Akiyama’s whole section is honestly top tier for me. I find myself going back to Yakuza 4 just to make a new game and play through his whole section. The noir vibe, the air of mystery, and fresh perspective of Kamurocho outside the eyes of a yakuza. Not to mention his amazing combat style, hilarious master (Saigo) and just his overall character. Only problem is the awful hostess minigame, but other than that it remains as one of my most beloved experiences of the whole series. Akiyama is the #1 himbo in my book. Great video man, agreed with most of what you said! You earned yourself a sub!
Lol. Never considered Akiyama to be a himbo but on second thought you're right he is one. And I agree the tone of Akiyama's section is super great between the character and the vibe it gives off. I've definitely considered playing through it multiple times just for that intro. And thanks I really appreciate that.
I'm sorry, I know this comment's ancient and you probably will miss this, but, how is Shun a himbo? He's a pretty boy sure, but he's also often the smartest guy in the room. He's hardly Heath Ledger in 10 Things :')
@@connorkinsman3164 Sorry, I know this reply is ancient, but the himbo thing was kind of a joke. I completely agree that Akiyama is (pretty much) the smartest of the main cast. It’s no wonder they made him the exposition man at the end of Y5.
@@mr.awesome851 that having been said, the only (white) actor I could picture doing him justice would be a late 90s Brendon Fraser. So maybe himbo is accurate
Found your channel weeks ago while looking for retrospectives of this series and i already binge watched all of them, stellar work Riku ! Looking forward to this one and in general your style of how you approach retrospectives, the pacing really is everything and it's really well done !
I'm also happy to hear that you enjoy the pacing, it's something that I work on a lot for each video so hearing that is pretty validating. Thank you so much for your comment.
Absolutely beautiful. After binging all your Yakuza retrospectives, I love your style. You start with praise, then criticism, begining of the story, then gameplay, substitutes, fighting mechanism, music, characters, etc, and then the rest of the story as well as some more praise or criticism. You perfectly have my attention at all times, and you do an amazing job explaining each little amazing detail to love about Yakuza. I hope you continue your retrospectives and hopefully, complete the mainline series and move on to both Judgement games. Good luck, and keep up the awesome work
Imagine this… Yakuza 4 has the GTA V character wheel where all the playable characters can be chosen any time while the others that are not selected are doing whatever they do. Imagine Kiryu doing Kiryu-oke, Akiyama is just slacking in his office and Saejima is walking in the streets and he beats up random thugs
1:03:32 I like how Daigo looks at the camera the moment you say "Wait what?". It's like even HE gets caught off guard by whatever the fuck is happening
I love your series on these! Can't wait to hear what you have to say about Saejima's mountain chapters. I played through those years ago while I was recovering from severe health complications and couldn't walk more then a couple of feet without getting winded. I felt a connection to Saejima's character in a profound way. Those chapters permanently altered the way I look at the world. The writers of this series sure have an art to their storytelling methods
Awesome video dude. This deserves a lot more views, just finished the game and I absolutely loved it! IMO this is the best videogame franchise ever, you can tell each entry has a lot of love and effort poured into them, I'm sure Ryu Ga Gotoku developers really love their job.
Thanks, I really appreciate what you said. And honestly I do have a hard time saying which exactly is the best game series ever because all the games I like have a lot of similarities to the Yakuza games. But I absolutely agree about the heart part these games are incredible and you can feel all the love the dev team put into each entry.
I love your Yakuza retrospectives, I just recently beat 4 myself and it's definitely a contender for my favourite in the series. I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on 5, since feelings on the game are generally mixed. I started 5 a few days ago and I'm loving it so far.
@@riku582 I think the split isn’t moreso a 50/50 love/loathe like say, TLOU2, but there are definitely people who love it and then people who are less of a fan but don’t outright hate it. i haven’t gotten around to playing it yet but i know the gist of the story, and im excited to play it lol
I really love your retrospectives! Can't wait to see your opinions on the next 3 games & what you think of Y7 and where the series is going (now that Nagoshi & Daisuke left)
Thank you. Honestly I don't have much of an opinion as I'm not sure how much of a role those to had with 7 onward, but I think that the series will be fine moving forwards.
The fastest way to get heat with him is to bound enemies with his Triangle move (rising kick, up to 4 times). His heat charge move is kinda bad with how little health he has. Unlock the "Get heat on parry" upgrade and the "Get heat on block" one too
Something another retrospective elaborated on with Saijima's story was that he was the prime example of how people at the top of systems of power will systematically push down and ruin the lives of those beneath them to keep their power. The reviewer in question was GC Vasquez, if you wanna give it a look.
Started from 0 for the full story, and this was the first game I beat Amon. I really enjoyed this one and learning the intricacies of each characters moveset. Seijima after triple charge finish and Tanimura increased parry time into walls/corners in insane. Was able to get the Sacred Tree armor before the final mission so I took 0 Bullet Damage (also grab stance is cool but too situational because it can't be used on bosses and fat guys)
If I hadn't played 0 THIS would've been the game that made me a Yakuza fan. While I enjoyed 1-3, they felt like a chore and I ended up rushing through them. This was the first game since 0 to get me invested enough to finish all of the substories.
Took me a while to watch this one, but I'm very happy I did as I did NOT expect that cameo of mine HAHHAA but good job man! I've always loved this series and I am gonna go and watch the Y5 one now! Cheers!
Despite the final boss being questionable, beating up virtually helpless Munakata after you’ve dealt with his men has to be one of the most satisfying moments in the series.
31:10 - 31:28 if you have played 0 first, like it's recommended to do, you already know why this happened. Don't believe me? Replay Chapter 4: Proof Of Resolve.
This was the Yakuza that cemented the series in my must play. Y3 had too much chopped out of it. Sadly due to my PS3 going kaput and me going back to 360, it was nearly a decade before I played the rest on Xbox. I didn't enjoy 5 much though, I'll say that much.
I finished this game and I gotta say I fucking love top 3 in my favorite yakuza games so far all the things I didn’t like the last game were improved and I really love the chase sequences now!
Speaking of that one sajima scene that I had the joy to watch the first time last week... I've never been closer to jumping into a TV screen to protect a video game character .. Even though I knew yakuza wouldn't actually go that far... It was far enough
@@riku582 I was kinda suprised kyriu didn't knee him in the face even if he understood why sajima reacted the way he did.. If anything just to snap him out of it .. BTW when the sajima vs kyriu fight happend I didnt want to fight him 😂 I lost on purpose hoping the game would just move on 😂
I know nothing about Yakuza 2+, but I've been around since the BEGINNING of KHR reactions and I'll be damned if I don't stay subbed and give my watchtime to support you, you beautiful man. Keep it up! ❤️👍
@@riku582 Of course! Can't wait for any future content you upload! Will you be doing a similar video for Like A Dragon when you're done with the Yakuza series?
2:20 I didn't notice on my playthrough but is it me or is the woman at 2:20 a slightly reworked version of Sayama's Y3 model??? really slipped that one by us
before watching the video, i personally think that Y4 is… interesting. it has been both some of the funnest and my favourite story, and then also some of the most frustrating and worst plot twists… split exactly in half. i genuinely adore the first two parts with akiyama and saejima, however the second half feels like a different story with different clashing writing teams. things get too convoluted and tanimura, albeit not a bad character by any stretch, didn’t leave the same impression as akiyama/saejima, however i can’t expect much considering he’s unfortunately entirely forgotten after Y4 whereas akiyama and saejima get more time in later games. SERIOUSLY SEGA, A DATE-AKIYAMA-TANIMURA DETECTIVE GAME WOULD BE SO COOL! my biggest problem with the story is probably just yasuko as a whole - i can except a story with confusing twists and looser writing if the characters are immensely strong and there to back it up and support the story. however yasuko, despite having weight in the plot, is so severely unlikeable for so many different reasons ( i wrote up and explained my reasons why in a draft of this comment but it reached like 2-3 paragraphs, oops ). to sum it up: shes hypocritical, emotionless, feels like a plot device a lot of the time and is just overall had some untapped potential as a femme fatale who has a strong sense of familial loyalty, like ryuji in y2 . sometimes i like to reimagine if the majority of the game was akiyama trying to get the ¥100,000,000 yen for yasuko, however while developing a friendship, soon learning of the murders which could spur beloved akiyama detective mystery as to where she went if she goes into hiding after her murder is discovered, yasuko being searched for by saejima (who could still be playable in his prison sequence, and ends with him finding clues to where she is), and then tanimura investigating due to her murders, all up to a climax that would feel more earned if yasuko was given screentime to feel like a person. maybe this pacing would feel a little slower, and i can’t really think of much kiryu involvement but seeing how strong the newer protagonists are, he is not super necessary. thats just my messy thoughts. i still love yakuza 4 but it has to be the most interesting game to talk about due to how the quality reacts as the game continues into the second half. ill be checking out the video now, wondering to see what your take is!! ive loved your other retrospectives
I can definitely see what you mean by a shift in the latter half of the game, as I said in the video a lot of things start happening at once during the end and it's a lot to swallow. Oddly enough, I didn't find Yasuko too bad while playing it again, but I definitely agree she has a lot of missed potential as a character and just serves as a plot point to connect the characters together. I guess I didn't notice because when I found Tanimura wasn't as good as the others, I assumed that the writers ran out of steam when writing his sections so when Yasuko failed to...become much of anything, for lack of a better term, I just accepted it. I like your idea for all 3 of the new protagonists are at the helm of the story, but like you said, Kiryu wouldn't be involved which I can now say after having 3 games where he isn't playable ain't a bad thing. But considering how he basically was the face of the franchise, they might not have wanted a Metal Gear Solid 2 scenario where the game gets panned because you couldn't play as Snake. Although in that case Konami's fault entirely because all the advertisements for MGS2 only showed Snake. Thanks for the comment, I hope you enjoy the video.
@@riku582 finished the video a few hours ago, it was a really great video! you’ve helped me realise how little i appreciated Y4’s level-up system, and helped me understand the plot more as a whole, lol. just finished your Y3 one too, which… dude, i feel you with the cabaret club minigame, i gave up with it, but it inspired me to complete the Y0 campaign. guess there’s a silver lining! i agreed with a lot of your points regarding Y4, especially with how akiyama shines. he’s probably my favourite character in the series so far because he’s just so damn charming and fun to watch. his combat is just as suave as him too, lmao at first, i didn’t find yasuko too bad either, albeit a little less likeable than someone like makoto, until she calls out tanimuras selfishness to join the force and investigate despite.. her doing worse things for a similar motive of family? i was really confused, so then i chose to look back and see more on her character and i just sorta found myself wanting a lot more. her death felt like how i did with yumi’s death tenfold - where i wasn’t sad that this character has died, but because haruka/saejima has to witness it and because i love those characters and want the best for them. i still think for a game with 4 protagonists and has ambitious intent, its still a really enjoyable game that doesn’t need a kiwamification imo, because it holds up really well and i can’t wait to replay it.
@@haowig Hey great, I'm glad I was able to give you more insight to the upgrade system. And I'm glad I convinced you to complete 0's cabaret club. As the series is now, I'm genuinely shocked at how much love people have for Akiyama and how the RGG team just don't do anything in the newer titles. Ah I see, a if you didn't say anything scenario. But yeah upon looking back I feel bad that Saejima is sad more than the fact that Yasuko died. And yeah despite the hiccups, 4 is a great game as is that doesn't need an update.
@@riku582 you had to complete Saigo’s and Nair training and also help the Master in the sewers. Completing each one of the masters (excluding komaki) gave you a piece of of equipment that was part of a set of 3 that when equipped all made automatically block any bullet shot at you.
The only reason why Yakuza 4 is my second least favorite is the Tanimura section was so abysmal that i honestly took a 2 month break from the game. The Akiyama, Saejima, and Kiryu sections were absolutely incredible.
@malakarvonstroheim5372 the combat, in my opinion, the combat is my favorite part of the game (aside from the story) and Tanimura was abysmal to fight as
So after playing through yakuza 4 I gotta say honestly I still think yakuza 3’s story is way better I never really felt any emotion for any of the characters here, another awesome video im playing through yakuza 5 so soon i will see your next retrospective
Oh yeah 3's story is better, but I still like the gameplay of 4 much more. Also yeah my mic was dying part way through recording 3 and I only noticed when I started putting the video together which at that point was too late to go back and fix it.
@@riku582 ah ok cool and yeah I enjoyed the gameplay of 4 much more then 3 although i felt like it was incredibly congested there were way to many ways to earn upgrades and if they had cut 1 or two i feel like i would have been more willing to play them
Yeah, the finale 4 way boss fight was ... shoehorned. The emotional end to the story was the end of part 4. I don't mind the rubber bullets wrt Saejima as he for all intents and purposes believed he killed those guys up until the reveal. All that introspection and regret he had was still real. He went into the restaurant with the full intention of killing and left with the full belief that he did just that. The only thing that changed in my mind was the technicality as far as the law.
Absolutely, his intentions were still to murder those guys and even if he didn't kill them directly he's still responsible as his actions gave Katsuragi the opening he needed.
Glad to see this video! While personally, Yakuza 4 is the weakest game in the series for me, I still really enjoyed it and will eventually play through it on Legend
@@chanhjohnnguyen1867 I apologize for the long response, but I'm going to have to retract my earlier interest. My own personal life popped up and I'm not able to dedicate much time out of it. But I wish you and the creators of the fan translation the best of luck.
@@chanhjohnnguyen1867 I've changed my mind about black panther 2 and would like to try it. I've added my business email to my channel's about page, so you can contact me further about it. Thank you for your time.
I loved playing Yakuza 4, but it's weirdly the game in the series I'm most ambivalent about with more distance. I think its story is better than Yakuza 5's but not by much, and it definitely doesn't play as good. At this point, every game in the series has something that stands out about it, except for 4 which is a shame. It was nice to see a fresher perspective; good video as always! As someone else pointed out, this one is especially well paced.
Personally I enjoyed Akiyama’s personality the most, I thought Saejima had the best story and although it took awhile I came to love Tanimura’s fighting style
I disagree on your take on THAT scene. Its meant to drive home the point on what isolation can do to a man after 25 years. There is no sugar coating it and its meant to make you feel uncomfortable and that's why I genuinely appreciate that scene. The fact that Saejima stopped himself adds to his moral fibre imo
I hear what you're saying, but personally I don't think I can bring myself to like this scene, as it did its job a bit too well for me. I was more disgusted than uncomfortable on both times I saw it, because of said implications. It took a lot of strength for Saejima not to go through with it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth seeing a child be the focus of his libido.
@@riku582 That's fair but you probably shouldn't get too surprised if you good raw uncomdortable shit like that when it comes to Yakuza considering its a gritty crime thriller.
@@riku582 I'm not digging at you. I think you do good work but I do think uncomfortable subject matters or depictions are par for the course. Anyways hope you're having a great day!
Y3 was crap because it kept sidelining to morning glory story garbage, Y4 was worse because of THAT ending fight....OMG the AI for that is beyond unfair even on EASY diff, you can't hit them for shit, your being shot at by FUCKING COWARD man and you have to clear ALL of his shield guards before even getting to him!!! So I lost my 1st time, had to to into town, make sure ALL my chars had plenty of HP items and now have to try again.....how is that fair on EASY diff? Fucking garbage game! And Y5....your joking right? Why teh fuck would I wanna play as FIVE characters, shoot bears and have a dance-off as Haruka? The remastered collection is a fucking rip-off!!!
Shun Akiyama is the halal loan shark.
I agree
Akiyama’s whole section is honestly top tier for me. I find myself going back to Yakuza 4 just to make a new game and play through his whole section. The noir vibe, the air of mystery, and fresh perspective of Kamurocho outside the eyes of a yakuza.
Not to mention his amazing combat style, hilarious master (Saigo) and just his overall character.
Only problem is the awful hostess minigame, but other than that it remains as one of my most beloved experiences of the whole series.
Akiyama is the #1 himbo in my book.
Great video man, agreed with most of what you said! You earned yourself a sub!
Lol. Never considered Akiyama to be a himbo but on second thought you're right he is one. And I agree the tone of Akiyama's section is super great between the character and the vibe it gives off. I've definitely considered playing through it multiple times just for that intro. And thanks I really appreciate that.
@@riku582 No prob :3
I'm sorry, I know this comment's ancient and you probably will miss this, but, how is Shun a himbo? He's a pretty boy sure, but he's also often the smartest guy in the room. He's hardly Heath Ledger in 10 Things :')
@@connorkinsman3164 Sorry, I know this reply is ancient, but the himbo thing was kind of a joke. I completely agree that Akiyama is (pretty much) the smartest of the main cast. It’s no wonder they made him the exposition man at the end of Y5.
@@mr.awesome851 that having been said, the only (white) actor I could picture doing him justice would be a late 90s Brendon Fraser. So maybe himbo is accurate
Found your channel weeks ago while looking for retrospectives of this series and i already binge watched all of them, stellar work Riku ! Looking forward to this one and in general your style of how you approach retrospectives, the pacing really is everything and it's really well done !
I'm also happy to hear that you enjoy the pacing, it's something that I work on a lot for each video so hearing that is pretty validating. Thank you so much for your comment.
Absolutely beautiful.
After binging all your Yakuza retrospectives, I love your style.
You start with praise, then criticism, begining of the story, then gameplay, substitutes, fighting mechanism, music, characters, etc, and then the rest of the story as well as some more praise or criticism.
You perfectly have my attention at all times, and you do an amazing job explaining each little amazing detail to love about Yakuza.
I hope you continue your retrospectives and hopefully, complete the mainline series and move on to both Judgement games.
Good luck, and keep up the awesome work
Thank you, I'm glad to hear all of that. And yes, I will continue with the series in due time. Thank you so much for your compliment.
Imagine this…
Yakuza 4 has the GTA V character wheel where all the playable characters can be chosen any time while the others that are not selected are doing whatever they do. Imagine Kiryu doing Kiryu-oke, Akiyama is just slacking in his office and Saejima is walking in the streets and he beats up random thugs
Sounds cool.
Imagine having Saejima clear any Inconvenient npc walls by beating the crap outta the npcs you otherwise had to face lmao
1:03:32 I like how Daigo looks at the camera the moment you say "Wait what?". It's like even HE gets caught off guard by whatever the fuck is happening
I know right.
I love your series on these! Can't wait to hear what you have to say about Saejima's mountain chapters. I played through those years ago while I was recovering from severe health complications and couldn't walk more then a couple of feet without getting winded. I felt a connection to Saejima's character in a profound way. Those chapters permanently altered the way I look at the world. The writers of this series sure have an art to their storytelling methods
Thanks I really appreciate that. And I'm sorry to hear you went through that. I won't say much on that chapter now other than I liked it a lot.
Awesome video dude. This deserves a lot more views, just finished the game and I absolutely loved it! IMO this is the best videogame franchise ever, you can tell each entry has a lot of love and effort poured into them, I'm sure Ryu Ga Gotoku developers really love their job.
Thanks, I really appreciate what you said. And honestly I do have a hard time saying which exactly is the best game series ever because all the games I like have a lot of similarities to the Yakuza games. But I absolutely agree about the heart part these games are incredible and you can feel all the love the dev team put into each entry.
I love your Yakuza retrospectives, I just recently beat 4 myself and it's definitely a contender for my favourite in the series. I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on 5, since feelings on the game are generally mixed. I started 5 a few days ago and I'm loving it so far.
Thank you so much. And I'll say 5 is one of my favorites and leave it at that. P.S I never knew that 5 had people split, that's interesting.
@@riku582 I think the split isn’t moreso a 50/50 love/loathe like say, TLOU2, but there are definitely people who love it and then people who are less of a fan but don’t outright hate it. i haven’t gotten around to playing it yet but i know the gist of the story, and im excited to play it lol
@@haowig Oh okay, that makes more sense then.
welcome back! i actually haven't came around to play Yakuza 4 so this is kinda making me want to start it.
Glad to be back. If my video can convince you to play it then that's amazing.
I really love your retrospectives! Can't wait to see your opinions on the next 3 games & what you think of Y7 and where the series is going (now that Nagoshi & Daisuke left)
Thank you. Honestly I don't have much of an opinion as I'm not sure how much of a role those to had with 7 onward, but I think that the series will be fine moving forwards.
Maybe tanimura has the slowest heat charge, but hell, when I play as him it still loads up really fast 💀
The fastest way to get heat with him is to bound enemies with his Triangle move (rising kick, up to 4 times). His heat charge move is kinda bad with how little health he has. Unlock the "Get heat on parry" upgrade and the "Get heat on block" one too
Something another retrospective elaborated on with Saijima's story was that he was the prime example of how people at the top of systems of power will systematically push down and ruin the lives of those beneath them to keep their power. The reviewer in question was GC Vasquez, if you wanna give it a look.
Thanks for telling me, I'll give it a watch.
@@riku582 Great! I'd love to hear how much it does or doesn't change your perspective on any weaknesses you felt the narrative had.
Started from 0 for the full story, and this was the first game I beat Amon. I really enjoyed this one and learning the intricacies of each characters moveset. Seijima after triple charge finish and Tanimura increased parry time into walls/corners in insane. Was able to get the Sacred Tree armor before the final mission so I took 0 Bullet Damage (also grab stance is cool but too situational because it can't be used on bosses and fat guys)
Came across these videos and I’m loving them.
Happy to hear it.
I would be so down for a spin off series starring akiyama
If I hadn't played 0 THIS would've been the game that made me a Yakuza fan. While I enjoyed 1-3, they felt like a chore and I ended up rushing through them. This was the first game since 0 to get me invested enough to finish all of the substories.
I get what you mean, and I think the new characters in 4 help out a lot with that.
Took me a while to watch this one, but I'm very happy I did as I did NOT expect that cameo of mine HAHHAA but good job man! I've always loved this series and I am gonna go and watch the Y5 one now! Cheers!
Don't sweat it, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed the Y5 one too.
I heard Live and Learn play in the Mahjong parlor.
I think Knight of the Wind is also in the game.
Cool. Thanks for telling me.
@@riku582 You're welcome.
Despite the final boss being questionable, beating up virtually helpless Munakata after you’ve dealt with his men has to be one of the most satisfying moments in the series.
31:10 - 31:28 if you have played 0 first, like it's recommended to do, you already know why this happened. Don't believe me? Replay Chapter 4: Proof Of Resolve.
Oh, you're right. It's been so long since I touched 0 that I forgot.
Thanks a lot for your retrospective!!
No problem.
Absolutely agree! And Akiyama steal the show 👀🔥🔥🔥
This was the Yakuza that cemented the series in my must play. Y3 had too much chopped out of it.
Sadly due to my PS3 going kaput and me going back to 360, it was nearly a decade before I played the rest on Xbox.
I didn't enjoy 5 much though, I'll say that much.
Glad to hear you enjoyed 4.
Watching your videos in order and ONLY after I've beaten the current game.
I mean, It's the best way not to spoil yourself.
I finished this game and I gotta say I fucking love top 3 in my favorite yakuza games so far all the things I didn’t like the last game were improved and I really love the chase sequences now!
Glad to hear it.
@@riku582 thx
Speaking of that one sajima scene that I had the joy to watch the first time last week... I've never been closer to jumping into a TV screen to protect a video game character .. Even though I knew yakuza wouldn't actually go that far... It was far enough
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.
@@riku582 I was kinda suprised kyriu didn't knee him in the face even if he understood why sajima reacted the way he did.. If anything just to snap him out of it ..
BTW when the sajima vs kyriu fight happend I didnt want to fight him 😂 I lost on purpose hoping the game would just move on 😂
Yeah, I'm surprised as well.
That would've been a cool bit of programming if the game functioned like that.
Really hoping Akiyama gets featured in the next yakuza installment as a benefitiary to Ichiban Holdings
I am super down for that idea.
As much as I hate that final fight, I personally love the stupid nonsense bullshit mess that is the ending. It's hilarious and stupid and a good time.
I can understand that.
The part when you were listing the Sonic songs, I wanna point out you can hear Live And Learn
Oh that's cool, thank you for telling me.
I love this channel you deserve more views and likes for this video. I will continue to watch.
Thank you, I really appreciate you saying that.
I know nothing about Yakuza 2+, but I've been around since the BEGINNING of KHR reactions and I'll be damned if I don't stay subbed and give my watchtime to support you, you beautiful man. Keep it up! ❤️👍
I don't know what to say. Thank you so much for sticking around this long.
@@riku582 Of course! Can't wait for any future content you upload! Will you be doing a similar video for Like A Dragon when you're done with the Yakuza series?
@@karmacean Yes I will.
And thank you again.
Hooray, it's great to see you back. Looking forward to hearing your opinion on the game
Thank you, I hope you enjoy the video.
@@riku582 Great video as always. I did not even realise that you could parry when not facing towards the opponent 😮
@@shehzad_ali Thanks, I really appreciate that. And yeah Tanimura's parry is pretty good.
hope you dont stop making these, even though ive already finished the main series these are really fun to watch
Don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Man, I myself really liked the end fights
Holy shit it's the yakuza 4 !!
I'm enjoying them so much, in fact, I've been binging them lol
I honestly don't know what to say to that. Again thank you.
Can't wait for Yakuza 5, imo the 2nd best game next to 0!
I honestly can't wait to make that video.
i wish the rest of the series continued with the jazzy soundtrack
Yeah, it would have been pretty cool to hear more jazz centered tracks.
2:20 I didn't notice on my playthrough but is it me or is the woman at 2:20 a slightly reworked version of Sayama's Y3 model??? really slipped that one by us
Could be. The Yakuza series isn't shy about reusing assets.
That space shooter is kind of a poor man's Ikaruga. If you liked that game, definitely check it out.
Thanks, I'll keep it in mind.
Saejima with haruka is the strongest scene in the series
That's certainly a way to describe it.
before watching the video, i personally think that Y4 is… interesting. it has been both some of the funnest and my favourite story, and then also some of the most frustrating and worst plot twists… split exactly in half. i genuinely adore the first two parts with akiyama and saejima, however the second half feels like a different story with different clashing writing teams. things get too convoluted and tanimura, albeit not a bad character by any stretch, didn’t leave the same impression as akiyama/saejima, however i can’t expect much considering he’s unfortunately entirely forgotten after Y4 whereas akiyama and saejima get more time in later games. SERIOUSLY SEGA, A DATE-AKIYAMA-TANIMURA DETECTIVE GAME WOULD BE SO COOL!
my biggest problem with the story is probably just yasuko as a whole - i can except a story with confusing twists and looser writing if the characters are immensely strong and there to back it up and support the story. however yasuko, despite having weight in the plot, is so severely unlikeable for so many different reasons ( i wrote up and explained my reasons why in a draft of this comment but it reached like 2-3 paragraphs, oops ). to sum it up: shes hypocritical, emotionless, feels like a plot device a lot of the time and is just overall had some untapped potential as a femme fatale who has a strong sense of familial loyalty, like ryuji in y2 .
sometimes i like to reimagine if the majority of the game was akiyama trying to get the ¥100,000,000 yen for yasuko, however while developing a friendship, soon learning of the murders which could spur beloved akiyama detective mystery as to where she went if she goes into hiding after her murder is discovered, yasuko being searched for by saejima (who could still be playable in his prison sequence, and ends with him finding clues to where she is), and then tanimura investigating due to her murders, all up to a climax that would feel more earned if yasuko was given screentime to feel like a person. maybe this pacing would feel a little slower, and i can’t really think of much kiryu involvement but seeing how strong the newer protagonists are, he is not super necessary.
thats just my messy thoughts. i still love yakuza 4 but it has to be the most interesting game to talk about due to how the quality reacts as the game continues into the second half.
ill be checking out the video now, wondering to see what your take is!! ive loved your other retrospectives
I can definitely see what you mean by a shift in the latter half of the game, as I said in the video a lot of things start happening at once during the end and it's a lot to swallow.
Oddly enough, I didn't find Yasuko too bad while playing it again, but I definitely agree she has a lot of missed potential as a character and just serves as a plot point to connect the characters together. I guess I didn't notice because when I found Tanimura wasn't as good as the others, I assumed that the writers ran out of steam when writing his sections so when Yasuko failed to...become much of anything, for lack of a better term, I just accepted it.
I like your idea for all 3 of the new protagonists are at the helm of the story, but like you said, Kiryu wouldn't be involved which I can now say after having 3 games where he isn't playable ain't a bad thing. But considering how he basically was the face of the franchise, they might not have wanted a Metal Gear Solid 2 scenario where the game gets panned because you couldn't play as Snake. Although in that case Konami's fault entirely because all the advertisements for MGS2 only showed Snake.
Thanks for the comment, I hope you enjoy the video.
@@riku582 finished the video a few hours ago, it was a really great video! you’ve helped me realise how little i appreciated Y4’s level-up system, and helped me understand the plot more as a whole, lol. just finished your Y3 one too, which… dude, i feel you with the cabaret club minigame, i gave up with it, but it inspired me to complete the Y0 campaign. guess there’s a silver lining!
i agreed with a lot of your points regarding Y4, especially with how akiyama shines. he’s probably my favourite character in the series so far because he’s just so damn charming and fun to watch. his combat is just as suave as him too, lmao
at first, i didn’t find yasuko too bad either, albeit a little less likeable than someone like makoto, until she calls out tanimuras selfishness to join the force and investigate despite.. her doing worse things for a similar motive of family? i was really confused, so then i chose to look back and see more on her character and i just sorta found myself wanting a lot more. her death felt like how i did with yumi’s death tenfold - where i wasn’t sad that this character has died, but because haruka/saejima has to witness it and because i love those characters and want the best for them.
i still think for a game with 4 protagonists and has ambitious intent, its still a really enjoyable game that doesn’t need a kiwamification imo, because it holds up really well and i can’t wait to replay it.
@@haowig Hey great, I'm glad I was able to give you more insight to the upgrade system. And I'm glad I convinced you to complete 0's cabaret club.
As the series is now, I'm genuinely shocked at how much love people have for Akiyama and how the RGG team just don't do anything in the newer titles.
Ah I see, a if you didn't say anything scenario. But yeah upon looking back I feel bad that Saejima is sad more than the fact that Yasuko died.
And yeah despite the hiccups, 4 is a great game as is that doesn't need an update.
The funny thing about the cabaret mission in 4, you basically can't fail it since it's story based unlike in 3.
Now that you mentioned it, that is true.
I haven't gotten round to playing 4 yet, but seeing your thoughts on the combat system makes me want to start it as soon as possible
Cool, I'm glad to have convinced you.
The Final Boss segment with Tanimura actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting, especially considering his grapple and throws do a perfect job.
Fair enough.
@@riku582 also add the set of items that make you bulletproof and now you dont have to suffer being shot
@@martin_crakc786 Didn't find the bullet proof equipment in my run, which probably would've made the fight hilarious.
@@riku582 you had to complete Saigo’s and Nair training and also help the Master in the sewers. Completing each one of the masters (excluding komaki) gave you a piece of of equipment that was part of a set of 3 that when equipped all made automatically block any bullet shot at you.
@@martin_crakc786 Thank you.
For the gameplay peeps: 11:00
Yeah, this is where the series gets into Kingdom Hearts territory of silly
Definitely.
Hope your doing good riku!!
Thanks, I hope you're doing well too.
Yakuza 4 had Chainsaw Man before Chainsaw Man
Really enjoy your yakuza videos! I hope you eventually make one for Yakuza 6, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on it!
I plan on it. And thanks I really appreciate that.
Just commenting to support you, partner.
Thank you.
The only reason why Yakuza 4 is my second least favorite is the Tanimura section was so abysmal that i honestly took a 2 month break from the game. The Akiyama, Saejima, and Kiryu sections were absolutely incredible.
Can i ask why Tanimura felt so bad? He felt pretty good to me.
@malakarvonstroheim5372 the combat, in my opinion, the combat is my favorite part of the game (aside from the story) and Tanimura was abysmal to fight as
Are you planning on doing the Yakuza 5 too ?
Amazing video thank you for doing this
Yes I am planning to do 5, I just don't know when the video will be ready. And thanks I really appreciate that.
Selfish deed is not freedom
4,5 and 0 are my top three definitely, cool video
Same and thanks, I appreciate that.
So after playing through yakuza 4 I gotta say honestly I still think yakuza 3’s story is way better I never really felt any emotion for any of the characters here, another awesome video im playing through yakuza 5 so soon i will see your next retrospective
Also good job getting the audio quality better as it seemed to have ups and downs in the yakuza 3 retrospective lmaoo
Oh yeah 3's story is better, but I still like the gameplay of 4 much more.
Also yeah my mic was dying part way through recording 3 and I only noticed when I started putting the video together which at that point was too late to go back and fix it.
@@riku582 ah ok cool and yeah I enjoyed the gameplay of 4 much more then 3 although i felt like it was incredibly congested there were way to many ways to earn upgrades and if they had cut 1 or two i feel like i would have been more willing to play them
@@bigboss425 Fair enough.
Yeah, the finale 4 way boss fight was ... shoehorned. The emotional end to the story was the end of part 4. I don't mind the rubber bullets wrt Saejima as he for all intents and purposes believed he killed those guys up until the reveal. All that introspection and regret he had was still real. He went into the restaurant with the full intention of killing and left with the full belief that he did just that. The only thing that changed in my mind was the technicality as far as the law.
Absolutely, his intentions were still to murder those guys and even if he didn't kill them directly he's still responsible as his actions gave Katsuragi the opening he needed.
Glad to see this video! While personally, Yakuza 4 is the weakest game in the series for me, I still really enjoyed it and will eventually play through it on Legend
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
Hey do you have a way of contacting you? I was wondering if you’d like to try out the fan translation of Yakuza black panther 2 coming out soon.
I don't have any means yet, but I will get back to you within the week about my interest in this. Thank you for reaching out.
@@riku582 excellent hopefully I don’t forget
@@chanhjohnnguyen1867 I apologize for the long response, but I'm going to have to retract my earlier interest. My own personal life popped up and I'm not able to dedicate much time out of it. But I wish you and the creators of the fan translation the best of luck.
@@chanhjohnnguyen1867 I've changed my mind about black panther 2 and would like to try it. I've added my business email to my channel's about page, so you can contact me further about it.
Thank you for your time.
Make one for 5 and 6
When are you upload your next video
Right now, it's looking like next year too much is happening in my personal life to give all my attention to it right now.
I loved playing Yakuza 4, but it's weirdly the game in the series I'm most ambivalent about with more distance. I think its story is better than Yakuza 5's but not by much, and it definitely doesn't play as good. At this point, every game in the series has something that stands out about it, except for 4 which is a shame. It was nice to see a fresher perspective; good video as always! As someone else pointed out, this one is especially well paced.
Well I'm glad to provide a different perspective. And thank you, really appreciate hearing that about the pacing.
You keep saying 10 million yen, it's a hard B for billion. Ledger even shows it lol
My bad.
People moan about the rubber bullet twist but Saejima breaking down in the Coliseum was laughably poor.
Personally I enjoyed Akiyama’s personality the most, I thought Saejima had the best story and although it took awhile I came to love Tanimura’s fighting style
I had to fight the final boss of Y4 as Tanimura with no heals took me hours but it made me get good with his combat even more
Yikes, well hey at least you got good with him in that section.
This is so cartoonish with all the JK not dead moments in the game.
I mean I don't deny that, but this game simultaneously has a lot of heart specifically whenever Saejima is involved so I could look past it.
Tanimura is basically Yagami but boring
I can see that.
Honestly wasnt feelin this one.. the combat was beyond frustrating & the story had so many plot holes
The rubber bullet plot is very annoying
Absolutely.
I disagree on your take on THAT scene. Its meant to drive home the point on what isolation can do to a man after 25 years. There is no sugar coating it and its meant to make you feel uncomfortable and that's why I genuinely appreciate that scene.
The fact that Saejima stopped himself adds to his moral fibre imo
I hear what you're saying, but personally I don't think I can bring myself to like this scene, as it did its job a bit too well for me. I was more disgusted than uncomfortable on both times I saw it, because of said implications. It took a lot of strength for Saejima not to go through with it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth seeing a child be the focus of his libido.
@@riku582 That's fair but you probably shouldn't get too surprised if you good raw uncomdortable shit like that when it comes to Yakuza considering its a gritty crime thriller.
@@WELSHGAMER99 Fair enough.
@@riku582 I'm not digging at you. I think you do good work but I do think uncomfortable subject matters or depictions are par for the course.
Anyways hope you're having a great day!
I know you weren't, I just didn't have much else to say in response.
Hope you have a nice day too.
4 is the worst yakuza game
Y3 was crap because it kept sidelining to morning glory story garbage, Y4 was worse because of THAT ending fight....OMG the AI for that is beyond unfair even on EASY diff, you can't hit them for shit, your being shot at by FUCKING COWARD man and you have to clear ALL of his shield guards before even getting to him!!! So I lost my 1st time, had to to into town, make sure ALL my chars had plenty of HP items and now have to try again.....how is that fair on EASY diff? Fucking garbage game! And Y5....your joking right? Why teh fuck would I wanna play as FIVE characters, shoot bears and have a dance-off as Haruka? The remastered collection is a fucking rip-off!!!
🗿
Yakuza 4 is "garbage" cause you're bad at it? Okay.
skill issue