"We are the Yakuza 4!" - Kiryu, Akiyama, Saejima and Tanimura

Alright, this one's gonna be a bit shorter. I liked Yakuza 4. In fact - I liked it very much.

Gameplay wise - very similar to Yakuza 3, but just... better. The combat feels smoother (no more blockuza) and gives you a lot more options. The four characters don't really feel that different (don't expect DMC5 level variety) but they're all enjoyable in their own right. I just need to say, they made Kiryu feel like a beast in this game and I love it. Oh, and they made the chase sections better. They're kinda fun now.

They added underground and rooftop sections to Kamurocho (TOTK?), but they really aren't that interesting. Not much to say here.

The game looks a bit better than 3. Animations are definitely improved and there is some added detail here and there, but it's still a PS3 game.

Story-wise... well. The game does feel a bit unfocused, thanks to the campaign being split between 4 different characters, but they make it work. It feels like there's a lot happening, but when you think about the story is actually kinda simple? There's a big conspiracy in the background, sure, but in terms of what actually happens in-game - not much. I do like the new characters, especially Akiyama, voiced by Koichi Yamadera. As a Cowboy Bebop enjoyer I was very happy to hear him. In general the story was fun, definitely had it's fair share of hype moments towards the end.

Coming up, Yakuza 5. There sure is a lot of people on the cover.

Oh yeah, Yakuza 4 time!

After finishing Yakuza 3, the game considered 'the bad one' and having a decent time with it, I was excited for the rest of the series going forward. This one also looked interesting, because Kiryu was sharing the spotlight with 3 other guys this time round. Stories that take place from multiple perspectives are my jam personally, so I was looking forward to this.

Part 1: Akiyama rules

So the game starts with Akiyama, and holy shit this starts great. He's charming, he's suave, he's smart. His kicking based fighting style and jazzy soundtrack reminded me heavily of Sanji from One Piece, so it was great to play a game like that without it going 'uhm acktually there are women here you can't play this guy' every five minutes. His thing is lending money to people who interest him, so most of the side content revolves around that, with nearly all of them being great, stuff like the apprentice and the money bath quest especially. Not to mention his plot of tracking down a lady while investigating a murder and getting tangled in the larger plot. It starts and end great while leaving off on a great tale for the next guy. Not a thing I'd change about the plot here. 10/10. Hopefully the next guy is even half as strong

Part 2: Saejima drools

So then the player moves onto Saejima, Majima's old partner. Okay, this seems cool. Starts off in prison with Hamazaki from the previous game, while intrigue of private prisons and corrupt cops runs abound. Narrative seems cool seeing as this guy killed 18 dudes (right?), let's see how the first combat encounter goes oh my god it sucks it sucks so hard who designed this.

Saejima's gameplay revolves around charging attacks. Not my favorite if we're being honest, seeing as Yakuza games are at their best when it's one guy against an army like a classic martial arts movie. So having Saejima just be like 'okay gimme a sec' for most of his stronger moves didn't feel right to me, especially with the prison escape sequence he does feeling awkward with a terrible boss fight. I mean three terrible boss fights. I mean the same terrible boss fight done three times. But then you get to Okinawa, experience possibly the worst scene in the game, do a decent boss fight, and leave for Kamarocho, and get to do funny side activities from the perspective of a guy who hasn't seen in city in 25 years, kinda like Kiryu in the first game and oh no wait the city is on lockdown, you have to fuck around in the sewers, and then do one boss fight in a cage match(this scene is actually good tho) and then almost directly move on to another boss fight (also pretty good) afterwards, and that's basically Saejima. Some neat writing, why does the gameplay suck so much. 3/10. Hopefully the next guy is decent.

Part 3: Tanimura is decent

Next up is Tanimura, a rookie cop who notices something's up within the force, and is on his way to figure it out. I like his story, it's mostly around the man who killed his father, while also delving into the plight of immigrants in Japanese society. I liked the twists here, and his side content is also great. It mostly seems to focus on larger chains such as him figuring out the truth about his father, as well as the training missions tying into a mystery about tracking down a killer, it's all great stuff. His combat is also pretty good, being more focused on parries and restraints, fitting for a police officer. Thing is, his chapter 4 boss dies, but he finds a traitor in the force, which'll be his great conclusion and entertaining boss fight. (foreshadowing is a narrative device yadda yadda yadda) 8/10

Part 4: Kiryu is also here

Kiryu is once again dragged into the scheme practically wearing a shirt saying 'SERIES CONTINUITY' on it. He shows a lot of personal growth here, choosing to opt for peace and forgiveness when a villain from the previous games calls for his aid, and he's back in Kamarocho before you know it. His plot is pretty much the connecting tissue that unites the Yakuza 4 (get it?) before the finale. It's where the emotional gut punches start, and all of it is classic Yakuza goodness. But it's also where the flaws in the plot start. The less said about rubber bullets the better, and the plot has a lot of 'this guy betrayed that guy BUT THEN he got betrayed by the other guy working for that guy' to the point you'll probably need a flowchart or something to keep up with who's betraying who. But anyway, the pieces are all moving, the villains are making their play, and it's time for the explosive finale.

Part 5: Who designed this finale

With all four together, it's time to hit up the tower and conclude things. This game ditches the gauntlet of goons you face on your way to the boss, but that's fine, as long as the finale is good.

Akiyama fights the guy from Tanimura's plot. Okay, bit odd, but Akiyama didn't really leave anyone to fight in his own plot, so it's whatever. Fight's fun and satisfying, thumbs up.

Saejima's fight is also pretty good (read: easy to cheese) against a person he has emotional connection to who you honestly feel kind of bad for. It's a decent fight.

Kiryu and Tanimura is awful

Kiryu's is your standard shirtless tower brawl, only made to be as annoying and unfun as possible. He has constant armour so you can barely do anything to him, blocks and dodges constantly, and has a move that I swear just makes shit phase through him which he also uses constantly. You can't even land a light combo on him before he goes 'nuh-uh' and pummels you into the dirt.

But Tanimura's fight, HOLY FUCK. Straight up, everyone involved with making this fight should be blacklisted from the industry. It's one thing to gave the main boss be a guy with a gun who takes cheap shots at you from a distance. It's another to give him bodyguards. It's another to give him a bodyguard count in the double digits who proceed to combo you constantly. But finally, they block and dodge constantly so you can't get a decent hit in, and even when you do that's when the gun comes back. Not the worst boss fight in Yakuza (Neo knockoff from 1 still takes that one) but still, dear god. Finale gets a 4/10, the story concludes nicely.

Overall, Yakuza is a game that's pretty consistently great, but the low points are among the lowest of any game I've played. averaging out my scores lands the game at a 6.6, but that feels too low, so it's like an 8. The vibes are good, it's (mostly) more Yakuza goodness, and I'm looking forward to 5

I know this game's story gets a bad rep, but overall this is easily one of my favourite entries in the series.

Everything from Yakuza 3 is improved, with better visuals, more protagonists, better combat and just general better everything for me.

However, Kiryu and Daigo should not have been in this game at all, they do absolutely nothing and feel as if they are there just to be on the front cover. If anything they make the story worse because of that, Kiryu should not have appeared outside of that minor cameo in Saejima's section. He's also just dumb in this game, why the fuck does he forgive Hamazaki? And how the hell did he not know who Saejima was?

The worst part of this game's plot is the obvious rubber bullets thing, which was only done so we don't play as a murderer and yeah it's dumb, like Joji Kazama levels of dumb.

I still love this game though, everything about it is great barring the previously mentioned points.

FUCK THE FINAL MUNAKATA BATTLE!

This game is interesting and I have quite a bit to say about it as it has quite a few areas especially with having 4 characters to play as.

First off, story and unfortunatly I think im gonna have to say, this is the worst Yakuza story thus far, dont get me wrong, its still good but compared to the others, even the first game, its the worst one. And I think the problem comes down to writing and somehow making it so all 4 of the characters storys comes together fluidly and I dont think they accomplished that. Each of the characters though were really compelling and I loved each of them in there own way but the problem is, there starting point is just too different from each other apart from Kiryu's because he just kind of comes in to clean up the mess but ironically I think his is the worst in that because thats the chapter thats meant to unite everyone together. And I think its kind of a shame since it had good potential but it kind of just whiffed how everything comes together as well as its villain. The problem with its villain is, you dont know who the fuck it is half the time lmao. It keeps changing through betrayal and new information coming together to the point it just feels like there's no real villain and at the end it definitely shows it as they even bring in a fourth one just right out of left field which...doesnt make any sense at all why this guys there lmao. But apart from that, its still a good story, in terms of the individual story of each character, there actually really good and cool and each one did its character justice. They also perfectly captured each character and made each of them feel unique, like with Saejima's, your spending half of it underground because he's fleeing from the cops and Tanimura introduces the secret asian gateway section of the town you couldnt get into with the other characters before, so in terms of individual storys, they were really good...its just bringing everything together was its downfall.

Now lets talk about everything else, combat, is a huge improvement from 3's and it might even be up there in terms of top 3, every character felt so different to play as and I honestly cant decide who was my favourite to play (though im leaning toward Akiyama, the GOAT of a man lol).

The side content this time around was a bit plain and meh in my opinion, apart from Kiryu's in which you reunite with a lot of characters from the 1st game which was a really nice touch. I also liked a few select substorys from each character, especially Saejima's final one, that ones so cool hehe. I also liked all the trainers two, they were really fun. Quick shoutout to the chase minigame, they made them somehow even better in this game compared to 3's. I thought 3's was fun in most places but now it might even be my favourite mini game to play (Apart from with Saejima where your fleeing the cops and there's always that one prick outside near Serana's, that one pissed me off because there's no way to avoid him when you want to take the nearest taxi.)

Final subject, Amon boss, real disappointment. I spent freaking so long preparing for that getting so many weapons for all the characters and spreading the stamina's equally between them...and the fight's turn out to be the easiest in the series. Even 3's was harder then that shit and that one was just super long and annoying in spots but it kept me on my toes at all times. The toughest one was Jiro but it was more bullshit then hard because he kept on regenerating his health whenever you did damage but if you just lay into him with loads of weapon heat actions, he's pretty much done for.

Even though ive layed into the game in a few places, I say overall though, this is a pretty great game. Its combat is pretty fun and every protag is unique and awesome in there own way. Its story may not be up to par with the others in terms of how everything pans out at its end, its still good and the individual character chapters of there own story I think saves it hard because of how good they are.