Parliament Of Serbia in Belgrade – Half-Life 2

City 17’s European-inspired architecture and aesthetics are fairly easy to recognize, though the Overwatch Nexus is perhaps the closest to being based on an actual building. As the main building for the Overwatch forces, the Nexus was formerly a political building before the Combine invaded. It turns out that it’s actually inspired by the Parliament of Serbia in Belgrade. The similarities between the two buildings, from their general structure to the opening archway are noteworthy, though the signature dome isn’t as defined on the Nexus. Though it’s not outright confirmed in-game, browsing through the texture files reveals the word “parliament” which further hints at the inspiration.

Thus, Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 were remastered and launched for the PS4 last year; and now, to complete Kiryu’s story for the new audience the franchise found on platforms beyond PC, those games have also launched on Xbox and PC, finally allowing players on those systems to experience almost the entirety of the Yakuza saga on their platform of choice.

The Xbox and PC versions are pretty much the same deal as the PS4 remasters that were launched almost twelve months ago. All three games have been given minor facelifts, localization has been redone to remove some problematic or objectionable content, cut content has been restored, but all of that aside, these games are pretty much left untouched. There aren’t any new content or narrative changes or introductions like in the Kiwami games, and even in spite of graphical facelifts, these games look like a fair step back from Yakuza 7 or Kiwami 2 – because, obviously, they are.

"Thanks to the series’ rather simple but clean art style, as well as the fact that most Yakuza games are decidedly mid-budget affairs, if that, these three games, after their remastering, don’t look too far off from something like Yakuza 0."

Thanks to the series’ rather simple but clean art style, as well as the fact that most Yakuza games are decidedly mid-budget affairs, if that, these three games, after their remastering, don’t look too far off from something like Yakuza 0. Yakuza 3, which is the oldest of the package, is the one that stands out the most, largely because of how relatively empty its environments look, how stiff the animations are, and how straight and angular its architecture can be. Yakuza 4 looks like a significant step up over 3, and by the time we hit Yakuza 5, you could mistake it for Yakuza 0 running at lower graphical settings, at least at a glance. Graphically, these games won’t take too long to adjust to if you’re coming to them for the first time after having played the modern titles.

However, ultimately, Yakuza fans rarely play these games for their production values. Yakuza’s fandom has always come down to the games’ fantastic characters, soap opera style over the top crime drama stories, great locations that cater to a unique form of virtual tourism for fans of Japanese culture, their heartwarming sidequests and addictive minigames, and, until Yakuza 7, their unique brawler meets action RPG style gameplay.

All of that’s available here, delivering unto fans exactly what they want, with Yakuza 5, especially, representing the zenith of the formula with five distinct playable protagonists, each with their own moveset and playstyle, and five locations within it. Its story, though suffering somewhat from having to justify the contrivances necessary to get Kiryu involved in the Japanese criminal underworld again, is pretty damn fun to follow, and it has arguably the most distinct and impressive production values in the series to date, with a very unique and downplayed cinematography and storytelling style that still manages to hold true to the over the top spirit of the franchise.

"Yakuza 4, naturally, occupies the middle space. It’s not quite as modern or fluid feeling as Yakuza 5, but it’s a significant improvement over Yakuza 3, and feels closer to the former than the latter in all honesty."

Yakuza 5, which is also running on the same engine as Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, also feels the most satisfying to play, with the combat packing a visceral punch and the animations fluid and brutal.

Yakuza 3 lies on the other end of the spectrum. In terms of narrative setup, while it occupies an important niche in the series’ history, actually playing it can be an exercise in frustration. Even back when it first launched, Yakuza 3 felt a bit behind the times, and today, especially, its extremely stiff combat and awkward controls lead to extremely jerky and unsatisfying combat, which, coupled with the distinctly low budget animations for things such as the Heat finisher moves, deflates the whole experience significantly. Yakuza fans will probably still enjoy Yakuza 3, and want to see it through to the end, especially since it’s a leaner experience than most other games in the series, and its narrative significance – but honestly, this is the one game in the package that would have been better off getting the Kiwami treatment.

Yakuza 4, naturally, occupies the middle space. It’s not quite as modern or fluid feeling as Yakuza 5, but it’s a significant improvement over Yakuza 3, and feels closer to the former than the latter in all honesty. Combat, while still not quite matching the standards of 5, still manages to flesh out four distinct characters, all of which play differently, and controls are a mercifully needed upgrade over 3 as well.

Unlike Yakuza 3, the environments here also feel far more organic and densely populated, which goes a long way in selling what is arguably the series’ strongest selling point, which is its sense of place and virtual tourism.

"While for completion’s sake, dedicated fans will probably want to play through the entire series, if you are not quite sure you have the patience to go through three fairly long and similar games, Yakuza 5 is the one you should focus on."

While for completion’s sake, dedicated fans will probably want to play through the entire series, if you are not quite sure you have the patience to go through three fairly long and similar games, Yakuza 5 is the one you should focus on. It has the best story, the best combat, a frankly ridiculous amount of content, and it also feels modern enough to lack a lot of the jank that is otherwise endemic to the older games in the franchise.

The good news is that the three games are also available individually – so if you only want to play, say, Yakuza 4, and not the other two, you’re not locked into having to spend money on two other games you’re not interested in playing as well. While Sega has made many questionable decisions in its handling of the Yakuza franchise in the west, this at least is a pretty smart decision, which makes any of these three games far easier to recommend than they would have been otherwise.

In the end, if you have never played Yakuza, and want to start out, I would recommend none of these three games as your first one – Yakuza 0 or Like A Dragon are much better entry points (and much better games overall, in general). However, for fans who have been waiting to see all of Kiryu Kazuma’s story, Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 Remastered do a fine enough job of making these long overlooked installments accessible and available to a wider, modern audience.

This game was reviewed on Xbox One.

Along with updated lifetime sales numbers for Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, Sega Sammy also revealed that the Yakuza series hit 14 million sales in its lifetime. The company noted that the series was “highly evaluated by overseas users.” However, Sega feels that it’s still a niche series meant for a select market of players.

Thus, the current strategy going forward is to release for multiple platforms and services worldwide, with the PC platform playing a big part. This can be seen in the release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon which launched earlier this month for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One and PC. Whether we can expect future titles to follow suit remains to be seen.

For that matter, it’s unknown whether Yakuza 3 to 5 and Yakuza 6: The Song of Life will be coming to PC or Xbox platforms in the near future. Ryu ga Gotoku Studio will host a livestream event on December 8th with announcements for “future developments” so we could receive more details there. Stay tuned in the meantime and check out our review of Yakuza: Like a Dragon here.

Characters Modeled After Real Actors

Getting the likenesses right for a group of bad-asses like the Yakuza cast isn’t easy. However, it’s interesting to note how many of the characters are modeled after and voiced by well-known Japanese actors. Takeshi Kitano, for instance, serves as the template and voice for Toru in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Meanwhile, Riki Takeuchi lends his face and voice to Daiki Awano in Yakuza 0.

Sega’s drive to bring the entire Yakuza series to modern consoles continues. With the original first two titles of the series having already been remade with the Kiwami treatment, and Yakuza 3 having been remastered and released in Japan, next up is Yakuza 4. Sega have released 31 new screenshots for its upcoming remaster, which you can take a look at below.

Characters, both major and minor, are shown off, while a lot of the screenshots also showcase a great deal of Yakuza’s iconic over-the-top combat. A few of the character models are looking a bit lacking in definition, which can be said of some of the environments as well, but all in all, it’s looking decent enough. This isn’t a remake, after all, only a remaster, and we can’t have the Dragon Engine treatment in every Yakuza game.

Recently, Sega also released a video for the Yakuza 4 remaster that showed off some of the game’s combat in action. You can take a look at it through here. Yakuza 4 Remaster is due out in Japan for the PS4 on January 17, 2019- no western release has been confirmed yet.

Yakuza Kiwami 2, the remake of Yakuza 2, is now out in the West, the fourth Yakuza game to launch within the last year and a half. And just like Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza 6, it’s absolutely excellent- perhaps even more so than all of them. More than anything, these recent releases have seen a boost in popularity for this franchise outside of Japan, and it seems Sega are becoming very aware of that fact.

In Japan, remastered editions of Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 are also releasing between this year and the next. Until now, we’ve had no information regarding whether these remasters would make it to the West, but a recent official Sega survey suggests that they’re definitely considering bringing over these games, maybe even along with some spin-offs, at some point to markets outside of Japan.

The official survey asks questions regarding how interested users would be in buying remasters of Yakuza games, new games in the series, and other games created by the team, such as Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, which, in fact, is bound to launch outside of Japan not long from now. The survey also asks a question about spin-off titles such as Yakuza: Ishin! and Yakuza: Kenzan! which were never released in the West. The very fact that Sega is asking these questions means there is a chance that we’ll be getting to see more Yakuza games (and more) releasing in the West in the future.

Sega’s definitely been working on expanding Yakuza’s audiences in the last few months. Outside of a string excellent releases, they’ve also released Yakuza 0 on PC. A PC release for Yakuza Kiwami is also in the pipeline, and recent reports suggest one for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life might be too. In the meantime, you can enjoy Yakuza Kiwami 2, as it’s now out for the PS4 across the world.

Yakuza 6 finally saw an end to the dramatic and long-running story of Kazama Kiryu. If you’re itching to play some more of Yakuza, then you’ll be excited to know that some of the older games in the series, namely Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5 are being remastered, and will release between this year and the next, according to this week’s issue of Dengeki PlayStation.

Yakuza 3 will actually be out quite soon as it set to release on August 9. The game is priced at 3990 yen, and will also come with a download code for the game’s soundtrack. Yakuza 4 is set to release during Fall of this year and Yakuza 5 will release in Spring of 2019. The remasters will not come with any added content, but will bring improved resolutions and framerates. This will allow you to experience these older games on the PS4 and they’ll look better than they ever did before.

A western version has not been announced yet. Are you excited to try out these games for yourself? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks, Ryokutya2089.

It sounds like the remake of Yakuza for the PlayStation 4, Yakuza Kiwami, has done well for Sega- well enough, at any rate, that it seems like the company is now open to PS4 remakes of the other games in the crime drama series.

During a livestream earlier this week (via DualShockers), Producer Toshihiro Nagoshi mentioned that Yakuza: Kiwami had done exceedingly well since its release, selling half a million in Japan and Asian countries alone, and that that had prompted Sega to consider remakes of the other Yakuza games for the PS4- these would include Yakuza 2, 3, 4, and 5.

While this does not count as an official announcement, it is clear that Sega is exploring the idea to the extent that they feel comfortable enough floating it in public. Hopefully, remakes for further games in the series are announced soon. Meanwhile, Yakuza fans in the west can either pick up Yakuza 5 for the PS3 (free this month if you are a subscriber of PS+!) or wait for the release of Yakuza 0 on the PS4.

Yakuza fans in the west have had a painful few last years, as Sega has continued to release more and more games in Japan, but they have had to sit on the sidelines, waiting for localizations that never came, as Sega apparently completely lost interest in bringing the franchise out of Japan any more.

That changed today. At their PlayStation Experience keynote, Sony confirmed that their third party development team has been working with Sega, and that Yakuza 5 will indeed be launching on the PlayStation 3 in the west this coming summer. So rejoice!

That wasn’t even all for Yakuza fans, though, as Sony also confirmed that Yakuza 4 and Yakuza: Dead Souls would each be getting PSN releases as well.

After being snubbed for so long, it was so nice to see western Yakuza fans being acknowledged. Hopefully these games are successful enough that Sega can deliver on more consistent localizations going forward.

In an attempt to alleviate the occasional repetition that has plagued previous games in the series, Yakuza 4 takes a very different narrative direction from that of its precursors. Though the game still primarily takes place in the partially fictitious representation of Tokyo’s Red Light District, Kamurocho, it opts for a four way split narrative rather than focusing solely on the continued adventures of Kazuma Kiryu. Fear not loyal Kazuma fans for one of the story segments revolves around him, but the other three are dedicated to our three new protagonist: Shun Akiyama who offers interest free loans for those willing to agree to his strange terms involving altruistic tasks, Taiga Saejima who is seeking revenge after his family have been usurped within the Yakuza following his long stint in prison and Masayoshi Tanamura who works for the police with a bizarre sense of justice and morality.

Yakuza 4 probably has more characters in it than the average Tolstoy novel

If it sounds a bit confusing keeping track of all these names, then that’s because it really is. This is one of the aspects where Yakuza 4 has some difficulties. The story in the Yakuza series has always been rich and complex, but the trade-off for this is that missing one instalment will make catching up with the plot a trying task. I thought that the new protagonists would make Yakuza 4 a good entry point for newcomers to the series, but alas this is not the case. The story in Yakuza 4 has some serious highlights, with tense moments, complex characters and appealing set-pieces regularly keeping you on your toes. The problem is that the game throws up many Japanese place names that western audiences may have difficulty grasping, and it also alludes to characters and events from previous instalments in the franchise that newcomers to the franchise will likely find confusing and alienating. There are the reminiscence cut-scenes you can view from the menu that fill you in on the proceedings of the previous Yakuza games, but there’s a hell of a lot of information you’ll need to soak up and its unlikely you’ll want to sit through the entire duration in one go if you’ve just started up the game. Yakuza 4 has a solid and entertaining narrative of a certain quality that many of our western titles are missing. Sadly, you have to engage the old grey matter to get the most out of it, and we all know that the average Joe is a little too lazy to bother with that if the current games in the chart are anything to go by.

Pushing the story forward is Yakuza’s gameplay, which is divided between fighting sections and exploration segments. The exploration of Kamurocho is what takes up most of your time and, though you can just consider it the way you get from A to B, the game world is absolutely jam packed with stuff to do. It might be some casual gambling in pachinko parlours, training up the hostesses who work in your bar as Akiyama, tracking down police leads on the side as Tanamura or one of the many other sub-stories that the locals will involve you in as you roam the town. There are also more persistent side-quests that dot the city, namely the search for keys that open the mysterious sets of item-filled lockers around the city. You’ll be unlikely to find yourself with nothing to do at any time during Yakuza 4.

Kamurocho looks as detailed and vibrant as ever

Even if you choose not to engage in the game’s many side-quests, the district of Kamurocho still manages to feel like a living environment that works around you due to Yakuza 4’s impressive visuals. The game world is detailed in terms of both mechanics and visuals, with the new rooftop and underground sections of Kamurocho providing a needed variety to the same streets we’ve seen in all the Yakuza games. The textures and environments haven’t progressed much since Yakuza 3 (not that they had much improving to do considering how nice Yakuza 3 looked) but it is good to see character models getting a major upgrade. One of my big problems with the previous Yakuza game was that the running animations during the game’s exploration sections looked wooden and low budget, but this problem has been well rectified with all animations now looking silky smooth. Its games like this that remind me of what the PS3 is truly capable of.

As you plough through the game’s story you’ll find yourself having to fight through a variety of different conflicts; rather obviously considering how wound up the game is in yakuza culture. The combat plays out in an easy to pick up kind of way, with the standard square for light attacks and triangle for hard attacks control set-up. Whilst this simplicity is part of what generates the thrills of the game’s combat, there is no doubt that the basic and repeating combos soon become tiresome.

The combat is fun to begin with, but you’ll start to see yourself relying on the same moves constantly

There is thankfully more to the proceedings than initially meets the eye. You have a heat gauge accompanying your health bar that fills up as you fight well and lowers if you are hit or wait too long between combos. When filled you can perform powerful heat actions, provided you are in the right conditions to perform the moves. The heat actions are varied and satisfyingly gory though some of the contexts you need to pull off the more advanced ones are quite tricky, meaning you’ll find yourself relying on the same few time and time again. You can gain new heat actions by levelling up. You gain EXP as you fight and explore Kamurocho, and levelling gives you points that you can invest in a variety of active skills and passive feats. It’s also a nice touch to see each character having separate skills they can learn and use in combat. It definitely helps keep the combat fresh as you change between characters in the narrative. The only major gripe I hold with the levelling system is that the skills you can learn are almost identical to those found in Yakuza 3. Sure there are a few new names in the list, but it largely felt like I was experiencing some serious Deja Vu. There are also a variety of weapons you can craft and find in the game’s map for use. There is an enjoyment in the brutality of slaying a guy with a traffic cone but, again, there aren’t many new weapons we haven’t seen in Yakuza 3.

Part of the game’s satisfaction in combat comes from the peppered use of some strong sound effects. The music too lends to the game’s strengths with its catchy melodies, even if it does sound a bit too much like your standard J rock and metal tracks. The voice acting also deserves some praise but, with it only being available in Japanese with subtitles, there are some less culturally accepting gamers who will be put off by this. There is also the continued irritant of many scenes suddenly dropping the voiced dialogue and descending into just text. The fact that most of these text scenes also contained a lot of awkwardly translated “engrish” furthers the notion of a sudden drop in production values. When the voice acting is of such a high standard, it makes no sense for it to cut out so regularly during the course of the game.

The boys are back in town

If I had to describe Yakuza 4 in a single phrase, it would have to be “frustratingly impressive.” The game’s visuals, attention to detail and tightly packed story all shine in a sea of mediocrity that tends to wash over many of our top selling games at the moment, but there are so many other more annoying elements of Yakuza that prevent it from being an instant classic. For every engaging side-quest you happen to stumble across, there are an infinite amount of random street thugs engaging you in repetitive street brawls. For every dramatic moment of meaningful story exposition, there are random text based conversation with an amateurish school boy translation. I have a certain affection for any game that takes its storytelling seriously, and Yakuza 4 is such a game. If you want a solid narrative with tonnes of content on disc and can put up with the frustrations, or if you’re really hankering to get more of the same Yakuza action, then consider Yakuza 4 worth picking up. If you’re the average gamer who can barely be patient enough to sit through a loading screen, then this game will prove too slow paced for your liking.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.