Yakuza 4 - The Best Game with the Worst Story

 

Recently, I just finished Yakuza 4. And to be honest, I have some pretty mixed thoughts about it. The game is pretty great, but to be honest, it sure has its flaws.

I'll delve into this game's pros and cons in today's entry. Welcome to my review of Yakuza 4: Successor of the Legend.

The Review

Now, like I said, this game has its flaws. I'll be explaining these flaws in each of the reviews I'm going to do on the following aspects - story, combat, and setting.

Now, for the story, it's pretty good for the first part. The story gives us an in-depth view of the game's 4 main protagonists' (Shun Akiyama, Taiga Saejima, Kazuma Kiryu, and Masayoshi Tanimura) overall character. However, the story gets pretty iffy at the climax. The plot twist with "rubber bullets" completely ruins the story. Thankfully, the climactic boss battles where you fight 4 bosses, one for each character, on top of Millenium Tower make up for that.

The combat is pretty good on my end. However, in the remastered version of the game, enemies tend to grab you a lot. And it's pretty annoying, considering that getting grabbed quickly drains your heat.

I also like how the combat for each of the characters work. Akiyama uses fast and swift kicks to obliterate enemies. Saejima uses slow but heavy-hitting wrestling moves to plow through multiple thugs and end boss fights in a matter of seconds. Kiryu uses a combination of fast and hard-hitting punches, which is what makes up his legendary Dragon of Dojima style. And Tanimura, who has the most unique fighting style out of the 4 playable characters, uses a mixture of parries, arm locks, and strong punches to disable enemies. 

And last but not least, the setting. It takes place in the infamous red-light district of Shibuya, Kamurocho (which is a fictionalized version of Kabukicho). Unlike most of the Yakuza games I've actually finished, Yakuza 4's incarnation of Kamurocho seems the most immersive out of every installment. There's so much to explore in the city, you could easily get lost in it. It also provides a good balance of things to do outside of the story so you won't get easily bored.

Verdict

In all honesty, this is my least favorite Yakuza game. Solely for its stupid story and the remastered's horrible thug A.I. However, the combat system and how Kamurocho has so many areas to explore and things to check out in this installment is what redeemed the game for me. I'd give this a solid 7/10.

Anyway, that's all for now, y'all! See you next entry! -JJ