The continuation of a story with the same cast and locations is a very strong selling point to any entertainment medium. It gives you the viewer, reader or player familiarity, Yakuza uses this formula with Kamurucho & Sotenbori as it’s key locations and Kiryu Kazama as their main protagonist. You have some returning cast members but also lots of new characters to either loathe or enjoy in Yakuza Kiwami 2.

The story continues from the previous game with the introduction of the Jingweon Mafia and an interwoven plot which even delves into Kiryu's past and events that occurred many years earlier. There is also a nice recap at the beginning of the game which retells the events of the previous game. 

Gameplay also has some nice quality of life improvements in that you can now place a marker on the map which will point you the way and sidequests are now shown at the start of each chapter so you no longer have to walk around trying to find them.

Levelling up is much easier with you gaining experience points from almost every activity including eating. Combat is limited to one fight style but you can unlock a vast number of moves and skills. The hostess mini-game is back and a nice surprise is the new Majima Construction mini game which is tough to master, Yakuza game tutorials have always been poor with a wall of text and screenshots. So either watch a tutorial on YouTube or Trial and Error to figure it out. Talking of Majima he also gets a 3 chapter story which is separate from the main game to tie off his story loose ends.

The story is the main reason I am drawn to these games and Kiwami 2 does not disappoint. After playing Yakuza 0 to Kiwami 2 back to back, I will take a break for a bit before starting Yakuza 3 in the new year.