Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku
Publisher: Sega
Series: Yakuza
Release date: March 18, 2010 (Japan), March 2011 (Rest of World)
Platforms: PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PC
Genres and Modes: Single player
2 months time is still not that far off since my last Yakuza review. At this point, my entire blog of game reviews is filled with just Yakuza and nothing else. It even overshadows my Street Fighter reviews and that one Race Driver GRID review I made. But alas, I love these games, so me reviewing them almost constantly is a thing.
Back on track now! Yakuza 3 was certainly an interesting game. Don't get me wrong, it has its problems, but they didn't bother me as much as everyone else did. Sure the combat was clunky and janky, especially with the enemies blocking your attacks almost 100% of the time, and Kiryu being limited to sing just one karaoke song, with the other two being a backup voice for the singers. On top of that, the game felt like it still didn't want to leave its PS2 roots behind, therefore it felt like the game had the gameplay of the first two games, with the fixed angled cameras removed. Nevertheless, 3 is often considered the game that all future titles would be based on, as mentioned in the previous review (even though Kenzan is the first 3rd person Yakuza game, we Westerners never got a localized version of it when it first came out, nor will we see a remaster of it).
With all things considered, how did Ryu Ga Gotoku respond to the criticisms of its previous instalment?
They made Yakuza 4 obviously. But is it an improvement? A Downgrade? In-between? A crazy knock off version of the Mad Dog of Shimano (I would pay millions if Majima ever made a video game.)? Let's see what's in store for us in this review of: WE ARE YAKUZA 4!!!
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| Okay so we have: A smug dude, a scary muscular man with long hair, blue jacket man and Kiryu. WAIT! 4 PLAYABLE CHARACTERS!?!?!? |
CHARACTER PLOTS & GAMEPLAY
Yeah, well Yakuza 4's first major change is that you get to play with not 1, not 2 nor 3, but 4 different characters. The plot of the game has them all connected thanks to events that unfolded in the close and distant past, as the truth is slowly revealed to the light. Some will find the reason for why everything is happening, some will find the answers to unanswered questions, some will punish evil with their righteous justice, and some will even straighten out those that are losing their way. Will further elaborate on this after this section is done.
To make things a bit simplified, I will be discussing the character's importance and place in the story, while also explaining their gameplay. Before starting with the characters, I should mention that the gameplay is the same as 3, but more expanded with more moves, new heat moves, less blocking (yes the enemies block less), wall juggling & normal juggling (like in fighting games), more access to minigames, karaoke songs, etc. This will also be expanded a bit down the line.
Now let's jump into the plot for real this time
SHUN AKIYAMA (秋山 駿)
Voice actor: Koichi Yamadera
Now let's jump into the plot for real this time
SHUN AKIYAMA (秋山 駿)
Voice actor: Koichi Yamadera
Theme: Speed Star
Alright! So, the first new playable character introduced in Yakuza 4. A very handsome man who is an entrepreneur and owner of his very own credit company named Sky Finance. While he does look like someone who would procrastinate than rather work, he actually is someone who would procrastinate than work. Despite his lazy nature, he is nevertheless always spot on whenever his clients come to him for loan. No interests, no nothing. If you pass the test he has assigned you, the money is yours. Should you fail, look somewhere else for money. Has a keen eye on figuring out people within minutes, and this is all thanks to a "certain" incident that happened in 2005, when he was homeless and had nowhere else to go. After the "big boom" of the Millennium Tower, he managed to grab as much cash as he could to turn his life back around. And it worked! With a net worth of 100 billion yen, he is nicknamed "The Lifeline of Kamurocho". His involvement in the game is simple: find out the person responsible for making him become a homeless bum and expose the fraud to justice.
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| Akiyama in 2005. Who would do such a thing to a man of this quality? Funny, lazy, barely does work. He's my spirit animal! |
As for his gameplay, all I can say is LEG DAY! CAUSE BOY HIS LEGS ARE SOMETHING!
His fighting style is just kicks and nothing else. Some say he has learned to fight on his own, and some say he has learned Tae Kwan Doo to pull of such movements with his legs. He uses his hands only when he needs to grab onto something when performing a heat move or a heat finisher move on bosses, or when he grabs his opponent. His health is 3rd lowest in the game, and his heat gauge meter is decent in length. Not long, but not too short either.
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| Handsome face, beautiful singing voice, deadly legs and a lazy yet unusual attitude make him one of a kind character. I love this guy more than Majima. NO JOKES!!! Akiyama is the daddy... |
TAIGA SAEJIMA (冴島 大河)
Voice actor: Rikiya Koyama
Theme: Massive Fire
Voice actor: Rikiya Koyama
Theme: Massive Fire
This scary looking man is also known as "18 Count Saejima", for a hit he did as a part of an assassination attempt back in 1985. The hit was meant to be executed alongside his sworn brother Majima, but because the latter never showed up, he went on to do it himself. As a result, he was sentenced on a death row, which took 25 years for that to happen. But on the day of the execution, he escapes from a secret penitentiary, alongside another prisoner who feeds him with news that would make Saejima filled with determination to find out the truth about the incident that took place in 1985. Why did his sworn brother never show up? What happened to his sworn brother during his time in the joint? And what happened to the world whilst he was waiting for his execution to commence?
Personality wise, he's like your average old man. Not having a single clue about the modern world. Being locked up for 25 years have made Saejima seem like he doesn't belong in modern society, as he has no idea how technology even works. However, don't let his scary looks make you fear him, because deep down, he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He's after all, the "Tiger of the Tojo" for a reason...
Personality wise, he's like your average old man. Not having a single clue about the modern world. Being locked up for 25 years have made Saejima seem like he doesn't belong in modern society, as he has no idea how technology even works. However, don't let his scary looks make you fear him, because deep down, he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He's after all, the "Tiger of the Tojo" for a reason...
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| That's the look of someone who just wants to see those around him safe and sound, not to murder... |
Saejima gameplay: SMASH!!! WRECK!!! REFUSE TO ELABORATE!!! LEAVE!!!
His style of fighting is brute force. Given his tall stature and incredible strength (rivaled only by the "Dragon of Dojima"), his attacks deal massive damage, look devastating, and are borderline deadly. Unlike the other 3, he is the only one that can lift motorbikes and heavy objects to use them as his own weapons to end the fights in less than a second. So really, nothing special about his fighting style. It's just lock onto a target or a bunch of enemies, and squish them like bugs.
MASAYOSHI TANIMURA (谷村 正義)
Voice actor: Hiroki Narimiya (Original); Toshiki Masuda (Remaster)
Theme: Infinite Handcuff & Broken Police Radio
"The Parasite of Kamurocho". A Community Safety Division officer for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who despite his status as an officer that would pursue his criminals to the ends of the earth to discover and reveal the truth, is also a cocky son of a gun that would put his work behind, so he can go for a round of two for mahjong, oicho-kabu, koi-koi or any game that involves gambling. Not to mention he accepts bribes, as long as the bribe itself is of good amount.
The negatives of his personality don't mean anything whenever the crime in question involves endangering the civilians of Tokyo or Kamurocho. A polyglot that can speak Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Thai and Tagalog, thanks to his upbringing in the Little Asia part of Kamurocho. His reasons for becoming a Yakuza 4 gamer: Discover who is responsible for the murder of his father (a detective), who is the corrupted bastard of the PD that makes things life harder for everyone & who gaslighted and funded a certain person into committing sinful acts back in 2005.
The negatives of his personality don't mean anything whenever the crime in question involves endangering the civilians of Tokyo or Kamurocho. A polyglot that can speak Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Thai and Tagalog, thanks to his upbringing in the Little Asia part of Kamurocho. His reasons for becoming a Yakuza 4 gamer: Discover who is responsible for the murder of his father (a detective), who is the corrupted bastard of the PD that makes things life harder for everyone & who gaslighted and funded a certain person into committing sinful acts back in 2005.
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| Like a true parasite, wandering around the slums to fulfil his gambling needs. Despite that, has a heart of gold and sense of justice... |
The weakest of the quartet, his attacks deal low damage, has low health and heat gauge, but these cons are balanced out with his style. The only one who is a trained professional, he can mess you up like a true fighter. Judo, karate, or any other martial art that was taught to him during his academy days in the PD, he is using them to their fullest potential. Unlike the other 3, which use normal blocks to prevent being touched by their enemies, he instead parries their attacks, expanding his offensive options. He's the pure definition of "Attack is the best Offensive" and vice versa. Lowe health, low damage, but when he's all maxed out, he becomes a scary fighter.
Low stamina & attacks, but becomes strong when maxed out? Reminds me of a young kid from Hong Kong that likes to juggle his opponents whenever he yells out the dreaded words: GENEI-JIN!!!
CONTROVERSY SECTION
The original voice actor for Tanimura, Hiroki Narimiya, was arrested in 2016 for alleged drug use. While he proved his innocence during a trial (which was revealed him to be blackmailed by a close friend of his), he withdrew from voice acting. Therefore, had to be replaced with Toshiki Masuda, representing the new face & voice of Tanimura.
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| Both versions of Tanimura look awesome. It's just a shame his VA was falsely accused and forced to retire. There are mods for PC that bring back the old face & actor, will link them at the end of the review... |
KAZUMA KIRYU (桐生 一馬)
Voice actor: Takaya Kuroda
Theme: The Myth
Voice actor: Takaya Kuroda
Theme: The Myth
THE MAN! THE MYTH! THE LEGEND! KAZUMA KIRYU!!!
What's there to explain about this beautiful man? Nothing! He's a living legend!
Currently taking care of his adopted children at the Sunflower Orphanage, the only reason for him being here is that he was forced to return to the world of Yakuza because of everything that I mentioned before. His main goal: Knock some sense into the current head of the Tojo Clan.
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| Kiryu's back, and he's not fucking around. Last to play as, but the most prepared out of everyone. His last chapter is a breeze to go through... |
Not much for his style of fighting to explain as well. It's just Kiryu beating the shit out of everyone with quick & efficient combos. His moveset remains unchanged from 3, and to top it all off, he starts out with 45% of his abilities already unlocked. Why does he not remember how to fight whenever there's a new game around the corner is beyond me...
Credit goes to: DoubleDoseofGaming
Simple demonstration of the characters' stylish gameplay
ACTUAL PLOT
This one comes straight from SEGA & Ryu Ga Gotoku. They were able to sum up the plot pretty well in few sentences.
TRIVIA
This one comes straight from SEGA & Ryu Ga Gotoku. They were able to sum up the plot pretty well in few sentences.
2010, Tokyo. A shooting incident one night in a red-light district sets the city swirling with human desires and clamor. It was supposed to be a ""common incident"" for this town... until the appearance of one woman burdened with sorrow. As if drawn to a flame, men of the city's dark underground are gathered, one after another, at the door of the ""legendary yakuza"" Kazuma Kiryu.
As the fates of these four men overlap, the story of a miracle created by the passionate and violent way of life begins to takes shape.
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| Yakuza Kiwami & 4 are the only games where the only city to explore is Kamurocho, but 4 holds the title as the only game where you can discover the most out of Kamurocho. |
ACTUAL GAMEPLAY
- You have karaoke, fishing, minigames, improved combat, revamped leveling up (you don't spend your experience points on upgrades, but instead, you obtain orbs as you level up and use them to upgrade your character).
- Revelations make a return, and all 4 of them can learn new moves from watching something silly. Tanimura uses a notebeook to write down the funni, and Saejima carves a wood statue to express his revelation, unlike Kiryu & Akiyama, who use their phones to capture the moment.
- Forgot to mention this before, but previous titles had training masters that taught Kiryu (most of the time) and Majima (in Yakuza 0 only) extra moves and enhanced their fighting abilites. This tradition continues on, as all 4 have an individual training master that boosts their skills, abilities, and make you curse should you fail the final challenge.
- Hilarious substories.
GALLERY
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| It's not a Yakuza review without the fan-favourite, Majimba... |
- In Yakuza 4, protagonists represent the 4 Eastern Gods:
* Tanimura represents the Black Tortoise (or Genbu), as he focuses the most on defense (parrying) out of the four player characters and is the most down-to-earth.
* Taiga Saejima is the White Tiger (or Byakko), as he is the most cynical of the four, and possesses the most brute strength.
* Shun Akiyama represents the Vermilion Bird (or Suzaku), as he has the most elegance (speed and flow) out of the 4 protagonists and is the most idealistic.
* Kazuma Kiryu represents the Azure Dragon (or Seiryu), as he is the most balanced of the characters and also the most experienced and wise.
-As mentioned earlier, Kamurocho is fully exposed to the player to explore. The rooftops, the underground bars & parking lot, the sewers. Like a lot can be explored.
- Saejima is the only one that can't do karaoke, and the reason for it is because he was never fond of singing (Bullshit foreshadowing incoming)
- Saejima is the only one that can't do karaoke, and the reason for it is because he was never fond of singing (Bullshit foreshadowing incoming)
- Perhaps the first game in the series where the substory count is still big, but because each character has like 15 or 17, you can finish them all and tackle the final substory, with a fucking ridiculous boss. This has always been a part of the series, but only now wanted to mention this, because this was the first game where I did all of the substories to unlock the final one.
- Kamurocho~ Koi no Story... JAN JAN JANCONCLUSION
Yakuza 4 is a sequel that pretty much plays & feels the same as 3, but with further improved gameplay and mechanics. The lack of other cities is a bit sad, but Kamurocho being fully explorable is a good trade off if you ask me. the plot, while right now sort of is understandable, may be difficult to understand at first, as the twists and turns are out of control. The fighting feels fun and exciting, minigames offer a huge variety of games released from the time period, and yeah. Nothing else to say really. Yakuza 4 is just an improved version of Yakuza 3.
But what would happen to you and those around you, if you all decided to join in on a fight to fulfil a dream? Back out from the fight? Distance yourself from your beloved ones? Or tackle each & every obstacle with full force to fight for it?
Ѓорѓи „GioGio“ Илиев
