This review contains spoilers
I think I liked this one more than Kiwami 1. I don't know if it was just because I had some familiarity with the main cast to ground me, but I was able to follow the plot of this one a lot better and keep track of the twists and turns (more or less).
This time I threw myself fully into the main two side activities, of which I liked Cabaret Club Grand Prix way more. The Clan Creator weird RTS-like minigame just didn't seem fleshed out enough; I didn't find it very fun at all. Fortunately Cabaret Club was super addictive. Initially, I didn't really understand the activity, and found it a little uncomfortable because it seemed a little bit like low-key pimping. But the more I learned about host clubs, the less skeezy it felt. It helped that across the board, every single woman that you recruit gives their explicit and enthusiastic consent, and the story shows that the success of the club is a positive influence in the workers' lives.
My initial hesitation about the activity didn't come out of nowhere, though. My understanding of Tokyo culture is essentially zero. This game is full of references, parodies and homages to media that have never crossed my radar. There is so much context I'm missing that I wouldn't even know how to analyze what's in here. But I do know how it makes me feel, and when it comes to this game's treatment of women my feelings range from concern to nausea.
The women at the margins of the game seem to get the worst of it. I've never felt grosser playing a game than the photography model minigame. I'm not a prude about sex work, but the fact that sex is never explicitly mentioned just makes it seem so much skeevier. If Kiryu would just say, "I like your breasts, will you show them to me" or "Your body looks great, here's a nice tip" or "Are you a victim of sex trafficking and would you like me to call the authorities" it would feel so much less icky. Instead, we're stuck in the zone of PG-13 entendre and it's just so unbelievably uncomfortable.
The whole game is like this. It's like they figured since they can't show actual nudity, they have to fixate on the boundary of what they can show. The women in the main and supporting cast get it too. Every woman in the main cast has her sexuality pointlessly dragged in as a plot point. When the game introduced a female cop I was optimistic at first, but then the first thing she tells you to do after taking you into custody is buy her underwear. It's a fetch quest; you have to actually go to the store and purchase an item called "ladies underwear" that has a little icon showing a bra and panties, and then bring it back. To the cop in charge of your case. It's like the whole thing is infused with the essence of a hormonal 12-year-old boy.
The absolute lowest point of the game, though, involves my old bestie Haruka. She's back, and just as bright and fun as ever. Also, I have to guess, unimaginably traumatized. She's been kidnapped so many times and witnessed so many murders at this point I really worry for her emotional health. That's why we did everything she wanted during the part of the game where I got to just hang out with her. It's also why I was absolutely horrified, mouth agape, when I realized the game was railroading me into literally selling her to a shady movie producer, into a life of debt and hardship, against her explicit wishes! Haruka saw through the guy right away; she said "Mister, who are you and what are you trying to get from me?" Smart as a whip; I love Haruka. Then Kiryu goes completely behind her back and makes the absolute worst decision I've seen anyone make in two of these longass games full of people making terrible decisions. Of course it was a setup for Haruka to tell Kiryu off and set him straight, but wow did it really make me hate Kiryu so much it kinda pushed me out of the game for a while.
I really liked Ryuji. I hope the series continues to have more charismatic villains like him. He wasn't, like, an absolute raving lunatic (like the real villains turned out to be), he had a little class, a little restraint. I felt like all the villains and other supporting cast were a lot more distinct and memorable this time around and that helped me keep a lot of momentum going on the story, which is usually the hardest part of any game for me to connect with. I'm very much a mechanics and "gameplay"-focused gamer, and found Kiwami 2's to be largely satisfying.
Combat felt a lot flatter than in Kiwami 1, but also I felt like I had more useful tools at my disposal. That is, after some upgrades. I'm a big fan of progression as a general thing; start me off as a weakling with nothing and give me a thousand little presents as I climb the ladder please. But in Kiwami 2 I felt like Kiryu might be just a little too handicapped out the gate. There were some abilities, like dodge cancel, that are such game changers that it felt rude to let me go so long (especially that first boss fight, ugh) without those basics. Once I got powered up the combat started feeling a lot better, but never really gained any depth. It's kind of disappointing that the combat in such a late entry to a combat-focused series isn't, like, amazing? I'll be very interested to see how 3 plays (unless I play 0 next) because I'm guessing it's going to be a step backward which would be a real bummer. All that said it did keep me entertained; I never got sick of going to the colosseum and beating down a bunch of weirdos.
In summary:
+ Ryuji was great, more of that please
+ Haruka was amazing as always but I don't trust this series to take care of her; I'm a little terrified of what happens to her next
+ Cabaret Club is incredibly addictive, this was my Pocket Circuit for this game. It helps if you do all the substories, and if you just kind of pretend feminism isn't a thing.
+ Just walking around Kamurocho and Sotenbori with Haruka, holding hands and looking at the lights
- Just please, for fucks sake stop being shitty about women. I have a feeling this is going to be consistent throughout the series but hope springs eternal right
- I needed a way to tone down the random encounters; these were a real drag especially when I was trying to have special time with my girl
- Clan Creator seemed super undercooked
- I really don't understand Majima. I have to play 0.
This time I threw myself fully into the main two side activities, of which I liked Cabaret Club Grand Prix way more. The Clan Creator weird RTS-like minigame just didn't seem fleshed out enough; I didn't find it very fun at all. Fortunately Cabaret Club was super addictive. Initially, I didn't really understand the activity, and found it a little uncomfortable because it seemed a little bit like low-key pimping. But the more I learned about host clubs, the less skeezy it felt. It helped that across the board, every single woman that you recruit gives their explicit and enthusiastic consent, and the story shows that the success of the club is a positive influence in the workers' lives.
My initial hesitation about the activity didn't come out of nowhere, though. My understanding of Tokyo culture is essentially zero. This game is full of references, parodies and homages to media that have never crossed my radar. There is so much context I'm missing that I wouldn't even know how to analyze what's in here. But I do know how it makes me feel, and when it comes to this game's treatment of women my feelings range from concern to nausea.
The women at the margins of the game seem to get the worst of it. I've never felt grosser playing a game than the photography model minigame. I'm not a prude about sex work, but the fact that sex is never explicitly mentioned just makes it seem so much skeevier. If Kiryu would just say, "I like your breasts, will you show them to me" or "Your body looks great, here's a nice tip" or "Are you a victim of sex trafficking and would you like me to call the authorities" it would feel so much less icky. Instead, we're stuck in the zone of PG-13 entendre and it's just so unbelievably uncomfortable.
The whole game is like this. It's like they figured since they can't show actual nudity, they have to fixate on the boundary of what they can show. The women in the main and supporting cast get it too. Every woman in the main cast has her sexuality pointlessly dragged in as a plot point. When the game introduced a female cop I was optimistic at first, but then the first thing she tells you to do after taking you into custody is buy her underwear. It's a fetch quest; you have to actually go to the store and purchase an item called "ladies underwear" that has a little icon showing a bra and panties, and then bring it back. To the cop in charge of your case. It's like the whole thing is infused with the essence of a hormonal 12-year-old boy.
The absolute lowest point of the game, though, involves my old bestie Haruka. She's back, and just as bright and fun as ever. Also, I have to guess, unimaginably traumatized. She's been kidnapped so many times and witnessed so many murders at this point I really worry for her emotional health. That's why we did everything she wanted during the part of the game where I got to just hang out with her. It's also why I was absolutely horrified, mouth agape, when I realized the game was railroading me into literally selling her to a shady movie producer, into a life of debt and hardship, against her explicit wishes! Haruka saw through the guy right away; she said "Mister, who are you and what are you trying to get from me?" Smart as a whip; I love Haruka. Then Kiryu goes completely behind her back and makes the absolute worst decision I've seen anyone make in two of these longass games full of people making terrible decisions. Of course it was a setup for Haruka to tell Kiryu off and set him straight, but wow did it really make me hate Kiryu so much it kinda pushed me out of the game for a while.
I really liked Ryuji. I hope the series continues to have more charismatic villains like him. He wasn't, like, an absolute raving lunatic (like the real villains turned out to be), he had a little class, a little restraint. I felt like all the villains and other supporting cast were a lot more distinct and memorable this time around and that helped me keep a lot of momentum going on the story, which is usually the hardest part of any game for me to connect with. I'm very much a mechanics and "gameplay"-focused gamer, and found Kiwami 2's to be largely satisfying.
Combat felt a lot flatter than in Kiwami 1, but also I felt like I had more useful tools at my disposal. That is, after some upgrades. I'm a big fan of progression as a general thing; start me off as a weakling with nothing and give me a thousand little presents as I climb the ladder please. But in Kiwami 2 I felt like Kiryu might be just a little too handicapped out the gate. There were some abilities, like dodge cancel, that are such game changers that it felt rude to let me go so long (especially that first boss fight, ugh) without those basics. Once I got powered up the combat started feeling a lot better, but never really gained any depth. It's kind of disappointing that the combat in such a late entry to a combat-focused series isn't, like, amazing? I'll be very interested to see how 3 plays (unless I play 0 next) because I'm guessing it's going to be a step backward which would be a real bummer. All that said it did keep me entertained; I never got sick of going to the colosseum and beating down a bunch of weirdos.
In summary:
+ Ryuji was great, more of that please
+ Haruka was amazing as always but I don't trust this series to take care of her; I'm a little terrified of what happens to her next
+ Cabaret Club is incredibly addictive, this was my Pocket Circuit for this game. It helps if you do all the substories, and if you just kind of pretend feminism isn't a thing.
+ Just walking around Kamurocho and Sotenbori with Haruka, holding hands and looking at the lights
- Just please, for fucks sake stop being shitty about women. I have a feeling this is going to be consistent throughout the series but hope springs eternal right
- I needed a way to tone down the random encounters; these were a real drag especially when I was trying to have special time with my girl
- Clan Creator seemed super undercooked
- I really don't understand Majima. I have to play 0.