This game sucks a lot. Like it is probably one of the worst games I have ever played. No subtitles, uninteresting story, clunky controls and terrible performance. The ideas featured in this game are really good but executed terribly to the point where I genuinely wanted to throw my PS3 out the window. The gameplay loop is essentially: Go to assassin's bureau, do 5 side chores, assassinate dude. Now imagine doing that same thing around 15 times. The combat is terrible, too. You either have to just spam attacks until the enemy dies or just counter everything for the entire game. I rarely assassinated anyone in this game... The real life segments where you control Desmond Miles are also terrible.

The finale of Kazuma Kiryu's story. And boy is it good.

Let's start with the negatives. As the first game to use the new Dragon Engine, combat can feel a bit clunky at times, but you get used to it. The story this time around has the theme "Family". And it shows. A lot of characters are introduced in this game, and as the story progresses, you feel very attached to every one of them, even some of the bosses you fight. This game features a lot of weird and cool Heat Actions that you can perform and the inclusion of Exteme Heat Mode adds another element to battles that is greatly appreciated. The side stories in this game are really good too, since most of them are references to other Yakuza games.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a remake of Yakuza 2 for the PS2. That's a lot of 2s. This time the game's story is a lot more focused on a single event, unlike the other games in the series that had a lot of things happening at the same time. This approach really helps the game, as it can more easily create big moments of revelation between characters. The combat in this game uses the Dragon Engine, used in games such as Judgment (PS4) and Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and while it may be a bit clunky at first, you become unstoppable once you get used to it. There are many wacky special moves that you can perform mid battle that are really over the top and fun to look at. As per usual, there are many activities in this game, such as karaoke and you even get to manage your own side business as a cabaret club owner.

This game really deserved the remake treatment that Yakuza 1 and 2 got. The movement in this game especially is really bad and you can almost never go straight forward without going slightly to the left or to the right. The combat in this game, while having a lot of good ideas, is not realised very well. Enemies will block all of your attacks and it becomes impossible to damage bosses because they always counter you. If not for the Komaki moves I doubt I would have been able to finish this game on Hard difficulty. The story however, is pretty good. It follows the ending of Yakuza 2 directly, with Kiryu now owning an orphanage. As the game goes on, the story gets even better, especially during the final chapters of the game.

This was my first Yakuza game, and it was a blast. This is a remake of the first game released on the PS2. The story is alright, although there were a couple problems with the pacing. The combat in this game is insanely addicting with the amount of options that you have and the combos that you can do. You can choose between 4 different styles of fighting and level them up as you play the game, essentially making the protagonist a one-man army. There are many activities to do, such as bowling, karaoke, racing with toys and many more. If you want to start playing the Yakuza games, I recommend playing Yakuza 0 before this, but you can start with this game.