THIS GAME IS PEAK

Everything that was janky and weird about the original is ironed out and smooth. This game is oozing style and after fighting the final boss I'm so wired it makes me wanna merge without LOOKING!

Kiwami 2 stay losing.

Crazy how much the second game in the series pretty much traced the course of the franchise's next 9 years. Kiryu finally handles like the man dubbed Dragon of Dojima ought to be, a force of nature.

When I first started my RGG journey with 0 and the middling-to-abysmal Kiwamis, 2's story was 'merely' cool and enjoyable. Now that I'm caught up on the "Kiryu Saga", 2's tale stands out in its comparative straightforwardness, a quality the series too often lacks. All-time antagonist Ryuji Goda is a big reason as to why that is, but the overall essential cast, combined with the emotional rawness of the events shown, those are the real key ingredients.

Maybe it's the season, maybe it's the fading adrenaline from a shirtless fight on top of Kamurocho Hills ended with the angriest, most brutal Heat Action in the game, maybe I'm just tired... yet it doesn't feel like a proper year has passed if I don't finish a Like A Dragon title. Knowing the series still has so much to give fills me with trepidation as well as warmth. Despite the turmoil we live in, it's nice to do some virtual tourism, to immerse yourself in a different time and space. At this point, beating thugs senseless in the streets is just a nice bonus.

On Sunday afternoon I thought to myself, oh yeah I should write something and try to get a functioning ranking of Yakuzas before I get through LAD. Then I immediately decided not to do that because it's effort. Unfortunately I stayed up too late and in my sleepy state I committed to the project and now I'm doomed.

Anyway, as with Kiwami I haven't played this in ages. In fact Kiwami 2 wasn't even out when I played this so I went with the PS2 version, but I don't think that's lowering my rating in any way. 2 is so complex in a lot of ways that I imagine my thoughts will be very different when I get around to Kiwami 2 some day. Still I think I just can't easily decide which of the first two I rank higher so I'm punting it. Thoughts in no particular order.

My understanding is that they apologized at some point for this one being really super racist. There's a cop who loves murdering foreigners but it turns out to be okay because gangs. They never really stopped being nationalist games but we didn't get anything quite that bad.

The series begins here, and will continue hereafter, to have a certain desire to depict queer people while also being really cishet about it. This is kind of the high point for me? The Earth Angel mama is okay in my book, probably because she calls herself a homo. I'm guessing that line is changed in Kiwami 2. Even in LAD I stopped in there in chapter 1 and they stopped giving her any kind of unique dialogue but I can still nod appreciatively.

Ryuji Goda is interesting as an antagonist in that he's barely developed but I still somehow have residual good feelings about him. I think this is because he looks cool and the last fight with him falls under the "two men beating the shit out of each other for no reason because they're too stupid to kiss" trope and I frankly like that one every time. The end of MGS4 has me hootin' and hollerin' I cannot get enough of this shit.

The Castle Segment. Anyone who has played knows that entire chapter is just the best unhinged shit.

Second instance of Kiryu knocking out a guy with a gun and then not taking the gun from him so he wakes up and takes a shot at Kiryu but another important character jumps in front of the bullet. This is a problem on the level of Goku letting guys power up in front of him.

Usually Yakuza 3 is the one people talk as the blueprint of the series but Yakuza 2 deserves way more this title.

In a series with so many unique games Yakuza 2 stay unique by how he picks everything the original tried out and sticking together to build something.

Is a Hokuto no Ken game with hanzai eiga elements in it with a strong direction and a lot of choices that makes the whole experience strong. The game have jazz, have the cool as fuck brutal combat, a fun side content and a cool cast.

Yakuza 2 do a lot of interesting things with the writing and how everything plays out and have some misteps because of how early he was doing some of the questions (like the whole debate about misogyny and how it impacts Kaoru being made with good intentions but is not so well done) but still manage to work.

It's a classic, Kiwami 2 did dirty a lot of things with it.

i have a very complicated relationship with this game.
my first run with this game was about two years ago, and I was about one long battle away from despising this game. not playing Yakuza 1 first, i jumped headfirst into the oldest engine in the series and had a rough time going through it. the unrefined combat compared to later entries was such a drag, and trying to play this game on no upgrades was a nightmare.
at the very least, on my second go at this game, having nearly all upgrades at the start, the game's combat was a lot more enjoyable. compared to the first game, the combat was a huge improvement, barring the occasional lock-on to absolutely nothing. for most of the game's runtime, the combat was actually comparable to the other entries in the series. tiger drops felt more reactive, quickstep cancel felt fun to harass enemies with, and the sound design when you land that double finisher is still top tier.
in terms of gameplay, the only major downsides were the lock on randomly deciding to give up mid-combo and the enemy ai in general. it gets really frustrating how enemies will decide it's their turn to attack, and completely super armoring through our attacks and body slam you when they want to. any other combat issues were also in the first game, so any complaints there also apply.
my main gripe with the game comes down to the game's plot, and it's ending. while i can appreciate the story going for a more personal and darker story compared to the first game, the actual plot slowly becomes more and more of a headache as you go along. by the game's climax, you've seen about 30 plot twists about secret koreans and sudden betrayals that you start to disassociate from the plot and just laugh at the game as it tries to wrap up its messy plot line. at the very least, you can't say its THE messiest plot in the series (that goes to yakuza 5).
i have other issues, but they're mostly in-line with what others say. stuff like sayama being kinda boring and a letdown to what i expected, ryuji being kind of a pushover for most of the story, and other typical plot issues. not really a new topic, so i won't dwell on it.
what really holds this game up is the set pieces and action. frustrations aside, this game really ups the ante compared to the first game. a thematic samurai fight at tojo hq, fist fighting mafia members on truck beds that are rushing through the highway, and whatever the hell chapter 12 was. kiryu ends up in such interesting and unique locations that it's hard to diminish how fun it is at times.
it sucks that a lot of the positives i had for this game were cut out in the remake, kiwami 2. some battle themes, specific design quirks, an entire location, and especially the crazy ken band songs. whenever i get to kiwami 2, i'll go more in-depth there.
overall, similar to the last game, you should try it if you're curious about how well the ps2 games have aged. or if you want to compare it to the remakes. other than that, i only think that it could've been better.

𝑰𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝒀𝑨𝑲𝑼𝒁𝑨, 𝑭𝑬𝑨𝑹 𝑰𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑨𝑵 𝑶𝑷𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵!

Duality lies at the heart of Yakuza 2, with the 2 in the title not just being an indicator of this being the next entry in the series. Like a virus, it infects this game on every level. Two cities, two regions, two clans, two identities, two nationalities, double agents, double-crossed, body doubles, twice as big as the first game, twice as bombastic.
AND TWO DRAGONS!

Any discussion of the PS2 Yakuza games isn’t complete without first bringing up the separate atmosphere these games exhibit which is something the series has sorely lost post Yakuza 0. The biggest fix to the atmosphere is by making the sound of each district of Kamurocho more distinct and unique, unlike the first game which insisted on reusing the same loop for almost every area resulting in walks across town feeling even more like a chore than they usually do. That’s exactly why the town of Sotenbori contrasts so beautifully with Kamurocho, being the exact opposite in a lot of ways. More varied, more compact, and in a lot of ways is a better city than Kamurocho itself. A charitable view of this difference is that it’s meant to signify how exactly the Omi Alliance separates itself from the Tojo Clan, even more than the Omi HQ itself.

The first game’s combat, while being beaten by other games released during that period, was still relatively fun but Nagoshi’s insistence on making sure Yakuza 2 lives up to that number means the combat receives a major overhaul on almost every level. It flows much more smoothly and lays a lot of the groundwork for the design philosophy of the combat system that is still followed by RGG Studio to this day. I played the game on Hard difficulty and occasionally no damaged a few bosses, allowing me to appreciate where this system excelled and where it fell short. And despite how fun it usually is there’s still the occasional boss which feels poorly designed, or like it’s meant to be played on a lower difficulty.

Although I’d be lying if I said the combat is the main draw of these games for me, going to the narrative I realize that it’s probably some of the best writing this franchise has seen. The first two Yakuza games were still written by multiple writers, after which the series mostly became Yokoyama’s playground; and this being his second game the improvement is very noticeable. He’s able to infuse the pervasive theme of duality in every element of this game, and while I can praise Yokoyama it’s still important to acknowledge that a lot of what makes Yakuza 1&2 so great is their ability to write crime dramas so well. This was most likely Hase Seishu’s doing, as he still script-doctored Yakuza 2. So it feels like a crime drama in its second season, aiming higher and being louder. It’s unknown how much Makoto Itakura, the third writer, did as after Yakuza 2 he’s mostly been relegated to the background just to show up in the “assisting directors” list of almost every Like a Dragon game released since but whatever he did I think Yakuza 2 shows why having multiple writers can work very well sometimes. Bit by bit, it’s able to effectively build up and unravel its mystery, showing just how much petty revenge can consume you. It all culminates in one of the bloodiest nights Kamurocho has ever seen, one of the best finales this franchise has to offer, and definitely the best Christmas game ever made.

On a cold winter night, they exchange fists. It's not a matter of love, it's not a matter of hate. Not even about honor. Just the desire to prove they can, before the silence that will ensue.

𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧, 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗬 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧.

Much like Yakuza 1, I was fascinated with the things the original PS2 version was attempting to comparison to Kiwami 2. To already add the praise to the already never-ending-list-of-everything-Yakuza 2-PS2-does-so-well list, I very much enjoyed the much improved combat compared to the first game.
The lock-on, while still far from perfect, does it's job way better than it's predecessor. On top of that you have a new selection of moves Kiryu can perform, some of which can be only unlocked through special methods,
like the Komaki Knockback and Firearm Reversal can be acquired from Komaki or a quickstep cancel from a certain video at a video booth that is really OP and allows you to soft-lock enemies by unleashing an endless Rush combo or punish their asses while they attempt to do a combo of their own.

All in all, the combat in the PS2 Yakuza 2 is certainly the best part in comparison to Kiwami 2, when the remake follows a playstyle of that of the sixth entry in the series with a completely different moveset, the original feels snappy, responsive and fast.
Certainly one of the best Yakuzas gameplay-wise.

For the rest, nothing much changes from the remake. The story is a joy to watch and a slight step up from it's predecessor and the sidestories are nice distractions from the main storyline, even if finding them is a bit of a chore and can be permanently missed unless you have a guidebook. There are some fun activities to mess around with in both Kamurocho and Sotenbori,
but alas exploring cities isn't as very much fun as in, say Yakuza 0. The series at that point isn't there yet.

In the end, I greatly enjoyed Yakuza 2. An absolute step-up from the first Yakuza in almost every aspect. I wouldn't say it is the BEST Yakuza game but it is a high tier game nonetheless and that's fine.