![]() And truthfully, as much as I like Akiyama's role in the story thematically, he hardly has a horse in the race, so he could have been left out to give characters with more of an emotional stake (i.e., Tanimura and Saejima) time to shine. For some that may be more efficient storytelling, but personally I found the character shifts somewhat disruptive. Usually, Yakuza games take their time to meander through various subplots while slowly revealing a complex web of intrigue, but here the plot zips right along since each character only gets 4 chapters for their individual arc. This framework is a bit of a double-edged sword: the differing gameplay styles freshen up the combat (which can start to feel repetitive), but it also changes the narrative pacing. Every 4 chapters, you switch to a different perspective, and each character has their own fighting style and unique substories. ![]() The biggest shot in the arm is the addition of 3 more playable protagonists. This installment has some growing pains as the series angles back towards the identity of the first two games, but it's still a gem of a game. After all, the stakes in that game were pretty low right up until the final act, and the ending didn't appear to leave open many doors for the future of the series. 8.6/10ĥ4h 33m PlayedAfter Yakuza 3, I was a bit worried that the series might struggle to find its footing again. Good main story except for a few moments, good substories, the combat felt good. No bullshit, just straight to the point with 4 straight boss fights. 4 fights with 4 badass intros and 4 badass themes. Munakata was a disappointing final villain, plus his fight sucked big time and would have been even worse without the Sacred Tree armor. Kiryu fighting Daigo didn't really make any sense. ![]() Saejima fighting Kido made sense, but it was such a mismatch that it was kind of stupid. Unfortunately, aside from Arai, they were pretty weak in character. The worst part of the story, aside from Yasuko's death scene (which was atrocious), was the antagonists. I think it would have been fine if his only involvement was with Saejima on the beach. Kiryu's involvement felt very unnecessary, like they threw it in because it wouldn't be a Yakuza game if Kiryu wasn't playable. I wasn't a huge fan of Tanimura, but his part wasn't bad. In fact, I thought Saejima's part was awesome bar the awful prison escape fights. The rubber bullets twist that everybody online hates was fine in my eyes and did not damage Saejima's character at all. The story was not nearly as convoluted as it was made out to be. I loved Akiyama's kicks and Tanimura's parries, and Kiryu was Kiryu. Saejima's was a bit slow but the charge-up finishing attacks were cool. Each one had a distinct style and they all worked well. The constant blocking and general annoying things about Yakuza 3's combat were largely fixed with Yakuza 4, and I liked the combat for all 4 characters. Everything gameplay and visual-wise is, while obviously still not on the level of 5, 0, or Kiwami, much improved from Yakuza 3. ![]() ![]() Yakuza 4 was one of my favorite Yakuza games so far. 50h PlayedI went into Yakuza 4 expecting not to like it based on what I've heard online about the story and characters, but I couldn't have been more wrong. ![]()
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