Yakuza 4

The Yakuza series continued to be a strong seller, though after three games starring Kazuma (and a somewhat underwhelming storyline for the third entry), a changeup was in order.  Yakuza 4 retains the open world format of its predecessors and its familiar setting of Kamurocho, but its gameplay becomes more varied with four playable protagonists this time around, each with distinct sub-missions and playstyles.  Akayama is a faster character who fights with flashy kicks, Saejima is a slow but powerful brawler who tanks hits and fires off with heavy charged blows and throws, Tanimura uses a more methodical and defensive style of fighting (fitting his role as a police officer), and Kiryu once again utilizes his swift, hard-hitting style.  They all become embroiled in a common plot involving police corruption and a setup that took place twenty-five years prior, with each character's story broken up into four sub-chapters.  Essentially, you're playing four smaller Yakuza games with an interconnected plot rather than one large, all-encompassing experience, which helps keep the overall gameplay fresh and the story interesting as you see it unfold from each character's perspective.  Another fun and engaging dive into the world of Yakuza.

Developer: Sega CS1 R&D/Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/QLOC
Publisher: Sega
Platform: PS3, PS4, PC, XBox One
Released: 2011, 2019, 2021

Yakuza 3

The third mainline Yakuza game and the first to appear on the Playstation 3, continuing the story of Kazuma Kiryu as he attempts to run an orphanage in Okinawa, away from the bustle of Kamurocho for a good portion of the game.  Per series norms it's an open world RPG with a heavy focus on side content in the form of minigames and side-stories, but some new polish is added, like seamless transitions between exploring and combat, a chase sequence minigame and "Revelations" - silly events you can seek out to learn new special moves from.  Some content was apparently removed from the western versions of the game, though - a minigame concercing trivia about Japan, some controversial side-missions and a few more Japan-centric minigames like Shogi and Mahjong (though the majority of these would be restored to the remastered version).  Its plot also definitely isn't the series' best and just feels a bit superfluous overall.  One of the less memorable Yakuza games, but if you're a series fan you're probably going to play through it at least once anyway.

Developer: Sega CS1 R&D/Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/QLOC
Publisher: Sega
Platform: PS3, PS4, PC, XBox One
Released: 2010, 2019, 2021