14 DAY TRIAL // Sega's Yakuza franchise is an odd beast, managing to sell millions of copies with every iteration in Japan, but remaining pretty much a niche title in North America or Europe.
After fans in the last two territories petitioned Sega to continue bringing the series onto their shores, the company has now published its latest installment, Yakuza 4, exclusively for the PlayStation 3 last week.
Whereas last year's Yakuza 3 kept things largely the same as they were in the games released originally on the PlayStation 2, the new title adds three main characters alongside the protagonist of the series, Kazuma Kiryu.
You get to control a loan shark with a heart of gold, a reformed convict that just got out of jail, a dirty cop and then the former Yakuza member who now runs an orphanage on the beach.
You can tell that Yakuza 4 is more than just a regular open world, Grand Theft Auto clone, as it brings a distinctive Japanese feel to the whole adventure, starting from its unique setting, the fictional red light district of Kamurocho, to its distractions, including talking with hostesses or playing pachinko.
For a newcomer to the series, Yakuza 4 may seem quite daunting, especially when the game throws at you all of the different menus and mechanics, not to mention the overly complicated map of the district.
Luckily, all you need to know are the fighting moves that are easily delivered to you in a series of brawls between the first character you get to play with, the loan shark.
While these tutorial parts go off pretty much without a hitch, Yakuza 4 is a bit too eager to introduce you to all of the different plots and stories in its world, and you're treated to quite a few long cutscenes that wear out their welcome extremely fast.
If you choose to skip, however, you may regret it, as you never know what might happen after two or more characters start talking for five or more minutes.
For a brief taste of Yakuza 4, check out one of the introductory brawls against a gang of rival loan sharks, and then one of the story missions featuring loan shark Shun Akiyama in the video below.