As announced at Japan Expo 2018 by Takaya Kuroda, Yakuza Kiwami 2's PS4 demo is now live. The demo comes ahead of the August 28th release date of Yakuza Kiwami 2. A full remake of Yakuza 2 in Yakuza 6's "Dragon Engine," Kiwami 2 is set to be the last full remake of the early Yakuza games. You may recall that Sega announced remasters for Yakuza 3 through 5 at E3 this year, but Sega later clarified, saying that the remasters would not be "Kiwami-style remakes." Either way, PS4 owners can check out the demo of Yakuza Kiwami 2 now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Pdbqy6jx8&feature=youtu.be

Set one year later, Yakuza 2 sees Kazuma Kiryu and Haruka Sawamura aim to start a more peaceful life together. Unfortunately, they stumble into an assassination that threatens to start a war between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance. Kazuma travels to Osaka in order to defuse the conflict. There, he runs into Ryuji Goda, who aims to plunge the clans into all-out war.

The original Yakuza 2 released to positive reviews back in 2008, and Kiwami 2 saw similarly high praise upon release. There are some reports of cut content in Kiwami 2, including rearranging some locations in order to be closer to their real-life counterparts. Not only that, but apparently, some of the music is missing too. This is not the first time that Yakuza games have been missing content. In one example, the cabaret nightclub minigame is missing from some of the later PS2 games. This does appear to be the first instance of any of the remakes/remasters missing content, and it comes after Sega announced that the Yakuza remasters wouldn't cut any content.

Still, the demo will be a good way to get a taste of Yakuza Kiwami 2. If it's anything like the Yakuza 6 demo, you'll get a taste of the streets, combat, minigames, and story, before getting cut off. If you're just jumping into Yakuza for the first time, Sega has created an interactive comic and timeline in order to get you up to speed. Either way, you can explore the streets of Osaka and Kamurocho in Yakuza Kiwami 2 on August 28th.