I have long history with this game. It was my first exposure to this series, when my brother was playing this on PC. I was too young for this but I didn't care, I was too busy immersing myself into Los Santos with cool cars to steal, big buildings, clothes to buy, activities to do like racing, people to kill plus cheat codes to mess around with and among other things. It was unlike anything I've seen when it came to video games.

I didn't pay attention to the story and the missions, like all other kids back then so I had no idea there were 2 other cities as big as Los Santos but I still had fun exploring the city and messing around, as well as downloading mods to further entice my experience.

Now, after 15 years I decided to come back and give this game a proper finish, play it's main missions and see it's story to the end while doing most of the game's activities. It isn't a 100% playthrough but I wanted to see the most of what the game offers, while doing the main missions in between.

After 40 hours of ingame playtime and having a 76% completion as of writing this, this proper playthrough has solidified San Andreas as not only my most favourite GTA in the series but also my most favourite game of all time. It wasn't how I started playing video games but San Andreas showed me that there was more in games than just playing platformers and very simple children games.
(yeah the gap between educational games and a fucking GTA game is ludicrous but I only remember playing 2 or maybe 3 of those so whatever)

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.