[quote name='corrosivefrost']Hot damn, Yakuza 4 for $10 on BF? Sold, if I can get ahold of it, I think.
Yakuza 4 people: how does it improve upon 3?[/QUOTE]
It doesn't have the downtime of 3, the story is waaaaaaaaaaaay better, the characters are great (I honestly think I liked the first of the four characters you play as better than Kazuma), and all the gameplay mechanics feel noticeably refined. One thing I was really impressed by was how differently all four characters play. In combat, you've got a fighter who relies on charging-up attacks, a character who's weak, but counters everything to beat the hell out of fools. There's also a lot more variety to the side-quests, and as a whole, they're more interesting.
So yeah, I like Yakuza 3 a lot, but Yakuza 4 is amazing. It was easily one of my favorite games this year.