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Kiwami 2

Equally enthusiasm for Sega'south Yakuza series surges in the west, the plough-around time for releases is shortening. It took well over a year for Yakuza 6 to come to the United states of america, but Yakuza Kiwami ii only took around 8 months to brand information technology here. Even though we merely finished up the last game, the fanbase is ready for more than already.

While this remake of the second installment on the PS2 hits all the aforementioned beats, it truly feels like a proper modern release. Fifty-fifty for those of us who were already on the Yakuza railroad train in the late aughts, information technology's well worth exploring this lovingly-crafted remake.

In a review on our sis site IGN, Tristan Ogilvie assigned Kiwami 2 a Groovy score of 8/10. He gives the story summit-marks, and compares this well-nigh recent game positively to the honey prequel Yakuza 0. Some slight issues like reused assets and the also-brusque Majima story keep it from perfection, but Ogilvie is clearly quite fond of it on the whole.

With 48 reviews on Metacritic, it'south sitting at an 85 average – indicating "by and large favorable reviews." On the lower end, outlets like USGamer gave it a 3.5/5 because of some pacing issues and a lukewarm reception to the new Majima-focused content. Meanwhile, GameInformer awarded it a nine/x – praising this remake as the best entry in the entire series. Consensus points toward a fantastic remake of a PS2 classic, just it's non going to blow the doors off like 0 did.

We've played through the offset of Kiwami 2 on the PS4 Pro, and unsurprisingly, information technology looks a lot like Yakuza half-dozen because information technology'southward built on much of the same tech. Then with that comes both some good and bad.

On the positive side, the lighting is attractive, performance has been solid, and it's a real treat walking around the busy streets in the first-person way. At to the lowest degree on the macro level, information technology provides a convincing interpretation of bustling Japanese cities.

Unfortunately, the game's tech is less compelling in the weeds. Most textures await grody up close, many of the environmental elements are low-poly, and the aliasing tin can be very distracting. If you go along your altitude, those issues might not be noticeable, but close-ups during cutscenes highlight the presentation's most glaring flaws.

All of those shortcomings bated, this remake is well worth playing for anyone who has partaken in the contempo Yakuza renaissance. Of course, new players are ameliorate off with Yakuza 0 or the starting time Kiwami game, only this will keep fans sated until the next moving ridge of releases hitting.