Yakuza series

[Samanosuke Akechi]

Doesn't make sense to me.Why localize this first instead of 5 or even Kenzan?

I'll be taking that statement with a grain of salt.

[Crimson Ryan]

Two trailers fresh out of TGS. One for story and one for gameplay. The combat looks so absolutely brutal. It looks like a Lone Wolf & Baby Cart film.

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[AnimeGamer183]

Damn that looks fucking awesome...

[Poetry in Motion]

I wanted to love these soooo bad, just suffered with the same Shenmue thing, the previous installments started on another console.

[Crimson Ryan]

I wanted to love these soooo bad, just suffered with the same Shenmue thing, the previous installments started on another console.

Didn't stop me. I started with Yakuza 3 on PS3. All games have recap videos to help you catch up with the story..

[Poetry in Motion]

still, had a hurdle to start with, re a captive audience.

[OL]

But this one is a side-story anyway, unrelated to the main series, so that doesn't really matter.

Trailers look bonkers by the way. Can't wait to play that, if it ever comes west.

[Crimson Ryan]

But this one is a side-story anyway, unrelated to the main series, so that doesn't really matter.

Trailers look bonkers by the way. Can't wait to play that, if it ever comes west.

If it doesn't there's always the next best thing..

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[Crimson Ryan]

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KHHSubs translated the story trailer. The Famitsu article has also been translated, so I'll piece it altogether in another mega post when I'm at my computer..

[AnimeGamer183]

Your dedication makes all our penises very happy

[Crimson Ryan]

Characters
Kiryu Kazama (Yakuza) will be playing Sakamoto Ryoma. A prominent figure in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period in Japan, he was often hunted by Bakufu supporters, such as agents of the Shinsengumi, a special police force in Kyoto during the late shogunate period. Voiced by Takaya Kuroda.

Majima Goro (Yakuza) will be playing Okita Sōji. Okita was the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi He was one of the best swordsmen of the Shinsengumi, along with Saito Hajime and Nagakura Shinpachi (Saejima Taiga). Voiced by Ugaki Hidenari.

Saejima Taiga (Yakuza 4) will be playing Nagakura Shinpachi, captain of the 2nd troop of the Shinsengumi. Voiced by Rikiya Koyama.

Daigo Dojima (Yakuza) will be playing Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.

Ryuji Goda (Yakuza 2) will be playing Saigo Kichinosuke. One of the most influential samurai in Japanese history, he has been dubbed the last true samurai. Saigō's last stand against the Meiji government in the Battle of Shiroyama was the historical basis for the 2003 film The Last Samurai. Katsumoto, played by Ken Watanabe in the movie, is based on Saigō. Voiced by Masami Iwasaki.

Akira Nishikiyama (Yakuza) will be playing Okada Izo. Feared as one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period. Voiced by Kazuhiro Nakaya.

Hiroshi Hayashi (Yakuza) will be playing Takeda Kanryusai, the fifth unit captain of the Shinsengumi. Voiced by Shun Sugata.

Detective Date (Yakuza) will play Nakaoka Shintarou. A close associate of Sakamoto Ryōma in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. Voiced by Yamaji Kazuhiro.

Kage (also known as The Florist of Purgatory) as “mysterious informant” played by Yoshiaki Fujiwara.

Yahata (Yakuza 5) will be playing Tani Sanjurou, captain of the 7th Shinsengumi unit. Voiced by Kenji Hamada.

Masaru Watase (Yakuza 5) will be playing Sasaki Tadasaburo, a member of the Kyoto Mimawarigumi. Voiced by Rintaro Nishi.

Yuu Morinaga (Yakuza 5) will be playing Matsubara Chuji, captain of the 4th Shinsengumi unit. Voiced by Hiroki Touchi.

Ogita Kan (Yakuza 5) playing Suzuki Mikisaburo, captain of the 9th Shinsengumi unit. Voiced by Ryota Takeuchi.

Osamu Kashiwagi (Yakuza 3) will be playing Inoue Genzaburo, captain of the sixth unit of the Shinsengumi. Voiced by Shunsuke Sakuya.

Masato Aizawa (Yakuza 5) will be playing Harada Sanosuke, tenth unit captain of the Shinsengumi. Voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto.

Shigeki Baba (Yakuza 5) will be playing Todo Heisuke, eighth unit captain of the Shinsengumi. Voiced by Shunsuke Daito.

Shun Akiyama (Yakuza 5) will be playing Kido Takayoshi, a Japanese statesman during the Late Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration. He used the alias Niibori Matsusuke when he worked against the Shogun. Voiced by Koichi Yamadera.

Goh Hamazaki (Yakuza 3) will be playing Itou Kashitarou, executive officer of the Shinsengumi. Voiced by George Takahashi.

Katsunori Takahashi will be playing Hanpeita Takechi, leader of the Tosa Kin no To. He tried to take control of the Tosa Han and receive the support of Sakamoto Ryōma (Kiryu). He gave orders to Okada Izo (Nishikiyama).

Eiichiro Funakoshi will be voicing Kondo Isami, famed for his role as commander of the Shinsengumi.

Hiroshi Kugihara (Yakuza 5) will be playing Yamazaki Susumu, a Shinsengumi officer and spy. Voiced by Nobutoshi Canna.

Shintaro Kazama (Yakuza) will play Yoshida Toyo, a samurai from Tosa domain. Voiced by Tetsuya Watari.

Yoshitaka Mine (Yakuza 3) will play Hijikata Toshizo, vice-commander of Shinsengumi. Voiced by Nakamura Shido.

Konna Anna will be playing a courtesan.

Interview with producer Yokoyama Masa.
This game goes from a modern day setting to a historical setting, taking place during the Bakumatsu period. Tell us why you decided on that period.
At first, both myself and Nagoshi weren’t keen on the idea of setting it in the Bakumatsu. When deciding on a new Ryu ga Gotoku game, the things we value most are “impact” and “quality”. Things like the market when producing the game, the various circumstances of both the creators and the recipients, and our mid to long term plans for the series are all aspects we endlessly consider. We, the developers, always wanted to depict this world, and it was my personal desire to try it out. However, as per usual, there was the talk of whether we could get to the point where we could consider a project plan by having both product impact and quality firmly in place. As for this “impact” and “quality” in the new game, we wondered if we could make a fascinating game beyond anything we’ve done so far by developing a game with characters from previous games in the series as the core component, and then that lead to a design plan.



Until now, the story, setting and world itself have always been the most important aspects when planning a Ryu ga Gotoku game. But for the first time we are making the characters the central part of the game, and we aimed to make a game in which those characters could flourish and shine the most effectively. The result of that was deciding on the character of “Sakamoto Ryoma”, but it also tied together with the setting of the Bakumatsu. We didn’t expect to end up with this idea. This may not be obvious to the players, but this was actually a whole new challenge for the team.

So first you decided on a character. Then as it turns out that character, as luck would have it, happened to be around in that era?
That’s pretty much it. We just happened to end up with the idea of Kiryu Kazuma appearing as Sakamoto Ryoma, but if it had turned out that having Kiryu appearing as Napoleon would be wonderful both as a game and a product then I think we would have gone with that. Because of this, we are always full of ideas when we make plans. In fact, in the initial planning stages, that was one of our ideas.

You mentioned making Kiryu Kazuma appear as Sakamoto Ryoma was a challenge for the team
After development of Kenzan, there was a lot of talk between staff about how Kiryu would be suited to being Sakamoto Ryoma. In fact, there were a lot of fans who have said the same thing. But when we consider the image in our minds, Sakamoto Ryoma is an extremely difficult character to handle. Sakamoto Ryoma is a Japanese hero. There have been many different “types” of Sakamoto Ryoma appearing in things like novels, TV dramas and films. When seeing Ryoma portrayed in a drama by actor Uchino Seiyou, I really had this feeling of “This is it!”. Nevertheless, months and years passed before I had digested the character of Ryoma in my own way and completed the image of him. I thought “if Kiryu had lived during the Bakumatsu as Ryoma, I think he’d have lived like this”. At the same time, both the ideas and the needs fortunately came together at the same time and so we could take on this challenge.

In works that focus on the character of Sakamoto Ryoma, whether that be novels or TV dramas, there are many different approaches used when it comes to how he influenced the era. What kind of Sakamoto Ryoma are we going to see in Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin?
I dare say I believe you’ll see a Sakamoto Ryoma you’ve never seen before. He feels like he is broadminded, and he doesn’t speak the Tosa dialect. But I believe people who have played even just one game in the Ryu ga Gotoku series will be understanding of the unusual nature, or get the feeling of “Ah, this may be the kind of man Ryoma was”. In addition, we’ve done a lot of thinking about how to match the personality and appeal of the Kiryu Kazuma chartacter with the character of Sakamoto Ryoma.

So the character appearing in the game is different to the real, historical Sakamoto Ryoma?
We haven’t got in everything he did in history, but we have depicted him sufficiently. After all, he was killed at the Omiya Inn (lol). But we have created an original framework and our approach to this historical outcome is different, and the process is different. Having said that, even if we were to talk of things that really happened in history, I myself have absolutely no idea. To be honest, I did a lot researching using various sources, but in the end it’s all as clear as mud to me.

He is an intriguing man, surrounded in mystery, isn’t he?
That’s right. He seems like a man who, while being unhappy over the state of the era, had some modern ideas - a man who protested against the way things were. That’s the rough image I have of him, but I can’t get a precise image of him. So I did some more research with a wide range of sources. However, it turns out I still have no idea exactly what he did. It was then when I went back to my original intention of “Kiryu Kazuma = Sakamoto Ryoma”. So rather than focus on the big issue of him changing the era, we felt that it would be more like Kiryu to have a motive more like what his character would have. For example, the issues of him losing his father, losing the people he cares about. So, he leaves the issue of changing the era to others while he goes along with all his effort for his own reasons, creating what we feel is a Kiryu-style Sakamoto Ryoma.

Another Life, Cross Play and more!


Another Life
Live the quiet, country life at Ryoma Sakamoto’s secondary residence with the mysterious girl Haru in this game mode. Grow vegetables, raise pets, cook, and do otherr thins that you wouldn’t be able to do living the stressful life of the Shinsengumi. As your relationship with Haru grows deeper, various special events may be unlocked.

Meeting Haru - Haru’s parents were killed in an accident and in order to repay their enormous debt it seems she must sell her precious home. For the sake of the poor girl lost on the road, Ryoma shoulders her debt and takes her into his secondary home where they live together. Set in the countryside, here starts Ryoma’s “other life.”
Growing Vegetables - You can grow a variety of vegetables in Ryoma’s garden. Take into consideration the many ways to grow plants in the field and find the best way to do it. Vegetables will take time to grow but using fertilizer and other items you can speed up the process.
Cooking - Use the vegetables you dig up and fish you catch to cook at Ryoma’s home. You can make food and then eat it on the spot, or pack a lunch box to carry with you. By cooking delicious food not only will you be able to recover health, but you’ll also find helpful status effects during battle.
Peddling - Use the vegetables you grow and the fish you catch to sell and deliver to customers and earn loans. Haru will take orders to the customers and when she returns she’ll give you the earnings. If you make rare vegetables and other foods, you can earn even more.
Pets - You can take home stray dogs and cats that you find in the town. You can give any name you want to your cats and dogs. If you feed them and pet them you’ll find them trying to communicate with you in their own way. You may even find some rare items if you get them in the right mood.

Cross Play
This time you can also play using PS Vita. Play the Battle Dungeon, Another Life and other mini-games incorporated in the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 versions with Cross Play. If you have a PS Vita you can now play on the train or even while on a break: level up in the Battle Dungeon or grow things in Another Life.

Gambling Mini-Games - The mini-games available with Cross Play include poker, mahjong, shogi, and all games can be played online. No matter which console you use, player rankings will be available. Aim to be the best in the country and log in everyday for a new challenge.

Battle Style
Play with a battle style all your own and become the strongest person in the Bakumatsu era! Use your katana, pistol, fists, or a combination of these. With each style comes special moves.

There are also special weapons like the spear, long sword, and cannon. Other items you find in the street can be used in battle, as well.

Weapon Making
Further Evolved Weapons - Ishin‘s weapon making system has been upgraded. Make and upgrade weapons to your heart’s content. The weapons that appear in this game include not only the the pistol, katana, and armor, but also the spear, long sword, and cannon. Weapon synthesis is also possible with tens of thousands of patterns available. Weapon making and strengthening can be done at the blacksmith. You can collect the materials you need for producing weapons during battle.
Challenge Strong Enemies with your Rare Weapons - Improving your weapons will raise your attack power, raise your status, and endow you with abilities. Weapon improvement can be decided in mini-games and big success here can mean especially big ability upgrades.
The Blacksmith’s Level is the Key to Success - Materials needed for weapon upgrades can be found in a variety of ways: in sub-stories, battles, mini-games, and Another Life. And as you make upgrades, the blacksmith himself will also level up. This means you can make more weapons.

Battle Dungeon
The New Card Action Battle Mode - In this game Ryoma won’t only battle by himself, he’ll also battle together with Shinsengumi in new action dungeons. By carrying card representations of your soldier allies into dungeons, you can use their abilities in this new style of battle.
Build Your Own Unit - There are hoodlums you can meet in fights on the street who want to work under Ryoma in the Shinsengumi and who possess a great variety of abilities. Discover allies as you progress through the game and whether they are seasoned fighters, skilled in defense, or put stress on physical recovery. Then match them to your play style and build a unit that is uniquely yours. For those who are not good in battle, you can also use money to build your unit. If you do this well, even the strongest of enemies will fall before you. Among these soldier allies exist rare soldiers, as well. Scour the streets to find them.
Challenge the Battle Dungeon - Grow your rallied soldiers by fighting together. If you raise your favorite soldiers you will find loyal supporters in your midst. You can even use synthesis to level up your card allies. Collect many soldiers and strengthen your favorites.
Acquire Rare Items by Fighting Together - In the Battle Dungeon you can find rare items that are difficult to locate in town. These rare items can be used to strengthen Ryoma’s weapons, and can also be sold for a high price.

Famitsu Scans





Swag!


So many thanks to: Yakuza Fan, Dengeki Online, Gematsu, and KHHSubs!

[Henry Spencer]

Beautiful post, Ryan.

The cast for this game is freaking insane. Largest cast of badasses in a single video game ever? May just be. That's really neat that they have so many characters from 1 & 2 in there. Those characters from 5 look really cool.

[Crimson Ryan]

Thanks Henry, certainly makes it worthwhile when members appreciate it and keep the discussion alive.

Screens!






Eiichiro Funakoshi will be voicing Kondo Isami, famed for his role as commander of the Shinsengumi.


Goh Hamazaki (Yakuza 3) will be playing Itou Kashitarou, executive officer of the Shinsengumi.


Shigeki Baba (Yakuza 5) will be playing Todo Heisuke, eighth unit captain of the Shinsengumi.


Yoshitaka Mine (Yakuza 3) will play Hijikata Toshizo, vice-commander of Shinsengumi.


Katsunori Takahashi will be playing Hanpeita Takechi, leader of the Tosa Kin no To. He tried to take control of the Tosa Han and receive the support of Sakamoto Ryōma (Kiryu). He gave orders to Okada Izo (Nishikiyama).

[Henry Spencer]

Guns, fists and blades. The gameplay looks tight, if those screens are anything to go by. Seeing those screens is making me want to import Kenzan even more...may have to be my next purchase now. Hey Ryan, you know you say that you've not played 1 & 2, do you still have a PS2 or are planning on rebuying one to play them? If SEGA weren't such dimwits, they'd have put them on PSN by now.

[Crimson Ryan]

No, I don't have a PS2 at all anymore. Haven't done for a long time, actually. By pure coincidence I was looking at borrowing a friend's PS2 and buying both games along with a composite cable. Possibly sometime next year as I still have GTA V, Batman and Ratchet & Clank to play over winter. A small part of me is still hoping for the HD remake or digital PS2 classics. But you know