Outerlude 04: Yakuza 4

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

If the Yakuza games (0 aside) are broken up into two trilogies, then 4 is the starting point of that second trilogy. A turning point in the series, Yakuza 4 introduces a lot, for better or for worse. I think the state of the playable characters matches the state of the overall game very nicely: three out of the four player characters are interesting, admirable, lovable, and magnetizing to watch, and one out of the four player characters is Tanimura. Similarly, the game as a whole is three parts out of four very strong, and one part very weak. The wheels kind of come off the bus near the end, and the whole isn’t more than the sum of its parts, but what parts that are there that work really do work, and Saejima’s part in particular was gripping from beginning to end.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Four men stand at the center of a rapidly changing Kamurocho, for better or for worse—Akiyama, an eccentric moneylender who falls in love with a mysterious woman; Saejima, a man who escapes from prison after 25 long years to try to discover the truth; Tanimura, a cop on the cusp of finding his father’s killer; and Kiryu, ripped away from his quiet life in Okinawa to set the past to rest once and for all.

The story has its usual crazy twists up and down, and in the first half in particular, each new beat and setup had me on the edge of my seat. As each protagonist’s story gets intertwined (with early cameos from different stories, including having to fight Kiryu as Saejima—a really nervewracking prospect!), something greater and greater is being built up… and then it kind of falls apart. While I don’t think you necessarily need a singular strong antagonist, the antagonists that WERE there simply weren’t as compelling. The best one was likable, yeah, and understandable, yeah, but it just made it feel like ‘why did you do all this shit in the first place if you were so reasonable? We could’ve just talked it out.’ Key characters like Daigo didn’t have enough screentime to be compelling, and there was a CRIMINAL lack of Haruka and (modern) Majima (though the latter’s scenes were certainly full of impact when he was there, as always). (Fun fact! Majima’s intro shot in 0 references Majima’s intro shot in 4 and when I saw it I definitely leapt to my feet, shouting. Poetic cinema)

As for the gameplay, each character moves and fights differently, and it’s a fun as fuck changeup. Tanimura and Akiyama are faster fighters—Tanimura is a glass cannon, unpredictable and with sneaky moves, and Akiyama is the king of kicks with nice mobility and very relatable creaky knees. Saejima is even bigger than Kiryu is, a lumbering bear of a man who can down a dude in two hits. There’s also more of Kamurocho to move around in—there’s a rooftop system AND an underground/sewer system to scramble around the city in new ways, which gives a new sense of verticality which was cool.The graphics are a nice improvement, and, as always, the substories range from ‘okay’ to ‘I’m weeping openly with laughter.’

The current ranking is as follows: 0, 3, K2, 4, K1, encompassing from an 11 to a 7 out of 10. Even if it kind of peters out at the end, 4 is a Yakuza game and, like always, Yakuza games are pretty great—

Oh, what’s that? Madison has something to say:

“MADISON’S REVIEW:

I co-sign everything Tsupertsundere said and also HANA DESERVES BETTER, SHE ALWAYS DESERVES BETTER, SHE IS THE BEST GIRL AND CAN HAVE ALL THE BOYFRIENDS SHE WANTS.

Thank you, this has been a message from your local Hana Appreciation League.”

Yes, that’s correct! It’s great we have a take-no-shit fat woman in Yakuza, it’s much less great there’s so many fat jokes about her. Akiyama needs to wise the fuck up and get with the program and ask her out already.

Next up: As much as I’ve heard pretty bad things about this game, I for one am unbelievably excited to play a Yakuza game that’s basically one big ridiculous substory. So what if the gameplay is crappy? We get to play as the husband again in—

See you soon!