The combat system was only marginally better than Y0. Very marginally.
The enemies in that game have a odd obsession with not getting knocked down normally, especially the bosses (even earlier in a match. I can understand if the boss had half or more of his health lowered just to increase the intensity of the boss fight, but still). It also seems easier for both Kiryu himself and the enemies (bosses included) to get stun-locked. Strangely enough, in fighting tournament rings, bosses will actually turn towards your direction after being back turned and hit enough timed near the wall, much like how it was handled in Yakuza 0.
Also, even if you completely buff the Dragon of Dojima style, you still have to notice that Kiryu is still missing a very small number of moves:
In Yakuza 0, if Kiryu possessed his Dragon of Dojima style, he could still actually pick the opponent up off of the ground and execute the exact same moves as he could from the Beast style (Kiryu will either grab the opponent by the leg and can kick them aside or Geese Howard them to death by throwing them back down. Or, Kiryu will restand the opponent). The Dragon of Dojima was essentially designed (in this case) to be a sharp combination of every trait from the three fighting styles that Kiryu utilized.
There are also few other problems that I have with Kiwami: The final boss fight with Nishiki.
In Y1, Nishiki was actually capable of lifting both small or heavy objects to attack Kiryu with. He also used his own “Heat Action” A LOT more frequently at any point when Kiryu was knocked down (Nishiki still has this, but he almost never use it for some reason, even on Legend difficulty). Nishiki was also arguably easier this time around because he still could get cheesed to death by the Tiger Drop (the Brawler version, which is simply known as “Counter Hook” while the other is from Dragon of Dojima). Nishiki could have been kept his throws as well (because in Y1, he may try to conduct a suplex move on Kiryu) and they also could have gave him a low strike so that the player could not get too cute with the Tiger Drops or the other counters (frankly, most battles are completely made inconsequential by that move ALONE. Trying to defeat bosses without using Tiger Drop or the counters of any kind does warrant a better challenge, even if it is self-imposed). One aspect that I can’t stand about the Nishiki fight is that when Nishiki’s health is just below the last life bar, a QTE is automatically triggered. If the player completes the QTE successfully, Kiryu automatically wins the match. Nishiki just… dies, in a somewhat anticlimactic way, as funny as the scenario was (you guys know exactly what I am talking about. Nishiki actually had the balls to ask Kiryu this question “YOU CALL THAT A PUNCH?!”… The answer Kiryu gives This sort of thing should be saved for when Nishiki’s health is… well, when he is nearly dead. Like how Shibusawa was handled. Jo Amon was far climatic than this shit, despite him simply being a bonus boss, who practically borders on being a One-Punch Man character (to be fair, he has been like this since his conception).
(Some of this is just me babbling about some oddities I notice in the enemies in Kiwami, among other things).