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[Mikhal]

All games in the series needed this...

Definitely. That and the locker key locator were much needed additions in the series, imo. There's already so much to do in the game already that wandering aimlessly trying to trigger them just gets tedious.

excellent! - thanks for the info! while many of the side-missions can be pretty mundane, there're always a few truly bizarre 'don't miss' ones, & it's usually tracking them all down, rather than going to hostess bars or playing mini-games, that chews up most of my playtime...

I find the sidemissions on a whole in Y4 to be much better than the earlier games. Nothing as bizarre as the

Spoiler

diaper escapade

in Yakuza 2 or

Spoiler

The Michiru chases

in Yakuza 3 so far, but I like how a lot of them fleshes out the character's backstory in this game. I just finished all of Tanimura's and it was nice getting to find out a bit of his past. A big complaint about Yakuza 3 was the slow-paced early game at the orphanage. I didn't mind them, but I think had they made those into early sidemissions instead of delivering noodles and whatnot, more people would have appreciated it.

Also, is ordering food in restaurants handled differently in this game or did that change before Y4 and I never noticed? I rarely ordered food in the older games because you usually only get to eat one meal at a time whenever you hit up a restaurant. Seems like now I can order as many items as I want until it fills up the life meter so I've been opting for restaurant food at least in the early chapters on each character in order to get some extra EXP.

 

[Kazzy]

Currently on Part 3, really enjoying Tanimura's fighting style. I have just been focussing on the story missions for the most part and for that reason he was pretty useless in the first big set-piece battle, once I've gained a few levels though he really comes into his own, being able to initiate a heat move for more or less anywhere is a very nice thing to have.

 

[semiconscious]

man, i'm just luxuriating in the game at this point - ever since the map opened up (about 4-5 hours ago), i've done nothing but explore, find locker keys, & get into fights, & do side-missions. well, along with some hot springs & ping-pong. it's almost to the point where playing these games is like going home again ...

I find the sidemissions on a whole in Y4 to be much better than the earlier games. Nothing as bizarre as the

Spoiler

diaper escapade

in Yakuza 2 or

Spoiler

The Michiru chases

in Yakuza 3 so far, but I like how a lot of them fleshes out the character's backstory in this game...

yeah, i've already noticed how the side-missions work really well as far as sorta fleshing out the main character, which is nice...

 

[Kazzy]

man, i'm just luxuriating in the game at this point - ever since the map opened up (about 4-5 hours ago), i've done nothing but explore, find locker keys, & get into fights, & do side-missions. well, along with some hot springs & ping-pong. it's almost to the point where playing these games is like going home again ...

I had the exact same thing, it got to the point where I had logged about 10 hours playtime and had pushed the story on very little. As much I love all the crazy side stuff I think my experience of the story will be much better if I play out all the Chapters relatively soon after one another, these games have a habit of throwing out so many names and plot points at a constant rate that I feel I will get bogged down if I leave it for too long.

Not encountering endless random encounters with Tanimura is very much appreciated, they are there if you want to find them but I no longer have to duck down side streets when I've had enough!

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Also, is ordering food in restaurants handled differently in this game or did that change before Y4 and I never noticed? I rarely ordered food in the older games because you usually only get to eat one meal at a time whenever you hit up a restaurant. Seems like now I can order as many items as I want until it fills up the life meter so I've been opting for restaurant food at least in the early chapters on each character in order to get some extra EXP.

The marker showing which items you've already ordered and how much health each meal will replenish is definitely new. I think ordering multiple items at the same time is as well, IIRC you could only do that in the earlier games, when you were on a date.

 

[Kaizer]

I'm still waiting on this to ship from Best Buy, it sucks that it probably won't be here for another 2 weeks but I'm playing through Boss Mode in Yakuza 3 to pass the time.

 

[Mikhal]

The marker showing which items you've already ordered and how much health each meal will replenish is definitely new. I think ordering multiple items at the same time is as well, IIRC you could only do that in the earlier games, when you were on a date.

Yeah, I usually dealt with collecting all the foodstuff in previous games by utilizing the hostesses for that very reason. I probably wouldn't have even noticed the change had it not been one of Akiyama's sidemissions and the fact that you can only go eat at 3 places with the hostesses now instead of all the available establishments.

 

[Eccocid]

Hey i am sitll at Akiyama's chapter and cuz of customers and side quests lol i cant progress on main mission...What i wanna know if i continue on main story will i miss all those side quests? (like custmers coming to Sky Finance, the ididot guy who ruined his fathers business etc)

 

[Kazzy]

Hey i am sitll at Akiyama's chapter and cuz of customers and side quests lol i cant progress on main mission...What i wanna know if i continue on main story will i miss all those side quests? (like custmers coming to Sky Finance, the ididot guy who ruined his fathers business etc)

As far I'm aware you can switch between the characters during the final Part of the game, barring that you can always pick up where you left off in Premium adventure mode afterwards.

 

[FlyinJ]

Can someone explain to me what is going on in the Virtua Fighter Pachinko machine? Such as, what are my goals, why and when should I adjust the ball rate, what does character selection do, etc?

I played it for about 20 minutes last night and couldn't make heads nor tails of what was going on with that thing.

(I've never played Pachinko before)

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Can someone explain to me what is going on in the Virtua Fighter Pachinko machine? Such as, what are my goals, why and when should I adjust the ball rate, what does character selection do, etc?

I played it for about 20 minutes last night and couldn't make heads nor tails of what was going on with that thing.

(I've never played Pachinko before)

I have the same questions. I have no idea what I'm doing in pachinko...

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Just started the Coliseum, if it's anything like previous games I know where I'll be spending the next 20 hours.

 

[GeoramA]

Really enjoying Saijima's story/playthrough, about as much as Akiyama's. Currently just got the wood (ash) needed to make the axe to help the old man. Had to get 2000 points in the batting cages on Normal, which took about 4 tries.

In battle he's slower, but he deals out more damage. And I like his Heat moves more than Akiyama's, especially his Revelations. Some brutal shit he does.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Learnt from experience, with Saejima in the weapons tournament baseball bat is the way to go. His sword attacks are too slow and difficult to turn, especially if you get that Shaolin Monk guy.

 

[Yasir]

So 13 hours in. Still playing as Akiyama, and mainly exploring. It's mostly down to my fear that I'll not get a chance to return to him later on.

The 30 million Yen man substory was just classy!

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

So 13 hours in. Still playing as Akiyama, and mainly exploring. It's mostly down to my fear that I'll not get a chance to return to him later on.

The 30 million Yen man substory was just classy!

Each character has their own 4 Chapter section, then when you've completed those (which can be done really quickly if you stick just to the story stuff) you get to the Finale, where all the characters inventories and money are pooled together and you can switch between them by returning to your hideout.

 

[Eccocid]

Each character has their own 4 Chapter section, then when you've completed those (which can be done really quickly if you stick just to the story stuff) you get to the Finale, where all the characters inventories and money are pooled together and you can switch between them by returning to your hideout.

Yeah but those side quests will still remain?

For example when i was leaving office with Akiyama for meeting with Hino(Hiko?) Hana called me come back cuz a customer had just arrived. I went back to office and that loser CEO wanan be guy came. Stuff like those would still happen even at final chapter!?

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Yeah but those side quests will still remain?

For example when i was leaving office with Akiyama for meeting with Hino(Hiko?) Hana called me come back cuz a customer had just arrived. I went back to office and that loser CEO wanan be guy came. Stuff like those would still happen even at final chapter!?

Yes, although there's some stuff to do with that. Don't read if you haven't beaten Akiyama's section yet

Spoiler

after a certain point in the story Hana quits the company, stopping you from doing anymore missions related to Sky Finance. However once in the final chapter if you go back to the office with Akiyama, you can sit in the chair and 'remember Hana' which basically sends you to the past and lets you finish the missions, then you go back to the chair to come back to the present

.

When I finished Akiyama's section I only had about 7 or 8 substories done, I did everything else in the final chapter. So take it from me, don't worry about missing out on stuff.

 

[Data West]

Saejima's got the best fighting style just because you can grab fat guys

That was my absolute biggest pet peeve about the previous Yakuzas. The OP large guys and their instaknockdown

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

I dunno what's a bigger pain in the ass. The massage parlor or hostess raising.

Oh and my review is up over here: http://www.the-nextlevel.com/review/ps3/yakuza-4/

Go easy on me. It's my first review for that site.

 

[xXBetter Off DadXx]

I'm almost at the end of Kazuma's section(Chapter 4) and man! The story is really well done. So far everytime I thought that something didn't quite line up with previous events or just plain didn't make any sense, along comes and explanation that(to me anyways) doesn't seem far fetched.

A part of me would like to see this with a really good high quality English Dub, just so people could have the option of enjoying the story that way too. Regardless, really cool stuff going on here.

 

[quinntendopower]

just hit 62 hours, 70% complete.

i fucking LOVE this game. i don't even think my 3ds will pull me away from this until i see it through 100%

I must have ALL THE CROWNS

 

[Mikhal]

Love the Shenmue reference in one of Kazuma's sidemissions!

Spoiler

Gals Gone Wild in Yokosuka
Ryoko Hazuki - Age 18 - Sagittarius

 

[Riposte]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/115/1154748p1.html

I dig the fighting, but boss fights are cheap. The AI could pull off moves I couldn't and never missed a move due to the lackluster targeting like I did.

Heh

 

[supermackem]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/115/1154748p1.html



Heh

What the hell, has he played yakuza before. Of course boss fights are cheap thats there whole point, going in there with a good level decent weapon or two and full stocked on health and boosters should mean you get through them ok. How does this locker key locater work then?.

 

[BeeDog]

What do you do with all those garbage items you can find in the city? I've amassed a decent amount of them, but haven't found any use for them yet.

 

[Data West]

What do you do with all those garbage items you can find in the city? I've amassed a decent amount of them, but haven't found any use for them yet.

Part 2 will explain. Just put them in your storage. They turn into a special currency and you can just keep them all in storage

 

[BeeDog]

Part 2 will explain. Just put them in your storage. They turn into a special currency and you can just keep them all in storage

Many thanks.

 

[valentine71]

What do you do with all those garbage items you can find in the city? I've amassed a decent amount of them, but haven't found any use for them yet.

Wait till you get to second character. Those will have use then.

 

[BobTheFork]

WTF why am I fighting an end boss at the beginning of chapter 6?
I barley got touched for the entire first part of the game. why the fuck did you give Kazuma his end game moves?

 

[BeeDog]

What the fuck, the difficulty spike at the beginning of part 2 is ridiculous. I don't like the moveset of the new character at all, worthless.

 

[Data West]

What the fuck, the difficulty spike at the beginning of part 2 is ridiculous. I don't like the moveset of the new character at all, worthless.

He gets a lot better after like 2 or 3 upgrades.

 

[BeeDog]

He gets a lot better after like 2 or 3 upgrades.

Which ones are needed to make him remotely useful?

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Which ones are needed to make him remotely useful?

Definitely increased combo speed, that's all I can remember of his currently. He's seriously my second favorite.

 

[ObnoxiousZebra]

Finally got it today. I'm happy there's no more orphanage crap. The graphics look nicer too. I'm enjoying it quite a lot.

 

[Data West]

Which ones are needed to make him remotely useful?

Anything grab related. Once you get his revelations down it starts to come together.

 

[BeeDog]

Thanks guys. His grab abilities deffo did their part; especially the one for grabbing harder enemies.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Anyone dabbled in the Fighter Maker? I'm on my 1st student, I'm wondering if I'm getting a bit ahead of myself thinking I need to beat the tournament in 15 turns.

 

[BeeDog]

Alright, I'm ready to break my disc in half. How are you supposed to beat Kiryu on the beach?

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Alright, I'm ready to break my disc in half. How are you supposed to beat Kiryu on the beach?

Run away from him, run towards him, shoulder charge, rinse and repeat. At least that's how I cheesed it.

 

[BeeDog]

Run away from him, run towards him, shoulder charge, rinse and repeat. At least that's how I cheesed it.

Doesn't help at all for me, since he keeps dodging them and beating the shit out of me from behind.

 

[Yasir]

Yes, although there's some stuff to do with that. Don't read if you haven't beaten Akiyama's section yet

Spoiler

after a certain point in the story Hana quits the company, stopping you from doing anymore missions related to Sky Finance. However once in the final chapter if you go back to the office with Akiyama, you can sit in the chair and 'remember Hana' which basically sends you to the past and lets you finish the missions, then you go back to the chair to come back to the present

.

When I finished Akiyama's section I only had about 7 or 8 substories done, I did everything else in the final chapter. So take it from me, don't worry about missing out on stuff.

Ah thanks! Time to get on with the story missions then.

 

[33-Hit-Combo]

Doesn't help at all for me, since he keeps dodging them and beating the shit out of me from behind.

Short combos? I don't think I had any trouble...

If you use long combos he'll dodge and counter soon enough. Also you do have health drinks if you need it.

 

[corporate cheerleader]

Alright, I'm ready to break my disc in half. How are you supposed to beat Kiryu on the beach?

Block his combo until he slows down and then return the favor. Wait for him to get up and then rinse+repeat. If you attack him too much, he will definitely use that painful counter on you.

 

[swoon]

What the fuck, the difficulty spike at the beginning of part 2 is ridiculous. I don't like the moveset of the new character at all, worthless.

for me the end of that sequence was the spike. the boss is fucking so annoying and if you get cornered they'll just juggle you to death every time.

 

[33-Hit-Combo]

Just completed the story...

Spoiler

Credits are rolling at the moment, so I may be pre-empting... But what about the Tojo clan? What's gonna happen to it? Business as usual?

 

[BeeDog]

Thanks guys, finally managed to get past him (with one continue showing on my save, ARGH! /OCD). I unlocked the block counter and abused the hell out of it for that fight.

 

[warpaint]

man i love it am only on Part 1: Chapter 2 there is just so much to do its great

 

[Corto]

Just to cry a little here as I'm not able to play the game because of random freezes on my PS3. No problem with any other game BD or PSN, tried rebuilding the HDD and restore of the file system, and reinstall of the game data to no avail. This on a PAL Fat PS3 60 GB. Need to put the game on my shelf until I finally get a Slim... Damn! Akiyama from the little that I played seemed to be a great character...

 

[Audioboxer]

Just to cry a little here as I'm not able to play the game because of random freezes on my PS3. No problem with any other game BD or PSN, tried rebuilding the HDD and restore of the file system, and reinstall of the game data to no avail. This on a PAL Fat PS3 60 GB. Need to put the game on my shelf until I finally get a Slim... Damn! Akiyama from the little that I played seemed to be a great character...

I lost three hours of progress and some random locker key pickups when I had a powercut. This is not the type of game you want to lose progress in.

You can save quite often, but it's so easy to get wrapped up in the game, hours pass, then BAM!