I've been playing Yakuza 2, and not enjoying it at all. I'm on chapter 14, so almost finished, at least. I played the first game a couple years ago, and thought it was decent up until the ending, which was an abomination. Unfortunately the main thing I liked about the first game (Haruka) is mostly absent from this game, and that unruly insanity of the first game's ending seems to have been carried through into the majority of the sequel. I didn't even think I was going to play any more of the Yakuza games after the first one, because I didn't see a reason that it should have continued beyond the first game, but for some reason I did. Now I sort of wish I hadn't. It doesn't help that I always hated Kabukichou, and Kamurochou only really serves to remind me of that fact.
Uh... no, it isn't.
You CAN not like it of course, that's 100% cool.
But the ending to 1 is superb and the tradeoff to a massive build up of plot is written fantastically; absolutely the farthest thing from an abomination and you are literally the first (and only) person I've ever seen with that take on the first game's plot.
If you want to see an abomination of writing, just wait until you beat the game you're currently on; THAT ending is absolutely written-terribly.
Anyways, the first two were written by crime novelist, Hase Seishu and while he got a lot of things correct in the first game, in terms of plot conventions and character motivations, he completely flipped the switch in 2 and made a clusterfuck of things (I'll admit as well, that not having Haruka for a lot of 2, bothered me as well).
Therefore, if you have a PS3 (or PS4 and are willing to get the remasters, which would probably be a better bet at this point), I would suggest giving 3 a try, as it is better than both the first and second games (by a pretty-solid margin), it has nothing to do with Seishu (written by longtime series writer/producer, Yokoyama), which means the characters revert back to their attitudes/motivations from the first game (and how they kept their attitudes until now, the 7th game) and most-importantly, for your specific tastes, at least 50% of the game takes place in Okinawa AND 3 is the game where Haruka appears the most AND is involved with the plot the most (after 5).
So yeah, for those reasons, I'd give it a shot; the gameplay gets a sharp uptick as well and 3 is the first game in the series that proved the series was in, "Elite Franchise," territory. If that doesn't maintain whatever interest you have left in the series, then it's truly not for you.
If you speak Japanese as well, Kenzan! for the PS3 is quite good and has a lot of Haruka in it (but it is a completely-different type of game). Same goes for Ishin! and while there is a lot of Haruka again, she actually doesn't factor into the plot, at all.
If you like a lot of Haruka and don't like Kamurocho, then 4 wouldn't be the best game for you either, as the entirety of the game takes place there and, like 2, she has very-little to do with the plot. 0 takes place years before Haruka is born and has a 50/50 split with Kamurocho and Sotenbori, so not sure if that works either. Both are good games (0 is top 5 in the series), but if they don't have what you're looking for...
5 and 6 on the other hand, both feature her a ton and have multiple locations.
5 you actually play as her for a good part of the game and only the final 4 chapters (of 21), take place in Kamurocho. The rest of the locations are in Nagoya, Sapporo, Sotenbori (which I'm not a huge fan of lol) and Fukuoka.
6 has a 50% of the game take place in Hiroshima and Haruka is the centerpiece of the plot... and it is a PHENOMENAL plot that a shit-ton of people didn't understand at all.
So yeah, with the flashback/recap options and all that, it may be most-worthwhile for you to skip the ones that feature less Haruka (and more Kamurocho) and give the others a shot. Up to you!
