Yakuza Kiwami 2 won’t be available to buy for another month, however, SEGA has graciously given us a demo to help us in the long wait. It is unknown if you can transfer data from the demo to the actually game like they did with the Yakuza 6 demo. The demo is free and only for the PlayStation 4.

With that said, a new “Special Item Pack” pre-order bonus is also available. The special will come with the following items:

• Demonfire Blade weapon
• Hostess Ono Michiyo
• Sotaro Komaki R Clan Card
• Jo Amon R Clan Card
• The Comedian Suit Outfit
• 1 Million Yen

Have some more screenshots provided by SEGA.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 will be available on August 28th exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

In this week’s show we discuss:

• SXSW Sonic panel discussion
  • Sonic Mania Plus is getting a physical release with new characters this summer
  • SEGA is teasing a new Sonic racing game
  • Sonic Mania Adventures series announced at SXSW
  • ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ comic pre-order on SEGA Shop

News Stand

• SEGA Genesis Collection coming to PS4, Xbox One, PC this May
• Yakuza Kiwami 2 is Coming West

Listen now: [powerpress] Duration – 1 hr, 19 min. @ 38 MB
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We hope you enjoy the show!

Remember when we used to have to beg for Sega to release Yakuza titles in the west? Seems farfetched nowadays, with Zero and Kiwami released in the past year, and Yakuza 6 just around the bend. It’s been a banner year for the series, and tonight, it was revealed that the Year of the Dragon’s been extended a little longer.

At tonight’s Yakuza 6: Essence of Art grand opening in Los Angeles, Sega formally announced the localization of Yakuza Kiwami 2, with a release date of August 28th, 2018. For those just getting up to speed, Kiwami 2 is a remake of Yakuza 2, which is considered by many to be the best story in the series, using Yakuza 6‘s Dragon Engine. Kiwami 2 also adds a brand new side-story starring Goro Majima to the mix, as well as bringing back Yakuza 6‘s Clan Creator minigame, this time featuring New Japan Pro Wrestling legends such as Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro “How Has He Not Been In RGG Sooner” Chono as the rival squad.

The game will be releasing in both regular and Steelbook variants, with preorders opening at a soon to be determined date. No price point was announced, but if it follows Kiwami‘s $30 USD price point, Kiwami 2 will be an absolute steal when it releases.

More information and screenshots can be found on Sega’s official Yakuza Kiwami 2 website.

Here is what Terajima had to say:

“Today, there are…several of the people up on this stage are Koreans, truly… I only hope no missiles come flying from Korea.”

Here is the video of the remarks:

https://youtu.be/-NXn300e9tY

These, of course, are due to North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, threatening missile strikes to the United States. Politics aside, South Korea did not take this so lightly. Many people went to the internet to express their feelings about these remarks, sending backlash and even protesting to have the game cancelled in South Korea. Major forums in South Korea were attacking the actor over these remarks and called him jjokbari [Korean slur for japanese].

Through all this controversy, this is what SEGA Korea had to say:

“We’ve relayed Korean players’ feedback regarding the comment and their demand for an apology to HQ.”

No word on whether or not Yakuza: Kiwami 2 will be cancelled in South Korea.

via Kotaku

With Yakuza Kiwami due for its Western release in just a few days (Aug 29, 2017), those plucky, keen-eyed folks over at NeoGaf have spotted a surprise on the Taiwanese PlayStation Store – the release of Yakuza Kiwami 2, this December!

Now, while NeoGaf does tend to be pretty hot on discovering things, we are still treating this as a rumour – as the link to the game on the Taiwanese store appears to be dead now, so we can’t confirm its existence.

But there have been a couple of screenshots of the store front on NeoGaf and 4Chan, showing the logo for Yakuza Kiwami 2, along with the release date of “2017.12.07” – December 7, 2017.

For those who don’t know, Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original PS2 Yakuza, developed for the PS3 and PS4. So it’s only natural to assume that Yakuza Kiwami 2 would be a remake of Yakuza 2 for the PS4 (the store screenshot only shows PS4 as the listed console).

It wouldn’t surprise me if this were true, Yakuza Kiwami has been very well received in both Asian and Western reviewers and the power of more modern consoles really brings the original game to life. So, I can easily imagine SEGA jumping on the opportunity to develop the sequel for the PS4.

Whether Yakuza Kiwami 2 comes to Western markets though is another thing. There’s a strong chance it will, but I reckon that will all depend on well the first Kiwami game performs in sales.

The follow up question to a Western release would be “when?” Yakuza Kiwami was released in Japan back in January 2016, while the Western release has taken a good 1 year and 8 months to make it to the US and European markets. So if SEGA sticks to a similar launch schedule we probably won’t see Yakuza Kiwami 2 until July 2019.

Still, if this is true, then it’s exciting to SEGA following up Kiwami and supporting the franchise further.