This game might as well be called Yakuza 0-2. It's that good (story excluded).

All the varied substories, minigames, the two areas to explore and roam around again, the two major business-like activities, the Majima saga and the far less tedious combat, mixed with the new fun physics-based engine upgrades really made this a great, feature-rich Yakuza experience.

In all the aspects where Kiwami 1 offered a rather inferior overall package compared to 0, Kiwami 2 absolutely delivered in almost all categories. Particularly the combat system is a huge step up, in my opinion. For the first time, combat was actually fun. Almost no frustration or the feeling of being bombarded by bullcrap enemy attacks you can do nothing about. From street battles to even most boss battles. While the loss of different styles to switch to might be seen as a downside; the new singular combat style strikes a good balance and really opens up the more abilities you unlock later on. It might feel a little lacking early in the game, though.

As for the final few bosses, they were rather disappointing, sadly. Ryuji in particular was a total pushover on normal difficulty. Your first fight early in the game against him was a much bigger challenge in comparison; which should never be the case. And those men in black might as well have come straight out of Kiwami 1. Absolutely terribly designed.

The only major letdown was the execution of the story; especially towards the end. It just kind of derailed at some point into something bigger than it had to be, making the sum of it all seem kind of nonsensical in the end. Ultimately, you can easily forgive that one hiccup since the rest of the package is so compelling anyway.