Finally got to play the 4th Yakuza game. After watching the series finally trying something new in the 3rd one, I'm glad to see that they kept trying with this one, even if they keep making the same mistakes. Nonetheless, probably the best Yakuza game I've played since 0.
For starters, I just want to say that out of all Yakuza games I've experienced, this one carries the best soundtrack. 0 and 3 had good ones, but this one just knocks it out of the park. Enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end.
In fact, "enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end" is a quality that this game carries throughout its lengthy campaign. It felt weird playing with characters that I've never seen before, but I got to know them, understand their motives, and get attached, very fast. Another breath of fresh air, just like Okinawa.
Those 3 new characters, along with Kyriu, make up for an amazing cast of protagonists. Especially since they all have their specific part to play in the overarching plot, while having unique types of substories and fighting styles. All of them very fun. Taiga was definitely my least favorite and Akiyama was incredible.
Dialogues were nice, plot was a bit confusing but very entertaining, the twists were surprising and fights were fun, as usual. I won't even say anything about the substories this time. Just know that they're VERY cool! Some are quite thrilling.
But despite Yakuza 4 becoming my 2nd favorite in the series so far, it is, once again, hard to not ignore its flaws. I love Kamurocho, I truly do, this place makes me want to visit Japan, but... I'm just tired of it. One of the things that I absolutely loved in Yakuza 3 was Okinawa, but this time, despite the 4 different characters novelty, it feels like more of the same, again and again.
And while substories are fun enough, eventually, you just want to get a long with the story, 'cause it's always the best part about these games. Kamurocho needs to go, despite how lovely it is. I even got tired of its restaurants and mini-games. Completely ignored them.
And well, the combat is bullshit again. I could literally copy and paste what I wrote last time about combat, difficulty and bosses, because the problem just remains. The final boss, for example, is completely insufferable, so I'm not going to waste time explaining why they should've overhauled this completely.
There's also this repetitive deus-ex machina trope in Yakuza, ever since the 2nd one, that's just REALLY annoying. I get it, the story is well-written and they pack it with PLENTY of twists, but do they STILL need to repeat the same resolution to conflicts? I wrote about the exact same thing back in the previous entry.
The thing is...
Yakuza 4 tries to innovate but constantly trips on its own. But damn! It's just so good. The story and character development just glued me to the screen. Made me excited for Y5, for real, and made me fall in love with each of the new protagonists. I just hope they get their shit together over the next few games.
For starters, I just want to say that out of all Yakuza games I've experienced, this one carries the best soundtrack. 0 and 3 had good ones, but this one just knocks it out of the park. Enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end.
In fact, "enjoyable and memorable from beginning to end" is a quality that this game carries throughout its lengthy campaign. It felt weird playing with characters that I've never seen before, but I got to know them, understand their motives, and get attached, very fast. Another breath of fresh air, just like Okinawa.
Those 3 new characters, along with Kyriu, make up for an amazing cast of protagonists. Especially since they all have their specific part to play in the overarching plot, while having unique types of substories and fighting styles. All of them very fun. Taiga was definitely my least favorite and Akiyama was incredible.
Dialogues were nice, plot was a bit confusing but very entertaining, the twists were surprising and fights were fun, as usual. I won't even say anything about the substories this time. Just know that they're VERY cool! Some are quite thrilling.
But despite Yakuza 4 becoming my 2nd favorite in the series so far, it is, once again, hard to not ignore its flaws. I love Kamurocho, I truly do, this place makes me want to visit Japan, but... I'm just tired of it. One of the things that I absolutely loved in Yakuza 3 was Okinawa, but this time, despite the 4 different characters novelty, it feels like more of the same, again and again.
And while substories are fun enough, eventually, you just want to get a long with the story, 'cause it's always the best part about these games. Kamurocho needs to go, despite how lovely it is. I even got tired of its restaurants and mini-games. Completely ignored them.
And well, the combat is bullshit again. I could literally copy and paste what I wrote last time about combat, difficulty and bosses, because the problem just remains. The final boss, for example, is completely insufferable, so I'm not going to waste time explaining why they should've overhauled this completely.
There's also this repetitive deus-ex machina trope in Yakuza, ever since the 2nd one, that's just REALLY annoying. I get it, the story is well-written and they pack it with PLENTY of twists, but do they STILL need to repeat the same resolution to conflicts? I wrote about the exact same thing back in the previous entry.
The thing is...
Yakuza 4 tries to innovate but constantly trips on its own. But damn! It's just so good. The story and character development just glued me to the screen. Made me excited for Y5, for real, and made me fall in love with each of the new protagonists. I just hope they get their shit together over the next few games.