North American gamers were treated to some solid demos after the PSN update yesterday. Among these was Yakuza 4, a long running Playstation-exclusive series that found its way overseas. While Japan is already getting ready to release Yakuza 5 the demo they received for the 4th entry last year had twice the content that those in the US are seeing. Story mode was cut from the demo leaving the battle mode for people to test out. This segment consists of 4 brief fights that let the player try out each of the main characters.
Shun Akiyama: This is the first fighter players will take control of. Shun’s primary attacks revolve around kicks. These range from brutal power shots from his foot to rapid succession shots that have his legs moving at lightening speeds. He has great crowd control which was shown by one of his special moves. Upon executing this move Shun kicked off an enemy’s chest, backflipped, and kicked two separate opponents behind him. His size rivals that of Kazuma and his speed and movement reflect him in most aspects.
Masayoshi Tanimura: This police offers handles criminals in a much different way than your average cop and that is unfortunate for his attackers. He is smaller than the other characters, but that doesn’t make him any less deadly. He combines jiu jitsu and akido into his fighting style to create a truly nimble and painful attack set. He can switch from power punches to submission holds on the fly which makes him great for suppressing enemies one on one. One of his special moves was initiated when the enemy was on the floor and this led to his victim being handcuffed. It may not be as flashy as the other ones, but it took Shun’s attacker out of the fight for good. Being smaller, however, leaves him a little weaker to group attacks and makes the player play defensively just as much as offensively.
Taiga Saejima: Much larger than the other four, this ex-Yakuza uses brute strength to obliterate those that stand in his way. Given his large build he can easily handle bigger enemies that the other 3 characters would struggle with. Smaller enemies are even fully picked up above his head and can be thrown. His attacks are sluggish, but when they contact are very powerful. The sluggish nature of his attacks may leave him at somewhat of a disadvantage in large group fights, but he does have the proper crowd-clearing moves at his disposal to make room.
Kazuma Kiryu: Lastly, there’s the Dragon of Dojima. Anyone that has ever heard of the Yakuza series will immediately recognize its icon. Kazuma’s moves are mostly the same from what we’ve seen in previous titles with a few added attacks to make his motions more fluid. As mentioned earlier, Kazuma and Shun share similar body types and movement styles so there isn’t much difference in that regard. His fighting style is well rounded as his methods of assault are greatly varied and leave his enemies on the floor shortly after the fight starts. Chances are if you loved his legendary style throughout the last 3 titles you will be happy to see it getting minor boosts here and there.
Yakuza 4 is slated for a March 15th release exclusively on the Playstation 3. If you played the demo be sure to leave a comment below detailing your thoughts on this upcoming title.
