Just as the original Yakuza 2 was an all-around improvement on the first game, Kiwami 2 is a similar step up from its predecessor, especially visually. The combat is much improved too, most importantly by dropping the style switching mechanic which I found tedious in Kiwami 1.
I don't follow Yakuza fandom so outside of Kiryu and Majima I don't know who is popular amongst fans, but Ryuji Goda has always been one of my favourite characters in the series and he's used flawlessly to ramp up the Japanese melodrama to perfect extremes for its ending.
My only beef is that, for licensing reasons, they had to change the music that plays during the scene on the rainy promenade to something that ruins the atmosphere of the original. I believe there's a mod for the PC version that brings back the old audio, so I recommend checking that out.
I don't follow Yakuza fandom so outside of Kiryu and Majima I don't know who is popular amongst fans, but Ryuji Goda has always been one of my favourite characters in the series and he's used flawlessly to ramp up the Japanese melodrama to perfect extremes for its ending.
My only beef is that, for licensing reasons, they had to change the music that plays during the scene on the rainy promenade to something that ruins the atmosphere of the original. I believe there's a mod for the PC version that brings back the old audio, so I recommend checking that out.