Sega first released Yakuza 4 on March 15th, 2011 exclusively for PlayStation 3. From Sega’s Yakuza 3 team comes the Toshihiro Nagoshi-produced 3rd person action-adventure sequel that continues the story of the gritty Japanese Yakuza series, the game challenges players to rise or fall in a fictional representation of the Japanese criminal underworld.
System: PS3
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release dates: March 15, 2011 (USA), March 18, 2011 (Europe), March 18, 2010 (Japan)
Players: 1
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Origin: Japan
Rating: ESRB: M, PEGI: 18, BBFC: 18
“Even yakuza are sayin’ we gotta take better care of the planet.” -Majima to Taiga Saejima
Yakuza 4 picks up the story of Yakuza 3 one year later and takes the player back to Tokyo. The story starts when a man is shot to death in the ruling territory of the Tojo Clan, the organization that has featured in all games in the series to date.
A small gang which belongs to Tojo Clan try to establish what happened and their leader is soon found stabbed to death. These events cause a heated battle between four men over money, power, status and honor. The truth becomes apparent as the lies, betrayals and entwined stories are revealed and when these 4 unflinching men get together, the new legend of Kamurocho is born.
Here is my review for Yakuza 4! I tried to touch upon subjects instead of ranting so I hope you like it.
Agree/disagree with my thoughts? Please feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you think!
Music from the game used in the review:
All the tracks playing in the background are from the official Yakuza 4 soundtrack purchased from iTunes.
1. Roarless Dragon (The Main Menu Track!)
2. Speed Star
3. Sadness
4. Raindrops ~Rio~
5. The Host OST (B4-A3)
The game’s main features are:
As a conclusion let’s see how much fun the game is on a scale from 1 to 10:
Story
Like the other games in the franchise, Yakuza 4 focuses very heavily on yakuza politics and throws in a lot of violence for good measure, so in that area it hasn’t really changed much. In this installment, each of the four characters were really well-developed and fun to play. They each have their own unique features, their own kinds of attitudes, behaviors, backstories, and this made the character changes within the game really refreshing. This use of many characters and intertwining stories is a really interesting feature. A really interesting spin on the franchise. Of course it still focuses on the yakuza politics we know and love, but it really worked in revitalizing it.
Gameplay
Gameplay is good. A couple of new features were added, like utilizing rooftops and underground sewers and things, to get from location to location. In adventure mode this was brilliant, I can’t fault it.
Fighting was simple, with each fight usually giving you soul points so that you can upgrade. Each of the characters have their own fighting styles, which in some cases can be highly annoying and a welcome change in others. Of course you can still pick up random objects from the street to beat people with, which never gets old. I felt that the fights were a bit easy, which gets a little repetitive at times.
My one big problem with the game, and this is common with all Yakuza games, are the dialog boxes. I know a lot of games use this feature, but it’s one for the most part I can’t stand. Some of the most important scenes were presented to the player to read on-screen, and I often felt like I was pressing the X button for hours. But this is a personal pet-peeve. And if you like this feature, please comment below and let me know why… I’m kind of interested why you’d like it, as it’s always really really bugged me.
There are a lot of sub-missions to do alongside the main mission, which always varied depending on the character you’re playing as, which is a really nice touch. They help develop the character you’re playing, as they give insight as to who they are and how they work. It didn’t just flesh out the characters, but the stories and characters too.
Graphics
The character models were good. I can’t say that they looked that different from Yakuza 3, but they were still good none the less.
The city environment was really great. It was colorful, bustling and full of life. I think Yakuza 3 had very realistic-looking environments, but compared to this installment they seem a little bit cartoony. Comparing the two, Yakuza 3 looked more last-gen, and Yakuza 4 is very much up to date. I really just love the colorfulness of the characters.
Audio
There aren’t particular music tracks that jump out, aside from the game’s main menu theme (linked above). What impressed me about the soundtrack was this blend of several different genres. You have this kind of jazz-film noir sound, kind of electric guitars, and a little bit of an electronic feel in some areas. It’s a very interesting mix that you wouldn’t think would work, but definitely works for what world their trying to create.
OVERALL FUN-FACTOR — 9
I’m going to give this a dual-score:
A) Up against other games in the market right now, I would give it an 8 or 8.5 out of 10. Because it’s a good play, but it doesn’t quite stand apart from other titles.
B) In the context of the Yakuza franchise, I would give it a 9 out of 10. All the extra additions that they’ve put in really has revitalized the franchise and I think this is a worthy addition.
And I just want to say a final thank-you to Sega for sending me this review copy.
Please leave your thoughts below. Thank you for watching / reading; I always love to hear what you guys have to say!