Sega revealed new details regarding Yakuza 7 aka Yakuza: Like a Dragon during a live stream for the upcoming entry in the long-running Yakuza series. These include Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s box art for Japan as well as new gameplay features.
PS4『龍が如く７ 光と闇の行方』パッケージビジュアル公開！
公式サイトもパッケージビジュアル仕様にリニューアル！https://t.co/sW044qCQyx pic.twitter.com/VbF4EejX76
— 龍が如くスタジオ 公式 (@ryugagotoku) October 29, 2019
As for the new gameplay aspects of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Sega highlighted the job system or classes as they’re known. The likes of Dancer, Host, Bodyguard, and Idol jobs were showcased each of which allows for unique abilities and a different look to protagonist Ichiban Kasuga. Furthermore, how karaoke and movie theatres work in Yakuza: Like a Dragon were also presented.
You can check out the entire stream right here.
After lifting the lid on Yakuza: Like a Dragon with a release date, gameplay, and trailer, Sega also confirmed that it will have one major gameplay change – the combat will be turn-based instead of real-time which was a series staple. Previously, Yakuza: Like a Dragon 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: Like a Dragon 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 aka Yakuza: Like a Dragon 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 this entry for the market will be a point of interest for its diehard fans.
For more on Yakuza: Like a Dragon check out its story trailer, characters, combat, and more.
