Yakuza Kiwami 2 Nintendo Switch 2 review
Thinking back to 2018 when Yakuza Kiwami 2 released on PS4 in the West, it still felt like getting English releases of Yakuza games wasn't guaranteed. It is funny with how things worked out for the series now with the West almost feeling like a priority. Yakuza Kiwami 2, a remake of Yakuza 2 using RGG Studio's new Dragon Engine (from Yakuza 6) was a massive upgrade over Yakuza Kiwami in just about every way, and I adored most of my time with it back then. I've enjoyed revisiting it over the last two weeks for this Yakuza Kiwami 2 Switch 2 port review and will also be covering a bit about Yakuza Kiwami's Switch 2 version compared to the original.
Last year, Sega ported Yakuza Kiwami to the original Nintendo Switch as the first Yakuza game for Nintendo platforms in the West. It was a good way to play Yakuza Kiwami on the go with its licensed music and quality of life additions, but performance wasn't perfect. Despite being a remake of the first game, I don't think Yakuza Kiwami is the best entry point. Yakuza 0 on the other hand, is the best entry point, and it was re-released for Switch 2 as a launch title with the Director's Cut.
When Yakuza Kiwami 2 was announced for Switch 2 alongside a new version of Yakuza Kiwami, I was very curious how the former would turn out. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a very demanding game and it will be the first Yakuza game using RGG Studio's Dragon Engine that debuted with Yakuza 6 hit a Nintendo platform.
Going from Yakuza Kiwami to Yakuza Kiwami 2 back in 2018 felt like a massive upgrade in everything but performance. It really cemented how I would continue to treat Yakuza Kiwami like an expansion to Yakuza 0, but Yakuza Kiwami 2 felt like a proper remake for a new generation with its stunning visuals, models, added content, and even most of its music. I obviously have no frame of reference for the original game's pacing or content, but I absolutely loved Yakuza Kiwami 2 back in 2018, and having finally been able to revisit it on Switch 2 has been fascinating, but it has reminded me of why I loved Yakuza Kiwami 2, despite some annoyances.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2 arrives featuring all the game's free content updates and DLC included (accessible in Chapter 4) with added subtitle languages, but without an English dub. I was most interested to see how I would feel playing Yakuza Kiwami 2 over half a decade later, and also whether the Switch 2 version would be a good way to experience it. I still love Yakuza Kiwami 2 itself, and while there are a few elements like a specific boss fight balance that annoyed me more now after having played every RGG Studio release, I have no qualms in recommending it as a great Yakuza game.
Before getting to the Switch 2 port, I need to give you some background on the other versions. Yakuza Kiwami 2 was not a great technical experience even on PS4 Pro when I first played it. Yakuza Kiwami 2, like Yakuza 6, targeted 900p 30fps on PS4 and 1080p 30fps on PS4 Pro. The Xbox One versions were similar on Xbox One S and Xbox One X, and the PC version was finally a way to play Yakuza Kiwami 2 at above 30fps. That sadly was not perfect since not only was Yakuza Kiwami 2 a super-demanding game to run back then, but it has issues with certain gameplay elements above 30fps and some mini-games above 60fps.
Note: The image above uses 4K capture from the PS4 version played on PS5, the Xbox One version played on Xbox Series X, and the Switch 2 version docked.
Before getting my Yakuza Kiwami 2 Switch 2 review code, I redownloaded the game on PS4 Pro, PS4 version on my PS5, the Xbox One version on my Xbox Series X, and also the PC version on my Steam Deck and ROG Ally to see how it played across hardware. It is worth noting that Yakuza Kiwami 2 is getting a native PS5 and Xbox Series version next month alongside the Steam version getting updated with additional languages. There are no details on what to expect for the console versions, but I will be covering them when I can.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2 is an impressive release in some ways, but it is held back by some annoying performance issues in specific parts. Visually, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is definitely using upscaling in some form since there are some visual artifacts and texture issues present near characters' heads or bodies during movement in specific locations. The lack of good texture filtering makes things a bit worse, but I want to stress that I think the implementation is quite good since it delivers a stable image even when sprinting in the city with a lot of NPCs.
Even when playing handheld, I think Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2 is a better visual experience than the PS4 and Xbox One versions even when played on PS5 and Xbox Series X via backward compatibility since those still have a lot of shimmering and jagged edges in the environment. The Switch 2 version looks softer, but the environment resolves in a better manner as far as I'm concerned.
RGG Studio has also tweaked the depth of field implementation in Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2 compared to the PS4 and Xbox One versions. I imagine we will see this brought over to the new PS5 and Xbox Series versions, but I'll wait until I get those to judge. There is one annoyance though and that has to do with the UI and menus. When I play with the Switch 2 connected to a 4K or 1440p display, the UI and menus are still not native resolution throughout. There are many 2D elements that look blurry. Even the 2D portraits in mini-games look bad right now. This was an issue in Yakuza 0 Director's Cut using older menu assets, but I was hoping to see things improve with Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2.
On the performance side, Yakuza Kiwami 2 targets 30fps unsurprisingly. For reference, the game cannot hit a native 1080p 60fps on ROG Ally Z1 Extreme or Steam Deck (at 800p). I ended up playing at 30fps or 40fps on both handhelds. There's a case to be made for a 40fps option on Switch 2, but right now it can't hold a locked 30fps since there are drops most notably in busier parts of both Kamurocho and Sotenbori in addition to some frame pacing issues. These are even more annoying during mini-games like karaoke where the notes also have frame pacing issues just like the game does in parts. This is something I've noticed even in other Dragon Engine games at 30fps on console and I was hoping to see them uncap the frame rate in karaoke at least since it is my favorite mini-game in the series. If these frame pacing and other performance issues be resolved in potential patches, there won't be anything to complain about for this release. I noticed these issues more in handheld mode, but they are present docked as well.
Note: The image above uses screenshots taken using Steam's capture functionality on Steam Deck and ROG Ally in addition to the Switch 2 system capture since there is no other way to get handheld capture on Switch 2 right now.
Since Yakuza Kiwami 2 for Switch 2 is a bespoke native release designed for faster storage compared to all prior console versions, I am glad that the load times are dramatically faster here. The Dragon Engine games have long load times when running on consoles from mechanical hard drives so I decided to also measure how long the PS4 and Xbox One versions take to load when running from the internal SSDs. You can find the results below.
Yakuza Kiwami Switch 1 vs Switch 2
As for Yakuza Kiwami, I'll be doing a longer comparison next month with the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions, but I briefly wanted to cover the upgrade from the Switch 1 version. If you own Yakuza Kiwami on Switch, you can buy the digital version for Switch 2 at a discount, and it will read your save data, but it is a completely new native Switch 2 release. While the original Switch port targeted 30fps, it finally targets 60fps on Switch 2 and is the best way to play Yakuza Kiwami on console right now since you get a 60fps target and the licensed music. This might change next month, but I'm happy with the upgrade so far, barring how they handle cut-scenes.
Yakuza Kiwami on PS4 had pre-rendered cut-scenes capped to 30fps but the PC version let you uncap the frame rate and the quality of the results varies quite a bit. On PC, you can enable a frame rate cap for the cut-scenes, but on Switch 2 there is no option. Some cut-scenes don't look right since they were originally 30fps so all movement was designed around that. I hope this can be addressed in a potential update. If you played and enjoyed Yakuza 0 Director's Cut on Switch 2 earlier this year, Yakuza Kiwami's Switch 2 version will feel similar.
Note: The image above uses 4K capture from the PS4 version played on PS5, the Xbox One version played on Xbox Series X, the Switch version played on Switch OLED docked, and the Switch 2 version docked.
So far, Sega and RGG Studio's Switch 2 support has been bringing good to great games over with conservative to mediocre ports. I think Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2 despite its performance issues in parts is the most impressive of the lot just because it delivers a version I can recommend without caveats about the game on other systems. I would absolutely recommend Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2 over the PS4 and Xbox One versions and I'd even take it over the PC version since I've enjoyed playing Yakuza Kiwami 2 both docked and handheld almost daily since getting review code.
Revisiting games I loved many years ago is sometimes scary because I worry I may not enjoy certain aspects with the context of newer games in a specific series. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is still one of my favorites in the series and while this Switch 2 port isn't perfect, it exceeded my expectations despite some issues. If you haven't played Yakuza Kiwami 2 before and want to experience it on the go, the Switch 2 port is a very good way to do so, but I hope the performance issues can be addressed. If you have played it before, I only really recommend this if you want to revisit it on a handheld.