I got this ages ago on ps plus (the best subscription service ever created) and only recently got around to playing it. I've just completed the main story after 15 hours of playtime. I played it on easy, didn't bother with most side quests and only died once.
So onto the game. This was my first ever yakuza. So I didn't know the back story. It starts slow. 4 parts to the game. Each part you play a different character. So part 1 was slow but ended well. However the end cutscene which continues into part 2 must have lasted 90mins. It was late and I said I'd finish part 1 before saving and going to bed but it turned out I had to wait about 2 hours until the next save point.
It's safe to say yakuza 4 is half game and half film. Putting mgs4 to the test in this regard. It can feel tedious early on before the story really takes off.
Once you make it to part 3 things really get interesting. More gameplay, less cutscenes and you really want to find out more. It all comes together in part 4 as all characters cross paths.
Pros:
Super story
decent fun gameplay
Funny (mainly due to weird Japanese things)
Lots of side missions (admittedly I avoided these)
Cons:
Cutscenes take up a large chunk of the game
Conclusion:
I give this ps3 exclusive an 8/10. A very unique and welcome addition to the ps3 library. I'd like to thank the ps plus service for giving me this fun game. Another one off the ps3 backlog. I'm now down to red dead redemption, Jak 3 and yakuza 5 (which I also got with ps plus).
Next ps3 game I'll play is RDR. "CAN'T WAIT!" - Bart Scott!
