osaka Yakuza group known as the Omi Alliance are trying to exploit the Tojo Clan’s weakness in a bid for greater power, and while Kiryu resists the call to assist, the gunning down of the Tojo chairman makes him feel obligated to set things right. Surprisingly enough it seems the leader of the Omi Alliance is a rather reasonable sort who would be willing to make peace with little issue, but those underneath the old man are far more ambitious and far less reasonable. In particular, the Omi chairman’s son Ryuji Goda has exceptionally bold ideas of making the Omi Alliance the top criminal group in Japan. Becoming a self-professed rival to Kiryu after hearing of how he fought his way through so many imposing Yakuza bosses in the past, this blonde-haired impulsive egotist manages to be imposing and respectful in his own way. As the game’s main villain he dominates many of the scenes he’s in, a powerful and confident force that only follows his idea of how things should be done but knows where to draw the line so he doesn’t become some manic or pointlessly cruel leader that people would only fear rather than respect.
Goda is in some ways a reflection of Kiryu in a very intentional way, both of them even having a dragon tattoo on their back to nail in this dichotomy. While Kiryu’s strong moral conviction means he will always do the right thing even if it needs to be done by roughing up some people, Goda’s self-centered quest for power shows what Kiryu could be if he did value things like money and social status over being a good person. Goda isn’t so far gone that he’s come caricature of what Kiryu could become either, the two often showing each other mutual respect despite their disagreements on how they choose to operate. He’s certainly a fitting primary antagonist, but he’s not alone in the cast as the Omi Alliance also has the opulent and flippant Toranosuke Sengoku to prod at Kiryu for a bit. A far less respectful character and almost present to show that Goda wouldn’t sink to the lows Sengoku employs, he does provide an interesting break from the grounded street-level crime drama when you go to confront him at his base full of ninjas that certainly makes his inclusion worth it just to face such a break from the norm.
However, while the Omi Alliance are the group you’re up against much of the story, there is another force at play in the plot, a lingering grudge from many years ago leading to a Korean criminal group striking in the present day. Their actions interweave with the dueling Yakuza clans as the connections between their actions must be uncovered by people in the present, and while Kiryu can fight his way to a few answers, it’s actually the allies he has with him who figure out much of what’s going on. The game is probably more of Kaoru Sayama’s story than Kiryu’s, the playable hero influencing actions but Kaoru goes through the clearest arc. Beginning the game as a stern cop invested in taking down Yakuza groups, her desire to learn more about her own past leads to her attaching herself to the current Yakuza conflict. Her tale isn’t just a procession of revelations about her origins though, Kaoru having to figure out how to reconcile who she is in the present with what she learns about her past, her resolve, morals, and ideas about the world tested as she plunges deeper into the criminal world to try and understand more about what she uncovers. Adjacent to this are characters like the detective Date and a cop with a history of killing criminals with little compunctions, Jiro Kawara. The so-called Killer Kawara’s mysterious motivations but willingness to work with Kiryu and the others makes for an interesting layer of tension as he doesn’t gel with their methodology and you never know where he might take things, and with many characters finding themselves in a moral grey space, the dramatic turns of the plot have weight as you never know who might die or take unexpected actions to get what they desire.
In fact, the game perhaps leans a little too much on rapid unexpected twists, especially near the climax as it just can’t seem to help itself in layering on additional sudden reveals. Many of them do make some degree of sense or have signposting earlier in the plot to make the twist work, but it can cause a bit of fatigue as they don’t get the room to breathe and jostle for position in a crowded finale. There are a few questionable ones as well, doing things like leaving information out of a scene earlier you should have been able to see just to pull off a twist or justifying a character’s actions in a way that isn’t particularly effective. There are also a few points where the plot seems to deviate from the main thread without too much of a purpose, sometimes to introduce side activities or pursue a rather small detail of the world rather than continuing to build on the compelling crime drama or emotional journey of Kaoru. When you do have the full picture though it is a mostly engaging tale of the rebuilding of the Tojo Clan and the struggles Kiryu faces as his obligations to people important to him pull him many directions, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 even adds in a little side story for fans of the over-the-top Goro Majima to explain what he’s been up to since the first game and Yakuza 0. Initially though the Majima Saga seems like a rather basic plot about him finding out how his role in the Tojo Clan was shaken up by Yakuza Kiwami’s events, but the eccentric and wild gangster is there for more than just a different fighting style. His short plot eventually begins to incorporate some of the elements from his excellent story line from Yakuza 0 and serves as a fine epilogue to those events, and while that does make it a bit disconnected from this game’s events, it’s a nice thing to have for fans of the series looking for a little more info on one of its best characters.
As part of protecting the Tojo Clan, pushing back the Omi Alliance, and learning more about the Korean group whose actions end up surprisingly connected to this conflict, you’ll end up exploring two major districts in two different cities. The neon-bathed streets of Kamurocho, Tokyo are the bigger host to the action, Kiryu’s old stomping grounds having changed a bit from previous games while still retaining many recognizable locations as well. The streets busy with civilians walking around the entertainment district provide plenty to do, as does the Sotenbori district over in Osaka with its riverside businesses and tighter thoroughfares. However, a lot of Yakuza Kiwami 2, be it the plot or the side content, will tie itself into the core fighting system someway. Rather than relying on various fighting styles like in 0 or the first Kiwami game, Kiryu sticks to a unified style this time. Light and heavy attacks can be mixed together as one values high speed strikes while the other is a bit slower but stronger, the specific punches and kicks changing as you link them together in different ways. Enemies often appear in groups and balancing damage output while making sure you aren’t taken by surprise by another foe is important, but Kiryu has a lot more in his arsenal than simple attack strings. He can pick up nearby objects to smash people with, and in a smart move the weapon system has been made more accessible simply by having it possible to knock weapons out of an enemy’s hands. Previous games had you bring your own weapons to the fight and durability made that less appealing, and while you can still do so, the chances to get a gun, knife, taser, sword, or other tool off a gangster and immediately turn it against them makes the weapon system more inviting. It gives you a brief focused fighting style for as long as the tool lasts and they can often overcome some more difficult and durable foes.
Weapons are a fine expansion to your arsenal, but Kiryu’s fighting skills are sound even when he’s taking on a foe bare-fisted. Building up the Heat Gauge by successfully damaging foes without being hurt too much yourself will give you special moves where Kiryu delivers some incredibly strong and occasionally brutal attacks to his foes, these great for giving a flashy and satisfying way to take a huge chunk out of an opponent’s health. These Heat Actions can change based on things like where you are or if you have a weapon, some of the more impressive ones being when Kiryu has an ally like Kaoru or Date around to do some over the top team attacks. Later in the game you can start to unlock Heat counters as well, the window for them often small so they aren’t overpowered but if you can pull them off you can gain the upper hand even against some of the toughest bosses. Boss battles in general are definitely where the battle system shows its stuff the best, the player facing foes who can defend well enough to demand more intelligent approaches than simple goons. Taking out random goons who accost you on the street easily isn’t a problem, thankfully so since they’re probably a bit too abundant, but during the story the regular enemies do usually have a bit more coordination or other tricks to make utilizing your extra options like Heat counters worth trying rather than whaling away on the attack buttons blindly. There are even some moments where enemies are positioned more like obstacles, knife throwers pestering you from afar so it’s less about how you intend to link together attacks and more how you hope to get to them at all while other gangsters are harassing you at the same time.
Some additional moves like being able to grab and throw enemies or charge up moves for more powerful but committal strikes give you some more varied options, but as you play through the game you can also buy upgrades that give you a lot more potential within certain attack types. Your throws may be a good option for getting past guards to start, but with upgrades you can start to do things like finishing a combo by grabbing the opponent by a leg and swinging them around to smash them into other opponents. New Heat Action types and increases to various stats like health, defense, and attack start to incentivize this game’s approach to leveling up your abilities. Kiryu has a set of different experience types that can be expanded by doing a plethora of different things. Continuing the main plot and fighting enemies are often the biggest sources of these upgrade points, but doing most anything of interest around Kamurocho or Sotenbori can pay off with some experience to spend on increasing your abilities. A checklist will keep track of special actions like trying everything on a restaurants menu, using items to heal during a fight, and interacting with side content like mini games or substories, the player constantly receiving little rewards for heading off and doing things that are usually at least somewhat interesting on their own. You could pop into the same restaurant every time you need to heal, but eating different foods at different places gives the city more character, incentivizes exploration, and can lead to new discoveries all while helping to make you a better fighter for the game’s action core.
The substories and minigames are certainly the most engaging forms of side content. Between story missions Kiryu is free to explore whatever district he finds himself in, many of them having small amusements that only rarely are relevant to the story. You might get introduced to something like Majima’s Clan Creator system where you essentially deploy gangsters like troops to protect Goro’s construction business from invaders, this having its own plot with its own set of villains to compel you to keep playing it beyond just being a fun diversion in itself. Similarly you can help manage an ailing cabaret club as it rises through the ranks of a tournament that also has its own little story thread to follow, but even side activities without such involved plots can be interesting to dabble in. You can play card games, mahjong, darts, and even sing karoake in a refined version that actually follows rhythm game button input conventions unlike the flawed versions in Kiwami and 0. You’re able to visit a driving range, play old Sega arcade games like Virtua Fighter 2, and even do photo shoots that feature footage of real models who must be spoken too properly in order to get the right poses. The game does a solid job on executing on most of these optional activities that play in wildly different ways and the checklist gives you reasons to dabble in them without making any of them mandatory if the mechanics don’t click or you don’t want to put in the time to learn the rules. However, the wide variety does make it likely something will catch your eye and give you a nice break from the main adventure should you desire it.
Substories can rope in these amusements sometimes, although quite often they’ll lead to some form of a fight instead. Still, if you find a citizen on the street who needs help with something, these can often be worth engaging with simply for the little stories that unfold, especially the ones where your dialogue choices can influence the course of events. While these often provide rewards, be it monetary, experience-focused, or special items, many of these are interesting in their own right, such as when a gangster wants to treat you to a night out to his favorite club only for it to turn out to be an adult baby roleplay club. Kiryu’s rigidness makes encountering such an unusual situation amusing in itself as he struggles with something so far out of his wheelhouse, but he’s still an understanding and compassionate fellow who’s objection with the adult baby club is more that they were trying to get him to participate against his will rather than their interest in the roleplay. Some substories are grounded and dramatic types like trying to rescue a woman abducted by gangsters, others are breaks from the norm like assisting a group of young people with a job interview by giving the correct answers, and some explore side characters’s histories more, a wide variety making things more interesting than just a bunch of comedic asides. However, the memorable absurdity of some stories like facing down an awful Kiryu imposter or Kiryu getting roped into doing erotic voice acting definitely make continuing to pursue them interesting for its own sake, and with the small characters you meet along the way sometimes cropping up for the Cabaret and Clan content as well Yakuza Kiwami 2 builds up a more interconnected experience where the districts you explore become more realized places with familiar sights and recurring characters.
THE VERDICT: While Yakuza Kiwami 2 does get a little too twist happy for its own good sometimes, the story still provides an engaging tale of a clash between criminal clans that keeps you invested with elements like Kaoru’s search for her history or Ryuji Goda’s imposing presence and dark reflection of Kiryu’s character. A fighting system that lets you continuously expand your options, pull off visually impressive moves, and weave in weapon use effectively makes the frequent battles an entertaining way to play most of the adventure, but Yakuza Kiwami 2 also offers many unique and quirky side stories, well realized minigames, and even extra stories like the Majima Saga. Whether you’re focused on the main plot or engaging with the abundant amount of extra content, Yakuza Kiwami 2 always endeavors to provide an interesting experience and rewards you for taking the time to see what it has to offer.
And so, I give Yakuza Kiwami 2 for Xbox One…
A GREAT rating. The story of the ailing Tojo Clan and the outside aggressors that force Kiryu back into action definitely has its highlights, usually as you watch Kaoru develop over the journey or Kiryu and Goda’s approaches and styles come into direct confrontation, but the plot does feel like the area that could have used a little more refinement. Leaning so heavily on shocking reveals actually undermines some of its moments a little as the dust doesn’t get to settle properly or characters who could be having a profound moment are sidelined to let the new information dominate things for a bit, but the actual story line itself still brings plenty to latch onto and new interesting developments you’ll want to learn more about. Part of the game’s appeal is actually checking in on a lot of the characters and places from Yakuza Kiwami to see how the changing shape of Japan’s criminal underworld has influenced them, but new personalities also ensure it’s not all self-reflective callbacks. The story does push forward and build on itself well even if it pulls a few tricks to get there and a few ideas don’t pan out perfectly, but it does hold together as more than a way to link together fist fights with Yakuza goons. Those battles are built in a few different interesting ways as well that keep them from growing rote, weapons shaking up the fighting well but your basic combos and capabilities accrue a good amount of depth as you level up your abilities as well. Having so many actions pay off with experience for those abilities also helps you expand your horizons beyond just beelining through the plot, the optional offerings sometimes just as entertaining as the main adventure as they clearly have a good amount of thought into realizing them. Kamurocho and Sotenbori both are open enough to invite free exploration but limited in scope enough that you don’t need to go far to find something to occupy yourself with.
Yakuza Kiwami 2’s story is still a bit weaker than Yakuza Kiwami though and Yakuza 0 has them both beat, but as a sort of trilogy for the series’s rise in prominence, it still fills its role in continuing on from the devastating conclusions of the first Yakuza game and does so with enough style and substance to stand tall. It does feel a bit dependent on familiarity with those other two games in some regards, but new enemies and friends keep Kiryu’s adventure moving forward as well. Extra activities can provide some levity or new forms of action that prevent the player from being worn down by serious topics in the main story or the frequent fighting, but the battle system also holds up its part by expanding well while still being inherently enjoyable. While more a game for existing fans of the series rather than an entry point like the other two, Yakuza Kiwami 2 does have the benefit of refined mechanics and ideas that ensure a good degree of entertainment even if you did make the odd choice to start with this chapter in Kiryu’s saga.