3.5/5 ★ – KHFanXIII's review of Yakuza 4 Remastered.

Yakuza 4 is an interesting game, being the 4th (technically 5th if you count 0) game starring protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu. You can tell, at this point, they really wanted to switch it up as well as respond to the somewhat less positively received previous entry (although I really enjoyed that one). For this game, they decided to split the game between 4 characters, an ambitious feat. Did they stick the landing? Do the characters they introduce engage the player as much as Kiryu? How does this game stack up to the previous entries? I should just get this out of the way immediately, the plot of the game I don't think is very good. It just feels boring and unconnected (partially due to the 3 new characters) to the bigger story of the franchise. A story, at least this point, that feels like it revolves around Kiryu. It definitely has interesting moments, but overall the best parts of this game are the characters and after previous games having both good characters AND a good story, having just half of the equation feels disappointing. Starting out, you play as new character Akiyama. He's a loan shark that isn't quite like any you've encountered before. He's a wise-cracking guy who seems to nearly always keep his cool. He was actually my favorite of the new characters. His personality is just very interesting and I quite enjoyed him. Next up is Saejima. He has the most connections to the familiar cast as he is the sworn brother of Majima who had been imprisoned decades ago. Finally seeing more of the backstory of Majima that was hinted at in Yakuza 0, and getting to really know this character is really cool. Saejima is a strong silent type, you know the trope. Heart of gold as well. Not that that's a bad thing tho, as I feel they handled it very well. After him is Tanimura. He's a cop who doesn't quite play by the rules. Now throw out what your picturing; he's not some grizzled vet of the force, in fact he's a fairly young, lighthearted guy who seems to have a strong sense of justice, despite him pretty much ignoring police protocol left and right. Those are your 3 new characters. While they are interesting and pretty engaging, as someone who is a fan of the series at this point, having to slog through 3 different characters before we get to FINALLY play as Kiryu was something I was not a fan of. I wish this game had more of a open choice, letting you pick which one of the 3 protagonists stories you go through. That would be much more appreciated. The gameplay itself just feels like a more refined Yakuza 3. Heat actions do more damage, enemies aren't constantly blocking, and the characters just feel a lot better and less stiff to control. The substories, however, are pretty meh. They just feel like bog average with none of them really sticking out to me. This sucks as we had a pretty good streak going (with Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 3 having pretty good ones imo). The ending is pretty fucking badass tho, even if I do think the reason some of the protags fight their bosses is weak. Overall, I just don't feel like this game is really all that. Hopefully the next game is another high note for the series, as they can build upon what this game established and do something even greater.