It does, but things change over the course of a decade, and there are different voices making these remarks. They've certainly changed their overall stance on Yakuza in the west since then. Last gen, they tried their hand at releasing 3 and 4 in the west, with compromises in 3. Then, with sales seemingly not as good as they'd have liked, decided to scrap 5 from it western release schedule. It took a petition for them to bring it here, and even then, only digitally. That's quite the contrast to this gen. Still, you're correct. It's a shame most western fans won't ever have an opportunity to play it. I have 2 friends that took the plunge and played the Japanese version. They made a case for me to do likewise, but I couldn't be bothered to jump through all the flaming hoops necessary to do it.

- I was thinking about Yakuza Kenzan, the spiritual successor to Ishin. I don't think I've edited this post quite enough. Hopefully I'll get a few more in before I go to bed.

It did often seem like Japanese publishers that tried too hard to make a game appeal to the west missed the mark terribly... the recent BotW is something of an exception.

At this point there's not really a genre that looks alien to anyone in the west like they once did. Focusing on originality is the surest way to get some attention.

In the case of BOTW, it provides enough twists that keeps it fresh in the crowded open-world genre. The allowance to choose your own waypoints when most open-world games tell you to go to this spot in the map is a simple, but rather effective twist.

Who would've thought that people play a game based on the Yakuza because they are interested in japanese culture? What a crazy idea!

Kind of no longer need a PS4 now.

Yakuza isn't that popular in the west though. Sega has been reluctant to even release them here.

I have a love hate relationship with the series simply because they're horribly paced and long cutscenes. But there is nothing quite like them on the market so I keep playing them.

They're right, I got into the series back in 2015 in part due to the fact I was getting tired of western games on both the AAA and indie side.

Since they made that statement, they have released 0, Kiwami, and 6. All of which did well in the west. So its clear that is no longer the case.

I'd say it comes down to Yakuza looking like actual Japan, not anime version of it.

Couple things. I think you are correct in that Michiru doesn't chase you in Y4, and is indeed at a bar. As the owner, I think?  But I think there is at least one sub-story with her. Maybe more. It's been a while, and I couldn't find any definitive answers. Also, in doing some research on this, I found a few more....questionable elements. I almost wonder if Sega will change a few things up for the remasters of 3 and 4. Some of the content is even more dicey than I remembered.