Following a little leak this week, Yakuza: Like A Dragon is now officially announced for PC, coming later this year. This opens a new chapter in Sega’s RPG series about mobsters with hearts of gold, starring a different wrestledad in another city. Like A Dragon also shakes up the action, going from a beat ’em up to a turn-based RPG action. Huh! Come watch.
After Yakuza 6 finished Kiryu’s story, Like A Dragon introduces Ichiban Kasuga, another yakuza grunt who goes to prison for someone else’s crime then finally emerges to find find the world he knew changed – and so many people in need of help. It’s also set in a different city, Yokohama, rather than the familiar nightlife districts of Tokyo and Osaka. In short, it’s an easy jumping-on point for people bewildered by the rolling re-releases and remakes of the original games.
I adore Yakuza. It’s so melodramatic and full-on, as committed to its serious crime drama as it the goofy father figure antics that make up so many side-quests. I’d been put off by the series for ages because it sounded grim but it has such a warm heart. And its slices of Japanese are so vibrant, with bustling crowds, minigames to play, karaoke to sing, and big dinners to eat. We declared Yakuza 0 one of the best games of 2018 and the best RPGs too.
We’re still not up to date on Yakuza here on PC. We only have the prequel, Yakuza 0, as well as the ‘Kiwami’ remakes of Yakuza 1 and 2. Sega have hinted that the recent PS4 remasters of 3, 4, and 5 might come to PC too. I hope we’ll see the full story up to 6 on PC one day. Hey, at least we’ll be getting this new one right when it launches.
Following its Japanese debut in January, Yakuza: Like A Dragon is due to launch elsewhere alongside the Xbox Series X later this holiday season. On PC, it’ll be on Steam and the Windows 10 Store. And it is coming to PS4 too.