For newcomers to the series, the Yakuza games are a series of RPG beat-em-ups which put you in the shoes of Kazuma Kiryu, an unusually noble Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) member, who keeps getting dragged back into the life. They're most noted for their detailed cities to explore, strong stories, intriguing characters, and fun beat-em-up gameplay.
This time though, you don't just play as Kazuma, you're also put into the shoes of 3 other characters.
First there's Tanimura, a corrupt cop, with a
passion for gambling. Saejima, a man on the run after serving 25 years on death row and Akiyama, a loan shark. Each character has their own unique style of fighting and the combat is just as fun as ever.
There are a huge amount of sidequests and minigames to play, such as Golf, Ping Pong, Darts and Poker. So far i've clocked up around 20 hours, but there's still so much left for me to do.
Yakuza 4 is a very unique game and is, in my opinion, one of the strongest games that has come out so far this year.
Note: The game is dubbed in Japanese with English subtitles, which some people will like and some won't. Personally I prefer it in Japanese (it would be kind of weird travelling around japan with everyone speaking perfect english)