The next mainline game in the Yakuza series has finally been properly announced and showcased. It’s called Yakuza 7: Whereabouts of Light and Darkness which features a new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga who is apparently a big fan of Dragon Quest. Here’s all we know about the game so far.
The game will not take place in Kamurocho like most of the Yakuza games until now where Kamurocho itself was basically a staple of the series and many called it an integral character of the story. This time, the story takes place in Yokohoma which is the second-largest city in Japan. Yokohoma is said to be three times bigger than Kamurocho so it will interesting to see how they pack it with content because Kamurocho was dense and filled with activities.
【龍が如く7 記者発表会】
バトルの映像を少しお届け！
周囲の環境や物を使ったおなじみの要素は、リアルタイムの物理演算によって取り入れている。
周囲の環境も汲みながらコマンド選択をしていくことが楽しいバトルに！#龍が如く #龍が如く7 pic.twitter.com/UWAM1TEa6u— GAME Watch (@game_watch) August 29, 2019
However, the biggest change to the series is that combat is now supposedly going to turn-based and not real-time. While we initially thought that it was just for a few side-missions, it seems like the whole game will be turn-based. Mr. Nagoshi, the creative head behind the Yakuza games said the following about the combat system.
Nagoshi: classic 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. If not, happy to change back to action game for future releases.
— Takashi Mochizuki (@mochi_wsj) August 29, 2019
Now it could be a translation issue but it seem like they really are taking this direction with the game. When seen in action it does look interesting but after the Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1 fighting changes as well as the combat of Judgment, it’s a shame we won’t get to go all out with Ichiban.
【龍が如く7 記者発表会】
「龍が如く 7」は2020年1月16日に発売が決定！
本日から予約開始、初回予約特典にはゲーム内アイテムのプロダクトコードなどが封入予定。#龍が如く #龍が如く7 pic.twitter.com/zJhEilg0Q3— GAME Watch (@game_watch) August 29, 2019
The game is set to release on January 16th, 2020 in Japan for the PlayStation4 with a Western Release later in 2020 and will be playable at the Tokyo Game Show.
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