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| The Yakuza FOUR. |
Genre: Brawler/adventure.
Everyone also did a unique pose and way to remember it, Shun was like Kiryu
I actually liked that Kiryu seemed to remember his revelation moves from Yakuza 3
Developer/publisher: Sega.
Platform: PS4.
Official Site: N/A.
Platform: PS4.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 29-10-2019.
Alright, its time to get started on the next Yakuza game which is 4!
This game stars 4 different protagonists so it not just Kiryu anymore
as he is being joined by 3 more lads or like a dragons.
Also if you're wondering how I finsihed this game so fast, that's cuz 1; Yakuza games
aren't that long to begin with. 2; i'm not out to be a completionist so I can clear them within
reasonable amount of time. 3; I actually started this while on Eli/Finn's route in honey vibes.
Pro's
- Decent story, and good pacing.
- The four main characters were all great.
- Substories were fun, as well as the dialogue.
Con's
- No way to pause during cutscenes/fmv's.
- Certain aspects during Saejima's part such as a certain boss.
- NPC's could have used a remaster treatment as well...
Story is a direct sequel to 3 but trouble brews again in the underworld
and some people get to the bottom of it, Kiryu gets involved as well.
Due to that this game is incredibly hard to recommend to start with as it just builds on too much
that is already established. TBH just go at your own pace and if you're here for the main
story + some substories, it shouldn't be taking someone that long to begin with.
Moving on: This game does not start with Kiryu however, it starts with a guy
named Shun Akiyama and you won't be playing as the same guy for too long
unless you really are going to complete every substory as they drop.
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| Akiyama was being real right from the start and he's never going to get more real. |
Rather than switching through characters like in Yakuza 0 you stick with one character
till his part is finished before moving to the next chapter featuring another.
I quite liked this since it kept stuff consistent, sadly if you don't do substories
the chapters can at times feel hilariously short and at times there's not even a moment
to do them, thankfully you can do them in the final chapter
where you can switch to whoever you fancy at will.
At first I thought there was a decent amount of voiced scenes but it seems
the amount of scenes that're unvoiced increased as the game went on.
So it pretty much like a trails game where there's some occasional important
cutscene with voice and the rest is... unvoiced till its time to up the budget with an fmv.
Moving on to better points; the encounter rate wasn't as high as Y3 and thus I didn't
fight as many punks on the streets which was honestly a relief. Enemies still block
but battles didn't feel nearly as drawn out as in Y3 which is all a plus in my book.
Revelations are also back but I didn't do them all, this time it was easy to overlook them
and you didn't always get a notication when they popped up but I got most of them
for Shun, Tanimura and one for Saejima in the finale.
but Tanimura used his notebook and fucking Saejima just carved some wood.
and he really is like a big guy now who's stronger than most. He only
got two because of it while the others get like 4 or so.
For a PS3 game it all looked pretty great to me, I wasn't even hard
on Y3's graphics to begin with but its all a step into a better direction.
I did think the the graphic model of main characters vs npc's was a bit jarring
like npc's look like hobo as their outfits are lowpoly while the mc's look like kings.
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| ---Hotspring. No better screenshot than to illustrate the hobo npc design even Hana looks better |
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| In regards to gambling minigames. |
over in 5 minutes but literally 20minutes of teaching some guy how to run
a business and sometimes you gotta downsize. It was an experience indeed, sadly
it had a lot of sequels so I was kinda tired of that one by the time it was finally over.
Anyway most were good and made me laugh at some of the funny dialogue
sure there's a few that overstayed there welcome or just boring ones but I can't complain.
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| Tanimura: Record scratch *freeze frame* how did I get into this situation?! |
More ramblings after the jump, there's not really any plot spoilers.
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I was pretty much hooked to the story right from the first chapter as well
and the scene direction/graphics all are a step up from Yakuza 3.
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| Looking back at this scene now I am hurt man.... |
cutscenes still which is really the only downside I noticed within an hour of play.
Shun is all kicks and no punches I kinda laughed at this cuz back in Y2kiwami
all I did was run around kicking and screaming but his style is actually really nice
and didn't feel barebones, Shun's a professional kickboxer. My only real complaint
about Shun is that he smokes too much like damn he's a walking fumigator.
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| Did they really start a chapter with a fucking meme?! |
For Shun's part, I didn't dislike the story being told, there were obvious
hints at there being more to it, him as a character was quite interesting as well.
Kiryu took a while to grow on me like multiple games but Shun did it with one game.😅
The ending of the game also made me ship Akiyama with Hana-chan a bit more
but it seems they're going for the comedic aspect of it, still better than nothing!
Also I liked the one substory where she told him he had 30min's to find a guy
who liked girls like her. It was a bit of a hassly but definitely one of the better ones.
In premium adventure aka a mode where you can free roam and play as whichever
guy you want and do substories/minigames or completionist stuff I noticed that a lot
of Shun's substories are all crammed into his office so god forbid you wanted to do
substory B but then you trigger A or C instead cuz they all started or reconvened there.
Everything just stacks on top of each other in one zone till you do it which is actually
very reflective of the state of his office, yea just dropping that in here.
ANYWAYS while I do like Shun, finishing some more substories
with him made me realize I don't like him that much, he's cool but often
seems to know everything a little too well like he already has it figured all out
but since his heart is in the right place ends up doing more good than bad.
That's likely why he's so likable and I can't hate the guy, so don't get me wrong.
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Taiga Seajima: Unfortunately this is where it took a slight nose dive in terms of enjoyment.
The initial cutscenes started with a bang but then it was just so long before you could save
because it turned into a movie. It also took me 5 to realize Hamazaki was our buddy here
and oh man this guy well okay he definitely redeemed himself a little! LMAO.
that part actually sucked donkey balls cuz early game Saejima is pretty weak
but gets better with upgrades, Saito was such a shitty boss and way overtuned making
the whole segment unfun cuz you couldn't even take a break inbetween.
So you had to have an hour or two to play through it comfortably. I lost count of how much
you had to fight Saito, I'm sure it was 3 times no 4 if we count dodging a sniper.
Then the second Saejima chapter is essentially a giant cutscene with 1 boss fight
so uh yea we almost had another chapter 9 the plot except without infodumping.
LMAO holy shit, Saejima's segment was just such a disaster and definitely one of those
parts of a game you never want to go through ever again, so replays never work out.
His story isn't necessarily terribly written but... its just a pain to play through it.
which I did while stocking up on potions for him.😔
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| Kitten's were a sight of comfort really... who wouldn't save them?! |
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| I could have named them Kiryu and Majima but eh... I like other characters too. |
At the end of day I actually felt bad for Saejima and Y4 may have been
his game but he couldn't do it alone and he wasn't alone he made allies and friends
which considering everything that happened is what tugs my heartstrings a little.
Edit: I actually finished like all of his substories in premium adventure
and gotta say his were pretty good, brother and sister was a bit long but
liked it more than the Shiobara stuff. Also that green thing... bothers me.
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Masayoshi Tanimura: This guy I had my eyes on ever since he briefly popped in
during Shun's story cuz what a hot stud. His voice actor was changed to Toshiki Masuda
due to some scandal, someone I haven't heard in quite a while too which was nice.
I liked his rough OWARI DA whenever you successfully completed a chase
and well his voice did suit Tanimura so IMO they did not choose the wrong seiyuu.
Tanimura is a rather bad cop who goes and play mahjong on duty LMAO.
I loved his character because he is extremely self aware, also he's not that bad since there
were times he knows how to do his job. Tanimura walks the line of the grey area
with almost perfect balance. He's such a bad boy and he knows it!
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| Wtf was that substory man... felt like an episode out of a tv show. |
I also did more substories during his part than Akiyama or Saejima combined.
Also you think Tanimura is a bad cop, its hilarious how much of a good boi he is
to what was revealed in his story like oh man... where do I start?
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| Alright. |
cops are good even the ones that slide slightly into darkness still have light within them.
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Kiryu... well it is been four games so its only natural he had to wait for his turn
and watch 3 chapters go by for once. Grandpa Kiryu: Its been 48 years...
I thought that his story was the shortest by far but then again I did not stop to do any
substories and just trucked through sadly this meant Kiryu's part 4 was a little harder.
But eh its okay I welcome a lil challenge & you get enough exp during it, just
make sure to buy some healing pot's and you're good to go! I did do some of
Kiryu's substories in the finale, some were funny like the curry adventure & tubby guy
the former was actually annoying because I was like what if it just goes cold on the way back?
so I just rushed over there as fast as I could like Kiryu's ass was on fire.
Also the fake kiryu was around again and all I can say is hope he learned this time!
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| Okay my dude... |
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| The dialogue really was selfaware in this game... holy shit. |
OMG all I did was some substories and stock up on potions and this scene
happened when I got back to new serena...
in their own way and Kiryu is just as stoic as ever and just gently carried on.
Unfortunately Kiryu really was just a side character in this game
but it was nice to have him back and that he still retained his skills
like he was the only one that already had skills unlocked.
I can see why some people are disappointed Kiryu did not do much
but let's be real he did take a backseat but still affected things and stepped in accordingly
and after three games (4 if we include 0) its only a good thing this happened.
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Also got my ass beaten at pingpong when I randomly visited that hotspring place
due to thinking I had to go in there from the police radio jitter Tanimura gets.
But eh is it really an L if you get headpatted after a loss? 
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| Awww... |
---
Final thoughts
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| WTF why was this game such a goldmine?! |
maybe it was because of the many perspectives but the characters, pacing
and overall plot was pretty engaging and I was hooked.
The twist was fun this time and I chuckled a bit, its honestly amazing
how they used what they had written as a foundation to craft Yakuza 4's story.
Sure I didn't like Saejima's part as much but I didn't dislike him as a character and
at first I was indifferent towards him but by the end of his part I liked him.
Akiyami was also pretty fun! as was Tanimura he made me caw at the audicity he has.
Tanimura's final fight was not fun at all it was the hardest
for stupid reasons, with ball's out kido being the easiest atleast for me.
Tanimura's probably my favourite out of all of them and Shun's a close second
like they both had really great lines, comedy gold both mainstory and sub.
Yakuza politics this time felt minimal which is maybe why I enjoyed it as much as I did
even tho some scenes were long there were no long infodumps. All was paced well.
The only thing I didn't understand was the post credit scene, it seems like a hook for Y5...
also while this game concluded itself decently enough it didn't do it as good as Y2.
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| Yea you got to name it and I chose Rikiya, may he become a true viper. |
Also I really liked the way you level up in this game, it adds more of an RPG feel to it
as well as oh yea can go learn new skills now only to realize you are still missing an orb or two.
Substories were more quality rather than quantity this time and added a bit more perspective
to things and aren't just quick&dirty weird stuff going on. There's still funny ones but it seems
they're becoming side stories now with the amount of text. Despite some gripes almost
everything about this game was great and I generally had a good time with it!8.5/10
Anyway the addition of other perspectives prevented it from getting stale after 3 games with
just Kiryu, speaking of he did feel like a supporting character at first but its nice to see
the baton being passed to others. Also when Kiryu had his appearances it was always great.
I'm definitely up for the sequel some day but not anytime soon, I need a breather.
I also found out Y5 is one of the longer games surpassing 0 in length, maybe later!
most games so far have been 20 hours at best and I do really like how RGG studios
is able to tell a story within that time and keep adding to it in meaningful ways.
Like I can just boot this game up in the evening, play a little and just enjoy the chara's & story.
I'll see what other games I still want to play but all in good time, as much as I liked
how I just casually started this game I don't want to do this a lot.
2-11-24 edit: Added few more screenshots and fix some minor things.
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