Yakuza 4

Yakuza 4

Western boxart
Developer(s) CS1 Team
Publisher(s) Sega
Designer(s) Toshihiro Nagoshi (producer)
Composer(s) See Soundtrack
Series Yakuza
Platform(s) PlayStation 3
Release date(s)
  • NA March 15, 2011[2]
  • EU March 18, 2011
Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player
Rating(s)
Media/distribution Blu-ray Disc

Yakuza 4 (龍が如く4 伝説を継ぐもの "Ryū ga Gotoku 4: Densetsu o Tsugumono"?, lit. "Like a Dragon 4: Successor of the Legend"), is a video game developed and published by Sega exclusively for the PlayStation 3.[3] The game was announced on July 24, 2009.[4] A promotion video was presented at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show[5] and a preview presenting the main story was released on January 13, 2010.[6]

The game is the sequel to Yakuza 3 and was released on March 18, 2010 in Japan. A playable demo was released to the Japanese PlayStation Store on March 5, 2010.[7] The game has been confirmed for release in Europe and North America in March 2011.[8][9]

The game received an Award for Excellence from the Japan Game Awards 2010,[10] and received a score of 38/40 from Famitsu.[11] It currently holds a rating of 80% on GameRankings based on 39 reviews,[12] and 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 59 publications.[13]

Contents

[hide]

Synopsis

Setting

Yakuza series story chronology

Prologue
Yakuza / Movie Version
Yakuza 2
Yakuza 3
Yakuza 4

As with the original game, most of the action takes place in Kamurocho (a.k.a. Kamuro City), a fictionalized yet realistic recreation of Shinjuku's red-light district, Kabukichō.

Three new locations have been added since Yakuza 3 - a rooftop area, which stretches across a large area of the town; the back streets of Kamurocho, known as "Rojiura" (路地裏?); and a third area called the underground (or "chika" (地下?)), which includes the city's sewers, parking lot and shopping arcades. The underground area is also known as "Kamuchika" (カムチカ?), short for "Kamuro Chika" or "Kamuro Underground".[14]




Characters

There are three new main protagonists alongside Kazuma Kiryu, the main character since the original Yakuza game. These are Masayoshi Tanimura (Hiroki Narimiya), Shun Akiyama (Kōichi Yamadera) and Taiga Saejima (Rikiya Koyama). These four men all become connected during the game's plot.

Other new characters include a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department detective called Junji Sugiuchi (Kenichi Endou), a Tojo Clan yakuza called Hiroaki Arai (Ikki Sawamura), a high-ranking police officer called Seishirō Munakata (Kinya Kitaoji) and a woman called Lili (Maju Ozawa).

Returning characters are Haruka Sawamura, Goro Majima, Makoto Date, Daigo Dojima and Goh Hamazaki.

Gameplay

Adventure Mode

The available mini-games are pachinko, fishing, onsen bath, table tennis, hanafuda and karaoke (now including duets with certain NPCs). "Haruka's Wish" also appears in the game, in which the player must perform actions to raise Haruka's trust level.

Each main character also has his own "side-game" or goal that must be completed to earn 100% completion, most of which are related to a trophy.

Akiyama may create a "Friendship" (馴染み Najimi?) with certain NPC characters by buying them items, or certain shop owners by being a regular customer. These characters will then help out at the start of battles that start nearby, by throwing an item to use as a weapon. Befriending the man at Asia enables the player to pick the kind of girl they want to see dance.
Akiyama's other mission, "Create a No. 1 Hostess!" (No.1キャバ嬢をつくろう! No.1 Kyabajō o Tsukurō!?), is to scout girls for the cabaret club he owns - Elise, opposite the Millennium Tower - and, through dressing them up and training them, turn them into the No. 1 girl at the club. There are three girls to train, and after they become number one the player can choose a final outfit before them, after which they appear as a regular cabaret girl at Elise. A similar challenge was in the Japanese version of Yakuza 3, but was cut from the subsequent overseas releases.

Saejima's mission, "Create a Fighter!" (格闘家をつくろう! Kakutōka o Tsukurō!?) is to train fighters to compete in, and win, tournaments, within 50 rounds of training. Training involves building up training move-sets, with different actions having different effects. This game can be found at the dojo next to the Children's Park.

Tanimura's mission, "Resolving Police Radio Disputes" (警察無線トラブル解決バトル Keisatsu Musen Toraburu Kaiketsu Batoru?), is to keep the peace on the streets of Kamurocho; occasionally a report will come through on his radio telling him where to find the incident. The player must then defeat the perpetrator. Each unique case must be completed to "clear" the task.

In Kiryu's mission, "Team Encounter Battle" (チームエンカウントバトル?), various gangs from around town will attack Kiryu, who will have to fight members of the team in order to get to their leader. There are seven teams to defeat.

Battle Mode

Each new character has his own style of fighting and special moves.[15] The game engine features an enhanced Chase Battle and it is now possible to use items as weapons during the chase sequence. The player no longer needs to hold down the R2 button to sprint as the character will now automatically run at full speed.

Audio

Cast

The games's main characters have their face modeled in 3D, through Cyberware's head & face color 3D scanner (model PS),[16] after their seiyu actors who are Japanese celebrities.

Soundtrack

The theme song, played during the introductory video upon starting the game, is called Butterfly City and is sung by Japanese hip hop music artist Zeebra featuring Ryo the Skywalker and Mummy D. (Rhymester) with music by DJ Hasebe (a.k.a. Old Nick)[17] The music video was posted on Ariola Japan's official Youtube channel which revealed that R&B singer Double had contributed vocals to the song.[18] The CD was released by Ariola Japan (SME) on March 17, 2010 as a regular edition (BVCL-89) and a first press limited edition including a bonus video DVD (BVCL-87) and an alternate cover featuring Kiryu. Zeebra first contributed to the series with Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!'s opening theme Bushido.

Marketing

Tie-ins

Three new tie-ins were made with real life shops; these are Watami's izakaya (和民?), on Nakamichi Street, and Cuez Bar and Milestone, which are located in the underground.

Adverts for various other companies (such as Nico Nico Douga) can be found within the game, especially on the walls in the underground. Promotional flyers can be found in certain places, such as the underground of bowling alley, some of which offer discounts on in-game products. There is now also advertising on both sets of coin lockers. A staff member at Volcano, the pachislot building, will ask for a password that can only be obtained from 777town's website. There are also various topics of conversation that can be learned from listening in on Kamurocho residents' conversations. These can be used on the hostesses, and some of them feature promotion for companies such as 777town.

Trial version

A free trial version became available for download on the Japanese PlayStation Store on March 5, 2010.[7] This demo featured Story Mode, which came with an updated version of Yakuza 3s shooting minigame called Boxcelios 2. The Trial Version's size was 1.78GB,[7] but it has since been removed. The American Demo was a severely trimmed down version only featuring the mode where players briefly control each character in combat.

References

  1. ^ "Yakuza 4 Dated For Japan". Kotaku.com. http://kotaku.com/5422270/yakuza-4-dated-for-japan. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  2. ^ "Yakuza 4 for Pre Order with Date". Gamestop.com. http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=78074&gclid=CMGBvPD4lKQCFc5i2godK2kCGw. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  3. ^ "IGN UK: Yakuza 4 Preview". Uk.ps3.ign.com. http://uk.ps3.ign.com/objects/143/14347894.html. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  4. ^ By Spencer . July 24, 2009 . 12:30am (2009-07-24). "Of Course Sega Is Working On Yakuza 4". Siliconera.com. http://www.siliconera.com/2009/07/24/of-course-sega-is-working-on-yakuza-4/. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  5. ^ "English subtitled TGS2009 PV". Youtube.com. 2009-09-26. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dbdfo314OA. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  6. ^ "Preview trailer". Youtube.com. 2010-03-18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuYoOASoSS8. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  7. ^ a b c Ryū ga Gotoku 4 official website, news 『龍が如く4 伝説を継ぐもの』体験版 配信決定! 2010.02.25 THU
  8. ^ ArchangelUK (June 8, 2010). "Yakuza 4 Comes West Spring 2011… & Ask Nagoshi-san A Question!". Sega Blog Europe. http://blogs.sega.com/europe/2010/06/08/iamkazuma/. Retrieved May 30, 2010. 
  9. ^ Spencer (2010-06-08). "Yakuza 4 Leaving Japan, Arriving Here In Spring 2011". Siliconera. http://www.siliconera.com/2010/06/08/yakuza-4-leaving-japan-arriving-here-in-spring-2011/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
  10. ^ "Japan Game Awards 2010 - "Ryu ga Gotoku 4: Densetsu wo Tsugumono"". CESA (archived by WebCite). http://www.webcitation.org/5sp0X5Jdz. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
  11. ^ List of Weekly Famitsu software Hall of Fame (translation), Geimin.net
  12. ^ "Yakuza 4". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/ps3/974869-yakuza-4/index.html. Retrieved 21 December 2011. 
  13. ^ Yakuza 4 PlayStation 3
  14. ^ 山口 浩介(GameSpot Japan). "「龍が如く4 伝説を継ぐもの」の舞台・神室町がパワーアップ!-地下道や路地裏といった怪しげな場所にも進入が可能に". Japan.gamespot.com. http://japan.gamespot.com/ps3/news/story/0,3800075348,20403450,00.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  15. ^ "セガ、PS3「龍が如く4 伝説を継ぐもの」 主人公によって異なるバトルスタイルを紹介". Game.watch.impress.co.jp. http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20091209_334668.html. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  16. ^ "セガ、PS3「龍が如く4 伝説を継ぐもの」正式タイトル決定!キャスト第1弾も発表". Game.watch.impress.co.jp. http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20090724_304607.html. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  17. ^ SEGA. "Ryu ga Gotoku 4 official website - Cast". Ryu-ga-gotoku.com. http://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/four/index.html. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  18. ^ Butterfly City Promotional Video

External links

Media links