I'm a pretty big fan of the Yakuza series, especially since it was remastered with the release of Yakuza 0. Each year around Christmas time I end up playing one of them, this year it is Yakuza 4 (will likely play Yakuza 5 as well). While I try not to read about the plot or gameplay before I play a Yakuza game I knew going in this time there would be four playable characters. I previously enjoyed playing Kiryu and Majima, but would be four a little too much?
I like many things about Japanese culture and like to try and embrace it when I get the chance. When myself and Nollsy visited London a few years ago went to a Benihana which was an awesome experience. Tried a selection of sake which was really nice. A couple of months ago I saw these awesome sake glasses and had to have them. My better half got me two bottles, tried both and I have to say I did not like them. I asked myself was it just a lower quality than I had tried or was I simply swept up in my time in London and anything would have taste good. Playing Yakuza 4 I found myself asking was this a lower tasting quality or was I just not into it?
Story
There are four playable characters in the game; Kiryu Kazuma, retired legendary Yakuza now running the Morning Glory orphanage, Masayoshi Tanimura, a police detective who has a problem with authority and playing by the rules, Taiga Saejima, in prison for the last 25 years after a hit gone wrong, and Shun Akiyama, a very unique loan shark who doesn't believe in his clients paying any interest on their loans. What connects all these characters together, a mystery woman who everyone seems to want to find.
The game is split into four parts (one for each character), set over four chapters each. The stories independently are interesting and in the final chapters all the stories converge revealing something much bigger going on.
As always with Yakuza it has sub stories for each character to play, the only downside is that while there were some zany missions it felt a bit more serious than normal.
Overall the story is pretty good and while having extra characters was interesting at times it was a bit too much of a distraction from the main narrative. I did feel once Kiryu became playable the story did heat up quite a bit and was more interesting.
Visuals
The visuals are pretty good in the game, and with the addition of new areas like the rooftop, hidden ally town, underground, car parks you get to enjoy another level of Kamarucho never seen before. At night the game seems more moody than in previous, a large part of this I feel are due to the lighting effects. One of my favorite parts visually was running around when it was raining, the effects look so good.
When playing as Taiga Saejima you get to explore a prison which was a bit different and very reminiscent of A Way Out (due to just having played it). The other characters tread familiar ground but as Kamarucho has been upgraded even more it never gets dull to look at.
Overall some great visuals, and see a game remastered after ten years really does breath new life into Kamarucho.
Music
The soundtrack has that classic Yakuza feel, with some extra guitars and a blend of both smooth jazz that on occasions gets pretty intense and gave me a feeling of being pulled down. The soundtrack is created by Yakuza series veteran Hidenori Shoji who also worked on Judgement and Fighting Vipers.
The soundtrack provides over three hours worth of music and around seventy tracks. My favorite tracks include: 'Roarless Dragon', 'Glee', 'Funny', 'Whiskey and Rhapsody', 'Spicy Brass Squid', 'Speed Star', 'Material Delights', and 'So Hot Ping Pong'.
Overall a pretty classic Yakuza soundtrack with a little extra added on top to keep it fresh.
Gameplay
The four playable characters have very different playstyles; Akiyama is pretty agile and his punch and kicks do a decent amount damage, Tanimura has a play style very close to that of Yagami in Judgment and Lost Judgement, very fast and has a great counter block technique. Then there is Saejima, who hands down is the worst (combat wise), he is painfully slow, his moves when they connect are strong but even his defense is not great. The first boss you take on as him nearly broke me as I felt like I wasn't fighting more dodging a lot and then occasionally making contact. Kiryu is hands down the best fighter by far and incorporates the best elements of the others.
Each character can level up and get orbs, these are used to increase skills, it does not take a lot to level up as long as you don't avoid battles and engage in other activities.
Weapons feel like they have more focus on them this time, there a lot of weapons to be made, upgraded and broken. It was fun to try but still like using my body to do my fighting.
Like with the other Yakuza games there are slew of sub stories, some are fun but other feel like a bit more of a chore especially the hostess missions which every character has and is quite costly. I really do wish they would bring back the hostess club game where you could manage the whole thing.
There are a ton of mini games, my favorite being table tennis, there is also; batting cage, mahjong, shogi, karaoke, arcade machines, fishing, UFO grabber and more. There is more than enough to fill your time whether you just want the experience points, looking for trophies or just want a break from the main story.
Overall the gameplay is pretty good, the only thing that lets it down really is a certain characters fighting style, and some sub stories not having the fun quality Yakuza fans are used to seeing from the series.
Final Thoughts
So after close to thirty hours how did I feel? Not bad. The story is pretty good but as they sometimes to many chefs spoil the broth and while the inclusion of new characters was interesting four felt like too many playable characters especially for a game which traditionally has had just one. The remastering real brought the visuals up another level, and added to an extra layer to Kamarucho. The soundtrack is what we have come to expect from the series but Shoji has got lazy and added some new elements. The gameplay is pretty solid but again the extra characters do slightly water things down especially Saejima or maybe his enemies were just not as well balanced. Overall the game wasn't bad but can only give this one 3 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment