After learning Yakuza 7 will be turn-based and titled Yakuza: Like a Dragon in the west, TGS revealed a wealth of new details we haven’t gotten to talk about yet.
Several new mini-games were revealed, starting with Dragon Kart!
Yes, Yakuza now will have its own kart racing mini-game, complete with item pick-ups to give you a boost or attack your opponents with.
There is also a movie theater mini-game where Ichiban will need to fight sleepiness by repelling sheep so he can stay awake for the entire move.
Finally, they revealed a PachiSlot mini-game that will include collaborations with actual Pachislot games.
A story trailer was also released. While it covers a lot of the same points as the original announcement trailer, it includes new details as well, especially near the end where it shows some of the characters and factions Ichiban will encounter.
What we were really waiting for, however, was seeing the game in action at TGS. A demo was shown, which also revealed a can collection mini-game and a Summons system – Ichiban will be able to summon allies during battle by using his phone. And of course, it showed off the new turn-based combat system.
There had been some mystery leading up to TGS, with fans unsure if combat would be like the April Fools Day joke or not and the director saying it would be fast-paced and might feel like an action game if you didn’t know.
So from TGS, we finally got to see the new combat system.
And…
It pretty much looks like a turn-based RPG to me.
I expect Yakuza: Like a Dragon to be a fun turn-based game, but this certainly didn’t calm the worries of people who expected it to be slow-paced.
How do you feel about the next Yakuza game? What do you think about the new details and gameplay footage revealed for Yakuza: Like a Dragon?
Yesterday, the next Yakuza game was finally revealed. Shin Yakuza will be officially titled Yakuza 7: Whereabouts of Light and Darkness in Japan, with the western release dropping the number to call it Yakuza: Like a Dragon (that won’t be confusing at all) and it’s due out next year.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a turn-based RPG that follows Ichiban–wait, wait, wait, what?
Yes, Sega took everyone by surprise by revealing that the next Yakuza game will no longer have the brawler-style action combat the series has used in the past, but will instead have a “live command RPG battle” system where you select commands from menus. A turn-based combat system had been shown on April 1, but everyone thought it was a joke.
I’m baffled.
After so many series have switched from turn-based combat to action, it’s actually happened in the other direction. Yakuza has become a turn-based RPG.
This has not gone over well with fans.
On one hand, I have to admit I’m looking forward to it because I love turn-based RPGs. On the other hand, I don’t like seeing a game change such a core part of its gameplay. In debates about games like Final Fantasy XV and the Final Fantasy VII Remake, I always said I’d be opposed to it happening the other way around too.
Today, they went into more detail about how the combat will work, as outlined here by Gematsu.
Although it is turn-based, characters and enemies will remain in motion during combat, attacks can be interrupted, and the situation will make different attacks available by making use of the Dragon Engine system. For example, you can pick up a bicycle and attack with it on your turn.
It sounds as though they might be trying a hybrid system, but it’s difficult to judge until we see it in motion.
The director has said if fans really don’t like it, they’ll change it back for future games. I find it refreshing to see a developer wanting to experiment but being openly willing to go back if it’s not a popular decision.
Like the Final Fantasy VII Remake, I’m certainly still planning to buy Yakuza: Like a Dragon, even as I question this decision.
Anyway, let’s move on from the controversial combat system to talk about the game’s story. Yakuza: Like a Dragon follows Ichiban Kasuga, who goes to prison for 18 years to take the fall for someone else, only to find once he gets out that things have significantly changed.
But even though things start in Kamurocho, that’s not where the game is set. Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes place in Yokohama, in a district called Isezaki Ijincho that will be three times the size of Kamurocho. I hope it doesn’t start to feel too open-world… but I’m confident that they’ll keep the usual Yakuza feel.
The story trailer got me pretty interested in the game. I wasn’t sure how Ichiban would be as a protagonist, but I like him so far. He’s a video game fan, too, and they even got permission to directly mention Dragon Quest.
(Some fans have speculated that the turn-based combat system is because Ichiban imagines fights as though they’re turn-based RPGs.)
So overall, I’m excited for the next Yakuza game… even though I don’t quite know what to make of the combat change.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon will be out on January 16 in Japan and later in 2020 in the west.
What do you think about Yakuza: Like a Dragon? Do you think dropping the numbers in the west while Japan calls it Yakuza 7 is a good move or one that will cause confusion? How do you feel about the new turn-based combat system? Am I a hypocrite for objecting to combat changes in games like this and the Final Fantasy VII Remake but buying them anyway? Share your thoughts in the comments!
After rumors that the Yakuza 3 remaster would be revealed for the West at Gamescom, yesterday’s Yakuza news was better than we could have imagined with the announcement of the Yakuza Remastered Collection.
Yes, the remasters of Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5 have all been confirmed. The Yakuza Remastered Collection is available now digitally from the PlayStation Store. Not only that, but Yakuza 3 is out now, with Yakuza 4 to follow on October 29 and Yakuza 5 on February 11.
It seems there’s no way to purchase them individually, which is a bit odd. Maybe that will become possible in the future.
There was also excellent news for fans like me who prefer physical copies. Physical copies of the Yakuza Remastered Collection will be available on February 11 as well, and it even includes an empty Yakuza 5 PS3 case for collectors (as Yakuza 5 was originally digital-only in the west).
An Amazon page is up for the physical collection, but it’s not available to preorder yet.
Check out the trailer.
Now, are these remasters identical to the PS3 releases? No, it’s been confirmed that there are many improvements, including a redone localization (fixing odd translation/localization choices in the original) and the restoration of cut content.
I believe a couple of small things were cut for the remaster of Yakuza 3 itself, but basically the western version of the remaster will have all the content present in the Japanese version of the remaster, which is a lot more than was in the original western version.
Finally, localization of the spin-off Yakuza Ishin is reported to be “under consideration,” with the main holdup being that they don’t know if the West would be interested in the setting. All we have to do now is convince them that samurai games are popular.
So yesterday was a pretty exciting day for Yakuza fans, and don’t forget that information about Shin Yakuza will be revealed on August 29!
I’m waiting for the physical release of the Yakuza Remastered Collection, which is fine since I still need to finish Judgment and play Kiwami 2 before I’ll be ready for Yakuza 3 anyway. What about you? Will you be picking up the Yakuza remasters?
After learning Yakuza 7 will be turn-based and titled Yakuza: Like a Dragon in the west, TGS revealed a wealth of new details we haven’t gotten to talk about yet.
