Take to the dangerous streets of Tokyo and Osaka to beat up more wannabe thugs.
A Korean gang was raided and killed in a flashback in the 1980s and it takes the whole new direction to the game, also with a few more plots followings from the first game, makes this sequel worth playing.
Again, you play Kiryu Kazuma, an ex-Yakuza member. Who is forced to return back to the yakuza lifestyle, when the chairman of the Tojo gets assassinated by the Omi clan. A battle soon builds up between the two, however the Koreans gets involved and adds to the problem Kazuma faces, however this relates to the whole story of the game and towards the end, it's all adds up.
The game adds alittle bit more to exploring the city and fighting. There a few new additions and tweak.. some are noticible, while others a weak… the quick time events from Shenmue are present in the game, however the game expects you to know what to do, however it gives trouble making Yakuza 2 stand out. The small additions to the game do fit well, however it simply feels like an add on or a tweak to the first game.
The fighting has increase speed, the controls are more fluit and you'll have an easier time with the fighting system. The Quick time events has been added to the fighting. They come up on some specfic enemies and bosses. Also, the HEAT special allows you to preform special attacks on you're enemies by using you're surrounds and enivornment. You can grab there head and crash it against the wall or pick them up and throw them into the canal in Osaka.
There the same number of side quests, however they're split between the two cities and they're actully worthy to play thou and add some gameplay to the game.
There a few interesting mini games, the new mini games such as Bowling, or the battling game at the Sega Arcades are good examples to what to expect, however some of the games are aimmed at the japanese auidence, such as Shogi, unless you already know how to play those games, you'll have no problem at all.
Explore the city has added some worthy value, this is the other half of the game. From restuatant to restuatant eating food to socialing with girls in the game. This may some basic, however it adds to the games completation, other then the side quests. however sometimes running around the city,leaving you're friend behind and moving onto another screen, where you're friend reappears is alittle unrealistic.
The graphics and the sounds use the hardware well, good models, sounds, graphics. I was yet to find a flaw. The voice acting is still in Japanese, however all the text in the game is translated.
This game is worth playing if you a huge Yakuza fan. Sega really used the Playstation 2 hardware to produce and continue telling the Yakuza saga.