Video Game / Yakuza Kiwami 2

Spoilers for the preceding Like a Dragon entries will be left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

The retold legend of the Dragon of Dojima continues.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 (龍が如く 極 2, Like a Dragon Extreme 2) is a remake of Yakuza 2, and is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. It is the second remake in the Like a Dragon series, following Yakuza Kiwami. It released in 2017 on the PlayStation 4 in Japan, with it being released in the West in 2018. The game would then be ported to the PC via the Steam platform and Xbox One in 2019 and 2020.

Similar to the previous Kiwami remake, Kiwami 2 follows the same plot structure of Yakuza 2 while adding new gameplay features and enhancements from later titles, as well as new story elements to resolve confusing plot points in the original release and tie the game more closely to other titles in the series. The player controls series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu as they explore the fictional Japanese districts of Kamurocho, Tokyo and Sotenbori, Osaka, though the Shinseicho region is missing from the game.

The combat and engine is based on that previously seen in Yakuza 6. A new "Majima Saga" story scenario features recurring series anti-hero Goro Majima as a playable character, taking place shortly after the events of the first game. The Cabaret Club minigame from Yakuza 0 returns, as does the Clan Creator from Yakuza 6, bringing in New Japan Pro Wrestling stars Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu, Genichiro Tenryu, and Tatsumi Fujinami.

For tropes relating to the original game that may be shared with the remake, go here.

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Yakuza Kiwami 2/Ryū ga Gotoku Extreme 2 includes examples of:

• Actor Allusion:
  • Yua, one of the Platinum hostesses in Four Shine is a former idol turned hostess. Her actress is a former member of the idol group SKE48 turned AV actress, and a current member of Honey Popcorn.
  • This is not the first time Keiji Mutoh, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono teamed up to be part of a villainous group, as all three were members of the professional wrestling stable nWo Japan.
• Adaptation Expansion: The game's story is expanded, including a new scenario that features Goro Majima as a playable character once more, which explores his departure from the Tojo Clan as well as the creation of Majima Construction. Along with new characters, Makoto from Yakuza 0 returns for Majima's story, who still works as a chiropractor in Sotenbori. Nightlife Island (Cabaret Club Czar outside Japan) also returns as a new sidestory, which also sees the return of Yuki from the same game.
• Adapted Out:
  • The Shinseicho area has been completely removed. All plot-related elements that took place in it were moved into Sotenbori.
  • The Pier, a returning location from the first game, was featured in a cutscene and was where Jo Amon was originally fought. The cutscene (appearing in Chapter 10) now takes place on the roof of Serena, and Jo Amon is now fought on the bottom floor of the Millenium Tower.
  • The YF6 mini-game from the original is nowhere to be seen. Mach Bowl also doesn't return, where you were able to play against Daigo, Kaoru and Date in the original.
  • Like Kiwami, this is also the case with some of the original game's substories, such as the Host Club Adam substories. Certain substories, such as the ones revolving around Kanematsu, have been merged into one.
  • A weird case in regards to visiting hostess clubs and running one. Actually visiting them has been removed, apart from going to Shine while searching for Daigo in Chapter 1. But since the Club Manager mechanic from 0 makes a return, the Platinum Hostess training ends up replacing them.
• Affably Evil: The antagonists of the Clan Creator storyline, including Keiji Mutoh, Chono, and the three Musketeers. Though all of them can be thuggish and are involved in less-than-reputable business dealings they have no real animosity towards Kiryu or Majima and wind up being affable enough. They even join Majima Construction after you beat them and go out to lunch with Kiryu.
• Anachronism Stew:
  • Despite taking place in 2006, the Sega-developed "Toylet" that Kiryu can play games on debuted in 2011. Their inclusion is justified, however: the ones that Kiryu uses are explicitly called prototypes.
  • Several mid-'10s cars and vans are reused from Yakuza 6 even though their designs are literally ten years ahead of their time.
  • As a result of the Kamurocho map being a modified version of the one used in 6, some areas clash with how they appear in Yakuza 3 through Yakuza 5, such as the Poppo in Nakamichi Alley being inexplicably closed down, when this wouldn't happen until the events of 6.
  • The Club Sega arcades feature advertisements for maimai and CHUNITHM, video game series that started in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • Businesses that can be partnered with your Cabaret club are now clearly marked this time around, rather than you being forced to run up against stores and hope that you find them.
  • Kazuya Amon was originally fought in the narrow alleyways of the Champion District. Here, he's fought in a parking lot where you're given much more freedom to move.
  • The War Sequence at the endgame had Kiryu fight off against the Jingweon Mafia, the Man in Black and the final bosses in one sitting. Not to mention Kiryu was limited to nine items to hold. Here, after beating the Man in Black, a sales dealer has been added in the area right below the roof, who sells weapons and healing items that are more costly than usual.
  • The completion points for Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtual-On only require you to play as all characters at least once. You're not required to beat either game.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Makoto Makimura, one of the focal characters in Yakuza 0, finally returns in Kiwami 2, where she was last seen in the Epilogue living a life free from the yakuza. Her reappearance serves as a closure to her involvement in the series. When Majima learns that she now has a loving family, living a much better life compared to when she was blind, he is finally able to have peace with himself. Meanwhile, Makoto finally finds out that the scary eyepatch-wearing man was her protector all along and is happy to have finally thanked him for keeping her safe back then, even if she didn't know it at the time. She gets put back into the bus at the end of Majima's scenario, as leaves the country with her family.
  • Yuki, the main hostess from Club Sunshine from the same game also returns in the New Nightlife Island sidestory. More characters from 0 return to take part in the Cabaret Club GP, and Kiryu is finally introduced to Majima's worst nightmare, the Obatarian.
• But Thou Must!: Played for laughs. When seeing Yuki in full hostess-mode for the first time, Kiryu has three potential reactions... but all three are "Stunning..."
• Call-Back: Many to Yakuza 0.
  • When Majima returns to Sotenbori in his scenario, he visits the Grand and encounters some of the people he knew back when he managed it nearly 20 years before. He learns that Hogushi Kaikan, the massage parlor where he first met Makoto, reopened and is still in business. Majima meets her there by accident, where she recalls fond memories of the man who protected her years before.
  • In the Cabaret Club GP, as mentioned above, many characters reappear for the campaign and bring up many events from nearly 20 years before.
  • When Kiryu is talking to Majima about him lending a hand to the Tojo Clan, Majima talks about Goda and mentions that "That crazy fuck'll kill ya then steal yer pants.", a reference to the side story featuring him in 0.
  • In a mock group interview session, Kiryu's mentioned work experience includes running a real estate firm and defeating five evil billionaires. His fresh graduate groupmates later compliment his ability to make up such a story on the spot, unaware that it actually happened in 0.
  • During dinner with Kirara, she'll ask for help in coming up with an icebreaking joke. One (wrong) option is "Wanna avoid dangerous cults?", which is a reference to something (again, wrong) Majima could say in 0 to try and get the attention of a cult member.
  • Kirara’s personal substory ends up following the plot of Yuki’s personal substory in 0.
• Call-Forward:
  • Satsuki from Yakuza 6 ends up being the new leader of the color gangs after you finish the clan creator activity and promises that when he'll face Kiryu, it'll be all out.
  • On a related note, JUSTIS in 6 was originally created to fight against the Color Gangs of Kamurocho and here every leading member can be recruited for Majima Construction in which they can do just that.
  • Kiryu can offhandedly mention seeing himself as a taxi driver, or opening an orphanage in a mock interview.
  • A music producer sees Haruka walking with Kiryu in Sotenbori and recognizes the Idol Singer potential in her. She would become exactly that in Yakuza 5.
• Celebrity Cameo:
  • New Japan Pro-Wrestling legends Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono, Riki Choshu, Genichiro Tenryu, and Tatsumi Fujinami appear as fictionalized versions of themselves in the New Clan Creator, serving as the Quirky Miniboss Squad. The 6 modern NJPW wrestlers from the Clan Creator in 6 - Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan - also reappear as potential recruits for Majima Construction as well as encounters within the arena.
  • AV actresses Kana Momonogi, AIKA, Shoko Takahashi, Yua Mikami (previously featured on Yakuza 6) and Kirara Asuka appear on the New Nightlife Island substory as members of the Kanzaki Group who you can recruit after beating their respective clubs, just as it was with the Platinum Hostesses in Yakuza 0. As with that game, their in-game selves feature their likenesses and voices.
  • Gravure model Rina Hashimoto and AV actress Hikaru Aoyama appear as models for the gravure photoshoot mini-game.
• Chain of Deals: The substory Rags to Riches acts this way. You're given a demo CD, which you exchange for a pen, that you give to a cosplayer in exchange for her boots. You trade the boots with a homeless man to get his scarf, which you return to the owner in exchange for a Swiss Watch.
• Combination Attack: Kiryu can unlock heat moves with various NPCs by helping them out in substories, such as a ramen shop keeper tossing a bowl of steaming hot ramen at an enemy.
• A Commander Is You: The Clan Creator mini-game returns from Yakuza 6, which pits Kiryu and Majima Construction against Vice Real Estate. As before, the Quirky Miniboss Squad is comprised of famous NJPW wrestlers.
• A Day in the Limelight: Majima has a series of playable chapters that explore his adventures between the events of Yakuza 1 and 2.
• Defeat Equals Friendship:
  • Just like in Yakuza 6, after defeating the members of Vice Real Estate in New Clan Creator, they can be recruited onto your team.
  • Defeating the members of the Kanzaki Group in Cabaret Club Grand Prix will have them join your club as hostesses.
  • Subverted with the four Amon brothers, who can be recruited into the New Clan Creator after they're defeated. They only help Kiryu to ensure his demise comes at the hand of the clan and no one else's, but can also be fought in the Coliseum.
  • Gondawara the diaper fetishist can be recruited for Majima Constructions after dealing with his sidequest. And yes, he fights in diapers.
• Early-Bird Cameo: All members of JUSTIS from the Clan Creator sidequest from 6 can be recruited for Majima Construction and can then be fought in the Coliseum.
  • Just like in Yakuza 6, extra characters are available for purchase to use in the New Clan Creator mini-game, including Kiryu, Majima, Kaoru, Ryuji, Daigo, Date, Kashiwagi, and even the Florist. Akiyama and Saejima can even be purchased, despite not officially appearing in the series until Yakuza 4. It's particularly noticeable on Saejima's end since he's imprisoned and doesn't have the 6 design that he's using in this game yet.
  • A unique version of the already unique Rainbow Bun from 6 returns as a piece of free DLC titled the "Majima Bonus". The only differences are the Majima Bun grants more experience and has his clan emblem emblazoned on it.
  • The digital version of the game had a pre-order bonus of an exclusive PS4 theme and immediate access to the Special Item Pack which consisted of: Majima's Demonfire Blade, the "Comedian Suit" outfit, 1 million yen, two rare Clan Creator cards (Komaki and Jo Amon), and a bonus hostess based on Ono Michio (Ono Michiyo) from Yakuza 6. The Special Item Pack was made available to buy when the game launched in Europe, with North America getting a week afterwards.
  • A series of four game updates added the "Yakuza Kiwami 2 Fun Packs" to the game as a pick-up from either Snack Aoi, Serena, or Club Four Shine, and they add Premium Adventure costumes, new Clan Creator cards, and new weapons.
• An Entrepreneur Is You: Kiryu can now manage a cabaret club, just like Majima had in Yakuza 0. Majima also joins in on Kiryu's side-business. Ironically, this time around Club Sunshine is the club run by the opposing force.
• Evil Old Folks: The antagonists of the Clan Creator storyline - Mutoh, Chono, and the three Musketeers - are all older men willing to resort to violence and intimidation to secure a construction project. Though none of them are particularly evil when off the clock.
• Experience Points: The five experience types from 6 make a return; although the Evasion stat, which increased your quickstep distance as you leveled it, was cut in favor of making it into a trio of Battle Skills (Boost Quickstep Lv. 1-Max).
• Fanservice:
  • The Toylet mini-game "The North Wind and the Sun... and Me" puts players in the role of the wind that blows air to lift up a girl's dress. But one glimpse at her panties and it tries to send her whole dress flying off while the poor girl tries holding onto it. If successful, it turns out that she was wearing another outfit underneath it the whole time (despite what her cleavage earlier would indicate).
  • The new gravure photoshoot mini-game features two live-action models wearing a variety of different clothes, from regular attire, cheerleader uniforms, one-piece swimsuits and bikinis.
  • The Cabaret Club mini-game offers more skimpy clothes for the Platinum Hostesses to wear, especially when compared to Yakuza 0.
• First-Person Snapshooter: One of the new mini-games allows Kiryu to partake in a gravure photoshoot as the cameraman. Like Yakuza 6, live action footage is used for the women.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Possible, but unconfirmed. In Yakuza 0 Kirara was a Bronze-grade hostess whose name you probably didn't notice and wouldn't remember even if you did. In Kiwami 2 she shares her name with the elite hostess with a chip on her shoulder towards Yuki, and the instigator and main antagonist of the entire cabaret storyline. It's never directly stated if they're supposed to be same or if it's an averson of the One-Steve Limit.
• Gacha Game: For both the Cabaret Club and Clan Creator, you can pay money to post hiring ads to recruit a new hostesses or workers. The fancy graphics and SFX, the suspense generated before every pull, and the different rarities they come in are all meant to emulate a typical gacha game roll.
• Game Within a Game: Club Sega features the arcade versions of Virtua Fighter 2 and Cyber Troopers Virtual-ON: Operation Moongate. Kiryu can also relieve himself while playing on a "Toylet", a Sega-developed interactive urinal that features two mini-games: "The North Wind and the Sun... and Me" and "Splash Battle! Milky Nose!".
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: Majima delivers this when he reveals a traitor in Kanzaki's pocket, and points directly at Aika. In typical Yakuza fashion, he was actually pointing to the "shit sack" behind her, and calmly asks Aika to scooch over a bit.
• Guide Dang It!:
  • Kamiyama Works in this version of the game has a stock that expands in scope the more weapons and gear the player sells to Kamiyama. His inventory eventually encompasses a wide variety of infinite durability weapons that were story completion bonuses in the original. The problem is that there's absolutely no indication of this happening, even after buying stuff from the player — his new wares kind of just pop into existence after passing certain yen thresholds. The closest thing to a hint the player gets is when he gets new wares just by starting Premium Adventure mode, no selling involved. Alternatively, players who are familiar with Kamiyama Works in later games (donate money to Kamiyama, unlock more wares) might put two and two together here, even if Kamiyama's total earnings aren't explicitly tracked.
  • Some side stories result in a new recruit for the Clan Creator minigame, but the player has to go out and find them again after their respective side stories are cleared. Some are thankfully placed in logical areas, like close to a side story's ending location or within/around Kamuro Hills (the setting for Clan Creator battles), but others are playing hide-and-seek in unintuitive locations.
• He's Back!:
  • Majima is treated as this in the Cabaret Club GP, and Yuki isn't exactly thrilled with their reunion. Not surprising considering that he suddenly disappeared one day, and for nearly twenty years she thought he was dead.
  • For the final round of the Cabaret Club GP, Yuki puts on a dress and participates as a hostess herself. You really can't blame Kiryu's reaction at what he sees.
• I Will Wait for You: The reason why Makoto works at the same massage parlor she did almost 20 years ago. For years she regretted the fact she wasn't able to properly thank her mysterious protector from 1988, and hoped by working at the very same place they first met, he would return one day so she could make things right. She tells this to her customer not knowing it's actually him.
• Incorrect Animal Noise: Almost completely averted this time 'round. Other than a short lion roar that serves as an injured call at the end of the boss battle, the tigers Kiryu faces off against have the appropriate vocalizations as sound effects.
• Ink-Suit Actor:
  • Four characters in the main story receive this treatment, with three of them receiving new actors. Jiro Kawara is still portrayed by Susumu Terajima, but the character now bears his actor's likeness, while Ryo Takashima, Tsutomu Bessho and Wataru Kurahashi are voiced and portrayed by completely new actors. All four characters can be used in the Clan Creator.
    • Bessho is a weird case, though. His appearance between the original game and the remake hasn't changed that much, other than being more detailed. This is due to his new actor, comedian Yuichi Kimura, already resembling Bessho anyway.
  • As before, the NJPW wrestlers in Vice Real Estate and the women of the Kanzaki group have the appearance and voices of their real-life counterparts.
• Large-Ham Announcer: Buono Isozaki hosts the Cabaret Club Grand Prix and provides some hot-blooded commentary for the club battles. He's replaced by Majima in the final round after he's revealed to be in Kanzaki's pocket the whole time.
• Live-Action Cutscene: The gravure photo shoot minigame has the girls that Kiryu photographs be rendered in live-action footage, just like the chat minigame from 6.
• Meaningful Name:
  • When Majima notices the club Four Shine in Sotenbori, he remarks that his old club Sunshine has gained a copycat. In Japanese, the English word "sunshine" sounds very similar to "three shine".
  • Koyuki, who aspires to be a hostess like Yuki, can be translated to "little Yuki".
• Microwave Misuse: Returning from 6 is a Heat Action where Kiryu slams an enemy head-first into a convenience store microwave and orders the clerk to turn it on, a one-hit KO.
• Mistaken Identity: How Yuki meets Kiryu. She mistakes him for a new hire, Kiritani, who had just been offered twice of what he would have made at Four Shine to work elsewhere, and drags him inside. Koyuki tells her she's made a mistake and that Kiryu looks nothing like Kiritani (who sports a mustache). Yuki insists otherwise until she gets a closer look. Then it hits her like a bus. It's worth nothing that both Kiryu and Kiritani's names begin with the kanji "桐".
• Mood Whiplash: In Majima's sidestory, when he ends up getting a massage from Makoto, of all people, it starts as a tense, dramatic moment as he doesn't want to reveal his identity to the woman he loved but had to let go... only to then go comedic in true Majima fashion as she hits every sore spot on his much-abused body and his struggles to keep from crying out grow increasingly silly. And then the scene seamlessly goes back to providing some very satisfying closure to the storyline of 0...
• Not His Sled: In the original game, Kanematsu would challenge Kiryu to a game of YF6 with 10,000 yen on the line, but many weren't aware that losing to him would gain you 100,000 yen instead. Here, he challenges Kiryu to beat three consecutive rounds of Virtua Fighter 2, but losing this time only gains you 50,000 yen instead of the 100,000 he gives you if you win.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Guess how Majima reacts when he sees Makoto again?
  • Yuki reacts the same way when she realizes Kiryu isn't Kiritani.
• Older Than They Look: For being in her late thirties, Makoto doesn't look like she's aged much since 1988. Yuki also doesn't look like she's aged since, and she could still be seen as a serious competitor in the cabaret scene. This applies to all other characters returning from 0, including the Obatarian, who despite the fact that she should be a septuagenarian at the very least still looks about the same.
• Old School Introductory Rap: Michael Naoya from the Rags to Riches substory with the cliche opening "My name is DJ Michael and I'm here to say..."
• Panty Thief: A substory with Koyuki revolves around her and Kiryu trying to hunt one down, and Koyuki uses one as bait.
• Power-Up Food: Like in 6, eating food at restaurants will grant experience points. Bonus points are awarded for eating certain combinations of food (a Smile Burger with fries and a shake, for example).
• Promoted to Playable: After being unplayable in Kiwami and 6, as well as the original title, Goro Majima is playable once again in his own short storyline separate from the main game.
• Sad Battle Music:
  • The Final Boss theme, "A Scattered Moment" returns as "A Scattered Eternal Moment", which adds strings and guitars to give it a true sense of finale and respect.
  • This game's remix of "Fiercest Warrior", which plays against the fight against Jo Amon, is far more atmospheric than previous iterations, likely to indicate that this is the last time we will fight against him as Kiryu.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once Kiryu learns that the director of a photoshoot is a beefy man wearing nothing but a speedo, his reaction is to simply head for the door without saying a word. He gets pulled back into it, though.
• Self-Deprecation: One substory revolves around Yakuza Sunset 3, an in-universe movie that's not nearly as liked by the fans due to it lacking several elements that were in the first two installments. This almost certainly sounds like a knowing jab towards the Western release of Yakuza 3, which had several features cut out due to localization constraints.
• Shout-Out:
  • Five of the Gold Hostesses share their names with early generation members of AKB48, namely the 5 most voted members in their 2010 election/popularity contest.
  • One of the new coliseum opponents is a white tiger named Pascal, the White Cerberus.
  • One of the Toylet games is called “Splash Battle! Milky Nose”, just one letter away from being Milky Rose.
• Super Mode: Extreme Heat Mode makes a return from 6, although as a skill you unlock from Komaki's training and use experience to buy rather than something you start with.
• Swapped Roles: In Yakuza 0, Kiryu managed a real estate firm and Majima a hostess club. Here, Kiryu manages a hostess club (with Majima's former coworkers) while Majima runs a construction company.
• Testosterone Poisoning: In an all-new substory, "In the Name of Art", Kiryu is recruited to do some modeling. Poison Mitsuo, the director, turns out to be a very beefy man wearing nothing but a speedo, and wants to use Kiryu to capture the true essence of man. In true Like a Dragon fashion, The Comically Serious Kiryu tries to meet his demands by engaging in some over-the-top poses, such as a cute maid, and Poison goes crazy with the camera.
• Theme Tune: Majima Construction is given its own anthem!
• Time Skip: Majima's story begins in February 2006, two months after the 10 Billion Yen incident, and ten months before the main story takes place.
• Video Game Remake: The game is a remake of Yakuza 2 that utilizes the Dragon Engine introduced in Yakuza 6 and is the second game to use it. Unlike Yakuza 6 however, the game is not fully voiced, text boxes are present once more, and many areas cannot be explored.
• Villain Has a Point: At the end of Majima's campaign Ibuchi points out that the Yakuza like to talk a lot about honor and tradition and all that stuff, but many of them are willing to ignore it when it suits them. Which is something we see happen over and over in the series.
• Villain Respect: Towards the end of Majima's campaign, he earns this from Ryuji after he makes amends by disbanding his family and announcing his departure from the Tojo Clan.
• The War Sequence: The final Bouncer Mission, aptly named "Pandaemonium", has you fight around a hundred Mooks and not one but three Amon brothers (Kazuya, Jiro and Sango) at once, set to the game's credits theme "A" by SIM.
• Where It All Began: Majima's first and final playable sections in the mainline series take place in the Grand.

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