Tokyo Game Show is just about to kick off. Surrounding it, we have had a plethora of game announcements arrive. One big event was the RGG 2022 Summit, showcasing three new games from RGG (Ryu ga Gotoku) Studio. That’s three new games in the Yakuza series, (but also the series will now strictly be called Like A Dragon… it’s a whole thing). Let’s get started.
Starting us off was Like A Dragon: Ishin, announced among many other exciting titles at the recent PlayStation State of Play event. This is an entire remake of 2014’s Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!, a PlayStation 4 game previously unseen outside of Japan. This time, we’re getting more of a Yakuza Kiwami style remake, featuring entire reworks to not only the graphics and world detailing, but the story. As per the RGG 2022 Summit detailing, characters that are newer to the series (Such as those from Yakuza 0 or Yakuza: Like A Dragon) but weren’t around at the time of the original Ishin are suddenly here.
What does it all mean? We don’t yet know, but we won’t have to wait too long. Like A Dragon: Ishin releases on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC on February 2023. Check out the trailer below.
Next up is the return of the original series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu! RGG Studio announced Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name at the RGG Summit. This venture is a shorter standalone experience detailing what Kiryu was up to following their departure in Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life, and their surprise appearance in Yakuza 7: Like A Dragon.
Expect a return to the traditional action-adventure combat, but also a lot of emotional baggage. That releases sometime in 2023 also for the same aforementioned platforms and I can’t wait.
Last but certainly not least is the announcement of Like a Dragon 8, the follow-up to the 2020 turn-based adventures of new protagonist Ichiban. The new Kiryu adventure is relevant here — Like a Dragon 8 will actually follow both Ichiban and Kiryu as dual protagonists. It’s slated for release in 2024 and Kiryu sports a very troubling J-Pop style hairdo. What on Earth is going on there? Time will tell.
So that’s the latest in the world of the Yakuza and Like A Dragon. Going forward every entry will now be under the Like A Dragon banner, now abandoning the Western labelling and matching that of the East. It’s a great time to be a fan in the series and I can only imagine this is the beginning. What’s next? I hope it’s the niche PSP games and Dead Souls. Let’s open the floodgates.
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
