Tried out the US version of Yakuza 4, the demo at least. I played the Japanese demo quite a while ago and it was impressive. They finally gave the series some real production values. Yet the US demo fails to show any of it off, kind of ridiculous. Four battles, no free roam or cut scenes. Jeeze Sega, if you are trying to start fresh here, at least learn how to sell a decent game. Either way, I'll be picking it up. Looks like Sega of Japan finally put forth a good amount of effort coupled with the localization team doing it right this time. Kind of excited...

Going to the launch party tonight. I'm not grabbing another game till Legend of Heroes 6:FC comes out, and I doubt I'll play much of Pokemon White till I get my 3DS, so Yakuza 4 is getting most of my time.

R4 is out today for $5.99. I bit the bullet and subscribed for 3 months for Plus to play the MK demo (and grab a few games and items for free).

Anyway, R4 is out.

Was it worth it?

Yes. I got Sonic, a few themes and avatars at a discount and the MK demo lays to rest any doubt I had. Granted it's an older build, but so far so good. It doesn't feel like anything they've done since UMK3, and some elements like juggles, JF's, anti air, whiffs are there. In other words, it plays like a proper fighter.

I'll need to play more of it of course, but the first impressions are great. It looks great too for a UE3 game (albeit they modified the hell out of it apparently).

I put a clumsy description of the nights events on Shenmue dojo in the Yakuza thread.

Played the Yakuza 4 demo. I was pretty surprised at immediately being thrust into a battle, I'd expect a movie to set up the plot (or even a control scheme at the very least). Discovered the (left button) weapon late into the second fight. Spot on, Yama. I was dissapointed to not even see a trailer at the end of the demo.

Also, the main guy in the third fight reminded me of Curtis Miller. Ha.

I got Y4 on Tuesday and played a few hours already. Although the cutscenes would make Kojima envious, the game's overall execution is just fantastic and like the JPN demo, it's a notable step up from Y3.

Great characters too, particularly Akiyama.

FUck man, I still have to beat 2.

I wonder if 4 will have anything that can top TIGER PUNCHING.

I never beat the PS2 games and just watched the "reminisce" theatre in 3. Combat aside, everything else was just too low budget for my tastes from a technical level. The art, the horrendous loading times, the layout of the outdoors.

Basically, the combat is the most improved part in Y4. It's considerably more fluid than Y3 and Kenzan.

Hopefully Y4 sells well enough to warrant a Kenzan localization... I really really want that game.