Yakuza 4 Critic Reviews

An excellent sequel for an outstanding series; Yakuza 4 caters to its fans and offers up another wonderful adventure in Kamurocho.

Characterful, amusing, violent and intriguing: Yakuza 4 is excellent fun.

While adding three playable characters might not sound like much, it was certainly the shot in the arm the series needed. It livens up not only the combat, but the story as well, getting different personalities that aren't the same stoic Kazuma we've grown used to.

Yakuza 4 has one hell of a story and the gameplay is better than before. You can also play with four characters instead of one and the game did get improvements on almost every aspect. The Yakuza games are for a small group of gamers, but it's a great one.

Not everyone will take the time and trouble to get the maximum out of what Yakuza 4 has to offer. Whoever does will be amazed by its marvellous story, bizarre amount of content and the deep and intrinsic characters. The lack of challenge and the notion that many of its aspects already existed in the third part, aren't relevant enough to detract from the total package Yakuza 4 has to offer.

All things considered, though, Yakuza 4 is an excellent title that proves why this series, underappreciated as it is, is one of the crown jewels in Sega's current game lineup.

The uninitiated may peer into Kamurocho's kaleidoscope and wonder what on Earth is going on, but through the eyes of the converted, the view is as fabulous as ever.

This sophisticated tone is one of the reasons I would recommended Yakuza 4 to any PS3 owner. It's brutally violent, intriguing from start to finish and requires a surprisingly small amount of background knowledge.

Yakuza 4 is everything you would expect from the series. The shift to a four-main-character storyline is the most welcome change it offers, and one that adds an entirely new flavor to a city already familiar to fans. Its brazen Japanese lifestyle mixed with ridiculous street brawling and lives of crime suck you in and make you want to stay. Despite it's flaws and its last-game (and in some cases, last-gen) presentation, Yakuza 4 is worth the odd missions one would have to complete in order to secure a loan to buy it.

If the Yakuza series were merely the sole franchise keeping the long tradition of the 3D brawler alive, it would be worthy of praise. The fact that it manages to do that while also offering some of the best storytelling in the industry-and that it accomplishes these things essentially once a year-all combine to make it one of the most impressive series around. Yakuza 4 comes from the best possible video game pedigree, and it does its predecessors proud.

Yakuza 4 is not just a simple more of the same. Between its huge lines of subtitles there are some new features that definitely work. The four characters are a great gift for the story telling, and also to the combat system, different from character to character, succeeds to revamp old but working mechanics. Beside that is the same Yakuza of the past years.

If the news of a zombie-themed spin-off signals the series' proverbial jumping of the shark, then at least Sega managed to produce a game that feels as full and complete as Yakuza 4.

Yakuza 4 is the thinking man's brawler. Grab a drink, preferably in a very large glass, settle down and immerse yourself in the violent neon-lit streets of Kamurocho. Give it a chance and you'll find it hard to put down.

Yakuza 4 provides a deep, unique story that you won't often hear told as well a style of gameplay you don't often get to experience. Do yourself a favor and try something different.

A superb game, with almost no cuts from the original version, but with few new features in comparison with Yakuza 3.

Yakuza 4 builds on its history and its strengths, using four well-differentiated playable characters to multiply the value of its character-driven drama and exhilarating fights. The game sometimes feels dated and a bit too stodgily conventional, but its virtual tour of a bizarrely attractive, crime-soaked, hyperbolic slice of Japan as seen through the eyes of its underworld nobility is certainly worth taking.

This is one critic who can see through the bullsh.t and has his name down in blood for Yakuza 5.

Ultimately Yakuza 4 is a good game but it isn't quite as good as Yakuza 3.

The fighting is about as refined and diverse as it has ever been, the city of Kamurocho is more detailed and immersive, the story has plenty of highlights, and becoming immersed in urban Japanese culture has never been so entertaining. However, it's held back by one slightly disappointing fact: the series is starting to show its age.

This game is crazy as all the Yakuza games before. The graphics are not that good but the details of the virtual Japan are truly thrilling.