My favorite thing in Yakuza 2 -besides the story- is its cutscene direction/cinematography which is in a class of its own, at times I truly felt like I was watching a Takeshi Kitano movie due to the perfect choice of dialogue, camera angles, atmosphere, music and voice acting. This was already good in Yakuza 1 but here it's just on another level.

They managed to get rid of all the problems I had with the previous entry: the combat, the long load times and exploring Kamurocho (and Sotenbori in this entry) doesn't suck this time.

The story was a massive improvement as well -not that Y1's story was bad- but this one retains its over-the-top nature which is signature of the series while developing characters better and just presenting a more intriguing story. If you are just like me and love the 10 stupid plot twists present in each Yakuza game you will feel right at home.

The soundtrack is simply a banger, it works in perfect tandem with the cutscenes and the game's atmosphere to make it feel special.

The only bad things I could think of are the strict QTE timings -which gets annoying in boss battles- (at least they are always the same buttons) and how easy it is to miss side missions (I felt 0 did this way better).

All in all, my favorite Yakuza game to date along with Zero. (still need to play 4-7)

i can tell this game was REALLY reliant on the disney and in doing so ended up downplaying its actual characters and sora,donald and goofys growth BUT when there is story i think its legitamately good the part of this game thats about sora growing as a person in the search for his friends imparting something on the player is really sweet.

"even if we are far apart we will always be together"

gameplay is jank as fuck though god damm

It took me 4 tries to finally get into Yakuza 0, and boy am I glad I kept trying.

With 20 minutes of opening cutscenes and a drawn out tutorial for the dull combat, Yakuza 0 doesn't put it's best foot forward. But push just a little further and it is very likely you'll fall in love with this game as much as I did.

What finally got me through that hump was being told by a friend to 'treat Yakuza like a TV show'. When the cutscenes start don't grab your phone, but some popcorn. Don't binge through the game, rushing to the next chapter or gameplay segment, but enjoy every moment.

Beyond straight-up walking simulators, Yakuza is one of the most story-focused games I've played. Not only are the cutscenes frequent and long, but they're expertly crafted and utterly engaging.

You won't play the side quests because you want to beat up another group of thugs but because you want to experience whatever zany plotline those thugs are connected to.

With stuffed with camp and featuring tons of heart, Yakuza has quickly become one of my all-time favorite franchises, and 0 is the perfect entry point.

Played the entire series over Discord calls (me playing and streaming to friends).

This was definitely the one that had the best trials, less plot holes and the ending was just a very bold move that made so many people seethe lmao.

I just think this was the game that took the most risks, went in a much different direction to the old ones in many aspects and I love the monokubs.

I think Danganronpa 2 has better characters (and fanservice) but that's about it.