4.5/5 ★ – DarkDrawer's review of Yakuza Kiwami 2.

Probably my favorite Yakuza to date with how it's able to mostly stand on it's own feet and introduce the excellent character of Kaoru Sayama. She's so much fun in this game and her arc parallels well with Kiryu's. Ryuji is a pretty fun character, despite his somewhat irrelevance in some areas. This game suffers from the Dragon engine combat and the usual Yakuza fluff. That and some unnecessary twist villains brings it down, but there is a good final fight still. Characters like Kawara, Ryuji, and most importantly, Kaoru are why this game is fun, but with 2 of them dead and the next one being written out, this takes me out of this soap opera ridden series. This game advanced Kiryu's character and it seems his position stagnates before it advances again. This game is probably one of 2 places to head canon an ending for Kiryu. There's a lot of dumb writing decisions among the series, but Kaoru was definitely a highlight.