Kiwami 2 is basically a true love letter to Kiryu as a protagonist. Since Y6 was a goodbye to him and his legacy, Kiwami 2 was a celebration of his character, like you highlighted here in your review. It really hammered in why I love Kiryu, and why he is personally my favourite character of all time. It's also the main reason this game is fighting for fave spot with Yakuza 0 (I think it might just be winning though).
@Equinox Man Sure Y0 has one of the best stories, and I personally prefer it to K2's, but Yakuza games are so much more than just the main story and K2's extra content is what solidifies Kiryu's character and is the main reason why I love it as much as Y0. Also what kind of PS4 were you playing it on for bad performance? It works completely fine for myself and pretty much everyone else who I know has played it.
@@JayAreAitch No way that Y 2 is better than 0 in terms of story telling. There were plenty of face palm moments in Y2 where the characters act really dumb. Like the cops falling for the "video evidence" of Date's shooting where you can clearly see that Date didn't pull the trigger and there was no muzzle flash or striking of hammer. I felt that quite a number of deaths were avoidable if they weren't so friggin stupid. Then there's a lot of running around and then suddenly at the end a shit ton of exposition being dumped at us. I still liked it despite all that and there were some great moments and twists but it really can't match up to 0. The antagonists from 0 were much better and I felt that Kuze was a much better rival than Ryuji. And not to forget that you get to play as friggin Majima in 0. Majima and Makoto's relationship didn't feel forced unlike Kiryu and Sayama. As for the port they both ran extremely well on my PC so I don't about the PS4.
@@rayyanali4471 You got to play as Majima in Kiwami 2 so your point is moot. Also Kuze isn't a better rival than Ryuji, in fact Kuze isn't even a rival, he's a boss. A recurring boss admittedly, so nemesis is probably a better word. On the other hand, Ryuji is absolutely Kiryu's rival and possibly the only person I've come across so far who's as good as Kiryu in a fight. I only got through that final battle with Ryuji by completely filling my inventory with Staminan Royales.
@@rayyanali4471 I think SEGA added a beta patch on steam that added the option to disable the dof and tweak the anti aliasing even further, but i didn't check it out yet, but you can also look for a mod that disables it
@@superluismigueL100 I know this comment is a year old but I seriously have to thank you. The game was unplayable for me until I happened to read this comment about disabling the DOF. Now it’s perfect
Kiwami 2 is personally my favorite Yakuza game. Improved systems from 6, a great story with one of the best antagonists in the series, bombastic and silly as hell. Such a fun game bursting with that Yakuza charm.
0 and 2 are my favorite ones... but the ending of kiwami 2 it would be epic as fuck if they die at the end in a blaze of glory- Personally Yakuza 2 was my first yakuza game and I loved it when I was in middleschool.
@Equinox Man Have you been on the crazy pills? Kiwami 1 has a terrible story, quite possibly the most drawn out and weak protagonist in the entire series (Nishikiyama), I think you must have hit your head pretty hard to say it's better than ANY Yakuza game, except maybe Yakuza 3 but even that game had a more memorable final boss fight ( Jingu doesn't count as he's not the main antagonist, Nishikiyama is. Jingu doesn't even show up till right at the end which felt so cheap).
@@acurisur The main antagonist in Kiwami 1 feels much better if you've played Yakuza 0 before because in Zero we establish a pretty strong emotional connection with Nishiki, therefore in Kiwami 1 you perceive him not as some no-name mofo but as a former best friend turned enemy.
i always jump back and forth between yakuza 0 and Kiwami 2 for my favourite. in one hand Kiwami 2 has the best stuff and was the turning point for the franchise. While Zero was such an amazing introduction with an original story that filled in many blanks.
Yakuza is by far one of my favorite video game series ever. Playing Yakuza 0 was one of the best choices in my life and it also led me to pre-ordering Kiwami 1&2 on PC. I haven't felt this immersed into a videogame, it's characters and their numerous stories for quiet a long time. The best thing is that there are still 4 games coming out. 3:11 got me a bit confused PS: I noticed a certain lack of Majima. Love your videos though. Keep it up!
Absolutely love the Yakuza games... If you have NOT played them, you can begin with any game... They all begin with a recap of the previous story, like a TV series. But if you really want to begin at the beginning 'Yakuza Zero' is the canonical beginning of the story.
Difficult as it may be, I certainly am hoping to get my start with the Ryu ga Gotoku 1&2 HD (Maybe even make a "Yakuza 1 & 2, but with Kiwami subtitles" out of them, especially as Yakuza 1 had some very infamous translation & sub-par dubbing). Even if they never got localised, they were much better optimised & refined versions of their PlayStation 2 originals and I really want to warm myself up all the way to Zero to really enjoy the series high point that game achieved (And what a high-point it was from what I've seen!), though international releases for Yakuza 3, 4 & 5 [PS4] would certainly be a welcome convenience. Now if only Kenzan! & Ishin! could be localised & go international. Ishin! in particular is one jam-packed fan-service package (And what a soundtrack!)
@JUST REMEMBER ALL CAPS I did come to think of Kiwami as "Yakuza 0 + 1", as I do Kiwami 2 "Yakuza 6 - 4" or "Yakuza 0 + 2". Very ideal starting points for those without a PS2 or PS3 nor the ability to understand Japanese, but there's enough from the originals to be missed (The timeless original music chiefly, even though Kiwami 1 has unofficial means to restore that). As much as I love what the series has become, I am all the more thankful I started the Mass Effect straight at the beginning, even though it took me until mid-2011 to do so, so I'm certainly keen to make my start with the humbler & harsher-toned times.
I started with 6 a few months ago . Wanted to impulsively buy a game and Yakuza popped into my head ( I’ve heard of the series for years but really had no idea what the games were like). Bought Zero before even beating 6. Beat 6. Spent 93 hours with Zero. Now playing Kiwami. Already have Kiwami 2. This series is one the best gaming surprises, next to Persona 5, that I’ve experienced in a very long time.
Starting with Zero would be a mistake. A lot of references and inside jokes that only fans of the series that played the previous games would understand. On top of that, the game completely glimpse over one plot with a character that tied to Majima that was quite important in later games, act as if you already know that particular story due to the fact that the game was made after Yakuza 5.
I remember playing Yakuza 2 on playstation 2. Picked it up at block buster and it was one of the best gaming decisions I made. I like all the kiwami games. They seem to be clones if each other which is awesome because the graphics are awesome and the formula's great. The storyline reminds me of the Out Rage movies. These games make you want to go to Japan
Despite all this. The game is unfairly Underrated and Underappreciated. The entire series is a AAA builted Masterpiece and GOTY worthy. Its one of THE true definitive Video game franchise out there. Truely Sucks that people compares this to GTA and some nowadays even go far to ask if it has Battle royale mode which gives me temporary heart cancer.
I KNOW RIGHT! So many people see this as the spiritual successor to Shenmue. I am surprised Sega didn't reboot Shenmue in this Yakuza engine and smash out a trilogy.
@@ArkaynAdrian wait, what? Yakuza could be anything but Shenmue spiritual successor, those series are completely different. How people even came to that conclusion?
@@lemiru the devs on Yakuza series started with Yu Suzuki (creator of many gold sega hits) on 1st and 2nd Shenmue during SEGA Dreamcast era. After the downfall of dreamcast, they took the original shenmue 2 engine and created the first yakuza on ps2 and have evolved that engine to the awesomeness you see today....whilst the shenmue 3...well..
Kiwami 2 is my favourite Yakuza, I’ve just played Kiwami and 6 but holy shit, the story, the world and all the side content is incredible, that club mini game, best mini game ever. This is the game that made really love the franchise, waiting for the remasters of the other games and obviously, judgement in a few weeks.
Equinox Man I really hope Judgement crushes Yakuza 0's story because I'm getting tired of these annoying Yakuza 0 worshipping assholes like you who won't accept an opinion to anybody on this series.
@@doomfry3163 Holy crap lol. It annoys you that much? Gotta keep in mind that kiwami 1 and 2 have ps2 level writing. 0 does not. 0 was made with an experienced team.
Kiwami 2 did make a list of changes that weren't received favourably from those who followed the series for a long time or played the classic (A particular area from the original game was removed, the music when remixing or replacing classic tracks had mixed reception, and there were more smaller details that were criticised), but playing the original isn't exactly easy when it was only ever localised for PlayStation 2 & it's much-improved & optimised PlayStation 3 re-release as part of the Ryu ga Gotoku [Like a Dragon] 1&2 HD Collection was released domestically with no English language support, with emulation the only alternative. I myself remain eager to make my start with the series from the original titles as I want to feel the hype of reaching Zero & seeing the series reach one of it's highest peaks, but Kiwami 2 certainly has much to offer by itself (It's original tracks were received well, we got more Sub Stories & Majima, and now it's PC port provides the opportunity to see the Dragon Engine run at high frame-rates & more). That said, I don't believe the PlayStation 3 titles warrant as much need of a Kiwami Edition as much as I'd think. Having their frame-rate targets doubled from 30fps to 60fps, resolutions bumped up and more is enough to bring these games up-to-date, especially as I believe Yakuza 5 was built on the tech that powered Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! [Like a Dragon Restoration!], Yakuza 0 & Kiwami as well as Hokuto ga Gotoku [Like a North Star]/Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise. Plus, many yearn to see Yakuza 3 with it's missing content from Ryu ga Gotoku 3 restored, as well as perhaps an updated translation for 3 & 4 (Perhaps 5, but that was the first of the renewed effort that's been well received), which could be released as a trio collection should they go international as hoped, so I myself would be very happy to have a high-FPS re-release of these games than a Kiwami version of them.
I'm just curious, as someone who played Kiwami 2 but not the original (I started playing the Yakuza games with Yakuza 4 when when it came out), what area of the game is missing?
@@musko8129 An area called 'Shineseicho', or the "Third Area" as best as I can recover. I do hear there wasn't much content within it, but nevertheless unfortunate. There were also mini-games removed, namely the Club ADAM host organisation. And one of the more beloved cutscenes from the game had a music change and new SFX whose addition weakened it's impact compared to the original, which I can definitely say while it may be nit-picky, it's not nostalgia talking. And the new music when replacing (Not remixing) classic music certainly wasn't received warmly (If you loved such pieces as 'Evil Itself' & 'Beast Itself', which I certainly do). Of course, Kiwami 2 has additions of it's own (The Clan Creator & Majima Chapters two chief examples), but it does end up disappointing those hoping for Kiwami 2 to provide a definitive version of Ryu ga Gotoku 2/Yakuza 2. By no means does it make Kiwami 2 a bad game at all, but it leaves just enough to be missed from the original.
I can't comprehend people that wanting Kiwami version of 3-5. Sounds like they're the newer spoilt fans that disgusted by not so flashy and realistic visuals.
@@zeroskaterz92 Only thing largely dated at a glance about Ryu ga Gotoku 3 & 4 would be the glossy skin on characters or much more limited Sub Story animation presets. I suppose they decided after Kenzan! that de-saturating their games once was enough and had the rest thereafter remain largely colourful (And I only remember Ryu ga Gotoku 3 having examples of high bloom). Seeing them run at 60fps, having Yakuza 3's missing content from Ryu ga Gotoku 3 restored and perhaps an updated translation for Yakuza 3 & 4 would be enough for me (Even if I do hear Ryu ga Gotoku 3's enemy health bars were very hard to drain).
Having already played Yakuza 2 on my PS2 back then, I really hope the PC release of Kiwami 2 will be followed by Yakuza 6, which I've never played. Crossing fingers as hard as I can!
I truly enjoy these games. I'm big big part due to the franchise seemingly like, it's not trying to reinvent the wheel they already created, but that they evolve upon what they've already done in previous titles making them just different which to feel different while being satisfyingly familiar
I liked 6 well enough but the combat was bit of a let down for me. because they had new engine there were only one style whit few moves. winch you do over and over again. and side quest not so compelling. story was solid as f. i hold Y zero as an best in the series. it nailed in mind everything. Kiwami 2 was better 6 but still suffer under a bit at same problems thou side quests were better. i am looking forward to Judgement they showed they had at least 2 styles there so it is coming along nicely. hopefully they add styles more and more as games come. Story in typical Yakuza fashion is gonna be great as usual. i disagree whit you on point Y3-5 re-release, somewhat at least. yes i would like to see them in dragon engine but not of the cost of those styles and perhaps other content they would have to do again and i know something would be lost in that mix. because Yakuza games are developed way too fast. look at the time span we got these games and how many we got including Fist of the north star. it is not long. to make these on dragon engine too fast i think would result in half baked games. i rather let them focus whit dragon engine on new games to give them as much time and attention they can. so they will become more richer in side-quest and combat plus story wise.
I wish they'd remake them all in the dragon engine. I'm playing Kiwami and I just feel myself not being able to wait until it's over so I can play Kiwami 2
Saaammee. I'm very excited to try the new engine, as Kiwami 1 feels a bit too much like 0, with many reused assets, but without being able to use Majima's break dance moves D: Also, how are you finding the "Majima everywhere" system? It's often enjoyable, though it really screws with the impact and pacing of the original; one moment I'm playing through M's goofy zombie prank, the next he's shot Date and kidnapped Haruko and we're all dramatic again. I'm also looking forward to the better side stories in 2. All that said, I'm still glued to this game and look forward to seeing it through ^^
I'm currently playing Yakuza 0 ( I know that I'm late) and I'm blown away....it's easily one of the best game of the generation along with bloodborne, DS3,Witcher 3 the hearts of stone dlc and Shadow of the collosus remake.... Y0 is my first Yakuza game and I can't decide what to buy next...kiwami 1 and 2 or the brand new IP judgement coz I'm short of money....any help will be appreciated(suggestions)
Watch or buy kiwami 1, for sure buy kiwami 2 Kiwami 1 is considered to be a let down compared to zero but it's because it's a extremely faithful remake to the first, with the addition of majima everywhere
I played 0 last year and super loved it. After that, played 6 and Kiwami (1). They were both enjoyable, but not nearly as much as 0. So when Kiwami 2 came out, I pretty much ignored it. That is, until I came across an article saying the caberet club game is back... Yeah, so I just finished Kiwami 2 over the weekend and I can say it's not as good as 0, but much better overall compared to 6 and Kiwami. My only real gripe is that the story is a bit too convoluted.
I know I sound weird... So I played Zero and Kiwami using pads, it's fun but my veins are rooted in mouse and keyboard In Kiwami 2 they refined this ! I feel like that blessed CDPR touch, smooth M & S controls on my fingers, flowing through my body I'm just happy they did this, thanks SEGA
I myself would prefer a Yakuza 3,4 and 5 remaster because I never had a PS3. I want to experience them as they were back then just with the higher resolution now.
multi-fighting styles are only in Ishin(Katana/Gun/Bare hand/Gunkata-ish moves), 0, Kiwami 1, the rest of the series does not have such thing, if you played Yakuza 4 and 5 you may notice that many of the moves in Yakuza 0/Kiwami 1 are from 4/5's different styles from different characters, Kiryu originally only has 1 style, the 'Dragon of Dojima' style, 0 seems like a real start from the story of the series, but it's still starts from Yakuza 1...
I agree with Kiwami style remakes of 3, 4 and 5 BUT for every Ryu Ga Kotoku nerd like myself who'd buy it I don't Sega would break even on the expenditure. That and once I finished Kiwami 2 (hence all of them inc Dead Souls spin off) I was done. There have been a lot released close together and you risk burning the formula as is considering Judgement is still a similar style game in concept.
I really don't like the combat in Y6, it feels sluggish and bad for groups of enemies. I love the story in Y2 though but if this game is using the same combat as 6, I'll pass
My only gripe with the game (aside from the combat which have been severely streamlined from previous games) is the amount of plot twists the game throws at you at the last second for not really a whole lot of reasons. I'm fine with a few twists and turns like what they did in 0, but here it just ended up kinda pissing me off. Maybe it's just me, if you've played the game you'd know what i'm talking about. I never played the original yakuza 2 so i dont know if the story is all that different.
I think the story is the same as the original although admittedly I haven't played it either. Just presentation and maybe some dialogue has changed but besides that I reckon the story beats are the same. In any case, I agree with you 100%, especially with the combat (oh boy I wasn't a big fan). I remember the twists and revelations just becoming a bit stupid by the end but generally, the story and characters were great. I felt like I genuinely got to understand how Kiryu ticks in this game and I loved those introspective moments. The game also looks great and is super seamless throughout, but man, the combat hurt me bad. So I will definitely end up playing through the original at some point since I think I owe that to myself and this game's story aha.
Well i can tell you both that it's more or less the same story, except for a few cutscenes introducing minigames being added, and a secondary area in sotenbori that was taken out. It wasn't that big, both in size and in importance to the story. which you can tell by them just making the one thing you did there happen in sotenbori instead. But i would still have liked to see it.
They did get a little overboard in the last few moments. Spoilers, obviously. Terada is alive! But he's a bad guy! He's actually Korean mafia! Everything he did in 1 and 2 was part of an elaborate plan! He hates you and he wants to destroy the Tojo Clan and Kamurocho with a big fuck-off bomb! Just kidding though! He knew the other guy was going to betray him and his plans would fail, so he tries to help you out after trying to kill you! Also the big fuck-off bomb is a dud! Hurray! Like... what?! What?! None of that was necessary. He comes back to kill you but not kill you and then he dies again. His return contributed nothing. He might as well have just stayed dead and let the other guy, who was pretty obviously a bad guy from the start, just come in and be the bad guy.
I heard both their arguments but I have to say it's biased towards the original due to nostalgia. The thing I hate most about Kiwami 2 though, is the ragdoll
@@ZoMbi5lAy3r I found the ragdoll super annoying till i got the getup move later in the game. After I got that it was all good, but getting knocked down then flopping all over the place made me shake my head everytime early on lol
Kiwami storywise was a great game, it had lots of content to play around in, the only problem I have with the game was the removal of the battle styles which made the game seem so much more boring. In Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1 I skipped only a very few battles, but in Kiwami 2 I noticed skipping tons of battles, and only due to the fact that the battles felt boringly same all the time, even after unlocking new abilities for Kiryu
Yeah, though every individual move feels more polished and impactful, switching it up and the vast array of moves had their own charm. Unlocking skills that let you instantly switch styles was great when you figured out how to use those to chain your moves together smoothly. But for me, the greatest flaw of Kiwami 2's battle style in comparison to 0 and Kiwami 1 was the improvised weapons. In the prior releases for PC, my favorite way to fight was by grabbing a desk/motorbike/street sign/power distributor/etc. and going wild on mooks with it. In Kiwami 2, the same could still be done, but the heat actions done with improvised weapons just didn't feel right. They looked like Kiryu was swinging much lighter foam-props of these objects instead of the genuine articles. Hopefully, these are just growing pains as the developers gradually get used to the new engine.
I tried Y5 on PS3 and it did not click with me. I give the series another chance with Yakuza Zero (great game), played Kiwami (well remake, so it felt like more of the same, but I liked the story and gameplay was fun). I own copies of these games on both PS4 and PC. Now I'm a bit worried as Kiwami 2 has new engine and even more changes, but the remasters of 4 to 5 are just remasters not remakes. So after playing kiwami 3 and going to 3 might feel like disconnected experience in terms of technical polish.
Hey i dropped a like but haven't watched it as i've not cleared it yet but im sure its as good and as informative as your others.. Keep up the good work man
I wish Toshihiro Nagoshi would consider remaking Yakuza 3, that game has not aged well at all, even the Remastered version looks pretty bad now on PS4. Not to mention the pacing and story are all over the place, so a Yakuza Kiwami 3 using the Dragon engine again would allow them to reshape the story into something more coherent as well.
They should remake The Black Panther games from PSP. It's not as expansive as any of Kiryu's adventures, so they can release it as one. Not entirely a fan of 7's new Turn Based combat.
6 is confirmed to come. My guess is that Sega is going to release the games in chronological order first before they do. 0 and Kiwami was Segas attempt to see if PC gamers are interested in the series and we clearly were so there is no reason that they would skip 3-5.
I just started Kiwami 2 after going through 0 and Kiwami, and... I just instantly felt like I didn't want to keep playing it. Ditching the multiple fighting styles is bad enough, those were the only things that made fighting semi-interesting aside from the heat moves, but you start the game on a rainy night, where everything in the environment is just fucking glowing with a weird blue light and it washes out everything to make it all look boring, colorless, and samey. Ditching the skill grid for a generic menu of upgrades that just cost different types of experience (that all seemingly drop randomly from fighting anyway) is the most boring upgrade path they could have taken. Kiryu's face in cutscenes has this weird uncanny valley anime look to it, where his eyes are large and his irises are pitch black, so they just look like big black circles. The camera during traversal is more zoomed in than the old engine, so everything feels more cramped and there's less to look at as you just sprint/jog through multiple blocks of city for 70% of the game. Also, playing the PS4 version, the motion blur only makes the environment look that much worse. I'm gonna give it a few more hours, just to give it a fair chance since I've seen how many people love it, but it's just such a huge change from the 60-70 hours I've put into the series so far that my hype immediately disappeared and makes it hard to really go in with good expectations.
I’m playing on PC and I feel the same way. I thought something was wrong with my computer but when I looked up game play videos on RUclips they looked the same. I’ve gotten used to it but I wish they kept the same style as 0/K1
The combat was pared down to emphasize impact? ...Sorry dude, but that's completely off the mark. They couldn't make the combat as complex because they were starting over with a new engine.
I can't really say I agree with your assessment of the Dragon Engine. Sure, it looks nice, but the performance on consoles is pretty bad and the over-reliance on physics makes combat a much clunkier affair than in the later PS3 era titles.
It's not the Dragon Engine's fault that console hardware is shit. It runs absolutely beautifully on PC. Hopefully 6 and Kiwami 2 can get some kind of next-gen console release so they can run as they should instead of being held back by the garbage hardware Sony put in the PS4 (that thing was outdated when it released in 2013).
As someone who started the franchise with the pc releases I really dislike the fighting aspect in Kiwami 2 in comparison to Yakuza 0 or even 1. I didn't do every side mission to the fullest in 0 to unlock Legend both for Kiryu and Majima but I know those exist but the characters were already extremely fleshed with their 3 fight styles. In Kiwami 2 unlocking basic stuff is essential to make the fights at least tolerable.
Blizz DeKay if you didn't like the fighting aspects in Kiwami or in Kiwami 2. Then I don't know how the hell you are going to enjoy the rest of the series because each character including Kiryu is only going to have one fighting style not multiple styles. But they are still good fighting styles regardless for only one style and 3-5 are still good games.
Got onto Yakuza train by playing Y0 on PC, loved every bit of it, sank ungodly amount of hours into it. It ran smooth, graphics were actually amazing. Then after i finished it and i went over to Yakuza Kiwami 1. Loved every bit of it, sank ungodly amount of hours into it. It ran smooth, graphics were amazing. Then i finished it and wanted to try Kiwami 2 that everyone was praising. I was so excited! The result: Unplayable mess, bugs, impossible to play even at 30fps by my potato PC. Extremely bad port. I am so sad now. I don't want to dish out a lot of money for components just to play that game. Really negative experience of the dragon engine. That means i won't be playing 6 as well since it uses the same ungodly amount of recources and strain on my PC. Sigh. Guess i'll have to skip the supposed best Yakuza game and go after the remakes of 3,4 and 5. : (
Yep, all these people must be in the shooreh pippi cult, how can you just ignore all these problems? My PC from 2019 runs most new games without any problems, but in kiwami 2 I got like 15-20 FPS. I had to use third party software for anti aliasing and sharpening to get up to 40 FPS, which is still pretty bad. Street fights are pointless, you just throw them around over and over, those ragdolls can't touch you in the slightest no matter the difficulty, what a joke. I don't know if I have the stomach to finish this "game".
I can't help but feel like this ignores how terrible the plot of this game was. Saying "It's a great plot, the buff men still rip their shirts off" is very dismissive of the way that new fans like me felt about Zero. Zero built up this idea that these games had *good* plots, and so far as got me to buy Kiwami 1 and Kiwami 2, expecting another great story, but getting contrived nonsense. Remember that time the Chinese kidnap Haruka in 1? And so Kiryu heads over and beats them all up, and you have a boss fight with Sword Man? What about that other boss, Two Gun Man, who kills off characters that are barely mentioned again? Yakuza 2 was hyped up to me as where the series truly got it's identity, and yet the plot is mind numbing in the way that I feel like I am only expected to pay attention when the buff men's shirts come off, and everything else is secondary. Kaoru bounces between talking like a hardass cop and acting like useless set dressing so frequently that it's ridiculous. She could have been T-posing the whole game and it wouldn't have made it seem like she was physically doing less than she actually does. Fuck, it's been a while, but at the end, don't Kiryu and Ryuji lock her out of their battle arena by closing the door of an industrial elevator with her on the other side of it? This elevator that should for no reason be impossible to open the doors of? And she just sorta crumples over and gives up on saving either of them.
What exactly makes Zero stand out compared to Kiwami 1 and 2? I’d argue all three on par with each other with 1 and 2’s plots doing a few things better than Zero.
@@jman2856 I'll preface that while I may not be happy about K1 and K2's plots after Zero, I know that they were made many years ago, and I know that not many people seem to agree with me. Yakuza 0 feels like a full package to me. The other two games I've played are rather filled in of themselves, but Yakuza 0 took all of the enjoyment of playing the Kiwamis and effectively doubled them to me just by adding a second playable character. And I'll just put an author's note here; I grew up playing Munch's Oddysee, so I'm a bit of a glutton for games where you swap between two characters. I'll also say that my thoughts are far from organized, so I apologize if I don't answer your "exactly" prompt. To me, the plot beats of Kiwami 1 and 2 felt very much like they were happening because they had to, in a bad way. Sometimes it felt like some concept art or pieces of writing didn't find organic places to be, so instead they just said "oh put it here", and sometimes they land places that don't make sense. There's a three way gang war in K1 that happens to no effect except that Haruka gets kidnapped by Two Sword Chinese Guy in the confusion, and I can't remember a single thing Shinji did in that plot, but it was still supposed to be an emotional death scene. Not to mention how all the information you're given almost no time to learn who Kazama is before he dies, and Shibusawa, who was a somewhat competent villain in 0, just charges Kiryu like a dumb asshole in both of his encounters. In K2, there's that dude at Dojima HQ who felt like a joke from start, when they ask him if he'll help and he says no, to when Kiryu is kicking his ass into the floor for the second or third time. Now, I enjoy kicking dumbasses into the curb with Kiryu's nice shoes just as much as any Yakuza player, but this was somehow the most avoidable conflict, but also visible from miles away. The moment that dude showed disobedience, he should've gotten his ass thrown out, instead of just *letting* him take Yayoi hostage. Yayoi, who, by the way, despite her impressive pointing-of-a-katana-at Kiryu in K1, doesn't do a damn thing with it across two games. She just sits there. She tosses Kiryu a sword against that aforementioned guy, instead of just attacking him herself. She proceeds to stand by for the current and next fight against that dude, as Kiryu does everything. In Yakuza 0, I didn't find the plot oh-so predictable, or events so strange and out of place. The places the story goes were much more coherent and fed into themselves a lot better, in my eyes.They set up for you that Majima (who I could whine for hours about how he has so much less substance in Kiwami 1, but that's whining cuz 0 was written after) has to kill Makoto to be free of his shit life at the Grand, but then *quickly* make it clear he's not doing that, so he instead searches for a way out of the hot water he's been put in. This leads to Sera "inviting" him over to his place, while on the other side, Kiryu is lead there through much more straightforward means, by being allied with Tachibana, which speaks somewhat to how Kiryu interacts with the plot as a whole. I feel like I can give pretty good summaries of every character in Yakuza 0, their motives, their thought processes, but the same cannot be said of Kiwami 1 and 2. Characters just don't feel like they have that same depth. Compare Kuze, or even Awano, mid-bosses of Yakuza 0, to Jingu, who is supposedly the mastermind main antagonist of the plot in 1. Kuze is an old dog, who believes might-makes-right, and that on the surface is pretty lame, but he gains respect for Kiryu, claiming "we've made a monster." when he's given up winning the lot, and a fight with Kiryu, entirely. Awano is almost a mirror image of that philosophy, where he used to be a hard-line Yakuza like Kuze, but in time softened up to the nightlife that the series is largely a host to. Who the hell is Jingu? Uh, well, he's a government official... who likes the sound of a lot of money, so he fights you. Wow. And Ryuji is... He's a brat kid. That's good for when you wanna be fighting a truly strong opponent, but not so much for wanting to get into a character's head. I guess that's it for now. If I dug deeper I'm sure I could come up with more. I didn't even touch on Makoto or Kaoru. Thinking about Date makes me realize how much of K1 is really about dads, but then the game ends with a fight against Nishikiyama, notably not a father. Either way, that's what I can scrape together right now.
I think the issue here is that you were expecting K1 and K2 to be exactly like Zero in pacing, tone, and structure. Sure, Zero can be regarded as the peak of where the devs took all of the knowledge they learned from the sequels and brought it all in for one game but I can’t say K1 and K2 are failures in hindsight. Even the K1 remake adds more depth to a decent select of characters compared to the original game especially with Nishikiyama. K1 is a mystery thriller where characters are gradually figuring things out as the plot keeps moving along with being a story about family and fighting for what’s right. K2 is also a mystery thriller, but it’s more of an action story with the heightened stakes as well as the prospect of really pushing Kazuma to his limit compared to K1. Jingu was never really meant to be three dimensional as much as he was just a personification of what power and influence can do to a person. Jingu was also the final piece of the mystery so I feel he works fine in the overall plot. Nishkiyama is more of the villain in K1. Ruyjii Goda being a bit of a brat is part of the point, he’s brutal and has a sense of honor except unlike Kazuma his honor comes from being a self made man who values pure strength which makes him a great foil for Kazuma imo. Kuze and Awano certainly got the job on being solid antagonists and I fully agree with your reading of them, but I sadly can’t say I was ever invested in them as characters. Not much to Shibisawa in Zero other than he’s just the final boss for Kazuma and Dojima is just Jingu character wise but more screen time.
@@jman2856 Well, I guess it's just a difference of opinion and preference, then. I really over did a lot of that wall of text, but it was how I feel, so thanks for reading all of that.
Yeah, I can see your point. I can barely remember the plot of Kiwami 1 from my first playthrough. But, after going through some summary videos, it does make a bit more sense. Although, it could partially be my fault for getting lost in the sub stories to the point where I forgot major elements in the main story. Overall, it's not the worst story I've experienced. It was still a pretty fun ride.
Your opinion dude, other people would say Yakuza 2 is the best or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6. There's no such thing which is the best in the series because you Yakuza fans have mixed opinions.
the game is not just about killing people(no such thing in this game lol) but other entertaining as well, don't just play the story, try walk down the streets and play some submissions, there's minigame too, and better get a legit copy otherwise the complaining does not count, right?
@@user-ez05ob0WqQ I would get legit copies if the games weren't such an annoying slog to play. I do that, pirate the game when it comes out, try for a few days and if i like it i start saving money and wait for steam sale. Yakuza games? Well, i uninstalled them after 10 or so hour of gameplay and moved on.
well that means this games maybe it's not for you... saving money is one thing but about this 'try then buy' way... maybe you can consider buy yourself a game console(is not as expensive as a gaming PC nowadays, trust me) instead of wasting money for a gaming PC(it will be outdated anyway), they have demos for you to try out before you buy the game
![Tee Grizzley - Robbery 8 [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/34_vkNV6wrU/mqdefault.jpg)
Kiwami 2 is basically a true love letter to Kiryu as a protagonist. Since Y6 was a goodbye to him and his legacy, Kiwami 2 was a celebration of his character, like you highlighted here in your review. It really hammered in why I love Kiryu, and why he is personally my favourite character of all time. It's also the main reason this game is fighting for fave spot with Yakuza 0 (I think it might just be winning though).
Equinox Man well that's just you I loved Kiwami 2. Kiwami 1 to most new Yakuza fans didn't really liked the story.
Equinox Man But Y2 has the best story in the series. You're tripping my man. Bet you started on 0.
@Equinox Man Sure Y0 has one of the best stories, and I personally prefer it to K2's, but Yakuza games are so much more than just the main story and K2's extra content is what solidifies Kiryu's character and is the main reason why I love it as much as Y0.
Also what kind of PS4 were you playing it on for bad performance? It works completely fine for myself and pretty much everyone else who I know has played it.
@@JayAreAitch No way that Y 2 is better than 0 in terms of story telling. There were plenty of face palm moments in Y2 where the characters act really dumb. Like the cops falling for the "video evidence" of Date's shooting where you can clearly see that Date didn't pull the trigger and there was no muzzle flash or striking of hammer. I felt that quite a number of deaths were avoidable if they weren't so friggin stupid. Then there's a lot of running around and then suddenly at the end a shit ton of exposition being dumped at us. I still liked it despite all that and there were some great moments and twists but it really can't match up to 0. The antagonists from 0 were much better and I felt that Kuze was a much better rival than Ryuji. And not to forget that you get to play as friggin Majima in 0. Majima and Makoto's relationship didn't feel forced unlike Kiryu and Sayama. As for the port they both ran extremely well on my PC so I don't about the PS4.
@@rayyanali4471 You got to play as Majima in Kiwami 2 so your point is moot. Also Kuze isn't a better rival than Ryuji, in fact Kuze isn't even a rival, he's a boss. A recurring boss admittedly, so nemesis is probably a better word. On the other hand, Ryuji is absolutely Kiryu's rival and possibly the only person I've come across so far who's as good as Kiryu in a fight. I only got through that final battle with Ryuji by completely filling my inventory with Staminan Royales.
"Recently brought to the PC" Disables motion blur*
Blessed
I wish we could get rid of the dof effect in Kamurucho.
@@rayyanali4471 I think SEGA added a beta patch on steam that added the option to disable the dof and tweak the anti aliasing even further, but i didn't check it out yet, but you can also look for a mod that disables it
@@rayyanali4471 Ok scratch that the most recent patch allows you to disable the dof so it's ok now
@@superluismigueL100 I know this comment is a year old but I seriously have to thank you. The game was unplayable for me until I happened to read this comment about disabling the DOF. Now it’s perfect
Kiwami 2 is personally my favorite Yakuza game. Improved systems from 6, a great story with one of the best antagonists in the series, bombastic and silly as hell. Such a fun game bursting with that Yakuza charm.
Agreed. It feels like the best effort by the team to deliver a truly special experience.
0 and 2 are my favorite ones... but the ending of kiwami 2 it would be epic as fuck if they die at the end in a blaze of glory- Personally Yakuza 2 was my first yakuza game and I loved it when I was in middleschool.
@Equinox Man kiwami 1? You are kidding?
@Equinox Man Have you been on the crazy pills? Kiwami 1 has a terrible story, quite possibly the most drawn out and weak protagonist in the entire series (Nishikiyama), I think you must have hit your head pretty hard to say it's better than ANY Yakuza game, except maybe Yakuza 3 but even that game had a more memorable final boss fight ( Jingu doesn't count as he's not the main antagonist, Nishikiyama is. Jingu doesn't even show up till right at the end which felt so cheap).
@@acurisur The main antagonist in Kiwami 1 feels much better if you've played Yakuza 0 before because in Zero we establish a pretty strong emotional connection with Nishiki, therefore in Kiwami 1 you perceive him not as some no-name mofo but as a former best friend turned enemy.
The GOAT talking about the GOAT series again!!!!
If violence isn't solving your problems you're not using enough~
HxH _and_ Yakuza?
You truly are a man of culture.
i always jump back and forth between yakuza 0 and Kiwami 2 for my favourite.
in one hand Kiwami 2 has the best stuff and was the turning point for the franchise.
While Zero was such an amazing introduction with an original story that filled in many blanks.
Yakuza is by far one of my favorite video game series ever. Playing Yakuza 0 was one of the best choices in my life and it also led me to pre-ordering Kiwami 1&2 on PC. I haven't felt this immersed into a videogame, it's characters and their numerous stories for quiet a long time. The best thing is that there are still 4 games coming out.
3:11 got me a bit confused
PS: I noticed a certain lack of Majima. Love your videos though. Keep it up!
Exactly!!!!
I admire kiryu so much as a man. i want to be more like him. he really is a hooligan with the heart of gold
Absolutely love the Yakuza games... If you have NOT played them, you can begin with any game... They all begin with a recap of the previous story, like a TV series. But if you really want to begin at the beginning 'Yakuza Zero' is the canonical beginning of the story.
Difficult as it may be, I certainly am hoping to get my start with the Ryu ga Gotoku 1&2 HD (Maybe even make a "Yakuza 1 & 2, but with Kiwami subtitles" out of them, especially as Yakuza 1 had some very infamous translation & sub-par dubbing). Even if they never got localised, they were much better optimised & refined versions of their PlayStation 2 originals and I really want to warm myself up all the way to Zero to really enjoy the series high point that game achieved (And what a high-point it was from what I've seen!), though international releases for Yakuza 3, 4 & 5 [PS4] would certainly be a welcome convenience. Now if only Kenzan! & Ishin! could be localised & go international. Ishin! in particular is one jam-packed fan-service package (And what a soundtrack!)
@JUST REMEMBER ALL CAPS I did come to think of Kiwami as "Yakuza 0 + 1", as I do Kiwami 2 "Yakuza 6 - 4" or "Yakuza 0 + 2". Very ideal starting points for those without a PS2 or PS3 nor the ability to understand Japanese, but there's enough from the originals to be missed (The timeless original music chiefly, even though Kiwami 1 has unofficial means to restore that).
As much as I love what the series has become, I am all the more thankful I started the Mass Effect straight at the beginning, even though it took me until mid-2011 to do so, so I'm certainly keen to make my start with the humbler & harsher-toned times.
I started with 6 a few months ago . Wanted to impulsively buy a game and Yakuza popped into my head ( I’ve heard of the series for years but really had no idea what the games were like). Bought Zero before even beating 6. Beat 6. Spent 93 hours with Zero. Now playing Kiwami. Already have Kiwami 2. This series is one the best gaming surprises, next to Persona 5, that I’ve experienced in a very long time.
Starting with Zero would be a mistake. A lot of references and inside jokes that only fans of the series that played the previous games would understand.
On top of that, the game completely glimpse over one plot with a character that tied to Majima that was quite important in later games, act as if you already know that particular story due to the fact that the game was made after Yakuza 5.
I mean, you can start with any, but you should try to go release order if you can.
I definitely prefer Kiwami 2's combat system, I love throwing people into stuff, or off the bridge in Sotenbori.
Or throw them crotch first into electric poles.
"Kiryu is the Japanese John Wick" - clicked like and share right then and there.
I remember playing Yakuza 2 on playstation 2. Picked it up at block buster and it was one of the best gaming decisions I made. I like all the kiwami games. They seem to be clones if each other which is awesome because the graphics are awesome and the formula's great. The storyline reminds me of the Out Rage movies. These games make you want to go to Japan
Despite all this.
The game is unfairly Underrated and Underappreciated.
The entire series is a AAA builted Masterpiece and GOTY worthy.
Its one of THE true definitive Video game franchise out there.
Truely Sucks that people compares this to GTA and some nowadays even go far to ask if it has Battle royale mode which gives me temporary heart cancer.
so wish shenmue3 was made with their engine...
I KNOW RIGHT! So many people see this as the spiritual successor to Shenmue. I am surprised Sega didn't reboot Shenmue in this Yakuza engine and smash out a trilogy.
@@ArkaynAdrian wait, what? Yakuza could be anything but Shenmue spiritual successor, those series are completely different. How people even came to that conclusion?
@Nguyễn Hải Dương And there are 4 more filler games planned before 7 finally makes some progress on the story lol
Ue4 is pretty nice though
@@lemiru the devs on Yakuza series started with Yu Suzuki (creator of many gold sega hits) on 1st and 2nd Shenmue during SEGA Dreamcast era.
After the downfall of dreamcast, they took the original shenmue 2 engine and created the first yakuza on ps2 and have evolved that engine to the awesomeness you see today....whilst the shenmue 3...well..
Best and most thorough kiwami 2 review I've seen! Bravo!! 👍
The greatest money shot of all time at 3:22
Waiting on a Yakuza spin-off starring all my favorite essay boys.
My weapon will be a bike. My fetish will also be a bike. My weakness? Some for of anti-bike...a staircase perhaps?
Lain
Lain
Holy shit, I love that. Kiryu IS the Japanese John Wick
Kiwami 2 is my favourite Yakuza, I’ve just played Kiwami and 6 but holy shit, the story, the world and all the side content is incredible, that club mini game, best mini game ever. This is the game that made really love the franchise, waiting for the remasters of the other games and obviously, judgement in a few weeks.
Equinox Man I really hope Judgement crushes Yakuza 0's story because I'm getting tired of these annoying Yakuza 0 worshipping assholes like you who won't accept an opinion to anybody on this series.
Equinox Man
Please don't tell me you're trying to "troll" other people in here. Are you publicly bashing Yakuza Kiwami 2?
Equinox Man
...ok.
Equinox Man your opinion dude. Plus back in 2008 before Yakuza 0 obviously Yakuza 2 was well beloved by fans for its story.
@@doomfry3163 Holy crap lol. It annoys you that much? Gotta keep in mind that kiwami 1 and 2 have ps2 level writing. 0 does not. 0 was made with an experienced team.
Kiwami 2 did make a list of changes that weren't received favourably from those who followed the series for a long time or played the classic (A particular area from the original game was removed, the music when remixing or replacing classic tracks had mixed reception, and there were more smaller details that were criticised), but playing the original isn't exactly easy when it was only ever localised for PlayStation 2 & it's much-improved & optimised PlayStation 3 re-release as part of the Ryu ga Gotoku [Like a Dragon] 1&2 HD Collection was released domestically with no English language support, with emulation the only alternative. I myself remain eager to make my start with the series from the original titles as I want to feel the hype of reaching Zero & seeing the series reach one of it's highest peaks, but Kiwami 2 certainly has much to offer by itself (It's original tracks were received well, we got more Sub Stories & Majima, and now it's PC port provides the opportunity to see the Dragon Engine run at high frame-rates & more).
That said, I don't believe the PlayStation 3 titles warrant as much need of a Kiwami Edition as much as I'd think. Having their frame-rate targets doubled from 30fps to 60fps, resolutions bumped up and more is enough to bring these games up-to-date, especially as I believe Yakuza 5 was built on the tech that powered Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! [Like a Dragon Restoration!], Yakuza 0 & Kiwami as well as Hokuto ga Gotoku [Like a North Star]/Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise. Plus, many yearn to see Yakuza 3 with it's missing content from Ryu ga Gotoku 3 restored, as well as perhaps an updated translation for 3 & 4 (Perhaps 5, but that was the first of the renewed effort that's been well received), which could be released as a trio collection should they go international as hoped, so I myself would be very happy to have a high-FPS re-release of these games than a Kiwami version of them.
I'm just curious, as someone who played Kiwami 2 but not the original (I started playing the Yakuza games with Yakuza 4 when when it came out), what area of the game is missing?
@@musko8129 An area called 'Shineseicho', or the "Third Area" as best as I can recover. I do hear there wasn't much content within it, but nevertheless unfortunate. There were also mini-games removed, namely the Club ADAM host organisation. And one of the more beloved cutscenes from the game had a music change and new SFX whose addition weakened it's impact compared to the original, which I can definitely say while it may be nit-picky, it's not nostalgia talking. And the new music when replacing (Not remixing) classic music certainly wasn't received warmly (If you loved such pieces as 'Evil Itself' & 'Beast Itself', which I certainly do).
Of course, Kiwami 2 has additions of it's own (The Clan Creator & Majima Chapters two chief examples), but it does end up disappointing those hoping for Kiwami 2 to provide a definitive version of Ryu ga Gotoku 2/Yakuza 2. By no means does it make Kiwami 2 a bad game at all, but it leaves just enough to be missed from the original.
I can't comprehend people that wanting Kiwami version of 3-5. Sounds like they're the newer spoilt fans that disgusted by not so flashy and realistic visuals.
@@zeroskaterz92 Only thing largely dated at a glance about Ryu ga Gotoku 3 & 4 would be the glossy skin on characters or much more limited Sub Story animation presets. I suppose they decided after Kenzan! that de-saturating their games once was enough and had the rest thereafter remain largely colourful (And I only remember Ryu ga Gotoku 3 having examples of high bloom).
Seeing them run at 60fps, having Yakuza 3's missing content from Ryu ga Gotoku 3 restored and perhaps an updated translation for Yakuza 3 & 4 would be enough for me (Even if I do hear Ryu ga Gotoku 3's enemy health bars were very hard to drain).
when I realized they removed shineseicho part, I stopped playing, don't even save and not touch a controller in 3 days
0:02 - Underrated scene. Why can't I find a GIF of this?
ah yes hostess club manager 2 amazing game second only to hostess club manager zero!
Having already played Yakuza 2 on my PS2 back then, I really hope the PC release of Kiwami 2 will be followed by Yakuza 6, which I've never played. Crossing fingers as hard as I can!
Yakuza 6 might come after the HD remaster of the remaining games (3,4 and 5).
Never clicked so fast on a notification!
Btw: keep up the good job!
I truly enjoy these games. I'm big big part due to the franchise seemingly like, it's not trying to reinvent the wheel they already created, but that they evolve upon what they've already done in previous titles making them just different which to feel different while being satisfyingly familiar
4:20
"kiryu doesn't kill"
I liked 6 well enough but the combat was bit of a let down for me. because they had new engine there were only one style whit few moves. winch you do over and over again. and side quest not so compelling. story was solid as f.
i hold Y zero as an best in the series. it nailed in mind everything. Kiwami 2 was better 6 but still suffer under a bit at same problems thou side quests were better. i am looking forward to Judgement they showed they had at least 2 styles there so it is coming along nicely. hopefully they add styles more and more as games come. Story in typical Yakuza fashion is gonna be great as usual.
i disagree whit you on point Y3-5 re-release, somewhat at least. yes i would like to see them in dragon engine but not of the cost of those styles and perhaps other content they would have to do again and i know something would be lost in that mix. because Yakuza games are developed way too fast. look at the time span we got these games and how many we got including Fist of the north star. it is not long. to make these on dragon engine too fast i think would result in half baked games. i rather let them focus whit dragon engine on new games to give them as much time and attention they can. so they will become more richer in side-quest and combat plus story wise.
I wish they'd remake them all in the dragon engine.
I'm playing Kiwami and I just feel myself not being able to wait until it's over so I can play Kiwami 2
Saaammee. I'm very excited to try the new engine, as Kiwami 1 feels a bit too much like 0, with many reused assets, but without being able to use Majima's break dance moves D: Also, how are you finding the "Majima everywhere" system? It's often enjoyable, though it really screws with the impact and pacing of the original; one moment I'm playing through M's goofy zombie prank, the next he's shot Date and kidnapped Haruko and we're all dramatic again. I'm also looking forward to the better side stories in 2. All that said, I'm still glued to this game and look forward to seeing it through ^^
I'm currently playing Yakuza 0 ( I know that I'm late) and I'm blown away....it's easily one of the best game of the generation along with bloodborne, DS3,Witcher 3 the hearts of stone dlc and Shadow of the collosus remake.... Y0 is my first Yakuza game and I can't decide what to buy next...kiwami 1 and 2 or the brand new IP judgement coz I'm short of money....any help will be appreciated(suggestions)
Watch or buy kiwami 1, for sure buy kiwami 2
Kiwami 1 is considered to be a let down compared to zero but it's because it's a extremely faithful remake to the first, with the addition of majima everywhere
@@kevintran5473 thanks for your feedback.....I'll definitely watch kiwami and buy 2 instead.....once again thanks for awesome idea
Kevin Tran I don't think K1's problems stem from being a faithful recreation.
I played 0 last year and super loved it. After that, played 6 and Kiwami (1). They were both enjoyable, but not nearly as much as 0. So when Kiwami 2 came out, I pretty much ignored it. That is, until I came across an article saying the caberet club game is back...
Yeah, so I just finished Kiwami 2 over the weekend and I can say it's not as good as 0, but much better overall compared to 6 and Kiwami. My only real gripe is that the story is a bit too convoluted.
You can also opt for buying Kiwami 1 test it out & if you don't like it then refund it before 2 hrs {the restriction on steam purchases for refund}.
Been with this series since 2006 mein.
I know I sound weird...
So I played Zero and Kiwami using pads, it's fun but my veins are rooted in mouse and keyboard
In Kiwami 2 they refined this !
I feel like that blessed CDPR touch, smooth M & S controls on my fingers, flowing through my body
I'm just happy they did this, thanks SEGA
Yeah, I played all 3 with mouse and keyboard and was blown away by how much of an improvement Kiwami 2 was over 0 and Kiwami 1.
The mouse And keyboard it is really good And smooth to play yakuza games
Best story for Kiryu
I myself would prefer a Yakuza 3,4 and 5 remaster because I never had a PS3. I want to experience them as they were back then just with the higher resolution now.
I was sad there was no different fighting styles but it's still fun
multi-fighting styles are only in Ishin(Katana/Gun/Bare hand/Gunkata-ish moves), 0, Kiwami 1, the rest of the series does not have such thing, if you played Yakuza 4 and 5 you may notice that many of the moves in Yakuza 0/Kiwami 1 are from 4/5's different styles from different characters, Kiryu originally only has 1 style, the 'Dragon of Dojima' style, 0 seems like a real start from the story of the series, but it's still starts from Yakuza 1...
Okay but Mahjong...
YAKUZA 0 The Pier Soothing Sounds
I agree with Kiwami style remakes of 3, 4 and 5 BUT for every Ryu Ga Kotoku nerd like myself who'd buy it I don't Sega would break even on the expenditure. That and once I finished Kiwami 2 (hence all of them inc Dead Souls spin off) I was done.
There have been a lot released close together and you risk burning the formula as is considering Judgement is still a similar style game in concept.
This game was my most anticipated game for 2017!!!!😁👍👍
And this game was a real treat!🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫
I really don't like the combat in Y6, it feels sluggish and bad for groups of enemies. I love the story in Y2 though but if this game is using the same combat as 6, I'll pass
to be honest. i missed the 4 style stance with 0 and kiwami.
My only gripe with the game (aside from the combat which have been severely streamlined from previous games) is the amount of plot twists the game throws at you at the last second for not really a whole lot of reasons. I'm fine with a few twists and turns like what they did in 0, but here it just ended up kinda pissing me off. Maybe it's just me, if you've played the game you'd know what i'm talking about. I never played the original yakuza 2 so i dont know if the story is all that different.
I think the story is the same as the original although admittedly I haven't played it either. Just presentation and maybe some dialogue has changed but besides that I reckon the story beats are the same.
In any case, I agree with you 100%, especially with the combat (oh boy I wasn't a big fan). I remember the twists and revelations just becoming a bit stupid by the end but generally, the story and characters were great. I felt like I genuinely got to understand how Kiryu ticks in this game and I loved those introspective moments. The game also looks great and is super seamless throughout, but man, the combat hurt me bad. So I will definitely end up playing through the original at some point since I think I owe that to myself and this game's story aha.
Well i can tell you both that it's more or less the same story, except for a few cutscenes introducing minigames being added, and a secondary area in sotenbori that was taken out. It wasn't that big, both in size and in importance to the story. which you can tell by them just making the one thing you did there happen in sotenbori instead. But i would still have liked to see it.
They did get a little overboard in the last few moments.
Spoilers, obviously.
Terada is alive! But he's a bad guy! He's actually Korean mafia! Everything he did in 1 and 2 was part of an elaborate plan! He hates you and he wants to destroy the Tojo Clan and Kamurocho with a big fuck-off bomb!
Just kidding though! He knew the other guy was going to betray him and his plans would fail, so he tries to help you out after trying to kill you! Also the big fuck-off bomb is a dud! Hurray!
Like... what?! What?! None of that was necessary. He comes back to kill you but not kill you and then he dies again. His return contributed nothing. He might as well have just stayed dead and let the other guy, who was pretty obviously a bad guy from the start, just come in and be the bad guy.
Hyperbithero and Thegamingbrit are gonna be so mad haha
How come?
@@tigerfestivals5137 They don't like Kiwami 2 and are huge defenders of the original
I heard both their arguments but I have to say it's biased towards the original due to nostalgia. The thing I hate most about Kiwami 2 though, is the ragdoll
@@ZoMbi5lAy3r I found the ragdoll super annoying till i got the getup move later in the game. After I got that it was all good, but getting knocked down then flopping all over the place made me shake my head everytime early on lol
Is bit still uploading?
Kiwami storywise was a great game, it had lots of content to play around in, the only problem I have with the game was the removal of the battle styles which made the game seem so much more boring. In Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1 I skipped only a very few battles, but in Kiwami 2 I noticed skipping tons of battles, and only due to the fact that the battles felt boringly same all the time, even after unlocking new abilities for Kiryu
Yeah, though every individual move feels more polished and impactful, switching it up and the vast array of moves had their own charm. Unlocking skills that let you instantly switch styles was great when you figured out how to use those to chain your moves together smoothly.
But for me, the greatest flaw of Kiwami 2's battle style in comparison to 0 and Kiwami 1 was the improvised weapons. In the prior releases for PC, my favorite way to fight was by grabbing a desk/motorbike/street sign/power distributor/etc. and going wild on mooks with it. In Kiwami 2, the same could still be done, but the heat actions done with improvised weapons just didn't feel right. They looked like Kiryu was swinging much lighter foam-props of these objects instead of the genuine articles.
Hopefully, these are just growing pains as the developers gradually get used to the new engine.
I wish they kept the old fighting styles though.
I tried Y5 on PS3 and it did not click with me.
I give the series another chance with Yakuza Zero (great game), played Kiwami (well remake, so it felt like more of the same, but I liked the story and gameplay was fun). I own copies of these games on both PS4 and PC.
Now I'm a bit worried as Kiwami 2 has new engine and even more changes, but the remasters of 4 to 5 are just remasters not remakes. So after playing kiwami 3 and going to 3 might feel like disconnected experience in terms of technical polish.
Hey i dropped a like but haven't watched it as i've not cleared it yet but im sure its as good and as informative as your others.. Keep up the good work man
I wish Toshihiro Nagoshi would consider remaking Yakuza 3, that game has not aged well at all, even the Remastered version looks pretty bad now on PS4. Not to mention the pacing and story are all over the place, so a Yakuza Kiwami 3 using the Dragon engine again would allow them to reshape the story into something more coherent as well.
Your reviews are so on point. Like a pole up a street thugs a&%e.
You're wrong, John Wick is the western Kiryu Kazuma
They should remake The Black Panther games from PSP. It's not as expansive as any of Kiryu's adventures, so they can release it as one. Not entirely a fan of 7's new Turn Based combat.
Welp. You just sold me Kawami/Kawami 2.
You bastard.
6 and Kiwami 2 would be my favourite. If they didn't ruin the combat system.
It possible pc get 3-6 series? I didn't really care yakuza 3-5 not got kiwami version i just want play all series
6 is confirmed to come. My guess is that Sega is going to release the games in chronological order first before they do. 0 and Kiwami was Segas attempt to see if PC gamers are interested in the series and we clearly were so there is no reason that they would skip 3-5.
Wait 1 more day for 3-5. Wait till late March for 6
subbed
No more kiwamis?? What? I didnt knew this and its very sad.
Remastered versions of 3, 4 & 5 should be coming soon to the west
Good sequel but Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 6 the song of life are the best yakuzas, also Yakuza 4
Yakuza 0 is easily the best
I just started Kiwami 2 after going through 0 and Kiwami, and... I just instantly felt like I didn't want to keep playing it. Ditching the multiple fighting styles is bad enough, those were the only things that made fighting semi-interesting aside from the heat moves, but you start the game on a rainy night, where everything in the environment is just fucking glowing with a weird blue light and it washes out everything to make it all look boring, colorless, and samey. Ditching the skill grid for a generic menu of upgrades that just cost different types of experience (that all seemingly drop randomly from fighting anyway) is the most boring upgrade path they could have taken. Kiryu's face in cutscenes has this weird uncanny valley anime look to it, where his eyes are large and his irises are pitch black, so they just look like big black circles. The camera during traversal is more zoomed in than the old engine, so everything feels more cramped and there's less to look at as you just sprint/jog through multiple blocks of city for 70% of the game. Also, playing the PS4 version, the motion blur only makes the environment look that much worse.
I'm gonna give it a few more hours, just to give it a fair chance since I've seen how many people love it, but it's just such a huge change from the 60-70 hours I've put into the series so far that my hype immediately disappeared and makes it hard to really go in with good expectations.
I’m playing on PC and I feel the same way. I thought something was wrong with my computer but when I looked up game play videos on RUclips they looked the same. I’ve gotten used to it but I wish they kept the same style as 0/K1
Too bad my pc is crying while playing this game
The combat was pared down to emphasize impact? ...Sorry dude, but that's completely off the mark. They couldn't make the combat as complex because they were starting over with a new engine.
2:10 Kawami 2
Can you play on mouse and keyboard or do you recommend not
Never tried. The game recommends using a controller when you load it up. That said, I believe it is possible to play M&K.
real yakuza play with gamepad
I can't really say I agree with your assessment of the Dragon Engine. Sure, it looks nice, but the performance on consoles is pretty bad and the over-reliance on physics makes combat a much clunkier affair than in the later PS3 era titles.
It's not the Dragon Engine's fault that console hardware is shit. It runs absolutely beautifully on PC. Hopefully 6 and Kiwami 2 can get some kind of next-gen console release so they can run as they should instead of being held back by the garbage hardware Sony put in the PS4 (that thing was outdated when it released in 2013).
Good thing this is a PC review then.
@@JayAreAitch It runs great on my PC as well. Doesn't excuse the engine being an unoptimized nightmare that produces games with worse combat.
@@lordshemp3324 The style system was pretty clunky too imo.
>Ki whammy
bruh...
This man is playing yakuza with an Xbox controller... Sacrilege
I like virtual on
As someone who started the franchise with the pc releases I really dislike the fighting aspect in Kiwami 2 in comparison to Yakuza 0 or even 1. I didn't do every side mission to the fullest in 0 to unlock Legend both for Kiryu and Majima but I know those exist but the characters were already extremely fleshed with their 3 fight styles. In Kiwami 2 unlocking basic stuff is essential to make the fights at least tolerable.
Blizz DeKay if you didn't like the fighting aspects in Kiwami or in Kiwami 2. Then I don't know how the hell you are going to enjoy the rest of the series because each character including Kiryu is only going to have one fighting style not multiple styles. But they are still good fighting styles regardless for only one style and 3-5 are still good games.
@@doomfry3163 Kiwami 2/6 fighting style is awful though. Feels so cut down and boring.
pc版滑らかすぎ
Got onto Yakuza train by playing Y0 on PC, loved every bit of it, sank ungodly amount of hours into it. It ran smooth, graphics were actually amazing. Then after i finished it and i went over to Yakuza Kiwami 1. Loved every bit of it, sank ungodly amount of hours into it. It ran smooth, graphics were amazing. Then i finished it and wanted to try Kiwami 2 that everyone was praising. I was so excited! The result: Unplayable mess, bugs, impossible to play even at 30fps by my potato PC. Extremely bad port. I am so sad now. I don't want to dish out a lot of money for components just to play that game. Really negative experience of the dragon engine. That means i won't be playing 6 as well since it uses the same ungodly amount of recources and strain on my PC. Sigh. Guess i'll have to skip the supposed best Yakuza game and go after the remakes of 3,4 and 5. : (
Yep, all these people must be in the shooreh pippi cult, how can you just ignore all these problems? My PC from 2019 runs most new games without any problems, but in kiwami 2 I got like 15-20 FPS. I had to use third party software for anti aliasing and sharpening to get up to 40 FPS, which is still pretty bad. Street fights are pointless, you just throw them around over and over, those ragdolls can't touch you in the slightest no matter the difficulty, what a joke. I don't know if I have the stomach to finish this "game".
is there any gay option (like gay sex,kissing or gay parlor or any other gay thing in this game
There's some moments where you get hit on by a drag queen or trans woman
shizuwolf thanks for the reply friend
@@priceprice4705 Why
First
I can't help but feel like this ignores how terrible the plot of this game was. Saying "It's a great plot, the buff men still rip their shirts off" is very dismissive of the way that new fans like me felt about Zero. Zero built up this idea that these games had *good* plots, and so far as got me to buy Kiwami 1 and Kiwami 2, expecting another great story, but getting contrived nonsense.
Remember that time the Chinese kidnap Haruka in 1? And so Kiryu heads over and beats them all up, and you have a boss fight with Sword Man? What about that other boss, Two Gun Man, who kills off characters that are barely mentioned again?
Yakuza 2 was hyped up to me as where the series truly got it's identity, and yet the plot is mind numbing in the way that I feel like I am only expected to pay attention when the buff men's shirts come off, and everything else is secondary. Kaoru bounces between talking like a hardass cop and acting like useless set dressing so frequently that it's ridiculous. She could have been T-posing the whole game and it wouldn't have made it seem like she was physically doing less than she actually does.
Fuck, it's been a while, but at the end, don't Kiryu and Ryuji lock her out of their battle arena by closing the door of an industrial elevator with her on the other side of it? This elevator that should for no reason be impossible to open the doors of? And she just sorta crumples over and gives up on saving either of them.
What exactly makes Zero stand out compared to Kiwami 1 and 2? I’d argue all three on par with each other with 1 and 2’s plots doing a few things better than Zero.
@@jman2856 I'll preface that while I may not be happy about K1 and K2's plots after Zero, I know that they were made many years ago, and I know that not many people seem to agree with me.
Yakuza 0 feels like a full package to me. The other two games I've played are rather filled in of themselves, but Yakuza 0 took all of the enjoyment of playing the Kiwamis and effectively doubled them to me just by adding a second playable character. And I'll just put an author's note here; I grew up playing Munch's Oddysee, so I'm a bit of a glutton for games where you swap between two characters. I'll also say that my thoughts are far from organized, so I apologize if I don't answer your "exactly" prompt.
To me, the plot beats of Kiwami 1 and 2 felt very much like they were happening because they had to, in a bad way. Sometimes it felt like some concept art or pieces of writing didn't find organic places to be, so instead they just said "oh put it here", and sometimes they land places that don't make sense.
There's a three way gang war in K1 that happens to no effect except that Haruka gets kidnapped by Two Sword Chinese Guy in the confusion, and I can't remember a single thing Shinji did in that plot, but it was still supposed to be an emotional death scene. Not to mention how all the information you're given almost no time to learn who Kazama is before he dies, and Shibusawa, who was a somewhat competent villain in 0, just charges Kiryu like a dumb asshole in both of his encounters.
In K2, there's that dude at Dojima HQ who felt like a joke from start, when they ask him if he'll help and he says no, to when Kiryu is kicking his ass into the floor for the second or third time. Now, I enjoy kicking dumbasses into the curb with Kiryu's nice shoes just as much as any Yakuza player, but this was somehow the most avoidable conflict, but also visible from miles away. The moment that dude showed disobedience, he should've gotten his ass thrown out, instead of just *letting* him take Yayoi hostage. Yayoi, who, by the way, despite her impressive pointing-of-a-katana-at Kiryu in K1, doesn't do a damn thing with it across two games. She just sits there. She tosses Kiryu a sword against that aforementioned guy, instead of just attacking him herself. She proceeds to stand by for the current and next fight against that dude, as Kiryu does everything.
In Yakuza 0, I didn't find the plot oh-so predictable, or events so strange and out of place. The places the story goes were much more coherent and fed into themselves a lot better, in my eyes.They set up for you that Majima (who I could whine for hours about how he has so much less substance in Kiwami 1, but that's whining cuz 0 was written after) has to kill Makoto to be free of his shit life at the Grand, but then *quickly* make it clear he's not doing that, so he instead searches for a way out of the hot water he's been put in. This leads to Sera "inviting" him over to his place, while on the other side, Kiryu is lead there through much more straightforward means, by being allied with Tachibana, which speaks somewhat to how Kiryu interacts with the plot as a whole.
I feel like I can give pretty good summaries of every character in Yakuza 0, their motives, their thought processes, but the same cannot be said of Kiwami 1 and 2. Characters just don't feel like they have that same depth. Compare Kuze, or even Awano, mid-bosses of Yakuza 0, to Jingu, who is supposedly the mastermind main antagonist of the plot in 1. Kuze is an old dog, who believes might-makes-right, and that on the surface is pretty lame, but he gains respect for Kiryu, claiming "we've made a monster." when he's given up winning the lot, and a fight with Kiryu, entirely. Awano is almost a mirror image of that philosophy, where he used to be a hard-line Yakuza like Kuze, but in time softened up to the nightlife that the series is largely a host to. Who the hell is Jingu? Uh, well, he's a government official... who likes the sound of a lot of money, so he fights you. Wow. And Ryuji is... He's a brat kid. That's good for when you wanna be fighting a truly strong opponent, but not so much for wanting to get into a character's head.
I guess that's it for now. If I dug deeper I'm sure I could come up with more. I didn't even touch on Makoto or Kaoru. Thinking about Date makes me realize how much of K1 is really about dads, but then the game ends with a fight against Nishikiyama, notably not a father. Either way, that's what I can scrape together right now.
I think the issue here is that you were expecting K1 and K2 to be exactly like Zero in pacing, tone, and structure.
Sure, Zero can be regarded as the peak of where the devs took all of the knowledge they learned from the sequels and brought it all in for one game but I can’t say K1 and K2 are failures in hindsight.
Even the K1 remake adds more depth to a decent select of characters compared to the original game especially with Nishikiyama.
K1 is a mystery thriller where characters are gradually figuring things out as the plot keeps moving along with being a story about family and fighting for what’s right.
K2 is also a mystery thriller, but it’s more of an action story with the heightened stakes as well as the prospect of really pushing Kazuma to his limit compared to K1.
Jingu was never really meant to be three dimensional as much as he was just a personification of what power and influence can do to a person. Jingu was also the final piece of the mystery so I feel he works fine in the overall plot. Nishkiyama is more of the villain in K1.
Ruyjii Goda being a bit of a brat is part of the point, he’s brutal and has a sense of honor except unlike Kazuma his honor comes from being a self made man who values pure strength which makes him a great foil for Kazuma imo.
Kuze and Awano certainly got the job on being solid antagonists and I fully agree with your reading of them, but I sadly can’t say I was ever invested in them as characters. Not much to Shibisawa in Zero other than he’s just the final boss for Kazuma and Dojima is just Jingu character wise but more screen time.
@@jman2856 Well, I guess it's just a difference of opinion and preference, then. I really over did a lot of that wall of text, but it was how I feel, so thanks for reading all of that.
Yeah, I can see your point. I can barely remember the plot of Kiwami 1 from my first playthrough. But, after going through some summary videos, it does make a bit more sense. Although, it could partially be my fault for getting lost in the sub stories to the point where I forgot major elements in the main story.
Overall, it's not the worst story I've experienced. It was still a pretty fun ride.
The whole ending scene was stupid. Yakuza 0 is the best in the series.
Your opinion dude, other people would say Yakuza 2 is the best or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6. There's no such thing which is the best in the series because you Yakuza fans have mixed opinions.
Did you start on 0
I pirated 0, kiwami and kiwami 2 and could not finish any of them. The games are just so damn boring.
the game is not just about killing people(no such thing in this game lol) but other entertaining as well, don't just play the story, try walk down the streets and play some submissions, there's minigame too, and better get a legit copy otherwise the complaining does not count, right?
@@user-ez05ob0WqQ I would get legit copies if the games weren't such an annoying slog to play. I do that, pirate the game when it comes out, try for a few days and if i like it i start saving money and wait for steam sale.
Yakuza games? Well, i uninstalled them after 10 or so hour of gameplay and moved on.
well that means this games maybe it's not for you... saving money is one thing but about this 'try then buy' way... maybe you can consider buy yourself a game console(is not as expensive as a gaming PC nowadays, trust me) instead of wasting money for a gaming PC(it will be outdated anyway), they have demos for you to try out before you buy the game
@@user-ez05ob0WqQ It is expensive when your monthly salary is not even 300euro. Took me 3 years to save up money for this PC.
oh damn... well enjoy it then, can't say anything now, I brought the console first then a computer...