Yakuza 4 is a PlayStation 3 exclusive that continues the story established by the first three Yakuza titles. Unique and massive, it’s a game that draws you in with its compelling depiction of a sprawling pleasure district in Toyko, Japan. The story is full of pathos and melodrama like its predecessors, but this time round it’s told in a much more clever and interesting way thanks to the intertwining narratives of the game’s four playable protagonists.

The brawling sequences also benefit from this variety in the game’s cast as every character uses a different fighting style to dispatch the countless thugs and sinister yakuza (the Japanese version of the mafia) you’ll encounter during the course of your adventure. While the graphics in Yakuza 4 are inconsistent, the sometimes bizarre mini-games are uniformly excellent and represent some of the best in the business. There’s always plenty to keep you occupied in Yakuza 4, and you’ll learn a lot about Japanese and otaku culture by giving into its many charming distractions.

Apparently the script writers for Yakuza 4 prepared for the project by spending a lot of time watching different yakuza and gangster movies from around the world, as well as reading books on the subject. This familiarity with the genre comes through in the game’s story, which is very well-written and ingeniously put together, but suffers from a few too many scenes of melodrama, some of which are laugh-out-loud funny because of their overly serious tone. The writers have done a great job of tying in characters and events from the previous three games, but if you’ve never played a Yakuza title before you can get up to speed with the story by watching detailed, narrated summaries of each game in the main series.

Yakuza 4’s plot is much more intriguing and well-crafted than the previous entry in the series. It examines such themes as betrayal, corruption, redemption, loyalty and love. The game is set in March 2010, but events that happened 25 years earlier form an integral part of the story. The plot focuses on conflict between various yakuza organisations and their involvement with certain corrupt members of the police force. Every one of the four main characters, from the suave loan shark Shun Akiyama to the troubled convict Taiga Saejima, is trying to cope with the skeletons in their respective closets in their own way.

Yakuza 4 has at least six hours of non-interactive cutscenes (which are thankfully able to skipped) so be prepared to spend a lot of time watching the game rather than playing it. The plot is also very linear so don’t expect a branching narrative like those found in Way of the Samurai 3, Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age II, and even Grand Theft Auto IV to some extent. All the examples of choice in Yakuza 4 only occur outside of the main storyline in the form of mini-games, challenges and sub-stories.

Cutscenes often give way to in-game conversations, which are not voiced and are accompanied by stiff animations and an annoying typewriter-like sound which can’t be switched off in the options menu. All the voice acting in the game is in Japanese with English subtitles. There’s both a good and bad side to this, as the original voice work is excellent but having to read subtitles for the game’s six hours of cutscenes does shatter the illusion of being embedded in the drama somewhat.

Yakuza 4 took just under a year to localise into English, and after playing the game for twenty hours plus I can see why. There’s an absolutely colossal amount of dialogue in the game, from all the people you can speak to in the city to the seven adorable hostesses’ remarks in the full-blown dating sim you can take part in. The translation is first-rate and kudos must go to the team at Sega America for doing such a fine job converting all the unique Japanese phrases into their closest English equivalent. There’s a lot of swearing and harsh language in Yakuza 4 (these are gangsters we’re dealing with after all), as well a whole host of sexual innuendos. It’s definitely one of those games you need to save for when there’re no young family members around.

Speaking of localisation, you’ll be pleased to know that the English version of Yakuza 4 doesn’t suffer from the same content cuts which were incomprehensibly made to its predecessor. The hostess mini-games and massage parlour are left unscathed this time round, and the only thing which has been cut is a Japanese-themed quiz which we wouldn’t have been able to answer anyway. The only bone I have to pick with the localisation team is that they didn’t subtitle the phrases which your character and their respective hostess articulate during mini-games such as golf or table tennis. There’s also a fair amount of Japanese writing in the environment itself which isn’t subtitled during some of the mini-games such as pachinko.

Did I mention this title is massive? My first playthrough took just under 20 hours and I was informed that I’d completed a measly 6.5% of the game. This is the ultimate title for trophy hunters as there are plenty of them to go after, and the game clearly stipulates what you need to do in order to boost your completion percentage. The director of Yakuza 4 reckons a 100% completion stat will take you over 200 hours to achieve, so what are you waiting for? Finish reading my review, rush out and buy the game, and get cracking! Please send me a snapshot of your lovely, shiny platinum trophy when you’re done because I won’t believe it until I see it.

The gameplay in Yakuza 4 is a hit and miss affair. You’re still exploring the streets of the fictional pleasure district of Kamurocho on foot, and you can catch a cab ride to a different part of town if your patience wears thin. Kamurocho is the only area you have access to this time round, but the environment has been expanded somewhat by allowing you to venture underground (the sewers; an underground parking lot and shopping mall) as well as to navigate rooftops. While you’re running around you’ll be assailed by various yakuza or thugs (who always have something different but equally insulting to say to you) and the gameplay will shift to combat mode.

Brawling is more varied and fun now that you have four characters to play as. The young detective Masayoshi Tanimura fights a bit like Bruce Lee whereas the hulking Taiga Saejima brawls like a wrestler and uses charge attacks. Below your health gauge is something called your ‘heat’ meter which builds up as you land attacks or guard successfully. Once it’s powered up your character will glow blue, and the option to use heat attacks will come into effect. By pressing triangle in different scenarios you will be able to deal a devastating blow to your opponent, whether it’s grabbing him from behind and knocking him out with your palms or breaking a bicycle wheel over his head – these heat moves are both brutal and entertaining to watch, and highly inventive it must be said.

You can also wield weapons such as a Taser or shotgun, and these can be modified to form more powerful variants by collecting the necessary materials and visiting one of the weapons dealers scattered around Kamurocho.

The gameplay in Yakuza 4 is at its worst if you just stick to the main objectives of the storyline, and avoid delving into the many entertaining side-missions and mini-games on offer here. Often these main objectives can be completed in less than two minutes and basically just task you with reaching a certain destination to trigger a cutscene and thus push the story forward. Gameplay can’t really get more puerile than that, can it? Despite this criticism, I have to say that Yakuza 4 really delivers gameplay-wise during the final few battles when you’re treated to some of the best and most intense QTEs (Quick Time Events) I’ve ever experienced.

The most enjoyable aspect of this title is undoubtedly the multitude of attractions it offers on the side. Whether it’s helping a complete stranger get the girl of his dreams or spending some quiet time alone at the docks doing some fishing, Yakuza 4 has something for everyone. Some of these activities are definitely aimed at adult males, and some women might be offended by certain content in the game which could be perceived as sexist. For example, the only way to win at table tennis is to ogle your date’s breasts while the ball is travelling through the air (the world goes into slow motion when you hold L2). Similarly, the massage parlour features a scantily clad woman trying her very best to distract you while you attempt to focus your attention on keeping the gauge on the right-hand side of the screen from going too high (the massage stops because you’re too tense) or too low (you fall asleep due to being too relaxed).

These two mini-games are definitely ingenious, if a little perverted. What I like about the mini-games is that they all contain incentives to do well in them or try them out more than once. For example, every time you visit the massage parlour you get a stamp and you can expect a ‘special reward’ when you collect five stamps and a ‘super special reward’ when you accrue ten. The game also sports online leaderboards for most of the mini-games and some of them such as darts and pool can be played locally with a friend once certain conditions are met.

Another great aspect of Yakuza 4’s mini-games is that they introduce you to and educate you about Japanese games such as shogi (a variant of chess) and pachinko (a type of pinball melding skill and chance). Detailed instructions on how to play these games is available in their respective locations, and it’s fascinating getting a glimpse at these facets of contemporary Japanese culture. Of course, there are plenty of Western casino games to play as well, such as roulette, poker and blackjack.

The graphics in Yakuza 4 are very inconsistent, ranging between beautiful, decent and downright ugly. The frame rate is never a problem, but the camera is dodgy as soon as you enter a cramped space and the animations appear stiff and unrefined more often than not. Kamurocho looks identical to how it appeared in Yakuza 3, and it’s a shame that so little was done to expand it by adding new shops, bars and the like. Some of the cutscenes are breathtaking, featuring high-res textures, motion capture animations, excellent lighting effects and little to no aliasing.

Then there are other cutscenes which look very shoddy – suddenly you’re looking at low-res textures, canned animations and plenty of jaggies. It’s obvious that the developers put a lot more effort into certain scenes than others, and this leads to very inconsistent visuals. What’s strange is that some of the new areas, such as a prison courtyard, have the worst graphics in the entire game. The grass texture in said courtyard is the most pitiful I’ve ever seen in a PS3 title. Come on Sega – what’s going on here?!

For better or for worse, the sound effects from Yakuza 3 have also made their way into this title. There’re some impressive sound samples such as the music or radio chatter you hear when you enter a shop or restaurant, but at other times you’re struck by the laziness of the sound engineers – is it just me, or should there at least be a couple of samples for different types of doors opening? The generic sound clip you hear when you open every door in the game sounds like it belongs in an original PlayStation game. Thankfully, the music all sounds new to my ears and is at its best during the more poignant moments in Yakuza 4’s many cutscenes.

The latest entry in the Yakuza series is easy to recommend to people who enjoy these sorts of offerings from Sega. If you’ve never played a Yakuza title but were a fan of either one of the Shenmue games then you’ll probably also find a lot to like here. Yakuza 4 will prove most enjoyable to inquisitive and adventurous folk who are all too willing to break away from the main story in order to explore the myriad exotic elements a Japanese pleasure district such as Kamurocho would conceivably offer in real life.

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