After lifting the lid on Yakuza 7 with a release date, gameplay, and trailer, Sega also confirmed that Yakuza 7 will have one major gameplay change – the combat will be turn-based instead of real-time which was a series staple. Previously, Yakuza 7 developer RGG Studio posted an April Fool’s Day video suggesting the game would be turn-based, leading some to believe it would simply be a mini-game much like Yakuza 6’s clan wars, however this is far from the case.
“[C]lassic Yakuza game format reached one complete style so wanted to try totally different to jump. Our experts of action game creation made this RPG with their flavor; hope fans welcome this change,” claimed series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi (via The Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki). “If not, happy to change back to action game for future releases.”
It’s an intriguing change, bringing Yakuza 7 into the realm of role-playing games with turn-based combat. Older games in the series dipped their toes into that genre what with skill trees and inventory management. Hopefully it gels well with the international audience as the franchise’s other gambles such as uniquely Japanese setting and myriad of mini-games.
Yakuza 7 releases on January 16, 2020 for PlayStation 4 in Japan. An English release is set for later in 2020. Given the series’ cult status in India, how Sega decides to price Yakuza 7 for the market will be a point of interest for its diehard fans.
