Yakuza 4 is back with 3 new characters entering plus Kazuma giving you 4 characters to play as.
Soundtrack: Amazingly well made and it fits the Yakuza theme perfectly with its main theme song: Butterfly City feat. Ryo the Skywalker, Mummy D & Double - By Zeebra
Characters:
Masayoshi Tanimura - Voiced By: Hiroki Narimiya
A cop who works for the NPA is known as "Kamurocho's Tick" due to his corruption and also is a type of cop who is addicted to gambling. But within his heart he is a caring person who uses his finances to raise orphan children. His main objective which he keeps secret is to hunt down the person responsible for the Saejima case his father died from investigation. Specializes in judo grappling techniques and has the ability to arrest the people he is fighting.
Shun Akiyama - Voiced By: Kōichi Yamadera
A homeless person turned loan shark owning a company called Sky Finance and also a hostess club called Elise. Apparently he got to where he is today by collecting the missing Yakuza money from the very first Yakuza during the bombing of the Millennium Tower. Specializes in kick boxing style techniques and rarely uses his fists.
Taiga Saejima - Voiced By: Rikiya Koyama
An ex-con who escaped from prision a few days before his execution. Now he returns to Kamurocho to find out what really happened 25 yrs ago. Specializes in fists and can use many huge objects that others can't.
Kazuma Kiryu - Voiced By: Takaya Kuroda
Returning Protagonist from the past Yakuza games. Now still running an orphanage he is dragged back into the criminal underworld to resolve problems once more and it all started with Saejima's body being washed ashore. Specializes as an all rounder type of person. Fists, kicks, grapple you name it.
Gameplay:
As you can see above their are 4 main protagonists in this story. Thus it has a new and unique battle system with each of them having different fighting styles and special abilities. Also real time weather conditions are added in such as rain, dawn and of coarse darkness. Mini games are back and it is something worth doing when you want to take a break from the storyline. These include table tennis, Hanafuda, hot spring bath, harbor fishing, gambling games, karaoke, shogi, mahjong and now you can also romance two hostess girls at a time. Chase Battle has been upgraded since you can now uses weapons during chase sequences. The graphics are what you expect from a PS3 game beautiful and lifelike.
The Verdict:
Gameplay: Addicted as ever with new modes and upgraded battle system.
Story: Now four playable protagonists instead of one with all of their connections being linked together in the story.
Voice Acting: Professionally done by japanese seiyu and actors.
Other Comments: If you are a die hard Yakuza fan like me then i recommend importing it now since it won't be out til next year in NA. If your not fluent in japanese then..... check for some guides that people who have beaten it to help play the game. If your japanese is fluent then be prepared to enjoy another great crime story and its the best one out yet. Apparently the story just gets better and better after every release so I can't wait for the 5th Yakuza to come out.
Overall: 9.5/10