Sega Announces Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Sega unveiled the latest in the long-running Yakuza series today with the seventh main installment i the series, Yakuza: Like a Dragon. While the game has its official release date set in Japan for January 16, 2020, the western release date has yet to be specified.

Check out the announcement trailer for the new Yakuza title below:

The new Yakuza title will star Yakuza Online protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga, but that’s not all that’s changing in the new title as player will also experience new combat related to the new character as well as a new location in Isezaki Ijincho in Yokohama.

Below are the full details on the recently announced title for the PS4 courtesy of the website for the game:

Protagonist Ichiban Kasuga makes his way up from the depths of despair. Depicted until the becoming of a new “Dragon,” this is the ultimate story of overcoming the higher ranked and rising to new heights. The future is in your hands!

Yakuza 7 uses a “live command RPG battle” system that combines the series’ signature action with an RPG command system. It has evolved into a system in which anyone can easily enjoy exhilarating battles. In this completely new battle system, Ichiban Kasuga and his party will fight by selecting techniques with various effects such as attack, recovery, support, and more. Enjoy immersive and dynamic battles against all sorts of enemies.

Yakuza 7 is set in the huge new area of Isezaki Ijincho in Yokohama, which is more than three times the size of Kamurocho in Tokyo. In Yokohama, where every place has different faces, a grand story will unfold.

Characters

Ichiban Kasuga (2000 version)

The Tojo Clan is Kanto’s largest yakuza organization. Ichiban Kasuga is a wakashu of the Arakawa Family, a third generation family of the Tojo Clan. Since he was born in Kamurocho soapland Shangri-La, he is called “Soap Ichiban” by the older residents. Although he grew up without knowing his true parents, he was charmed by the manly spirit of Masumi Arakawa, who he met at age 15, and joined the Arakawa Family. Since then, he has lived with resolute loyalty to Arakawa, but since he is not good when it comes to earning money, he is shunned by the wakagashira Jo Sawashiro, who stresses the importance of money.

Ichiban Kasuga (2019 version)

He takes the fall for Sawashiro, who committed murder, at the request of Arakawa Family leader Masumi Arakawa, who is like a father to him. After that, he spends 18 years in penal servitude. After he is released, the Tojo Clan has fallen, and the Kansai yakuza known as the Omi Alliance has taken control over Kamurocho. Finding out that Masumi Arakawa was behind it all, Kasuga goes to see Arakawa to asertain the truth at its source.

Jo Sawashiro (2000 version)

A wakagashira with a sense of duty and humanity towards his boss Arakawa, who stresses the importance of money. He would beat Ichiban Kasuga down with his fists as a daily occurrence, as he was unable to earn money. He single-handedly takes on the role of the “whip” within the Arakawa Family.

Jo Sawashiro (2019 version)

A martial artist yakuza who serves Masumi Arakawa from the era of the Tojo Clan. He hated Ichiban Kasuga back in the day, and after 18 years, that hatred has not changed. Since Arakawa became an substitute wakagashira of the Omi Alliance, he has the same authority as an Omi Alliance executive directly reporting to the boss.

Namba

A man who was stripped away of his nursing license after challening the medicine from the hospital he worked for to the black market, and now lives in the depths of poverty in Isezaki Ijincho. After Ichiban was shot by Masumi Arakawa and lost consciousness, Namba saves his life and begins working with him.

Masumi Arakawa (2000 version)

The leader of the Arakawa Family of the Tojo Clan. Born and raised as the son of a popular theater troupe, he has been all over the country, but someone shot and killed his father, the chairman of the troupe, which led him to the yakuza. In the past, he was known as the best martial artist in the Tojo Clan, and for that reason the Arakawa Family was established as a third generation family of the Tojo Clan, and he was feared as “Killer Arakawa.” He meets Ichiban Kasuga by chance as a boy and becomes his sponsor.

Masumi Arakawa (2019 version)

While he was once the head of a Tojo Clan third generation family, the Arakawa Family, after information about the Tojo Clan was leaked to the police, the Tojo Clan was eliminated from Kamurocho, which provided a major service to the Omi Alliance’s advance into Kamurocho. With his achievements recognized, he is currently the substitute wakagashira, essentially the Number 2 man in the Omi Alliance.

The seventh numbered entry in the Yakuza series, Yakuza: Like a Dragon looks to change quite afew details fans of the series have come to expect. As for now, the western release for the new title is slated for 2020 wiht no official date locked in. The new game is coming exclusively to the PS4.

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