Finally finished Yakuza Kiwami 2. 77 hours.
Like rest of Yakuza series, I earned all the skills & powered up + all the side quests, but not the mini-games. I am really bad at some of the games like Karaoke, and this time for gaining Haruka's trust to EX level was especially tough. At least it wasn't something that I don't understand at all (like Mahjong or Japanese Shogi, although I like playing Koi Koi.) Caberet club was enjoyable like Zero, but wasn't too sure of that Majima Construction mini-game. I did it mostly - but didn't do the last few after finishing the main storyline for that one.
Yakuza 2 back then from PS2 days - I always thought the game didn't really grab me storywise. Too much melodrama, I guess - and same thing happened with Kiwami 2. After coming from excellent Zero, which I feel like it has the best storyline so far - and even Kiwami 1 which improved a lot of storytelling by adding in the struggles of Nishikiyama - felt superior. It is my first new "dragon engine" game, so 30fps on Series X was rather rough in the beginning, but towards the end felt pretty good. I'm especially impressed by the outdoor graphics in general. Some of the scenes were pretty breathtaking.
Was fiddling around with Yakuza 3 just a little bit after finishing Kiwami 2 - and I was shocked how poor it looked. Yakuza 3 on PS3 was my last Yakuza game that I've played before, and I realized how much things were improved on Zero, Kiwami 1&2. Back then I remember the facial animations were touted as top notch, but even Kiryu looks almost comical, and oh the animation when walking around...! Another thing I noticed was how Kiryu's voice over the years have changed. He definitely sounds much younger & higher pitch than Kiwami or even Zero Kiryu.
But before moving on, I decided to take a break and give Resident Evil 7 another go. I gave up in the beginning part of the game because I was too scared & also I tend to have motion sickness playing 1st person games - and after playing an 30 min or so, felt pretty sick. Time to take out that sea-band and take some ginger pills.