Yakuza 2: PS2 Review

The cover you're looking at spells Ryuuga Gotoku. In translation, it means "Like A Dragon". But in the USA, its easily called Yakuza 2, the sequel to one of the best games ever made for the PS2. And this one, definitely does not dissapoint.

After the events of the first game, Kazuma Kirryu now lives with Haruka in somewhere faraway from Kamurocho. One day while visiting Shintaro Fuma's grave with Yukio Terada, Terada gets shot from the Go-Ryu Clan. The clan is lead by Ryuji Goda, who dislike the fact that he is called the Dragon of Kansai, and wants to be the sole Dragon alive. Elsewhere, a mafia is resurging, and everything happens to pull Kazuma back into the game.

The graphics, a little bit better than the previous game. The sound and music? Still top notch as ever. The story pacing and plot? Totally outrageous and ingenious. The missions? Over abundant and well worth playing. That's the gist of the game that makes it deserve already a 9.5 score for me, but the best shining and a little bit of a silly in part, is the game play.

As a Yakuza, u beat people up. With your barehands. And it has never felt more satisfying ever since the first game came in. This version takes thing up a notch by introducing a few new items to tweak with, but with perhaps some minor frustrations.

I liked how Kazuma was slow when he was in the first game. A friend of mine (Why) stated that the slowness made him feel like he's a walking tank, and I agree. The 2nd version makes him feel speedy, like some kung fu master instead of a tough Yakuza. And in all honesty, that's the only problem i felt that i encountered which was unsatisfying to my experience.

Finishing the game unlocks hard mode, which I will visit soon for completion purposes. This game can be said as GTA, though it might feel limited as u are unable to cruise over town with a car. But the missions, the experience, the life of eating, drinking, going out with hostesses shows that there's a lot to do with Yakuza. This is definitely something we've wanted from Sega after the years of waiting for it to be converted. Now, where's my Shenmue? :D

The Score: An awesome 9.0/10.