Yakuza 4 Remastered Review

Everybody, pick an ass to kick.

Yakuza and me left on something on a sore note when last we were entwined; the third Yakuza game failed to stand out to me in narrative or gameplay and not just for it's obvious age but for heavy lingering design flaws too. But it was with some genuine hope that I put the woes of Yakuza past behind me and moved onto 4, because I had become somewhat familiar with the reputation which Yakuza 4 holds as the apparent 'best of the franchise' before 0. Some even make the very bold claim that this game is even better than Yakuza 0! I was ready for quite a lot when I slapped up the download for Yakuza 4 Remastered, but most of all I was just looking for an excuse to fall in love with the Yakuza franchise again after the last game whittled that love down to an indiscernible painful throbbing lump of diseased flesh.

As such I'm going to slightly go ahead of myself and ask that most important of questions: is the combat of the Yakuza games fixed? It is. Yakuza 4 opens up NPC movesets more so that they don't block incessantly which allows for the player to actually make use of all those increadibly fun combos and heat actions that are collected up throughout the game and it is an absolute breath of fresh air for anyone who was forced endure the torture of Yakuza 3. Whereas before it often felt like your were trying to fight with both your hands tied behind your back, Yakuza 4 starts with a breadth of initial options alongside a vast array of diverse combat opportunitues courtesy of this game's flagship narrative and gameplay feature; the four playable protagonists!

Now anyone who has been playing through these game chronologically will be familiar with the idea of playing as one of many heroes who stories become increasingly intertwined over the course of a sprawling narrative. Yakuza 0 did it beautifully with Majima and Kiryu, and I'm pleased to say that we have a decently good go of it here with Yakuza 4. Only, for reasons I will get into more later; this is more like a story built by the separate stories of three protagonists, with an ending cameo by Kiryu only because this is his franchise. His whole role could have been cut out of this game and nothing of the core narrative of the game would be lost. That being said, I do quite like Kiryu and the place where this game leaves his character is a hell of a lot more interesting than where Yakuza 3 left the Dragon of Dojima. Which is a little funny, isn't it? Yakuza 4's quarter of a game with the man moves the Kiryu character along more interestingly than the entire breadth of Yakuza 3. (God, I'm glad that game is behind me.) Going through the story of Yakuza 4 involves entering the shoes and lives of each individual one by one and discovering the city and everything it has to offer through their eyes. Which is why I'm going to be doing just that through the blog, touching on the various elements of this game as I do, and how I feel about each character. The only real point that doesn't fit into such a structure would be a chat about Kamurocho itself, which is why I'll lead with that first.

Kamurocho has evolved so much over each one of the games, especially if you started with Yakuza 0 and so can get that special tingle up your spine when you pass a couple reminiscing about an 'Empty lot' that used to sit where the Millennium Tower now stands. ('There sure was an empty lot there, and it caused chaos.') But for the Yakuza franchise as it existed before 0, I think 4 might take the cake for the most transformed version of Kamurocho that the games had seen to date. Just as the streets were becoming a little stale and well-trodden, Yakuza 4 opens up several new routes across the city and encourages the player to explore them. You have the new interconnected rooftop system, the various underground tunnels and rooms that connect to the sewers and an extra little under-the-street market with some new stores. It introduces a whole new vertical slice to the landscape of Kamurocho and opens up routes of traversal where before only one or two would have existed, allowing otherwise repetitive journeys from one side of the map to the other just that bit more interesting.

Unfortunately Yakuza 4 is a quite old game, being run on a pretty old engine, and as such most of these new traversal angles are split up into separate game cells that require a loading screen to move between. The loading isn't painfully long or anything, but even that small inconvenience is enough to disincentivise creative traversal unless you have an absolute reason to take to the rooftops or sewers instead. (Which, in fairness, one character definitely does have a reason.) The Sky Finance stairway has to be the worst off for these loading screens; being located in the same back alley as Serena; walking up from the street level to the rooftops using those back-access stairs requires 2 loading screens! One to load the tiny cell featuring the Sky Finance office, and another to load the rooftops. It's seams as garish as that which show the clunkiness of aging tech. But again, we're talking a remaster of an old game; there's going to be technological shortcomings.

Now that's out of the way, let's talk about our first protagonist. Akiyama, the charming suave boy this franchise has been missing for so very long. I feel like Akiyama is the puzzle block for an archetype that has been sorely absent from the Yakuza franchise formula, the effortlessly charming, seemingly aloof, character who is secretly more intuitive and moralistic than he let's on. In fact, every new character of Yakuza 4 is themed around characters besieged with negative perceptions and allusions who are quietly more forthright and honest people than any of their detractor's combined. And Akiyama certainly pulls his weight in establishing this precedent with his reputation as the odd-ball money lender who offers funds without typical loan shark trappings in exchange for the completion of bizarre personalised little tasks that only seem to make sense to Akiyama and his assistant, Hana. (And some of the times, not even to her.)

Akiyama oozes affable charisma and causal style in practically every scene he stars in, which makes him an easy scene stealer even in the late game where he's no longer the focal point but a background reactor. His character is painted, as are all of the protagonists, with a very unique moralistic brush that defines the angle he views the world from succinctly. His world has been seeped in and defined by money, and he respects and reveres it's power and purpose, but he uses it quite curiously as a way of getting close to the ordinary struggling people of Kamurocho. We really get some insight into who he is and why he runs his off-kilter loan sharking company when he shares his thoughts with Yasuko "Money changes people's lives. I just like to see it happen up close and personal."

His personal life of running Sky Finance is mostly touched upon through his Substories, which have to be some of my favourite side quests the franchise has had yet. You really get to enter into the eyes of Akiyama as he trials and tests aspirants for his limitless loans in order to ascertain, as slowly becomes clear, whether or not they have the potential to truly pick themselves up from the bottom. And as with any well written character, this moral compunction is born out of his own backstory which neatly and beautifully dances itself into the narrative of the first Yakuza and the wider story of this game. An important step because, without that connective tissue, there really is no apparent reason for this game to be a Yakuza entry throughout the whole of the first act. Those little hooks cleverly bring us back into the fold when the connection wanes wanes.

With our new protagonist, of course, comes a brand new style of fighting which translates into distinct feeling combat to play with. Akiyama uses, rather fittingly for his visual style, a largely kick-based fighting style that prioritises speed and picking on single targets to eviscerate enemies. It's animations are great and the speed feels so very fun to play about with once you start to get to grips with a character that doesn't quite have the flow-stopping knock-back of Kiryu. Sliding around enemies and soft-stun locking them in a barrage of successive kicks feels nifty and swift, inherently distinguishing itself for the somewhat too familiar feeling Kiryu moveset we've lugged around ever since Kiwami 1 at this point. And evolving this move set to develop new moves is made fun again thanks to the arrival of a list of skills you can pick to gain whenever you level up. A much more targeted and memorable system for skill improvements over the random dice throw that Yakuza 3 employed.

Curiously enough this distinct approach to gameplay also extends towards one of the franchise's key hallmarks, the flashy and powerful 'Heat Actions'. (Which actually do decent damage again in this entry, thank god!) All characters feature their own appropriate variations upon the basic set of heat actions, grabbled, on the floor and holding a weapon; but they also have a vast array of context specific unlockable heat actions that can define the way you choose to navigate battles depending on who you play as. Akiyama, for instance, has heat moves that work best around exploitable environment positions, such as with your back against a solid wall. You'll find the way you control each character start to merge and meld around these smart character specific heat actions.

Revelations are also back this time around, carrying over the only Yakuza 3 introduced system I thought was largely all good; allowing the player to eavesdrop on funny and bizarre happenings around Kamurocho in order to observe some chaotic and explosive event and gain the inspiration for a new heat action accordingly. The only disappointment with this system being that they all come with complete animated movies that took so much effort to create that the team decided to recycle a few between characters, robbing some of the charm of seeking them out to see what sort of new crazy interaction is going to inspire you today. Although that idea of 'evolving from experience' carries on to a brand new system that Yakuza 4 explores- evolving heat actions!

Certain heat actions, I believe it's only some of the character specific ones that need to be purchased, have a special red text under their description denoting a latent potential within them. If you perform that specific heat action over and over, eventually gears will pop in the character's head and you'll unlock the ability to spend a bit more heat to perform an additional powerful follow-up attack. It's a system that encourages and rewards experimenting and trying out new moves, opening up the playstyles of each character for the player. I only wish this specific little system was explained a bit more and fed so that the player can pick up on how it's working. For example, maybe if they added a bar that slowly fills each time you land that heat action, players would be able to track how many more times they need to practise before the final form of that move happens, instead of just guessing and hoping.

The main narrative as it touches Akiyama decides to take advantage of the soft franchise reset headlining new leads, pointedly by starting the focus of the story on small players of the Tojo Clan. Honing in on stakes and people we're personally invested with, and introducing the elements of an intriguing mystery that entices and seduces the player. Putting us on this level also allows the side cast to shine and be important on their own, which gells well when you have such an easily likeable side-cast with characters like the youthful and fiery Kido and the ever-frustrated scolding assistant Hana. Even if the narrative unfortunately reintroduces Yakuza 3's painful chasing minigame, albeit with a few tiny improvements that make it a bit more bearable this time around.

I also can't possibly go on without mentioning the music. Yakuza games always have solid soundtracks, but I struggled to find any game with music that really hit me in the same way that Yakuza 0 did; until I played this game. A couple of tracks really stood out to be for how interesting or appropriately badass they were, and for the Akiyama chapters the one I remembered is perhaps one of the most memorable in the entire game. It's called 'Rhapsody and Whiskey' and it's this utterly bizarre off-note jazz track that perfectly slides under your skin and unsettles your very bones. Never when playing a Yakuza game did I expect to be drawing comparisons to Hotline Miami; but that indie classic is exactly what screams to my mind everytime this weird, but great, little track started up.

The second character of the game is an actual legend I've been waiting quite a while to meet thanks to starting this franchise with Yakuza 0. Saejima, brother of Majima. (That's 'sworn brother' by the way, not blood brother.) Ever since Majima cryptically mused on his brother's own desires to have him killed, the mystery of who Saejima was bounced about in my head; and it's a mystery that Yakuza 4 spares no time in revealing for us in great detail. I think the prolonged introduction sequence to Saejima has to be one of the most iconic set of scenes in the franchise, what with the legendarily over-the-top sequence where Saejima guns down a dozen men with seven different guns in every pocket and one extra stuffed up in his mouth. Also, we get the scene of Majima's Kansai accent slippin'; perfect all around. (And yes, with context now I can deduce the double meaning of that sentiment; with Majima trying to appeal for Saejima to back down from the hit and think about the well being of his sister, only for Saejima to reply that his Kansai accent, the manner through which Majima plays up the role of being a Yakuza, is starting to slip up. Actually more clever than I would have expected for a famous meme line.)

Saejima's chapter is probably one of the most difficult single chapters I've experienced in a Yakuza game and not because the combat gameplay barely functioned. (As was the case with all of Y3's supposed 'difficulty'.) You're trapped in prison with no means of grinding the street or stocking up refreshments, being subjected to an absolute gauntlet of enemies and boss fights scrambling for whatever you can from the bodies of the fallen. I don't think I've sweated that much for a chapter finale since the first chapter finale of 0; and that was only because I didn't know the importance of being prepared. Still, I suppose it makes sense that as Saejima has to fight for his freedom, so too does the player need to fight in order to get access to the benefits of open world side activities. (Amen.) At least I came away knowing how to play as the lumbering brute.

Much the polar opposite to Akiyama, Saejima is a slow swinging tank who's signature gameplay style is charging up for these devastating slam attacks that carry enough power to literally launch bodies through the air when it connects. His skill tree also upgrades to make him resilient to knock-downs and proficient at grappling enemies; movement and traversal options are, predictably, rather limited. A lot of the tougher fights as Saejima mostly revolve around figuring out how to hit enemies who are faster than you by exploiting their moveset patterns or being unpredictable with your own swing pattern. Learn to master his skills and moves, and eventually you'll have a monster so unstoppable he can pretty much tank his way through an enemy heat-powered barrage with his own bear-like swipes.

To the surprise of no one, despite being on death row for thirty five years for mass murder, Saejima is somewhat empathetic and moralistic, even if he hides that under a show of apathy and reclusiveness in order to survive in the tough prison environments he's been subjected to. Throughout various substories and stretched across his playtime the real Saejima starts to bleed out and we can see that he is the symbol of the 'old school gangster' archetype who staunchly believes in concepts of 'honour', 'respect' and 'clan reverence' to the almost exaggerated decree of some sort of criminal Paladin. All of that he wears as armour to smother the torturous guilt of the many murders he believes he committed that night so very long ago. In many ways the character of Saejima is a very familiar archetype you've probably seen a dozen times before, but the execution of his character is well done so as to remain interesting. Although I do think the huge 'twist' in his backstory is simultaneously a cop-out and weak validation for a character path defined by the pursuit of atonement. I won't say it ruins his story outright, but it definitely kneecaps the effect it could have had to linger on the soul.

With Saejima we learn a few interesting things about the way that Yakuza 4 treats it's unique protagonists. Firstly, they all start from level 1 when you get them and thus all have to be made strong through hardship and struggle, which can be frustrating for some of the tougher intros (Like Saejima's) but becomes rewarding in the longterm. And secondly, each character is given their own sections of the city that only they can explore. For Akiyama it's the tiny area of his office, and for Saejima it's the sewer grates dotted about the place as only he is strong enough to be able to lift them. One huge downside to playing as Saejima, however; is that due to his breaking out of jail, the streets of Kamurocho are flooded with police who will give chase to him the moment they see him, making walking the streets and absolute nightmare. The various city shortcuts would alleviate this frustration somewhat, but again the loading screens just make that an annoyance. Again these different exploration tricks do work to breath character into exploration when you can take advantage of exploration methods that others can't, changing up how it feels to live as each individual.

These are also the chapters in which we're properly introduced one of the more unique and noteworthy minigames of Yakuza 4: the IF7. Cutting through the sloughs of lore explaining it and the 'Animus' reminiscent design- essentially the IF7 is a sort of boss revisit mode where you can fight against super powered variants of main story bosses you've defeated in a fighting-game presentation for the reward of unique skills and heat actions. It's a really cool idea with a few set-backs. Firstly, beyond the hefty fee it takes to rebuild the thing (In a game without a reliably quick way to get money) each match-up, win or lose, costs 10,000 yen; a stupidly expensive costs that incentivises me to just quit out and reload in the circumstance of a loss. Secondly, and more importantly, the 'fighting game' presentation slightly works against the gameplay. Squeezing the camera down into a side-to-side viewpoint restricts your ability to sidestep in the precise direction you want to thanks to the forced perspective shift, which is a huge problem for characters who rely on sidestepping in order to squeeze in their combos, (like Akiyama) or people who need to take advantage of positioning because they're too slow to crowd their bosses. (Like Saejima) Resulting in a minigame that's too expensive and too unnecessarily frustrating to really take off as the game's best new addition. (Which is a shame, it was a really creative idea too.)

Saejima refuses to go into Karaoke, which is an instant 50% loss of credit points by my estimation. "It's not my thing" he says, as if that alone explains his reticence to croon his worries away in a padded booth to himself. You know what, Saejima? With where their headspace was at, Yakuza 0's Majima and Kiryu weren't exactly perfect candidates for disco dancing and singing, but they partook anyway because they were just stronger men then that! Damn it, I just don't feel like I'm playing a Yakuza game when I can't unwind with a Karaoke song after every emotional scene. And it really puts a strain to the otherwise poignant and revealing moral Saejima imparts when trying to set a kid on the right path during his longest substory quest chain: "There's nothing bad in this world, 'cept turning your back on those in need." If that's true, Saejima, then get yourself inside of that booth and sing about it you big ungainly bear-man, you!

Finally, touching on music once again, Yakuza 4's Majima receives some very interesting new boons. Beyond his new 'Beyblade' spinning top attack which defies the laws of physics, Majima also has a brand new battle theme which, quite frankly, is a head banger. It's called 'Receive and Bite You' and for a year where a new Sonic game released it is telling that this is my favourite gaming rock track of 2022. Seriously it's as if Majima suddenly stood up and received the theme he's always deserved after all these years and I don't want to hear him paired with anything else but sub-variants of this track. Just like 'Pledge of Demon' was Kuze incarnate, this is the Mad-dog's spirit bottled up and distilled into pure ear candy. Effortlessly exciting and catchy, this is what Yakuza boss themes are about!

The third character we're introduced to is a face to which I was not familiar with at all, although his very stand-out and unexplained cameo in the Akiyama chapter did give-away his position as a main character somewhat. Masayoshi Tanimura is the young puppy of the group, although not a totally wide eyed idealist like one might expect from a character who slides into that role. You see, Tanimura is a cop and one with a reputation for being a leech and potentially even corrupt for the way that he extorts various businesses in return for police immunity. I actually applaud the game's solid effort in doubling down on this face-value version of Tanimura for a lot of the first chapter with him, making you seriously doubt the likability of this seemingly deeply morally scarred character for a decent stretch of time. Before, of course, pulling a one-eighty and revealing that Tanimura is in reality a 'take from the cruel to give to the weak' style protagonist who believes in his moral compunction of 'the ends justify the means if the end is the greater good' more than he does in the strict and stuffy rules of his granted station as law enforcement. Fitting for a franchise where the criminals are usually the heroes.

Tanimura is the smallest of the four, which is why his playstyle is based on exploiting the weakpoints of others with limb-isolating tackles and parry attacks which combine to make Tanimura perhaps the most technically proficient fighter in the franchise so far. His set of heat moves are largely tied to the end of each of his string combos, incentivising the player to try and land those, and largely focus around grabbing a limb and forcibly hyper-extending it in a painful display that debuts a new series visual effect to underline the pain. The inverted colour flash on the stretched joint is a nice touch for indicating the trained and precise manner through Tanimura defeats his foes, whilst highlighting his preference for disarming and incapacitating his enemies in a method fitting for an officer of the law, unlike his counterparts who prefer a 'beat them until they're unconscious, they'll probably survive' approach. Even if I find his very specific martial toolset comes at odds with Tanimura's own lore which seems to imply he never trained to fight any form of martial arts. I'm not sure how one learns a plethora of limb isolating grapples, throws and dislocations from street fighting alone, but then I've never grown up as an orphan foreigner in the heart of Tokyo, so what do I know?

With his position, Tanimura makes a great point from which to expand the complexity of the narrative and introduce the wider players, which Yakuza 4 leaps to take advantage of. Yakuza isn't at all a stranger to the idea of conspiracy and interweaved factions, although those plot-threads can tend to slip out of control and become gangly in previous games. By placing a character at a each nexus point of this conspiracy, Yakuza 4 allows us to get a firm picture of the players involved before they're smashed together at the end. The difference between learning the perpetrators here and having the concept of Black Monday haphazardly thrown our way at the end of Yakuza 3 is just an absolute world of narrative cohesion difference. I also quite like the personal relationship that each character has with at least one of the conspiracy vectors in this game, which makes the progression of the narrative feel personal and driven.

Unique to the Tanimura is the 'Police APB' system whereupon random crimes will come in over the radio that the young officer can respond to at their discretion. They're short lived encounters, but increadibly lucrative to complete and they tie into a larger substory specific to Tanimura involving Kamurocho's version of the 'Neighbourhood watch'. This gamemode even regularly makes use of that infuriating chase minigame, forcing you to come to terms with it's systems. (It's systems are not quite terrible anymore but they're also not the reason I come to play Yakuza either) As much as I suppose this does bring the character closer to their supposed role as a police officer, the way you get money off the victims for the service of solving their crime does make the whole situation feel a little bit like a protection/extortion racket.

One of my favourite moment of the Tanimura chapters was the action set-piece that felt right out of an Jackie Chan movie, which tasked you with an extended sequence during which you get exposed to everything the game has to offer. Close quarters combat with a suitcase shackled to your arm, a chase that leads up to the rooftops then a battle back down to street level, and waves of thugs to fight inbetween it all. It was one increadibly impressive sequence in spirit and design, slightly ruined by all the seams between loading different cells and slipping from the fighting gameplay to the chase minigame. But whilst it might have been a little clunky to actually sit down and play, my recollection of the event is seamless; and isn't that what it's all about at the end of the day?

Narratively, Tanimura is indispensable to the narrative, although on an individual character level he does kind of feel like the odd one out. Everyone else is a legend in their own right, either due to their fame or infamy, whereas Tanimura just feels like a young muckraker who stumbles himself into the middle of a conspiracy. As such it feels a little weird to have him stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Kiryu and Saejima and pretend they're all equals. Still, I quite liked Tanimura for what he offered, specifically highlighting the human elements for the ethnic Asian minority sub cultures in 'Little Asia', his personal navigation zone. These substories in particular really touch on the more bleeding heart side of the kid and explores a shade of the Kamurocho makeup that the other games seem to eagerly ignore. It nice to see the invisible people for once, beyond the homeless 'network' which is more of a comically interconnected spy system by the events of Yakuza 4. Do you think the Florist even pays his homeless interns? They're always dressed in rags so I can only assume he doesn't.

And finally, at the end of the game when I had just started to lose hope; we get the chance to play as the main man Kiryu Kazuma once again. Up until the final chapters of the game Kiryu's only service to the plot had been as a cameo role, and I was really starting to question why this man was on the front of the box for a good while there. But they made good on their promise, eventually, and Kiryu was slid into the ongoing narrative through a means that feels, honestly; supremely contrived. In Yakuza 3, Kiryu had to be dragged back into action and he was retired off at the end of the game, so thoroughly that it took two attempts to bring him back into the action in Yakuza 4. And even then, he still feels like a character who should be in the sidelines, instead jumping in and sucking all the air out of the room like a budget pink-faced Kirby.

To try and be fair to the game, I think the narrative does a decent job of giving Kiryu more of a potential for follow-up stories than 3 did. And winding in the 10 billion yen plotpoint from the original Yakuza is always fun, even if it reminds me of the fact that Kiryu's solid gold statue from Yakuza 0 also cost 10 billion yen. (How much would that have marked-up by now? Kiryu might be richer than Akiyama!) Speaking of stuff that Yakuza 4 did better; how about Hamazaki? He was almost hilariously one note and predictably rigid in the last game, but Yakuza 4 uses the very weak foundation of Yakuza 3's finale to change him around and make him actually sympathetic. Someone so generic you probably forgot he was even around until the epilogue of Yakuza 3, made into a proper anti-hero at last! What a world we live in... 

Kiryu plays how he has always played, as a versatile brawler with punishing single-target combos who becomes helplessly overpowered after a quick visit to Komaki. Actually, this is the first game where the Tiger Drop can actually be unlocked purely from the skill menu window, but visiting Komaki anyway is just polite etiquette. The old man gets lonely otherwise. It's actually somewhat gratifying to see Kiryu slowly become the demon killing engine he always becomes at the twilight act of every game, after playing through a whole game's worth of balanced and distinctly capable characters now we have Kiryu- who simply destroys everything. The game even throws him up against a literal army of Yakuza for one scene, because they know how broken his moveset always is. I love that self awareness.

Altogether this brings us a full set of four characters who each work to compliment each other well throughout Yakuza 4. Akiyama is the sort of character you keep in the back-pocket who has his fingers all over the place and carries endless utility with his ceaseless riches, Saejima is the lynch-pin character around which the events of everything revolve, Tanimura is the plucky idealist hero who stirs the nest and Kiryu is the immortal legend who smacks down all the bees that are shaken out of that nest. A perfect team to lead a great twisting adventure that spans so far that police officers actually roam the streets of Kamurocho to Kiryu's utmost shock. And I'm there right with him in that shock; especially considering there wasn't hide nor hair of the boys in blue the previous year when an army of Triad rolled up to the city and shot rocket launchers in the street. (I guess the Japanese gun-ban doesn't spread to rocket propelled grenades?)

Still this wouldn't be Yakuza without at least one totally boneheaded moment from Kiryu that just makes me slap my palm my face, wince and go "Why!". Namely it comes in that classic moment when the protagonists meet for the first time, Kiryu bumping into Akiyama and Tanimura. Now firstly, the fact that Kiryu isn't recognised by Tanimura is insane given that Kiryu is the most famous Yakuza who operates on Tanimura's beat; you'd think the police would know who their main 'subject to watch' is! But then think of Akiyama, a man who literally considers Kiryu as his hero in life. He doesn't recognise the object of his own adoration when he's staring the man in the face wearing the exact same grey suit he always wears? But what really seals the deal is the moment when the misunderstanding turns to a fight and Kiryu says "We'll have time to talk later, you don't like one of the bad guys." Then here's an idea; don't fight them Kiryu! This man has such a problem with basic communication and it absolutely kills me everytime!

Outside of the progression of the main narrative Yakuza 4 comes with a selection of totally complete metagames for each of the four protagonists that range from 'decent' to 'vastly too big'. Akiyama inherits the Hostess Maker from Yakuza 3; which is still a decent concept that doesn't have the quality of content to entertain for as long as it takes to finish. Tanimura has his investigation training with Nair, which is more like a large substory with training sections instead of traditional mission objectives. Kiryu has a ludicrously bloated 'Gang Encounters' metagame that would have worked better if it was stretched over the whole game for all protagonists instead of squeezed into the final four chapters just for Kiryu. And Saejima has the 'Fighter Maker' and let me tell you about the god-damn fighter maker...

I have never been so frustrated to deal with a Yakuza metagame as I had working with the Fighter Maker! And maybe that's because the whole concept is building an AI to win a fight with the spotty AI brain of a standard Yakuza enemy. 9 times out of 10 you're doing everything right and the AI is letting you down because you have next to no control over how the actual matches play out. Makoto is a scourge upon the earth for his godawful fighting animations that need to burn and Masataka brought the game to a literal dice roll. Everything in the later half of that minigame relies on the 70% chance to activate Moody trait, and even then it's a toss-up if your AI moron will remember how to attack. I don't even know if I can claim this game mode had a solid concept, because watching someone else screw up a fight sounds teeth grindingly awful even on paper. Dear god I hope this minigame doesn't make a return for Yakuza 5!

And then there's the Amon fight which I skipped in Yakuza 3 because... obviously. 4's fight brings us one Amon super-boss for all of the four protagonists and I'm happy to see that the developers decided not to give every individual super-boss 15 health bars this time around. (I'm very grateful for their mercy.) Still, making Saejima's explosive mallet wielding bad-guy regenerate his health is nigh-on unforgiveable. It's fitting that the final man is literally just all of his subordinates abilities melded into one with an extra 'insta-kill' move stitched on for good measure. Kiryu makes a solid match up for the crazy mash-up of abilities and I really had some fun really stretching the limits of the Dragon's god-like powers against a foe of equal footing instead of just stomping uppity street thugs like usual. Or perhaps I just love the sight of Kiryu eating the power of an exploding sledgehammer to the face through the sheer indomitable might of his Tiger Drop strike.

Summary

In conclusion, Yakuza 4 is often cited to be the very best of the franchise and I would have to defer to the consensus, to a point. I think there's a scope of ambition in telling a story from 4 sides that absolutely must be commended, and the distinct gameplay systems just sing of play diversity and evolving challenge so that this game almost never starts to feel stale. But the limitations of the game and the tropes of the narrative nearer the climax acts stop this from hitting me in the same places that Yakuza 0 did. I'm getting really tired of the old cliché where a defeated enemy leaps for their pistol and takes a fatal shot which gets blocked by a 'destined to die' character. It was hardly even a shock the first time, now it's just embarrassing. (I swear the last time it didn't even make sense because the guy's hands were literally handcuffed first!)

But I'm really cherry picking problems here, because as a whole the Yakuza 4 package encapsulated everything I want out of my Yakuza experience. Heavy drama punctuated with absurd and sometimes surreal humour and underlined with moments of genuine pathos. If only the emotions hit a bit harder, I might consider this game to be Yakuza 0's equal! Okay, actually the metagames of Yakuza 4 are largely mediocre in comparison to what 0 would do just a few years later as well, to be honest. Still, I absolutely loved my time with Yakuza 4 and can heartily recommend it to those who did themselves a favour and skipped Yakuza 3. All and all; there's really no other grade this game deserves aside from an -A on my arbitrary scale of game grading. Seriously, try this game, breathe it's greatness and relieve the glory of what makes Like a Dragon the series of a lifetime!