I get why Haruka feels the way she does, and she has every right to feel that way. But it's pretty naive to think if they stay out of all this that they'll never have to get involved; especially because all that nonsense is literally just a few 100 miles away from their home, and can easily explode into much worse circumstances if Kiryu doesn't do something.
On a random note that I'll comment here because by this point a normal comment will probably be burried. I think Saejima was cleaned off his kills not to preserve his morality, but to keep him from death roll. I don't think the japanese justice system would forgive him for a small massacre just because he was manipulated into it. It does make him look like the biggest dumbass to ever be controled by a yakuza player, though
Make sure to avoid the front of the Millennium Tower area like the plague. The trigger for the next story cutscene covers a surprisingly wide area. If you get caught in it, it'll continue the story and lock off substories for that chapter
Turns out Jingu was alive and comes back as a cyborg to be the final boss to reclaim the lost money. Has 80 million guys surround you to try make Yakuza 4 the worst experience ever.
To refresh your memory Nico. Date hasn't been part of the police force ever since the end of Yakuza 1/Kiwami. Yakuza 2/Kiwami 2 had Date simply helping out Sudo and Kawara not officially a cop. Yakuza 3 Date ended up being a journalist where he was trying to get a story regarding the Okinawa Resort Deal.
1:08:46 That line from Yasuko of how Saejima "gave up on his dream on becoming a teacher" makes it the all the more sense with how Saejima is consistently portrayed with how he gives out words of wisdom when teaching life lessons to the likes of Kido, Tadashi and other characters in Saejima's part. If you think about it, it makes it pretty ironically heart warming that in a way Saejima kinda did live out his abandoned dream when he ended up teaching the apprentices at Sodachi's dojo instilling them with the skills to become strong and helping them through their hang ups like any teacher would.
Saito is this cracked because in this series where top Yakuza members are fuckin' gods, how do you put them in prison if the prison guard isn't some kind of super monster?
Just wanted to give you a heads-up, the conclusion with Tanimura’s dad being killed by Suguichi by Munakata’s orders is essentially the end of that plot line.
The bounding throw can only be executed after the first finishing blow, not the double finishing blow (Think XYB, XXYB, XXXYB, and XXXXYB instead of two Y attacks in a row). Can only be done with heat but it is also very strong guaranteed damage that can hurt surrounding enemies and the animation changes based of the amount of rush combo hits you throw. It's kinda like Tanimura's Essence of Combos that he can throw after a finisher but not a heat action.
daddy kiryu really is the best. I loved yasukos explanation as to why saejima mattered so much but leave it to kiryu to talk sense into yasuko immediately. kiryu just has an amazing BS barrier and will not hesitate to tell you that what your doing is fucked up
1:07:50 Yakuza Kiwami Nishiki screams from the past...if only Kazama was like Sasai in this regard 😢 Refresher context: Yuko Nishikiyama (ayyy Yasuko : Yuko I see you, RGG) needed a heart transplant which is part of what leads towards Nishki's Downfall.
For those of you wondering, Saejima and Hamazaki’s escape from the prison took place at March 5th 1:00am and Hamazaki washed up at Morning Glory Orphanage at March 8th. To reiterate, Hamazaki got shot in the chest 3 times, made a 100-foot drop into the ocean, spent 3 days floating in ocean with 3 bullet wounds (technically 4 as the first gunshot went through his back and exited out the front of his chest), miraculously not die from blood loss, infection, gangrene or dehydration, and very conveniently washed up on the beach of the one person who he needs help from. Also of note for comparison, Saejima washed up on the beach on March 5th 5pm, the same day as the prison escape. This is why I stand by my assertion that the Rubber Bullets Twist wasn’t the dumbest thing in Yakuza 4, rather every moment in the story after the Rubber Bullets Twist is stupider than the Rubber Bullets Twist. Such as: *•* Hamazaki’s miraculous survival (even if only for him to die one day later). *•* Hamazaki conveniently washing up on Kiryu’s beach the same as Saejima (which is why I call it “Coincidence Beach”). *•* The fact that some idiot just randomly wrote “Tojo Clan: Destroyed” “Kamurocho Hills → Ueno Seiwa Clan → Tokyo PD” on the file for no discernible reason. They might as well have just wrote “Evil Plan” there. *•* Kiryu and Hamazaki coincidentally meeting Yasuko, complete with them coming across her right when she says Saejima is her brother. *•* Yasuko blindly trusting two random men she doesn’t know that conveniently say they know her brother and accompany them to an isolated location all alone. *•* The fact that Saito also somehow survived and that apparently him and the other guards of Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2 are apparently in charge of going to the mainland to silence people who know about the prison’s existence (which seems very inefficient and would be quicker and easier to put moles in the Okinawa Police and have them silence people who ask about Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2). *•* Kiryu inexplicably changing into his suit in between the flight to Okinawa and Kamurocho (he either ran back to the orphanage to quickly change avoiding the police or he already had his suit on his person beforehand and changed on the flight over). *•* Apparently, either Yasuko told Kiryu that she’s been murdering Shibata Family guys offscreen (which is a huge thing to tell a random stranger she barely knows nothing about other than that he helped her brother one time) or Kiryu just magically knew she was murdering people.
While not a good excuse, I assume the reason Yasuko blindly trusted Kiryu & Hamazaki was desperation. Like at that point, she was so desperate to get to see her brother (which Kiryu did later state that she centered her life around him too much) & the fact that the police weren't helping her at all, she just got so frustrated. With the 2 men hearing her calls & offering something about her brother, she just blindly latched onto it without thinking. Of course, this is all my assumption & even then, yeeeaaahhh, it's kind of dumb if you think about it. Especially when she's clearly been a pretty distrusting person (for good reasons). I guess when it came to Saejima, her desperation overcame her distrusting nature.
@@Jeddy027 Yeah I can buy that, because that desperation is exactly what landed her into the mess with Katsuragi. A police officer (I'm guessing Sugiuchi) got her into contact with Katsuragi and it all went downhill for her from there.
Yeah, I think the rubber bullets twist is bad, but I also think the story completely falls apart in Kiryu's section. There's more later on too I have big issues with.
For guys like Saito and Hamazaki surviving I just quote YGOTAS here: "It's a good thing I'm so buff or that fall would have killed me." Or something to that effect. Self explanatory. Wished Yasuko questioned what Kiryu and Hamazaki knew about Saejima to make it seem more legit for her to go with them (like the tattoo on his back or Majima). Not to mentioned the whole killing thing to talk about with Kiryu could have been a cutscene yeah.
I like how Nicos Kiryu keeps breaking the 4th wall, as the only character. This gives Kiryu these vibes as some all-knowing god, that lives in a world, which takes itself way too serious. And I love it!
*Important Combat Notes:* I believe you don’t need an introduction to Kiryu as we have been playing as him for the past decade or so lol. So, I will do a highlight refresher reel for things you may be foggy on about. *One,* you likely noticed you have A LOT of skills already owned. Obviously what do you do with a returning protag with a bunch of new ones? *You show who was and is the boss with Kiryu already kitted with some useful sh%t you learned before.* A heat action I would point out is Essence of Smoking. Goated heat action to have at the start. *Two,* I highly recommend *_Bounding Throw._* This skill, like back in Yakuza 3, *is so good that it is better than using a double finishing blow at most times.* It does _great dmg and can be used on bosses if you are good_ at when to use it to land destructive blows. *You use a single finishing blow and then press circle for it Nico.* *Three,* use *Essence of Terror* often. This is the Y3 revelation now as a single orb upgrade. *This is the best crowd control heat action made better by the damage increase from Yakuza 4’s buffs.* Not only is it effing amazing, it is amazing to use too as always. *Four,* Essence of Head Press is also good. *You may recognize this heat action because it was the default super ending heat action to do back in yakuza 3.* It wasn’t good back in yakuza 3, BUT NOW IT KICKS ASS BY USING ON ENEMIES WHO ARE GETTING BACK UP. *Best upgrade from Y3 to Y4 imo.* *Last,* Komaki Parry is just as F%%ing AMAZING as back in Yakuza 3. *can still counter anything melee based including any melee weapons, still has _RIDICULOUSLY EASY_ large activation range, and KOMAKI DRAGON KING ESSENCE used after the parry is now given respect with appropriate damage scaling.
Poor Haruka, I don't blame her for getting angry at kiryu calling Hamazaki a friend, despite the contrary of the events from YK3, but still its best to not make the kids get worried to what he done, boy she got into some rough shit in this game.
If you are wondering if the Rubber bullet thing was the "weakest" part of Yakuza 4, then no. I actually take issue with what happens later on. I can't mention it at the moment, but I'm baffled that most people don't talk about the later scene in question as it is much worse than the rubber bullet part. Most people just mention rubber bullets when talking about Yakuza 4's flaws but not its actual flaws, which is painful to watch. I'm real glad you are enjoying Yakuza 4 tho. So many character-defining moments and the substories are great. I just hope you aren't marred by the things that nailed the coffin for a lot of people on this game. I don't think it's a perfect story considering what I mentioned above, but this game is great honestly.
Still something funny they did for the remaster was during the flashback scene with Jingu, they used Kiwami 1 graphics instead of thr classic 1 graphics, I know there have been some minor changes in these remasters but this one stands out to be the funniest just by PS3 Kiryu thinking about PS4 Jingu
Could you imagine if Kiryu’s orphanage was turned into a resort like some people wanted in Yakuza 3? Saejima: Huh, where am I? Kiryu: Hello stranger. Welcome to my hotel resort. * A few days later * Hamazaki: Did I finally reach land yet? Kiryu on the beach: Oh, you’re back. Well, have a seat and enjoy the beach.
From what I remember in Yakuza 3, I believe Date quit being a Detective and started work in journalism. Remember how he said he was with Keihin News? I also think he liked the new owner of New Serena, though I don't remember if they got together or not. But him working in her bar would seem to imply that they did, at least in my opinion. Also, I'm glad Kazuki and Yuya are still around. It's just nice to see the people that helped Kiryu all the way back in Yakuza 1 still exist.
@29:53 Well, Kiryu doesn't have the tiger drop, but he does come with a lot of things unlocked at the start. But Tiger drop, the developers were like, "Naw, man we're not going to give players the most busted move Kiryu has right from the start." I keep making comparisons to Legacy of Goku 2, but it's on point as in that game, Goku is the last character you get. And it makes sense as in the first game you played only as him, got all that experience, and he's the first to turn super sayian. Of course in that game, you get him last. I like they did something similar for this game.
Funny little thing in the scene where Jingu is shown. The footage in the flashback was originally from the PS2 version. For the remaster, they put in K1 footage.
Yeah I really loved the reveal that this conspiracy was connected to the Jingu business in Yakuza 1. That was a nice little nod. You know when I first played this game I didn't think too much about Yasuko murdering people, namely Shibata Family men, cuz I was mostly along for the ride, but when I replayed this game it sunk in a lot more, especially when Kiryu was talking to her about it. I know Saejima was important to her and that her only other choice was to get 100 million yen (at least I think that was the amount) for Katsuragi which would've been more difficult, but killing all those guys just for a chance to see her brother again is wild. Then again I suppose it's like Kiryu said and Saejima became her reason for living.
Ok, so now that we're finally at Kiryu's section, I think it's a great time to really point out just how great the Yakuza 4 soundtrack is, and just how highly regarded Kiryu has come to be known since the days of Yakuza 0. Kiryu's street fight theme is called "The Myth", and feels like a great mixture of all the fight themes he's had up to this point with a mixture of the funk/electronic samples from the yakuza 1/3 fight theme and the heavier sounding guitar/bass riff which seems to take from Yakuza 2's "Push Me Underwater". It's one of my favorite fight themes in the series. Combined with its name it feels like it's a culmination of everything Kiryu's done up to this point, which is representative of the way he fights and the way he has come to be seen by others; A Living Myth. It really cements where Kiryu stands in the series at this point, showing that he's so much of a literal legend that he's being regarded as "The Myth" which I think is pretty badass. Also the game's subtitle in Japanese is "Heir to the Legend" which really makes it feel like they were trying to hammer home just how notorious Kiryu really is now, and when he's active and out of retirement, it is a BIG deal. He's not just some guy coming into the fight, he is often a KEY PLAYER in shutting down almost every problem the Tojo ends up facing these past few games, and he is regarded as such. As far as story relevance, Akiyama himself was putting bets that Arai could become the next Dragon of Dojima, and with all of this context in mind, that is a HUGE statement about what Akiyama thinks Arai is capable of. It really puts it into perspective how influential Kiryu has become in the Yakuza world at this point. Sorry for the long comment, but details like this are what really shows how soundtracks can add to a piece of media, and in Yakuza 4's case stuff like this is EVERYWHERE. It's an amazing soundtrack, and I've really come to appreciate this game a lot more through this playthrough.
I believe this is why Chairman Sera took that risk to hide the money. He knew that this would somehow negatively impact the Tojo clan. This is probably why Jingu shifted from working with the tojo clan to the omi alliance, not only would he organize crime with the police by slowly tearing apart the clan but the omi alliance would be his information network on any upcoming retaliation the tojo clan would cook up in the potential future. There is also the possibility that the MI6 agents helping Jingu to eliminate kiryu and collect the 10 billion in yakuza kiwami were supporters of the penitentiary no.2 plan. I would say that this twist is as interesting as the plot of judgement in the sense that there are so many people getting their hands dirty for a specific object, in judgement it was for vaccine and for yakuza kiwami and now yakuza 4 is the 10 billion dollars for a "correctional facility".
Nico hasn't gotten to the really bad stuff, because despite all the rubber bullet memes. The really bad and silly stuff happens after the Tanimura chapter. It just gets really overshadowed because people always focus on the rubber bullets twist.
In case you have forgotten. Kiryu actually has met the fortune teller before, back in Yakuza 0. She foretold about how he would go to prison for 10 years, which was what happened in Yakuza 1.
I love how everyone is divisive over the rubber bullet plot reveal, but when Hamasaki just washes up on the shore after a few days bleeding out (from many bullet wounds, I might add) in the ocean and seems absolutely fine after just a couple of bandages, no one bats an eye.
That Bounding Throw doesn't come out if you spam triangle for the finishing blow, as it's quite easy to accidentally go into the double finishing blow instead. It's always best to tap triangle once at the end of your rush combo, then start hitting circle.
I want to take notice of what makes Kiryu get back into the conflict of Yakuza 4, _Hamazaki pleading to him to not only help his minute long brother Saejima, but to also protect the Tojo Clan as it is the only thing that would be remember from them after death?_ Listen, this is *not a great way to portray Kiryu in order to have him get involved.* For Saejima yes that’s fine since Kiryu would care about Saejima, but *not have the **_deciding factor be for the Tojo Clan._* In fact, many people and myself _don’t like this interpretation of Kiryu because it goes against his own character established in previous games._ It's one thing for people in universe to think of Kiryu as a saint, but _it is an ENTIRELY different thing when the game showcases Kiryu as a literal saint_ than the character he was in previous games. Yes there are people Kiryu cares about in the Tojo Clan, Majima and Daigo. *But for the game to have Kiryu want to protect the Tojo Clan for this reason is kinda dumb since we all know Kiryu shouldn’t really give a crap if the Tojo Clan survives or not but whatever. *It's very contrived to be honest.* **Btw, this is unrelated to the second separate major plot point that no likes later on. **_People tend to overshadow the 2nd plot point with the more infamous Rubber bullets plot point._** We will get there when we do as it is the actual part that legitimately damages the story for a lot of people.**
One of the things Japanese culture values is loyalty/fealty. For example, if someone joins a company, they are expected to stay with that company rather than use it as a steppingstone to move up somewhere else. The yakuza works the same way. Yes, Kiryu left, but that loyalty to the clan is still there, which is why Kiryu wants to protect it even after everything he has been through.
It's still weird for them to go "Kiryu will be remembered for the Tojo clan" one, He shouldn't care that much about that. Kiryu has never cared about status. Two, the man is running an orphanage with tons of kids. That ain't worth remembering?
> why did not Hamazaki at least have Kiryu call an ambulance. There really wasn't time for that. Police was colose and they would call the ambulance upon finding Hamazaki.
Wow, in retrospect it's bitterly ironic that on some level Saeijima got to live out his old dream of being a teacher, via a side quest; by teaching that dojo for Fighter Maker. (Minus dumbass Makoto). I just find it so wholesome that at one point this guy wanted to help guide kids to a better life by educating them. He's such a big (diesel) softie. 😊
As someone who generally dislikes the "rubber bullets" plot point but is willing to give it more slack after hearing the defenses there are some big problems that still kind of bother me: 1. While I agree that the intent was to make Shibata, Katsuragi and Suguichi come off as young reckless and incompetent, in my opinion it goes too far and makes them come off as utter morons for ever believing that it would work. The especially bad part is the marks left by the rubber bullets and the wrong positions of the wounds. The fact that they ever believed that the police would just dismiss that just because they had a man on the inside is one of the more absurd parts of the plan. Sure they're young and incompetent but the way its presented makes it seem that they are unable to even do any basic logic because that's more or less what Munakata uses to rat them out. Moreso, even though Suguichi was a mole he was still apparently competent enough to make detective yet somehow didn't even think of the possibility of an autopsy, something that is ridiculously basic when it comes to crime scene investigations, blowing the case wide open. 2. It makes the leaders of the Tojo clan and the Ueno Seiwa clan come off as really incompetent since they should've been able to use the same logic that Munakata did to discover the plot. This is especially problematic for Yoshiharu Ueno who was a witness and survivor to the crime yet explicitly not complicit. Not only did he not question the conflicting information regarding the state of his men and the very crime he witnessed, he somehow didn't question why the hell he survived a bullet wound without any blood and with the marks of a rubber bullet. Moreover, as the head of a somewhat major Yakuza clan, he doesn't have the excuse of incompetence that Katsuragi, Shibata and Suguichi do. Yet despite all this he promoted Katsuragi and never questioned the very obvious inconsistencies he witnessed before his very eyes. 3. More of another issue that can possible be dismissed by Katsuragi's incompetence but what the hell was Katsuragi's plan if Yoshiharu Ueno woke up before or around the same time as him. He was clearly expecting to wake up from the rubber bullets and didn't seem that surprised when other members of the Ueno Seiwa also woke up...yet his plan completely fails if his boss simply wakes up first. The reason I bring this point up specifically is that it's such an easy problem for the writers to resolve yet...they didn't. Simply say Katsuragi covertly drugged Ueno's ramen to ensure that he stays unconscious throughout the entire thing, not a great solution since he doesn't have control over when the drug takes effect but at least it explains the problem. Even stranger: in the scene itself it seems as though Katsuragi knew exactly when Ueno would wake up yet there's no possible way he should know that. Again, it just comes off as the writers not even considering the possibility which just plays into the idea that there were more holes in the plot than even those expressed in universe.
If I recall correctly, there was a unique heat action in the hallway at 50:00, where if you grabbed a guy, you could pitch him through the window. Also, I remember the key to beating that cheap prison guard boss was to stay locked on to him with R1 and sidestep his attacks before they landed. Then you could unload on him easier.
Kind of adds another layer to when Saejima told Kido back in Part 2, that while he regretted having murdered people, he did not regret that he followed orders and did it. Sasai was the one who not only paid for Yasuko's operation, but bought the kidney for said operation for 30 million yen. At that point, there's no doubt Saejima would move heaven and earth if Sasai told him to. He said that he didn't regret following those orders, and even after everything that's happened, if he were to go back to that moment, he'd do it again. In Saejima's eyes, that attack in the ramen shop and every consequence of having done so was just another part of paying Sasai back for saving his sister's life.
Now that you're playing as Kiryu I think it's time to mention the theme behind the four protagonists. And that is: The Four Symbols (also know as the Holy Beasts) These symbols and who they correspond to are; The Blue Dragon (Kiryu), Vermilion Bird (Akiyama), White Tiger (Saejima), and Black Tortoise (Tanimura). The connections for Kiryu and Saejima are pretty obvious so I'll focus on the other two. The Vermilion Bird (Zhuque/Suzaku) is often compared to and even called a phoenix which works for Akiyama as he fell by losing his job and rose again by collecting the falling money. The Black Tortoise (Xuanwu/Genbu) is said to travel to the netherworld and gather information the others can't as a result, much like how Tanimura can access Little Asia and speak to the residents when the other characters can't.
_Alternate universe where Saijema became a teacher_ Saijema: So if there were 20 yakuza men in a noodle shop, and I shoot 18 of them, how many Yakuza men are left alive? Student no.1: 2 left alive? Student no. 2: No! It's still 20 people left, because of Rubber bullets and everyone knows rubber bullets can't kill anybody, duh!
Storyteller: "Your early Mister Nico B, some may think you must've sped through today's play session. But do not worry, you may try as many times as you need to get through Yakuza 4."
So fun fact about the four protagonists: each of them represents one of the Four Symbols Akiyama- The Vermillion Bird (Suzaku) Saejima- The White Tiger (Byakko) Tanimura- The Black Tortoise (Genbu) Kiryu- The Azure Dragon (Seiryuu) But the connections don’t stop there, Yagami’s fighting styles are based on the 5 animal styles of Kung Fu, which are: Tiger, Crane, Snake, Leopard and Dragon And you know how Tanimura’s fighting style and Yagami’s snake style are focused on parrying and defensive tactics? It’s most likely intentional, because Genbu is mainly depicted with a snake wrapped around it (you can look it up and see), along the same lines, Yagami's crane style focuses on using his feet (even reuses a lot of Akiyama's heat actions), and tiger style focuses on charge attacks It’s some incredible attention to detail, these games are choke full of symbolism like that and this is just a small example of many
Sugiuchi reminded me of a certain other character with a similar situation, where he was caught too deep into the dark side of the Underworld that he no longer could aspire for the life he really wanted. At first Sugiuchi was alright with his position as the turncoat character working for both sides, especially because he was a blood oath brother to Katsuragi the same way Majima was to Saejima, which meant he was willing to come hell or high water for the man. But as he'd told Tanimura, he was genuinely finding a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that he'd never felt before as he kept living his double life; which kept piling more guilt towards the people who believed in his integrity as a man of the law. And from how he was talking to Tanimura as he got it off his chest, he wanted to walk under the same sun as he did; which was sadly the same thing as the other character, who felt like loneliness and a sense of void kept eating him away. It's no small wonder Kazama and Kashiwagi were working so hard to try and get some of these boys out of the Yakuza world, especially if they're like Sugiuchi who genuinely wanted out.
With the reveal that Taiga's childhood dream was to become a schoolteacher, it kinda makes the Sodachi dojo much more heartwarming in hindsight. He wanted to be a teacher as a kid and in a way, managed to become on through that questline.
Seeing the story up to this point, I feel like the main thing that brings it down in comparison to others is that it’s just way too convenient. We of course have the whole rubber bullet situation, but there’s also the thing here with Hamazaki somehow surviving the bullet wounds and being stranded in the sea, not losing the notebook that coincidentally explained the plan (in some notes that no one would realistically write), and making it to the front of the orphanage like Saejima did. There are more instances of this type of thing in the game. I do like the story, but I have noticed this flaw.
Haruka: Uncle Kaz, how can you possibly trust Hamazaki after he stabbed and betrayed you like that? I'll never forgive him. Never. Kiryu: Haruka, he's like probably the billionth person who's done all that stuff to me throughout these games. At this point I'm numb to it. Haruka:.... Wait, what...? Kiryu: Anyway, I'm gonna go do my 4th game. Watch the house while I'm gone.
not gonna lie that would be a heartbreaking if they decided that as an end to kiryu. like a dlc or something you control haruka and just showing kiryu really old and amnesiac
Wait, Nico remembered Jingu right away!? That guy was the most forgettable guy in 1 and he was the main bad guy!! Yet Nico forgot Makoto from 0, Ryuji from 1 AND KAORU IN THE EXACT GAME SHE LEAVES IN (WHICH WAS 3). BUT REMEMBERS JINGU!?!?!?! Edit: I meant Shinji, not Ryuji. Ryuji stole pants and tried to rule the Omi Alliance, Shinji jumped Yakuza in Zero and was basically Kiryu's Subordinate in Kiwami 1 before he died along side Reina.
@@KazumaKuzuryu4162 I misremembered the guy. I meant Shinji, the guy who got killed along side reina the previous owner of Serena and the one in 0 who side story was him jumping yakuza till kiryu stopped him before he got himself killed
Nico at the end of Y3: Man I wish they would bring back one of these Yakuza villains in the next game and have them be a reformed dude. Yakuza 4: I got you bro!
Boiling down Yakuza 4 Akiyama: The man I put my faith in, betrayed me. The woman I fell for, turned out to be a murderer and I probably won't ever see her again. Saejima: I've been living a nightmare for the past 25 years, only to learn that my sacrifice ment nothing. My family got dismantling, my patriarch lost his mind, and my brother got tortured and lost his eye. Tanimura: I lost my father 25 years ago and his killer was never caught. It's up to me to uncover the truth and bring the ones responsible to JUSTICE. Kiryu: God, Damn, Fuckin, Tojo-Clan. Edit: Date quit being a detective at the end of Yakuza 1. After Kiryu saved both him and his daughters, and giving Date back the relationship with his daughter he had lost; Date decided that he would take the opportunity to live a family man life and repair even more of his relationship with her. In 3, Date reveals that he had taken up work as a journalist, so that's what his other work he mentioned is.
I find it comical that the Conspiracy is held together by cards and toothpicks, basically banking entirely on that Kiryu doesn't find out... Only for the main plot to wash up at his front door... *TWICE*
Fun fact, the four protagonists each symbolise the Four Guardians in Eastern Mythology; Akiyama represents the Vermilion Bird (for his speed and agility), Tanimura represents the Black Tortoise (for his defence)... not quite sure about the remaining two though, it's pretty ambiguous.
I think this is the reason why people didn’t want you to play Lost Judgement as soon as you did. Sure, you don’t really care about the future of the Tojo clan, and that’s fine. It’s just that its prosperity is the driving force behind Kiryu’s motivation for most (if not all) of these games. To learn later on the Tojo clan’s ultimate fate makes this feel like it was worth a bit less. It’s like Terminator: Dark Fate; John Connor, the guy who survived everything from the 2nd movie, simply gets shot 5 minutes into that movie.
The Bounding Throw move grabs a guy after he bounces off the ground. So you need a finishing move that crushes an enemy straight down into the pavement so he bounces.
It always comes back to Nishiki and that tower, huh. They really have ridden that wave for 3 straight games now, with the Nishikiyama family in 2 and 3, and now Jingu getting a namedrop to drag Kiryu back to play. I’ve never really liked how they’ve treated the Nishikiyama family, with Shindo being a Lady Dojima simp and Kanda being… Kanda. And let’s be real, I don’t think anyone likes Jingu, but this is probably the least obnoxious use of them. The millennium tower explosion is relevant to Akiyama’s story and we’re not exactly spitting on Nishiki’s grave this time, so it gets a pass from me
Wow... Taiga Saejima wanted to be a teacher... That puts that whole dojo training game into new perspective. Maybe being a Sensei is not perfectly the same as his old dream but close and he was a teacher in the literal meaning of the word. Saejima just keeps getting more interesting and deeper the more the game progresses.
I find it funny that rubber bullets are the infamous parts of Yakuza 4 among the community even though everyone can agree that some of Y4 future scenes you haven't seen yet are not good to experience. I personally didn't mind the shoot-out twist of Saejima being innocent even if it wasn't the greatest twist and could be better. I would have thought the worse scenes would be at the forefront of people's minds on this game than the first one which wasn't awful to begin with.
Forgot last time, but your gonna wanna remember Suiguichi's monolouge about being a yakuza plant in the police and living a lie as a cop. It's gonna be REALLY IMPORTANT later.
I'm glad Nico doesn't mind the rubber bullet twist, even though i personally don't like it (it being deliberately bad is still bad imo) it's still a great Yakuza game. There's more divisive plot points coming up that are kinda overshadowed by the rubber bullet twist that can be argued to be a lot worse for the story. It'll be interesting seeing his take on it when that happens.
I absolutely agree that there is worse stuff coming up than the rubber bullets plot point. That said, I heavily disagree with the "it's deliberately a bad plan so it's okay" people. It being a bad plan because the character doing it isn't a mastermind doesn't excuse that it doesn't make logical sense in context. Rubber rounds are still lethal when fired out of a gun, especially at point blank range. Even BLANKS can cause lethal damage at that range. It also supremely stretches disbelief that it is possible to cover up what would be the largest mass shooting in Japan ever, especially with so many obvious contradictions in the story which the game itself points out is an issue. Regardless, I still do think Yakuza 4 is a good game in the series. It has a lot going for it, from the genuinely great sub stories, to the introduction of multiple playable characters all being great, etc. It just has a really big sore spot, that being the story going super downhill in the final portion of the game. But it isn't terrible as a whole just because of it.
To continue substories do not go to Millennium Tower. That will continue story & will lock substories. Finisher grabs can activate using any finishers but not double finishes like do 3 hit then uppercut then hit circle. For the kick grab, enemies need to be wall bounced for Bautista Bomb grab. Input Kiryu's skills for IFR & now other characters will fight Kiryu & get his abilities. You can also keep increasing heat gauge as well which Tanimura the only to have long heat gauge & short health bar.
I always found it funny how the game tried so hard to put saijima innocent and not guilty of killing 20 men. Thus not becoming murderer when he still be counted as one because he attempted to kill 20 men. Just because he isn't the who killed them doesn't make his intentions ho away.
Hamazaki's fate isn't elaborated anywhere in the main games but, suprisingly, his final fate is revealed in RGG online mobile game as complications on the way to the hospital. It is up in the air whether it is canon or non-canon since it comes from a mobile game.
Say, the plan hinges on Ueno to survive and be gratefull to Katsuragi so that he would be favored in Ueno Seiwa but wouldnt Ueno have a couple of Questions about why only Katsuragi survived? Or why he doesn't have any bullet wounds especially the one where he was shot in the head? The dude is old but I don't think I would forget getting shot in the head.
I'm so glad to have Kiryu back, he has a certain way of dealing with stuff that's hard to replace. It's like catching up with that old friend who never hugs it out, but still shows up he cares.
Kiryu's return is awesome, it really shows how he is, as a previous protagonist, above the newcomer protags. I really hope Nico understands that the Bounding Throw cant be used after a Double Finishing Blow, but rather as an alternative to it: In the games I played, its pretty much the best ability for me, since you can also use it to hurt the surrounding enemies, as its a throw. It has saved me a lot, and I've seen some players do some amazing shit with it, basically turning bosses into ragdolls. EDIT: Yup, Nico is definitely always doing the Double Finishing Blow every time, and I'm not sure if he really is expecting the grab to come after it just because its also called a Finishing Blow, or if he thinks he somehow thinks he is doing a regular Finishing Blow. Either way, the name of the game is 'dont mash Triangle after a rush combo' if you want the Bounding Throw, just press it once, then Circle. A simple example: Kiryu's full combo ends with a high kick, then you transition to the big side kick(thats the Finishing Blow when you press Triangle once, you can press Circle after for the Bounding Throw), then that big flip kick(thats the Double Finishing Blow when you press Triangle again, you cant follow it up with the Bounding Throw).
39:09 2 Strange Men approach a woman. "We can help you but you have to go to this abandoned office where nobody will interrupt us" The Police guard outside: That woman will probably get raped now but i am glad that she leaves now. If you know kiryu then this is fine but from another perspective this looks very strange.
EXACTLY. I feel like nowadays continuity in stories (be it anime, games, movies, and tv shows) tend to be surprisingly difficult to maintain these days; particularly because it feels like what "sells more" is flashier content that's entertaining. But once all that sugar rush runs out and you take time to digest it, you start to crave more substantial content that generally makes the medium worth experiencing. It's what makes great stuff like Yakuza games a perpetually intriguing medium worth experiencing with each passing generation; even through the flaws and jank.
Kiryu? The game's almost over...you sure you don't wanna join in?
....
Kiryu?
....
KIRYU!
Kiryu: FINE, FUCK!
Daddy's back baby!
Don't forget the Tiger Drop
I get why Haruka feels the way she does, and she has every right to feel that way.
But it's pretty naive to think if they stay out of all this that they'll never have to get involved; especially because all that nonsense is literally just a few 100 miles away from their home, and can easily explode into much worse circumstances if Kiryu doesn't do something.
He's back, so new intro next episode?
On a random note that I'll comment here because by this point a normal comment will probably be burried. I think Saejima was cleaned off his kills not to preserve his morality, but to keep him from death roll. I don't think the japanese justice system would forgive him for a small massacre just because he was manipulated into it. It does make him look like the biggest dumbass to ever be controled by a yakuza player, though
Make sure to avoid the front of the Millennium Tower area like the plague. The trigger for the next story cutscene covers a surprisingly wide area. If you get caught in it, it'll continue the story and lock off substories for that chapter
maybe he wants to trigger the next cutscene and continue with the main story 🤔
@@lifedeather Maybe? Maybe not
@@lifedeather if he has substories he won't
Turns out Jingu was alive and comes back as a cyborg to be the final boss to reclaim the lost money. Has 80 million guys surround you to try make Yakuza 4 the worst experience ever.
Dude, way to spoil the ending of the zombie spinoff.
Congrats you made Nico laugh the hardest he's done in a few years.
@@thewrongone4240 I really didn’t expect that. Thank you!
You secretly spoiled the final boss fight. And you did it in a way that got Nicob to almost die laughing. Very GOAT.
To refresh your memory Nico. Date hasn't been part of the police force ever since the end of Yakuza 1/Kiwami. Yakuza 2/Kiwami 2 had Date simply helping out Sudo and Kawara not officially a cop. Yakuza 3 Date ended up being a journalist where he was trying to get a story regarding the Okinawa Resort Deal.
1:08:46 That line from Yasuko of how Saejima "gave up on his dream on becoming a teacher" makes it the all the more sense with how Saejima is consistently portrayed with how he gives out words of wisdom when teaching life lessons to the likes of Kido, Tadashi and other characters in Saejima's part. If you think about it, it makes it pretty ironically heart warming that in a way Saejima kinda did live out his abandoned dream when he ended up teaching the apprentices at Sodachi's dojo instilling them with the skills to become strong and helping them through their hang ups like any teacher would.
Saito is this cracked because in this series where top Yakuza members are fuckin' gods, how do you put them in prison if the prison guard isn't some kind of super monster?
Just wanted to give you a heads-up, the conclusion with Tanimura’s dad being killed by Suguichi by Munakata’s orders is essentially the end of that plot line.
Not really, Tanimura then blames Munakata for it and goes to get revenge on him.
51:33
For others playing this and not minding some speedrun cheesing, the key is to corner Saito at the stairs and infinite combo him
The bounding throw can only be executed after the first finishing blow, not the double finishing blow (Think XYB, XXYB, XXXYB, and XXXXYB instead of two Y attacks in a row). Can only be done with heat but it is also very strong guaranteed damage that can hurt surrounding enemies and the animation changes based of the amount of rush combo hits you throw. It's kinda like Tanimura's Essence of Combos that he can throw after a finisher but not a heat action.
Date became a reporter in the last game. You may remember he was being bossed around by someone younger then him.
daddy kiryu really is the best. I loved yasukos explanation as to why saejima mattered so much but leave it to kiryu to talk sense into yasuko immediately. kiryu just has an amazing BS barrier and will not hesitate to tell you that what your doing is fucked up
Kiryu: Haruka, you lost both your parents to that incident.
Haruka: My dad tried to shoot me in the face.
Kiryu: Oh… right… Forgot about that somehow.
1:07:50
Yakuza Kiwami Nishiki screams from the past...if only Kazama was like Sasai in this regard 😢
Refresher context: Yuko Nishikiyama (ayyy Yasuko : Yuko I see you, RGG) needed a heart transplant which is part of what leads towards Nishki's Downfall.
Nishiki's douche bag subordinate got the money and the doctor ran off, if Kazama helped the same thing would have happened.
*"Looks like my Summer Vacation is...over."*
-Kazuma Kiryu, upon seeing the plot finally coming to him
*Imagines Kiryu wearing Roxas's white attire* Gosh darn it! These scene always makes me emotional . . . .
For those of you wondering, Saejima and Hamazaki’s escape from the prison took place at March 5th 1:00am and Hamazaki washed up at Morning Glory Orphanage at March 8th. To reiterate, Hamazaki got shot in the chest 3 times, made a 100-foot drop into the ocean, spent 3 days floating in ocean with 3 bullet wounds (technically 4 as the first gunshot went through his back and exited out the front of his chest), miraculously not die from blood loss, infection, gangrene or dehydration, and very conveniently washed up on the beach of the one person who he needs help from. Also of note for comparison, Saejima washed up on the beach on March 5th 5pm, the same day as the prison escape.
This is why I stand by my assertion that the Rubber Bullets Twist wasn’t the dumbest thing in Yakuza 4, rather every moment in the story after the Rubber Bullets Twist is stupider than the Rubber Bullets Twist. Such as:
*•* Hamazaki’s miraculous survival (even if only for him to die one day later).
*•* Hamazaki conveniently washing up on Kiryu’s beach the same as Saejima (which is why I call it “Coincidence Beach”).
*•* The fact that some idiot just randomly wrote “Tojo Clan: Destroyed” “Kamurocho Hills → Ueno Seiwa Clan → Tokyo PD” on the file for no discernible reason. They might as well have just wrote “Evil Plan” there.
*•* Kiryu and Hamazaki coincidentally meeting Yasuko, complete with them coming across her right when she says Saejima is her brother.
*•* Yasuko blindly trusting two random men she doesn’t know that conveniently say they know her brother and accompany them to an isolated location all alone.
*•* The fact that Saito also somehow survived and that apparently him and the other guards of Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2 are apparently in charge of going to the mainland to silence people who know about the prison’s existence (which seems very inefficient and would be quicker and easier to put moles in the Okinawa Police and have them silence people who ask about Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2).
*•* Kiryu inexplicably changing into his suit in between the flight to Okinawa and Kamurocho (he either ran back to the orphanage to quickly change avoiding the police or he already had his suit on his person beforehand and changed on the flight over).
*•* Apparently, either Yasuko told Kiryu that she’s been murdering Shibata Family guys offscreen (which is a huge thing to tell a random stranger she barely knows nothing about other than that he helped her brother one time) or Kiryu just magically knew she was murdering people.
I can only rebuff the first one. Yakuza characters can survive damn near anything as long as their macho enough.
While not a good excuse, I assume the reason Yasuko blindly trusted Kiryu & Hamazaki was desperation. Like at that point, she was so desperate to get to see her brother (which Kiryu did later state that she centered her life around him too much) & the fact that the police weren't helping her at all, she just got so frustrated. With the 2 men hearing her calls & offering something about her brother, she just blindly latched onto it without thinking.
Of course, this is all my assumption & even then, yeeeaaahhh, it's kind of dumb if you think about it. Especially when she's clearly been a pretty distrusting person (for good reasons). I guess when it came to Saejima, her desperation overcame her distrusting nature.
@@Jeddy027
Yeah I can buy that, because that desperation is exactly what landed her into the mess with Katsuragi. A police officer (I'm guessing Sugiuchi) got her into contact with Katsuragi and it all went downhill for her from there.
Yeah, I think the rubber bullets twist is bad, but I also think the story completely falls apart in Kiryu's section. There's more later on too I have big issues with.
For guys like Saito and Hamazaki surviving I just quote YGOTAS here:
"It's a good thing I'm so buff or that fall would have killed me." Or something to that effect. Self explanatory.
Wished Yasuko questioned what Kiryu and Hamazaki knew about Saejima to make it seem more legit for her to go with them (like the tattoo on his back or Majima). Not to mentioned the whole killing thing to talk about with Kiryu could have been a cutscene yeah.
I like how Nicos Kiryu keeps breaking the 4th wall, as the only character. This gives Kiryu these vibes as some all-knowing god, that lives in a world, which takes itself way too serious. And I love it!
There's a weird thing seemingly left off screen. The game does not explain how Kiryu learned that Yasuko murdered people. If Yasuko telled him, why?
*Important Combat Notes:* I believe you don’t need an introduction to Kiryu as we have been playing as him for the past decade or so lol. So, I will do a highlight refresher reel for things you may be foggy on about.
*One,* you likely noticed you have A LOT of skills already owned. Obviously what do you do with a returning protag with a bunch of new ones? *You show who was and is the boss with Kiryu already kitted with some useful sh%t you learned before.* A heat action I would point out is Essence of Smoking. Goated heat action to have at the start.
*Two,* I highly recommend *_Bounding Throw._* This skill, like back in Yakuza 3, *is so good that it is better than using a double finishing blow at most times.* It does _great dmg and can be used on bosses if you are good_ at when to use it to land destructive blows. *You use a single finishing blow and then press circle for it Nico.*
*Three,* use *Essence of Terror* often. This is the Y3 revelation now as a single orb upgrade. *This is the best crowd control heat action made better by the damage increase from Yakuza 4’s buffs.* Not only is it effing amazing, it is amazing to use too as always.
*Four,* Essence of Head Press is also good. *You may recognize this heat action because it was the default super ending heat action to do back in yakuza 3.* It wasn’t good back in yakuza 3, BUT NOW IT KICKS ASS BY USING ON ENEMIES WHO ARE GETTING BACK UP. *Best upgrade from Y3 to Y4 imo.*
*Last,* Komaki Parry is just as F%%ing AMAZING as back in Yakuza 3. *can still counter anything melee based including any melee weapons, still has _RIDICULOUSLY EASY_ large activation range, and KOMAKI DRAGON KING ESSENCE used after the parry is now given respect with appropriate damage scaling.
Poor Haruka, I don't blame her for getting angry at kiryu calling Hamazaki a friend, despite the contrary of the events from YK3, but still its best to not make the kids get worried to what he done, boy she got into some rough shit in this game.
If you are wondering if the Rubber bullet thing was the "weakest" part of Yakuza 4, then no. I actually take issue with what happens later on. I can't mention it at the moment, but I'm baffled that most people don't talk about the later scene in question as it is much worse than the rubber bullet part. Most people just mention rubber bullets when talking about Yakuza 4's flaws but not its actual flaws, which is painful to watch.
I'm real glad you are enjoying Yakuza 4 tho. So many character-defining moments and the substories are great. I just hope you aren't marred by the things that nailed the coffin for a lot of people on this game. I don't think it's a perfect story considering what I mentioned above, but this game is great honestly.
Yes! This! I don't get it either. The rubber bullets are just the top of the iceberg. There is so much more to come...
Still something funny they did for the remaster was during the flashback scene with Jingu, they used Kiwami 1 graphics instead of thr classic 1 graphics, I know there have been some minor changes in these remasters but this one stands out to be the funniest just by PS3 Kiryu thinking about PS4 Jingu
Could you imagine if Kiryu’s orphanage was turned into a resort like some people wanted in Yakuza 3?
Saejima: Huh, where am I?
Kiryu: Hello stranger. Welcome to my hotel resort.
* A few days later *
Hamazaki: Did I finally reach land yet?
Kiryu on the beach: Oh, you’re back. Well, have a seat and enjoy the beach.
Damn...I wouldn't mind playing a minigame of that where Kiryu, Haruka and the other kids running that resort.
@@wchan39 oh boy! Child labor! Kidding, it just sounds like some kind of bad ending from 3
From what I remember in Yakuza 3, I believe Date quit being a Detective and started work in journalism. Remember how he said he was with Keihin News?
I also think he liked the new owner of New Serena, though I don't remember if they got together or not. But him working in her bar would seem to imply that they did, at least in my opinion.
Also, I'm glad Kazuki and Yuya are still around. It's just nice to see the people that helped Kiryu all the way back in Yakuza 1 still exist.
@29:53 Well, Kiryu doesn't have the tiger drop, but he does come with a lot of things unlocked at the start. But Tiger drop, the developers were like, "Naw, man we're not going to give players the most busted move Kiryu has right from the start."
I keep making comparisons to Legacy of Goku 2, but it's on point as in that game, Goku is the last character you get. And it makes sense as in the first game you played only as him, got all that experience, and he's the first to turn super sayian. Of course in that game, you get him last. I like they did something similar for this game.
Funny little thing in the scene where Jingu is shown. The footage in the flashback was originally from the PS2 version. For the remaster, they put in K1 footage.
From "Why is everyone's skin so smooth and everything is sharp?" to "Why is everyone's hands normal sizes?"
Yeah I really loved the reveal that this conspiracy was connected to the Jingu business in Yakuza 1. That was a nice little nod.
You know when I first played this game I didn't think too much about Yasuko murdering people, namely Shibata Family men, cuz I was mostly along for the ride, but when I replayed this game it sunk in a lot more, especially when Kiryu was talking to her about it. I know Saejima was important to her and that her only other choice was to get 100 million yen (at least I think that was the amount) for Katsuragi which would've been more difficult, but killing all those guys just for a chance to see her brother again is wild. Then again I suppose it's like Kiryu said and Saejima became her reason for living.
Ok, so now that we're finally at Kiryu's section, I think it's a great time to really point out just how great the Yakuza 4 soundtrack is, and just how highly regarded Kiryu has come to be known since the days of Yakuza 0.
Kiryu's street fight theme is called "The Myth", and feels like a great mixture of all the fight themes he's had up to this point with a mixture of the funk/electronic samples from the yakuza 1/3 fight theme and the heavier sounding guitar/bass riff which seems to take from Yakuza 2's "Push Me Underwater". It's one of my favorite fight themes in the series.
Combined with its name it feels like it's a culmination of everything Kiryu's done up to this point, which is representative of the way he fights and the way he has come to be seen by others; A Living Myth.
It really cements where Kiryu stands in the series at this point, showing that he's so much of a literal legend that he's being regarded as "The Myth" which I think is pretty badass.
Also the game's subtitle in Japanese is "Heir to the Legend" which really makes it feel like they were trying to hammer home just how notorious Kiryu really is now, and when he's active and out of retirement, it is a BIG deal. He's not just some guy coming into the fight, he is often a KEY PLAYER in shutting down almost every problem the Tojo ends up facing these past few games, and he is regarded as such.
As far as story relevance, Akiyama himself was putting bets that Arai could become the next Dragon of Dojima, and with all of this context in mind, that is a HUGE statement about what Akiyama thinks Arai is capable of. It really puts it into perspective how influential Kiryu has become in the Yakuza world at this point.
Sorry for the long comment, but details like this are what really shows how soundtracks can add to a piece of media, and in Yakuza 4's case stuff like this is EVERYWHERE. It's an amazing soundtrack, and I've really come to appreciate this game a lot more through this playthrough.
I believe this is why Chairman Sera took that risk to hide the money. He knew that this would somehow negatively impact the Tojo clan. This is probably why Jingu shifted from working with the tojo clan to the omi alliance, not only would he organize crime with the police by slowly tearing apart the clan but the omi alliance would be his information network on any upcoming retaliation the tojo clan would cook up in the potential future. There is also the possibility that the MI6 agents helping Jingu to eliminate kiryu and collect the 10 billion in yakuza kiwami were supporters of the penitentiary no.2 plan. I would say that this twist is as interesting as the plot of judgement in the sense that there are so many people getting their hands dirty for a specific object, in judgement it was for vaccine and for yakuza kiwami and now yakuza 4 is the 10 billion dollars for a "correctional facility".
Jesus Christ, the bit Nico did where Kiryu opened his ‘first’ locker of the game had me laughing until I could barely breathe.
Turns out swimming in the ocean for days after getting shot multiple times is bad for your health.
Yasuko talking about Saejima got me deep, to go through such hell for the sake of your stepsister.....the man signifies "Big Bro".
Tojo Clan: Destroyed
Hahaha, Lost Judgment says hi.
I knew Nico would have good grounded sense about Yakuza 4 and its plot points.
Nico hasn't gotten to the really bad stuff, because despite all the rubber bullet memes. The really bad and silly stuff happens after the Tanimura chapter. It just gets really overshadowed because people always focus on the rubber bullets twist.
In case you have forgotten. Kiryu actually has met the fortune teller before, back in Yakuza 0. She foretold about how he would go to prison for 10 years, which was what happened in Yakuza 1.
She also mentioned that he'd wrestle a viper in Okinawa, and would take care of half a dozen kids there.
@@jerichtandoc7789 Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about those.
Didn't realize that was the same fortune teller, I thought she was just a character added to reference future games in 0.
I love how everyone is divisive over the rubber bullet plot reveal, but when Hamasaki just washes up on the shore after a few days bleeding out (from many bullet wounds, I might add) in the ocean and seems absolutely fine after just a couple of bandages, no one bats an eye.
Now those dojos minigames Saejima did have that extra, bittersweet context of him wanting to be a teacher
What you didn't realize is Haruka hated Hamazaki so much that she used one of those Paranormasight curse stones to kill him from offscreen!
26:03
Personally this was what I was waiting for 🤣
That Bounding Throw doesn't come out if you spam triangle for the finishing blow, as it's quite easy to accidentally go into the double finishing blow instead. It's always best to tap triangle once at the end of your rush combo, then start hitting circle.
I want to take notice of what makes Kiryu get back into the conflict of Yakuza 4, _Hamazaki pleading to him to not only help his minute long brother Saejima, but to also protect the Tojo Clan as it is the only thing that would be remember from them after death?_
Listen, this is *not a great way to portray Kiryu in order to have him get involved.* For Saejima yes that’s fine since Kiryu would care about Saejima, but *not have the **_deciding factor be for the Tojo Clan._* In fact, many people and myself _don’t like this interpretation of Kiryu because it goes against his own character established in previous games._
It's one thing for people in universe to think of Kiryu as a saint, but _it is an ENTIRELY different thing when the game showcases Kiryu as a literal saint_ than the character he was in previous games.
Yes there are people Kiryu cares about in the Tojo Clan, Majima and Daigo. *But for the game to have Kiryu want to protect the Tojo Clan for this reason is kinda dumb since we all know Kiryu shouldn’t really give a crap if the Tojo Clan survives or not but whatever. *It's very contrived to be honest.*
**Btw, this is unrelated to the second separate major plot point that no likes later on. **_People tend to overshadow the 2nd plot point with the more infamous Rubber bullets plot point._** We will get there when we do as it is the actual part that legitimately damages the story for a lot of people.**
I bet you play every game that Nico plays the second as he announces it and then provide the most detailed report on every episode
One of the things Japanese culture values is loyalty/fealty. For example, if someone joins a company, they are expected to stay with that company rather than use it as a steppingstone to move up somewhere else. The yakuza works the same way. Yes, Kiryu left, but that loyalty to the clan is still there, which is why Kiryu wants to protect it even after everything he has been through.
It's still weird for them to go "Kiryu will be remembered for the Tojo clan" one, He shouldn't care that much about that. Kiryu has never cared about status. Two, the man is running an orphanage with tons of kids. That ain't worth remembering?
> why did not Hamazaki at least have Kiryu call an ambulance.
There really wasn't time for that. Police was colose and they would call the ambulance upon finding Hamazaki.
Kiryu's story does feel the least involved, they just needed him in so it would still be a Yakuza game.
Wow, in retrospect it's bitterly ironic that on some level Saeijima got to live out his old dream of being a teacher, via a side quest; by teaching that dojo for Fighter Maker. (Minus dumbass Makoto).
I just find it so wholesome that at one point this guy wanted to help guide kids to a better life by educating them. He's such a big (diesel) softie. 😊
As someone who generally dislikes the "rubber bullets" plot point but is willing to give it more slack after hearing the defenses there are some big problems that still kind of bother me:
1. While I agree that the intent was to make Shibata, Katsuragi and Suguichi come off as young reckless and incompetent, in my opinion it goes too far and makes them come off as utter morons for ever believing that it would work. The especially bad part is the marks left by the rubber bullets and the wrong positions of the wounds. The fact that they ever believed that the police would just dismiss that just because they had a man on the inside is one of the more absurd parts of the plan. Sure they're young and incompetent but the way its presented makes it seem that they are unable to even do any basic logic because that's more or less what Munakata uses to rat them out. Moreso, even though Suguichi was a mole he was still apparently competent enough to make detective yet somehow didn't even think of the possibility of an autopsy, something that is ridiculously basic when it comes to crime scene investigations, blowing the case wide open.
2. It makes the leaders of the Tojo clan and the Ueno Seiwa clan come off as really incompetent since they should've been able to use the same logic that Munakata did to discover the plot. This is especially problematic for Yoshiharu Ueno who was a witness and survivor to the crime yet explicitly not complicit. Not only did he not question the conflicting information regarding the state of his men and the very crime he witnessed, he somehow didn't question why the hell he survived a bullet wound without any blood and with the marks of a rubber bullet. Moreover, as the head of a somewhat major Yakuza clan, he doesn't have the excuse of incompetence that Katsuragi, Shibata and Suguichi do. Yet despite all this he promoted Katsuragi and never questioned the very obvious inconsistencies he witnessed before his very eyes.
3. More of another issue that can possible be dismissed by Katsuragi's incompetence but what the hell was Katsuragi's plan if Yoshiharu Ueno woke up before or around the same time as him. He was clearly expecting to wake up from the rubber bullets and didn't seem that surprised when other members of the Ueno Seiwa also woke up...yet his plan completely fails if his boss simply wakes up first. The reason I bring this point up specifically is that it's such an easy problem for the writers to resolve yet...they didn't. Simply say Katsuragi covertly drugged Ueno's ramen to ensure that he stays unconscious throughout the entire thing, not a great solution since he doesn't have control over when the drug takes effect but at least it explains the problem. Even stranger: in the scene itself it seems as though Katsuragi knew exactly when Ueno would wake up yet there's no possible way he should know that. Again, it just comes off as the writers not even considering the possibility which just plays into the idea that there were more holes in the plot than even those expressed in universe.
And now, another riveting chapter of "Kazuma Kiryu And His Pathological Inability To Say No"
*Me:* finally, now that he has done all the side stories he will do more main story.
*Nico:* look at all those side stories that just popped up.
*Me:*
If I recall correctly, there was a unique heat action in the hallway at 50:00, where if you grabbed a guy, you could pitch him through the window. Also, I remember the key to beating that cheap prison guard boss was to stay locked on to him with R1 and sidestep his attacks before they landed. Then you could unload on him easier.
the next day, haruka comes across another person washed up ashore
his name is... Shogo Okiie????
Nico: "we can't have an actual killer in our yakuza protagonists"
*remembers the time kiryu shoved a guy's head inside a microwave back in kiwami 2*
And shot dudes out of motorcycles in 0 and Kiwami
And when Majima straight up murdered those Dojima guys in a blind rage after Makoto was shot.
And don't forget the random guy he used as a human shield against bullets.
Rubber microwave
I find it kind of sweet that Saejima wanted to become a teacher, can you imagine that giant of a man teaching kids math?
Katsuma Ara (Ebisu-sensei) from Lost Judgment 🤝 Taiga Saejima from Yakuza 4
Well, he did get to live his dream, even if only briefly, via the Fighter Maker substories.
he's really just a big teddy bear
Kind of adds another layer to when Saejima told Kido back in Part 2, that while he regretted having murdered people, he did not regret that he followed orders and did it. Sasai was the one who not only paid for Yasuko's operation, but bought the kidney for said operation for 30 million yen. At that point, there's no doubt Saejima would move heaven and earth if Sasai told him to. He said that he didn't regret following those orders, and even after everything that's happened, if he were to go back to that moment, he'd do it again. In Saejima's eyes, that attack in the ramen shop and every consequence of having done so was just another part of paying Sasai back for saving his sister's life.
Now that you're playing as Kiryu I think it's time to mention the theme behind the four protagonists.
And that is: The Four Symbols (also know as the Holy Beasts)
These symbols and who they correspond to are; The Blue Dragon (Kiryu), Vermilion Bird (Akiyama), White Tiger (Saejima), and Black Tortoise (Tanimura).
The connections for Kiryu and Saejima are pretty obvious so I'll focus on the other two. The Vermilion Bird (Zhuque/Suzaku) is often compared to and even called a phoenix which works for Akiyama as he fell by losing his job and rose again by collecting the falling money. The Black Tortoise (Xuanwu/Genbu) is said to travel to the netherworld and gather information the others can't as a result, much like how Tanimura can access Little Asia and speak to the residents when the other characters can't.
The bounding throw only works after pressing triangle once, and then pressing circle. It doesn't work with the double finishing blow.
_Alternate universe where Saijema became a teacher_
Saijema: So if there were 20 yakuza men in a noodle shop, and I shoot 18 of them, how many Yakuza men are left alive?
Student no.1: 2 left alive?
Student no. 2: No! It's still 20 people left, because of Rubber bullets and everyone knows rubber bullets can't kill anybody, duh!
Storyteller:
"Your early Mister Nico B, some may think you must've sped through today's play session.
But do not worry, you may try as many times as you need to get through Yakuza 4."
So fun fact about the four protagonists: each of them represents one of the Four Symbols
Akiyama- The Vermillion Bird (Suzaku)
Saejima- The White Tiger (Byakko)
Tanimura- The Black Tortoise (Genbu)
Kiryu- The Azure Dragon (Seiryuu)
But the connections don’t stop there, Yagami’s fighting styles are based on the 5 animal styles of Kung Fu, which are: Tiger, Crane, Snake, Leopard and Dragon
And you know how Tanimura’s fighting style and Yagami’s snake style are focused on parrying and defensive tactics? It’s most likely intentional, because Genbu is mainly depicted with a snake wrapped around it (you can look it up and see), along the same lines, Yagami's crane style focuses on using his feet (even reuses a lot of Akiyama's heat actions), and tiger style focuses on charge attacks
It’s some incredible attention to detail, these games are choke full of symbolism like that and this is just a small example of many
Sugiuchi reminded me of a certain other character with a similar situation, where he was caught too deep into the dark side of the Underworld that he no longer could aspire for the life he really wanted.
At first Sugiuchi was alright with his position as the turncoat character working for both sides, especially because he was a blood oath brother to Katsuragi the same way Majima was to Saejima, which meant he was willing to come hell or high water for the man.
But as he'd told Tanimura, he was genuinely finding a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that he'd never felt before as he kept living his double life; which kept piling more guilt towards the people who believed in his integrity as a man of the law.
And from how he was talking to Tanimura as he got it off his chest, he wanted to walk under the same sun as he did; which was sadly the same thing as the other character, who felt like loneliness and a sense of void kept eating him away.
It's no small wonder Kazama and Kashiwagi were working so hard to try and get some of these boys out of the Yakuza world, especially if they're like Sugiuchi who genuinely wanted out.
With the reveal that Taiga's childhood dream was to become a schoolteacher, it kinda makes the Sodachi dojo much more heartwarming in hindsight. He wanted to be a teacher as a kid and in a way, managed to become on through that questline.
Nico: I hope Taiga survives
Kiryu: What if your brother dies in front of you.
Flashback to Yakuza 0
Makoto: Brother?
Seeing the story up to this point, I feel like the main thing that brings it down in comparison to others is that it’s just way too convenient. We of course have the whole rubber bullet situation, but there’s also the thing here with Hamazaki somehow surviving the bullet wounds and being stranded in the sea, not losing the notebook that coincidentally explained the plan (in some notes that no one would realistically write), and making it to the front of the orphanage like Saejima did. There are more instances of this type of thing in the game. I do like the story, but I have noticed this flaw.
And the notebook not being waterlogged and illegible.
Haruka: Uncle Kaz, how can you possibly trust Hamazaki after he stabbed and betrayed you like that? I'll never forgive him. Never.
Kiryu: Haruka, he's like probably the billionth person who's done all that stuff to me throughout these games. At this point I'm numb to it.
Haruka:.... Wait, what...?
Kiryu: Anyway, I'm gonna go do my 4th game. Watch the house while I'm gone.
29:47 See what I mean? Kiryu has amnesia.
not gonna lie that would be a heartbreaking if they decided that as an end to kiryu. like a dlc or something you control haruka and just showing kiryu really old and amnesiac
Wait, Nico remembered Jingu right away!? That guy was the most forgettable guy in 1 and he was the main bad guy!! Yet Nico forgot Makoto from 0, Ryuji from 1 AND KAORU IN THE EXACT GAME SHE LEAVES IN (WHICH WAS 3). BUT REMEMBERS JINGU!?!?!?!
Edit: I meant Shinji, not Ryuji. Ryuji stole pants and tried to rule the Omi Alliance, Shinji jumped Yakuza in Zero and was basically Kiryu's Subordinate in Kiwami 1 before he died along side Reina.
Clearly, he's just a well written and memorable antagonist, smh
It's because his laugh was so powerful
*Ryuji from 2, wait when did he forget about Ryuji, I remember the others, but he forgot Ryuji at some point?
@@KazumaKuzuryu4162 I misremembered the guy. I meant Shinji, the guy who got killed along side reina the previous owner of Serena and the one in 0 who side story was him jumping yakuza till kiryu stopped him before he got himself killed
Now okay. This time he has karaoke. Trust me. For real. It's kiryu of course he has Karaoke
Funny enough Kiryu was originally not a playable character in this game as a spin-off originally
Nico at the end of Y3: Man I wish they would bring back one of these Yakuza villains in the next game and have them be a reformed dude.
Yakuza 4: I got you bro!
Boiling down Yakuza 4
Akiyama: The man I put my faith in, betrayed me. The woman I fell for, turned out to be a murderer and I probably won't ever see her again.
Saejima: I've been living a nightmare for the past 25 years, only to learn that my sacrifice ment nothing. My family got dismantling, my patriarch lost his mind, and my brother got tortured and lost his eye.
Tanimura: I lost my father 25 years ago and his killer was never caught. It's up to me to uncover the truth and bring the ones responsible to JUSTICE.
Kiryu: God, Damn, Fuckin, Tojo-Clan.
Edit: Date quit being a detective at the end of Yakuza 1. After Kiryu saved both him and his daughters, and giving Date back the relationship with his daughter he had lost; Date decided that he would take the opportunity to live a family man life and repair even more of his relationship with her.
In 3, Date reveals that he had taken up work as a journalist, so that's what his other work he mentioned is.
Omg your Taichi voice. I can't still..... 😂
It never gets old 🤣
I find it comical that the Conspiracy is held together by cards and toothpicks, basically banking entirely on that Kiryu doesn't find out... Only for the main plot to wash up at his front door... *TWICE*
Fun fact, the four protagonists each symbolise the Four Guardians in Eastern Mythology; Akiyama represents the Vermilion Bird (for his speed and agility), Tanimura represents the Black Tortoise (for his defence)... not quite sure about the remaining two though, it's pretty ambiguous.
Well, Kiryu is probably the dragon and Saejima may be the tiger.
So I have a theory that Kiryu represents the tiger and that Saejima represents the dragon.
I think Kiryu is the badger, and Saejima the crazy weasel.
Kiryu represents the mighty chicken Nugget, and Saejima is obviously Mr Kitty
Just a reminder: In Y3, Date became a journalist for the Keihin News.
I think this is the reason why people didn’t want you to play Lost Judgement as soon as you did. Sure, you don’t really care about the future of the Tojo clan, and that’s fine. It’s just that its prosperity is the driving force behind Kiryu’s motivation for most (if not all) of these games. To learn later on the Tojo clan’s ultimate fate makes this feel like it was worth a bit less. It’s like Terminator: Dark Fate; John Connor, the guy who survived everything from the 2nd movie, simply gets shot 5 minutes into that movie.
39:55 Withdrawal symptoms of bad guy addiction
So fun fact, there is actually 1 item in the orphanage, the worm in the corner. It is still there!
The Bounding Throw move grabs a guy after he bounces off the ground. So you need a finishing move that crushes an enemy straight down into the pavement so he bounces.
To be fair about saito, him being strong fits with his character, but yes, as a starting boss for kiryus part, its fucking stupid
It always comes back to Nishiki and that tower, huh. They really have ridden that wave for 3 straight games now, with the Nishikiyama family in 2 and 3, and now Jingu getting a namedrop to drag Kiryu back to play. I’ve never really liked how they’ve treated the Nishikiyama family, with Shindo being a Lady Dojima simp and Kanda being… Kanda. And let’s be real, I don’t think anyone likes Jingu, but this is probably the least obnoxious use of them. The millennium tower explosion is relevant to Akiyama’s story and we’re not exactly spitting on Nishiki’s grave this time, so it gets a pass from me
Kiryu: Who the fuck opened all the lockers?!
Akiyama/Tanimura/Saejima: Allow us to introduce ourselves.
Wow... Taiga Saejima wanted to be a teacher...
That puts that whole dojo training game into new perspective.
Maybe being a Sensei is not perfectly the same as his old dream but close and he was a teacher in the literal meaning of the word.
Saejima just keeps getting more interesting and deeper the more the game progresses.
I find it funny that rubber bullets are the infamous parts of Yakuza 4 among the community even though everyone can agree that some of Y4 future scenes you haven't seen yet are not good to experience. I personally didn't mind the shoot-out twist of Saejima being innocent even if it wasn't the greatest twist and could be better. I would have thought the worse scenes would be at the forefront of people's minds on this game than the first one which wasn't awful to begin with.
Hamazaki survived by secretly turning the cutscene into gameplay as the bullets hit him, making the bullets rubber bullets
Forgot last time, but your gonna wanna remember Suiguichi's monolouge about being a yakuza plant in the police and living a lie as a cop.
It's gonna be REALLY IMPORTANT later.
I'm glad Nico doesn't mind the rubber bullet twist, even though i personally don't like it (it being deliberately bad is still bad imo) it's still a great Yakuza game. There's more divisive plot points coming up that are kinda overshadowed by the rubber bullet twist that can be argued to be a lot worse for the story. It'll be interesting seeing his take on it when that happens.
I absolutely agree that there is worse stuff coming up than the rubber bullets plot point.
That said, I heavily disagree with the "it's deliberately a bad plan so it's okay" people. It being a bad plan because the character doing it isn't a mastermind doesn't excuse that it doesn't make logical sense in context. Rubber rounds are still lethal when fired out of a gun, especially at point blank range. Even BLANKS can cause lethal damage at that range. It also supremely stretches disbelief that it is possible to cover up what would be the largest mass shooting in Japan ever, especially with so many obvious contradictions in the story which the game itself points out is an issue.
Regardless, I still do think Yakuza 4 is a good game in the series. It has a lot going for it, from the genuinely great sub stories, to the introduction of multiple playable characters all being great, etc. It just has a really big sore spot, that being the story going super downhill in the final portion of the game. But it isn't terrible as a whole just because of it.
Yeah something being deliberately bad doesn’t excuse it from being criticized as being bad or dumb.
Date is a journalist, worth remembering.
To continue substories do not go to Millennium Tower. That will continue story & will lock substories. Finisher grabs can activate using any finishers but not double finishes like do 3 hit then uppercut then hit circle. For the kick grab, enemies need to be wall bounced for Bautista Bomb grab. Input Kiryu's skills for IFR & now other characters will fight Kiryu & get his abilities. You can also keep increasing heat gauge as well which Tanimura the only to have long heat gauge & short health bar.
Kiryu: * shows up 21 episodes late with a smoothie * What'd I miss?
Sees Kamurocho and Tojo Clan on fire...again.
Kiryu: Aw, s**t! Here we go again...
After 21 episodes that Kiryu is finally back.
I love the callback to Kiwami
Even tho we are in Yakuza 4 still, im allrdy looking forward to Yakuza 5 since it feels more modern than 3 and 4 + it's one of my faves in the series.
I always found it funny how the game tried so hard to put saijima innocent and not guilty of killing 20 men. Thus not becoming murderer when he still be counted as one because he attempted to kill 20 men. Just because he isn't the who killed them doesn't make his intentions ho away.
21:06
Man, as a polish man, I could swear that I heard Kiryu say "Kurwa" xd
Kiryu has amnesia considering he can use the Tiger Drop during the fight with Saejima but when you play as him you’ll have to unlock it.
I thought I should mention this. In the PS3 version, PS2 footage of Yakuza 1 was used for the flashback.
I was waiting for Nico to mention his Bullshit luck at picking the right combination in the Russian Roulette side story
Hamazaki's fate isn't elaborated anywhere in the main games but, suprisingly, his final fate is revealed in RGG online mobile game as complications on the way to the hospital. It is up in the air whether it is canon or non-canon since it comes from a mobile game.
Say, the plan hinges on Ueno to survive and be gratefull to Katsuragi so that he would be favored in Ueno Seiwa but wouldnt Ueno have a couple of Questions about why only Katsuragi survived?
Or why he doesn't have any bullet wounds especially the one where he was shot in the head? The dude is old but I don't think I would forget getting shot in the head.
I'm so glad to have Kiryu back, he has a certain way of dealing with stuff that's hard to replace.
It's like catching up with that old friend who never hugs it out, but still shows up he cares.
Kiryu's return is awesome, it really shows how he is, as a previous protagonist, above the newcomer protags. I really hope Nico understands that the Bounding Throw cant be used after a Double Finishing Blow, but rather as an alternative to it: In the games I played, its pretty much the best ability for me, since you can also use it to hurt the surrounding enemies, as its a throw. It has saved me a lot, and I've seen some players do some amazing shit with it, basically turning bosses into ragdolls.
EDIT: Yup, Nico is definitely always doing the Double Finishing Blow every time, and I'm not sure if he really is expecting the grab to come after it just because its also called a Finishing Blow, or if he thinks he somehow thinks he is doing a regular Finishing Blow. Either way, the name of the game is 'dont mash Triangle after a rush combo' if you want the Bounding Throw, just press it once, then Circle. A simple example: Kiryu's full combo ends with a high kick, then you transition to the big side kick(thats the Finishing Blow when you press Triangle once, you can press Circle after for the Bounding Throw), then that big flip kick(thats the Double Finishing Blow when you press Triangle again, you cant follow it up with the Bounding Throw).
39:09
2 Strange Men approach a woman.
"We can help you but you have to go to this abandoned office where nobody will interrupt us"
The Police guard outside: That woman will probably get raped now but i am glad that she leaves now.
If you know kiryu then this is fine but from another perspective this looks very strange.
Well, the cops there would probably know Kiryu since he's running the local orphanage and was like, "It's okay, we can trust him."
EXACTLY. I feel like nowadays continuity in stories (be it anime, games, movies, and tv shows) tend to be surprisingly difficult to maintain these days; particularly because it feels like what "sells more" is flashier content that's entertaining.
But once all that sugar rush runs out and you take time to digest it, you start to crave more substantial content that generally makes the medium worth experiencing.
It's what makes great stuff like Yakuza games a perpetually intriguing medium worth experiencing with each passing generation; even through the flaws and jank.
I got comment of the day, yay.
Edit: I also just decided to change my account name, don't know why i waited so long.
Glad to see Stardust is thriving!