Yakuza 4

[Shadowman]

Played through the first chapter tonight and it feels so good to be back playing a Yakuza game again! While the city had parts of it still closed off it was great to explore and try out some of the mini games again. I quickly got back into Darts managing to get the "hat trick" trophy and was soon getting treble twenties with ease (I forgot how fantastic Darts was implemented in this game).
Went to the arcade and played boxilicious 1 & 2 which are great fun, just fell short of reaching level 50 on both.
I also gave the Pachinko Slots games a go and I have no damn idea what the hell is going on in those games. I love the presentation of the VF machine though, it looks ace.

Love the rain effects in the game, they look really slick especially if your inside one of the convinience stores and seeing the little rain drops splash against the windows.

The story just seems to be getting going in the first chapter but I already really like Akiyama as a character. Even at this early stage I don't think I'd have minded if he was the only character you got to play as in this game (so glad he's back for Of the End).

[Snaggletooth]

Played through the first chapter tonight and it feels so good to be back playing a Yakuza game again! While the city had parts of it still closed off it was great to explore and try out some of the mini games again. I quickly got back into Darts managing to get the "hat trick" trophy and was soon getting treble twenties with ease (I forgot how fantastic Darts was implemented in this game).
Went to the arcade and played boxilicious 1 & 2 which are great fun, just fell short of reaching level 50 on both.
I also gave the Pachinko Slots games a go and I have no damn idea what the hell is going on in those games. I love the presentation of the VF machine though, it looks ace.

Love the rain effects in the game, they look really slick especially if your inside one of the convinience stores and seeing the little rain drops splash against the windows.

The story just seems to be getting going in the first chapter but I already really like Akiyama as a character. Even at this early stage I don't think I'd have minded if he was the only character you got to play as in this game (so glad he's back for Of the End).

In about the same position bar different minigames, have to agree rain effects are awesome and akiyama is a great character,really likeable, certainly get that feeling theres gonna be a lot more to him, also love the start of these games when Kabukicho seems so vast as you try and trackdown quests yet soon always come togetherso you know whats going down and where.

Not had chance to venture to roof tops or subways yet, Already started my hunt for locker keys.

[Shadowman]

The subways/rooftops look like they'll open up the city a little more, its a neat little addition that several little back alleys and staircases are finally accessable and expand the size of the city somewhat. Hopefully they'll be a few good set peices/battles in the subways as I've seen a few promo vid's with some cool rooftop fights/chases

After playing it though its no surprise that they've picked Akiyama to appear in the zombie game "Of the End" as a playable character plus he has a sneaky little cameo in the PSP Yakuza game as well!

[Delboy84]

Got this yesterday. Up to the third chapter of the Akiyama story. Very good so far although I haven't actually done much apart from a few sub-stories and story missions, I think I'm going to mess about on some of the mini-games tonight

Also my local HMV had this priced up at £49.99

[Shadowman]

Put more time into this over the weekend and reached Part 1 Chapter 4. The story seems to progress quite slowly this time round, I still haven't really had a proper boss fight as of yet! On the other hand the main and side stories have been doing a nice job of fleshing out Akiyama's personality and back story which has been very interesting so far.

Mini games as always have been the other huge time sink for me. I love the shoot em up arcade games (wonderfully addictive) but can't bring myself to start the torture that is the UFO crane game! Pachinko was the most confusing, random thing I've ever tried (I loved the presentation on both the VF and Aladdin machines).
Baseball seems pretty tough, one small mistake can cost a ton of points which makes getting the S rank almost impossible, Pool is still a bastard (I HATE 4 BALL!), Darts is still my favourite of the bunch and Bowling was pretty simple once I found an easy way to get repeat strikes.

[Snaggletooth]

About the same here though not as far in as you, only just hit chapter 3.

Side quest are addictive as ever, Been wasting to much money on the hostesses Baseball even on normal seems a bitch, one missed ball seems to cost you to many points to achieve No.1 spot.

Though Playing on Normal does seem very easy at the moment, thinking maybe should have gone straight for hard, well Time will tell on that one, roll on the Inevitable fight with Amon.

Also, got loads of stuff already piling up in my inventory like Diamonds which say only option may be to sell them, though I'm holding onto them just in case that 1 mod appears, money would be nice though.

[Shadowman]

Though Playing on Normal does seem very easy at the moment, thinking maybe should have gone straight for hard, well Time will tell on that one, roll on the Inevitable fight with Amon.

Also, got loads of stuff already piling up in my inventory like Diamonds which say only option may be to sell them, though I'm holding onto them just in case that 1 mod appears, money would be nice though.

Yeah, I'm finding it pretty easy going on Normal mode as well. Still, with the Arena and bonus fights a long way off I can still see things creeping up in difficulty.

I think the stuff like Diamonds are supposed to be used for modding. I had some kind of Dragon statue thats worth 100,000 yen that I was going to sell but it turns out that is supposed to be used for modding as well.

[Delboy84]

Got to Part 2 earlier. The cut-scene in the diner with Saejima

This is my first GOTY contender, I've put about 12 hours into it so far and have about 15% completion This one may take me a while!

[Shadowman]

How many chapters are there per character? I'm just wrapping up on chapter 4 of Akiyama after a totally badass fight sequence/boss fight. The great thing about that level was that the enemies didn't hold back, huge packs of them ganged up on me and actually attacked where as the random battles up to that point were rather tame in comparison!

Also, anyone know how to do Akiyama's heat move/revelation which involves kicking an enemy in the nuts? I've completed the revelation to unlock it but no matter what I've tried I just can't seem to use it? As a side note though the Revelation cutscenes are as funny as always

I also made a start on the hostess part of the game. It seems much easier than in past games (I managed to choose the right answers every time which is a first!) but I can still see it being a massive money drain so I need to work out a way of making lots of money quick!

[Snaggletooth]

Been working on Hostess Noa last night, did find that while she has expensive taste in champagne, if you drink the Free Shochu you wont be penalised for it.
Almost won her over completely now on about 17 Hearts for her (assuming it goes up to 20).

Started and Finished Saijima (think that's his name) training. The expression never bring a knife to a gun fight shouldn't be ignored, Bring a knife, A Bat and a Stun Gun.

Also made friends with all relevant people, brilliant Assist in fights for the clerk in the M store, but let you guys discover that if you haven't already

[Delboy84]

How many chapters are there per character?

There are four chapters for each character.

The boss fight on Part 2 Chapter 2 He was quite tough actually, just beat him by the skin of my teeth. Back in Kamurocho now with Saejima, which is now crawling with cops.....should be fun!

[Shadowman]

Just completed Part 1. Didn't realise that Akiyama's chapter 4 was so long! After beating the first boss fight I assumed the chapter was pretty much over but it kept going for a while longer The second boss fight was badass Now onto Part 2!

Oh, if anyone needs it this is a fantastic guide for the number one hostess outfits etc. I've been using it so far and it works like a charm:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/974869-yakuza-4/58489555

[Blakey]

I'm absolutely loving this so far, upto Part 2, Chapter 3 at the moment with Saejima.

The fight at the end of Part 2, chapter 2 was bloody hard! Had to temporarily take the difficulty down to easy for that

Really loved Akiyama's chapter and was sad to it go (:() but his act had to end at some point.

At the moment i'm really looking forward to finishing this off soon, but currently am being too social with mates, going out etc. that i haven't be able to play any of it since last friday i think.

[Shadowman]

Just done part 1 of Saejima's story. It reminded me somewhat of Chapter 2 of the original Yakuza which was cool plus it was good to see a character from Yakuza 3 return for more screen time. Difficulty wise it definitely has stepped up from part 1, the enemies seemed far more alert and aggressive.

[Delboy84]

The fight at the end of Part 2, chapter 2 was bloody hard! Had to temporarily take the difficulty down to easy for that

Yeah 'he' was quite tough wasn't he? The only enemy I've had trouble with so far but still beat him on my first go...just, and with only a tiny bit of health remaining!

I'm on to Part 3 with Tanimura now. The police radio quests are a nice touch, although I'm not sure if they contribute to 100% completion. Can easily see myself getting about 100 hours or so out of this game!