

Tokyo has Godzilla Osaka has a giant crab. This Osaka entertainment district (based on the real-life Dōtonbori) offers an entirely new environment to explore, even though it entirely cuts the Shinseicho district found in the original game. Kiwami 2 also features the first appearance of Sōtenbori, a place familiar to anyone who has played Yakuza 0, Yakuza 5, or Yakuza: Like a Dragon. These improvements make Kamurocho feel much more like a real, lived-in city rather than a Hollywood backlot. When you enter a building, the camera follows you in rather than fading to black to load up a new location. With the graphical upgrade, storefronts are now full of people. Though there were dozens of people walking the streets, the vast majority of storefronts were empty window dressing. In past Yakuza games, the setting of Kamurocho, Tokyo was as important as any character, yet it often felt lifeless. There’s not only improved character models with more realistic skin textures and natural facial animation, but also a dramatically expanded and immersive environment. Unlike Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, this remake utilizes the new Dragon Engine built for Yakuza 6. The very first thing I noticed in Kiwami 2 was the significant graphical upgrade over the PS2-era Yakuza 2. Their struggle will turn friends to foes, test the strongest loyalties, and in the end, reshape the future of the Tojo clan forever. Desperately trying to find a way to defuse tensions before all-out war erupts, Kiryu finds himself in direct conflict with his counterpart in the Omi Alliance, Ryuji Goda, the Dragon of Kansai. But after the assassination of the fifth chairman of the Tojo, he is pulled into a cold war between the weakened remnants of his former clan and a powerful rival yakuza organization, the Omi Alliance.

The Tojo Clan is in crisis! After the events of Yakuza Kiwami, the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu, has settled down to take care of his lost love Yumi’s daughter. How do you follow up a successful remake of the first title of a long-running franchise? By remaking the second title of a long-running franchise!
