Fist of The North Star: Lost Paradise - PlayStation 4

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is a blast. If you’ve enjoyed or even recently become a fan of the Yakuza series, I can’t imagine why this spin-off wouldn’t interest you. This game is essentially a Yakuza title re-designed aesthetically to fit the long-time, popular manga/anime series. It essentially feels a lot like Yakuza 0 as it’s still being run on that older engine - so it’s back to finding save points on the map, waiting through semi-short load times when transitioning into battle encounters from free-roaming, and slightly clunkier movement controls. I think many people might initially think less of this entry due to these aforementioned reasons as well as due to the fact that the overall quality of the translation, chapter flow, etc might be a little less than what we’ve come to expect from the Ryu Ga Gotoku studio. However, I think it’s really important to consider that this particular entry was made by a newer, less experienced team within that studio while the veteran team has been working on an upcoming entry titled “Judge Eyes” or “Project Judge” for North American audiences. In other words, the slight drop in overall quality is understandable - expectations have to be lowered due to this. Ultimately, these minor problems aren’t that bad and really don’t get in the way of enjoying this game. You fight, explore, fulfill substories, level up and upgrade different aspects of your fighting technique, play various mini-games, drive around the desert, and progress through the main story. While I’m still fairly early on, I’m already having a blast. The story is interesting and I’m excited to see where it takes Kenshiro, the main protagonist, and his allies and enemies. It’s silly, serious, bombastic as always, over-the-top, and just plain fun. There’s options to lower the gore experienced through combat if that’s a turn off, too. I can’t recommend this enough to any long-time fans of the Yakuza series or any newcomers, like me, that can’t get enough of the games this studio puts out. Show your support and buy this game. Enjoy it. It’s not perfect and some of its flaws are more noticeable than the mainline entries, but it’s still a great package filled with all that the studio is best known for. Hope this helps!

I'm really enjoying this game after playing for the past week. I missed the entire PS3 era so this game is my first modern FotNS game experience. As a big fan of the manga/anime series this game has been a fun way to relive it all in an alternate re-telling as well as being able to play as Kenshiro. Yakuza Kiwami is the only Yakuza game I've ever played but this game feels almost exactly like it as far as gameplay and existing in a semi-open world/city with various quests and mini games thrown in. Some of the mini games are fun (Bartender Ken, "baseball" - I forget the name!), while others are somehow even more corny (Dr. Kenshiro, Manager Ken) - all of them would never happen in the true world of FotNS and just feel way over the top and unreal in this universe. However the rewards unlocked from these games, especially bartender make it something you almost have to do to get better equipment and money. I'm currently about level 26 and have unlocked many more special moves and abilities, through training and leveling up, making the early repetitive nature of the combat gradually disappear due to switching up my combat style against the enemies who keep coming at me. My favorite part is battling like 20 enemies encountered while driving the buggy in the wasteland and testing out my newest unlocked abilities. Watching the blood spray is really cool, and you can really feel the power of Hokuto Shinken when Ken unleashes on the enemy. I only wish the world felt truly more open and larger, similar to a Fallout game. The world is only open in the style of Yakuza and not like Fallout 4. For fans of FotNS this is absolutely a must buy. For Yakuza fans this is probably a game you'll want to check out (there is a costume to play as Kiryu). For the average gamer, I'm not sure it will be for you. For me, it's great! Thanks to Sega for releasing this in the U.S.!

If you know even a little about Fist of The North Star, you'll probably find more than a few things to like about this game. It's somewhere between an alternate reality/timeline and a "what if?" scenario, so even if you know very little, you'll get the important stuff. Fights get more advanced as you do, spending points on passive buffs and active skills increase your survival and lethality. Some of the moves you may, at first, think you'll never use or see. But then, you get into a big fight and Ken is just exploding people left and right, up and down, frontways and backways. At a certain point you'll stick to the perfect channel to speed up the generic fights, but even then it's a gory mess. One flaw is that parry is a flawed skill, that has an extremely specific timing. More often than not, you'll take a hit, so stick to dodging. Story is fun, combat is fun, side missions are ridiculous. I'm not talking about the generic "get this" or "fight this," I'm talking about bartending, club management, and being a doctor. Ken wears a suit well and can do everything just as well. Bartending is more enjoyable, with some humorous scenes and even more humorous techniques. Club management is similar to the Yakuza series, and only seems more complex than it really is. Spend a few minutes with it and you'll tear it up (when you're not recruiting). There are races as well, but driving is kinda wonky until you get better parts, so it's not really much. Doctor Ken cures problems and kills bad guys in a beat-based game where you jam and heal. It's... magic.

Review 8/10 --------------- As I have now played through a substantial part of the Ryu Go Gotoku franchise, I had high expectations in regards to how gameplay and story and gameplay would be handled. With Yakuza 0, Kiwami 1 & 2 played I feel like there is the same surefire spirit of the underlying gameplay and characteristics intact, but with an entirely new cast of characters with the same engrossing line of play, you have come to expect. As of writing this, the game is currently $20 and you are getting nothing but quality for that amount. Sure it is not in the new Dragon Engine, but I feel that the more anime-esque gameplay is well suited for what was accomplished here. Not knowing any part of the original storyline of FOTNS this is an easy story to get used to and is not too convoluted. The dub is fun and a good departure from always having to go subbed and the voice of Kenshiro is excellent. Graphics 8/10 ----------------- Playing this on a PS4 Pro I am glad to see that super-sampling is enabled as Yakuza 0 did not have any enhancements though it was released in 2017. Apparently, this game runs at a 4K resolution (not confirmed though as far as I could tell) but there are a few aliasing artifacts and low anisotropic filtering. Texture quality, such as that on Ken's chest is a little low for my liking, but the rest of the presentation holds up well. 60 fps in game and 30 fps in major cutscenes. TLDR ------ Absolutely buy this game for $20 as you will have hours upon hours of fun and gory gameplay with a fun English dub and some fun combat. Even though some things may feel repetitive, you will have a fun time with an engrossing story and fun side minigames. You cannot go wrong!

I'll keep this short. If you're in any way, shape, or form a fan of Fist of the North Star/Hokuto no Ken manga & anime series and also own a PS4, you seriously owe it to yourself to seek this one out. Everything thats over-the-top and ridiculous about this series is in the palm of your own hands from the comfort of your own living room. Kenshiro feels amazing to control, combat is arcadey but in a surprisingly satisfying way w/o ever getting too repetitive, interesting RPG elements, engaging albeit hoaky story you'd only get from a FOTNS tale, and insanely full of depth and chocked w/extra content, open-world, side missions, and minigames. You even get the option to choose between the English dub or original Japanese audio (ALWAYS go Japanese lol) PLUS A lotta old fave characters make their returns: Rei, Raoh, Shin...etc And it was price dropped to $20!!!!! Look i still love my Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War still might be the greatest game of this console generation, and Spider-Man is probably the one PS4 exclusive that suprised me the most. But FOTNS Lost Paradise is a game that only comes around every once in a while that just scratches that edge-of-your-seat-with-controller-in-hand-rapid-button-pressing itch that games of the PS2 era provided in spades. And w/todays more predatory aspects of gaming culture seem to become more dominant its nice to see that if you look hard enough, video games can still be VIDEO GAMES! Coming from a 33 yr-old accountant and old school manga aficionado. 4.5/5

If you are familiar with the Yakuza series, this game is sure to keep you interested. If you are familiar with both Yakuza and Fist of the North Star, this is a real treat. It combines a nostalgic story with Yakuza gameplay and quirk. Most of the gameplay and controls follow the Yakuza series. The humor doesn't dry out as it imports most of the Yakuza aspects such as substories and mini-games, however it is lacking. The substories can be a bit boring and it does feel at times I'm just playing another Yakuza game rather than a Fist of the North Star game. That being said, I just wish there was something a little more to make it uniquely special. The fun parts of the game are still in the combat because now you can beat your opponents using the infamous Hokuto Shinken. SEGA always has produced good soundtracks to go with their games and I really like their Hokuto style version of "Receive You". I would recommend this game to both new players and veterans of the Yakuza franchise, but if you happen to miss it, it's not a big deal.

Terrible game such a waste of money

(NOTE: I am the child of Colleen and I’m on her account typing this review of the game). The story is acceptable but not extreme like the original storyline and some of the characters are actually likable to some extent but are kinda shallow sometimes and that’s okay. Lynn in this game is doggone adorable as well as Bat who is more of a little brother to Kenshiro in this game and that’s a nice touch too. The fighting mechanics are top-notch and fun but if you’re trying to do something important and you aren’t in the mood to fight it can be a little obnoxious. The executions for the fighting mechanic are really, really awesome and can be morbid depending on which method of execution you use. The graphics are fantastic and wonderful to look at throughout the game, Kenshiro looks totally phenomenal out of everyone in the game (Probably because he’s the main character). I love Fist of the North Star, I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to call myself a die-hard fan but I have a lot of knowledge of the series and this game makes a lot references to it's original source.

Fantastic game!

Very good

Es un juego difícil de conseguir y con los años mucho más, esta basado en el manga Hokuto no Ken y el estudio qué trabajo en el juego es de los mismos de la serie de Yakuza, En lo personal siempre quise tenerlo hasta que amazon lo puso en venta!

The Game is PAL region and Not NTSC US region as shown in the picture listed by the seller.

Received game really early. Awesome game thank you!