I never did get into the Yakuza series when it first came out, but I jumped aboard the hype train with Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami when they first released in 2017. That said, I haven't really touched the series since then and have decided to take upon myself the herculean task of getting up to speed with the series.
And what a good game to pick back up to keep the series going. I was a little hazy on the details of the previous two games, seeing as it has been over 5 years since I last played those, but it didn't take long for me to get not just up to speed with the characters and the plot, but to actually get really invested.
Rival clans, the korean Jingweon mafia, standout characters like Majima and all the goofy side quests made me just want to devour this game, and I did so in a little under a week. I was thinking about speeding through the games to get caught up all the way to Like A Dragon (7), but after spending some time in this game's versions of Kamurocho and Sotenbori I couldn't help myself; I started going after completing all the minigames and side quests and just couldn't get enough.
It was also partly because I know of the potential slump that awaits me in the remastered collection (Yakuza 3, 4 and 5) which are from the looks of things definitely not as well polished as Kiwami 2. So I decided to enjoy my stay in this game and not rush towards the "un-Kiwami'd" games.
Overall, the main story and side quests were wonderful, as expected. What I didn't expect though was to get completely engrossed in the Cabaret Club minigame, where you're basically playing a club management game in short spurts, levelling up your hostesses and doing some more sidequests with them and competing against rival clubs. This part of Yakuza Kiwami 2 could easily be broken out into a standalone game and I would definitely be into it!
Now then, on to Yakuza 3.
And what a good game to pick back up to keep the series going. I was a little hazy on the details of the previous two games, seeing as it has been over 5 years since I last played those, but it didn't take long for me to get not just up to speed with the characters and the plot, but to actually get really invested.
Rival clans, the korean Jingweon mafia, standout characters like Majima and all the goofy side quests made me just want to devour this game, and I did so in a little under a week. I was thinking about speeding through the games to get caught up all the way to Like A Dragon (7), but after spending some time in this game's versions of Kamurocho and Sotenbori I couldn't help myself; I started going after completing all the minigames and side quests and just couldn't get enough.
It was also partly because I know of the potential slump that awaits me in the remastered collection (Yakuza 3, 4 and 5) which are from the looks of things definitely not as well polished as Kiwami 2. So I decided to enjoy my stay in this game and not rush towards the "un-Kiwami'd" games.
Overall, the main story and side quests were wonderful, as expected. What I didn't expect though was to get completely engrossed in the Cabaret Club minigame, where you're basically playing a club management game in short spurts, levelling up your hostesses and doing some more sidequests with them and competing against rival clubs. This part of Yakuza Kiwami 2 could easily be broken out into a standalone game and I would definitely be into it!
Now then, on to Yakuza 3.