This is the experience I’ve yearned for since completing Yakuza 0 and trying out every other Yakuza game since. The level of immense craft in weaving the four separate characters into a single narrative is mindblowing to see how they all connect. Every gameplay mechanic issue in Yakuza 3 is more or less addressed in this entry with enemies having more variety in their movesets, readjusted health and damage values to make everything fair on normal difficulty, and each of the four characters having their own moveset and abilities making for a quite varied experience. Presentation-wise, this game’s graphics and sound design is more less the same as Yakuza 3 which I already didn't have much issue with. What this game is really about though, is the four main characters each with their own cause for action.
Yakuza 4 starts off with Akiyama Shun, a loan shark who’s a bit odd in doing his profession with how he deals with “Lily” needing 100 million yen. From here, the player gets to learn a lot more of the current situation in Kamurocho as to which factions will be the focus of the game and the most striking aspect of this particular story arc in the game is this air of mystery. What is Akiyama getting out of this? What’s up with the Kanemura enterprises and Arai being such a big deal? Why is Lily so desperate for this money? It’s a cool setup arc for what’s to come but it also ends up having to be the weakest part due to not having any clear payoffs beyond Akiyama developing feelings for his client. Overall I actually like Akiyama’s character a lot with the revelations of how he came to be and his overall aloof machismo, but most of this is really only communicated later on.
The next character is Saejima, and from here we get to learn a lot about the lore of Yakuza relevant even beyond this game such as the events that occurred before Yakuza 0 and why Majima was in his situation in that game. A lot of jaw dropping scenes and events occur in this chapter such as Hamazaki’s redemption to Saejima’s powerful speech in the colosseum about killing people and the grief it causes for him. Definitely a highlight of the game and Saejima’s character is definitely one of my favorites in the Yakuza series in his straightforward seriousness is juxtaposed well with his deeply caring nature.
Tanimura is the third character as you play as, a cop who plays by his own rules who doesn’t mind getting down and dirty in order to protect his Little Asia (a location in Kamurocho predominantly filled by immigrants). As something that of a wunderkind, he’s a refreshing contrast of being a younger character against most of the other middle aged men in the series. What I like most about his character is that shounen-esque determination in finding out the mystery of what happened to his father. Tanimura’s part is also when all the little mysteries teased in Akiyama’s part slowly get unraveled and answered, so it's an overall great payoff as the numerous plot threads start to intertwine.
And finally of course we have Kiryu. It's heartwarming to see that he’s still taking care of the orphanage and it's even more emotional to see Haruka’s reaction to Hamazaki. Yakuza 4 is really a culmination of the 3 previous entries in the franchise as plot threads such as the 10 billion yen and external forces against Tojo are recontextualised with new information. It makes this game just that more satisfying to experience as it serves as a climax to previous entries. Although this part is about Kiryu, it also serves as the converging point of the previous parts as these four characters we’ve been following are now united for their own causes.
Yakuza 4 is definitely one of the stronger entries in the franchise. It completely revamps everything from Yakuza 3 into a more enjoyable experience while also introducing an amazing new cast that I really hope stays for future entries. Being able to have four different playstyles is just fantastic and each character having a strong character arc to play just makes the pieces all fall into place. My biggest gripe is the typical Yakuza twists where the betrayals and sudden deaths get a little too obnoxious with some characters you can’t even believe are actually triple agents, but that’s just part of the Yakuza experience. Granted, this is a worthwhile game that’ll make a yakuza binge worth it, 8.5/10.
Yakuza 4 starts off with Akiyama Shun, a loan shark who’s a bit odd in doing his profession with how he deals with “Lily” needing 100 million yen. From here, the player gets to learn a lot more of the current situation in Kamurocho as to which factions will be the focus of the game and the most striking aspect of this particular story arc in the game is this air of mystery. What is Akiyama getting out of this? What’s up with the Kanemura enterprises and Arai being such a big deal? Why is Lily so desperate for this money? It’s a cool setup arc for what’s to come but it also ends up having to be the weakest part due to not having any clear payoffs beyond Akiyama developing feelings for his client. Overall I actually like Akiyama’s character a lot with the revelations of how he came to be and his overall aloof machismo, but most of this is really only communicated later on.
The next character is Saejima, and from here we get to learn a lot about the lore of Yakuza relevant even beyond this game such as the events that occurred before Yakuza 0 and why Majima was in his situation in that game. A lot of jaw dropping scenes and events occur in this chapter such as Hamazaki’s redemption to Saejima’s powerful speech in the colosseum about killing people and the grief it causes for him. Definitely a highlight of the game and Saejima’s character is definitely one of my favorites in the Yakuza series in his straightforward seriousness is juxtaposed well with his deeply caring nature.
Tanimura is the third character as you play as, a cop who plays by his own rules who doesn’t mind getting down and dirty in order to protect his Little Asia (a location in Kamurocho predominantly filled by immigrants). As something that of a wunderkind, he’s a refreshing contrast of being a younger character against most of the other middle aged men in the series. What I like most about his character is that shounen-esque determination in finding out the mystery of what happened to his father. Tanimura’s part is also when all the little mysteries teased in Akiyama’s part slowly get unraveled and answered, so it's an overall great payoff as the numerous plot threads start to intertwine.
And finally of course we have Kiryu. It's heartwarming to see that he’s still taking care of the orphanage and it's even more emotional to see Haruka’s reaction to Hamazaki. Yakuza 4 is really a culmination of the 3 previous entries in the franchise as plot threads such as the 10 billion yen and external forces against Tojo are recontextualised with new information. It makes this game just that more satisfying to experience as it serves as a climax to previous entries. Although this part is about Kiryu, it also serves as the converging point of the previous parts as these four characters we’ve been following are now united for their own causes.
Yakuza 4 is definitely one of the stronger entries in the franchise. It completely revamps everything from Yakuza 3 into a more enjoyable experience while also introducing an amazing new cast that I really hope stays for future entries. Being able to have four different playstyles is just fantastic and each character having a strong character arc to play just makes the pieces all fall into place. My biggest gripe is the typical Yakuza twists where the betrayals and sudden deaths get a little too obnoxious with some characters you can’t even believe are actually triple agents, but that’s just part of the Yakuza experience. Granted, this is a worthwhile game that’ll make a yakuza binge worth it, 8.5/10.