Ryu Ga Gotoku Summit 2022: Three New Like A Dragon (Yakuza) Games Revealed; "ISHIN" Remaster, "LAD 8" and "LAD Gaiden"

[Dreadknux]

OK, so I'm a huge Yakuza / Like A Dragon fan (almost as much as I am a Sonic fan, quite honestly), so these announcements have me really excited as someone who's played every title since 2005. Today, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio held a 'Summit' for Tokyo Game Show, and showed off teasers for three upcoming projects for the Yakuza series (which is now being rebranded in the West entirely as 'Like A Dragon' going forward - which is the English translation of the Japanese series name 'Ryu ga Gotoku').

You can watch the whole stream here, if you missed it.

Like A Dragon: Ishin (Kiwami)

This was actually announced yesterday, during PlayStation's State of Play showcase, but during the RGG Summit today they showed off a new five-minute story trailer. This is a remake of the PS3/PS4 Japanese launch title Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!, developed in the Unreal engine (which is interesting, because the last generation of Yakuza games have been developed in the proprietary Dragon engine... guess RGG is dropping that).

This is subtitled 'Kiwami' in Japan because (like Yakuza 1/2 Kiwami) it's a complete remake in a new engine, complete with updated graphics and gameplay (some of the characters that feature have even been updated too, to include appearances of popular characters from Yakuza 6 and 7). But in the West, it's just called 'Like A Dragon: Ishin!' because this the first time the game has been localised or released outside Japan. And for good reason - set in the feudal Japan era, the game is said to be notoriously difficult to translate due to the use of ancient Japanese terminology and cultures. But, it's one of the most requested games from fans to be released in the West, so SEGA is clearly giving it a good go.

Perhaps this release means the most to me, as a fan, because it wasn't that long ago that SEGA was very close to giving up on the Yakuza series entirely in the West. After the original Yakuza and Yakuza 2 on PS2 bombed, the localised release of Y3 on PS3 appeared with little fanfare. The release of Y4 was given a bit more marketing attention, but failed to capture any hearts, which led to Yakuza 5 originally being a digital release on PS3. Somehow, the release of Yakuza 0 reinvigorated the franchise to the point where a sizeable fanbase now exists. So, a release of Ishin in the West was largely seen as something that was unlikely to ever happen. It's incredibly exciting!

Like A Dragon 8

RGG Studio also announced Like A Dragon 8 / Yakuza 8, which sees the return of Ichiban Kasuga from Yakuza: Like A Dragon / Yakuza 7. The only thing we know about the game right now is in the above teaser, which also features.... Kiryu Kazuma!? But... his story is over, right!? Well, if you've ever been familiar with Kazuma's journey, you'll probably know that a big thing about his story is that no matter how many times he tries to break free of the yakuza life, something always pulls him back in. This time, he's rolling with Ichiban, and sporting some... different hair. Kind of looks a bit midlife-crisis-y, but perhaps there's some fancy 'espionage' reason for his new 'do.

SEGA did say that the mainline Yakuza games will continue in the style of Y7 - as in, turn-based action RPG - so hopefully we get to see more extreme Heat moves from Ichiban and his merry gang of yakuza-busting pals. As much as I love Kiryu as well, I'm kind of hoping he doesn't steal too much of the spotlight from Ichiban though...

As if Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

 

As if two games wasn't enough to work on, RGG Studio also announced a special third game, intended as a 'side story' to the mainline Like A Dragon games (hence the suffix, 'Gaiden'). Apparently this is meant to bridge the gap in Kiryu Kazuma's canonical story between Yakuza 6, 7 and 8 (and, I assume, go some way to explain why he's teaming up with Ichiban in LAD 8). This is said to be more in the style of 'classic Yakuza' gameplay, so more action-based as opposed to Ichiban's turn-based. Can't wait to play this one.

Like A Dragon: Ishin! and Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name are due for 2023 releases, while Like A Dragon 8 will come out in 2024. What do we think of all the trailers!?

[DiamondX]

I'm so glad to see someone post about the new RGG announcements.

Ishin finally being brought to the West and getting the Kiwami treatment as well is just amazing.  I assume that they are using UE4 instead of DE since we all know Dragon Engine can be....something else. Especially since Ishin is mostly based on sword and gunfighting, I think it's a good choice.

LAD 8 is just hype, but I'm not sure how to feel about the Kiryu look. Kinda hard to take him seriously. Apparently he will have his own party, most likely Saejima, Majima and Akiyama if I had to guess.

And Gaiden is...the best announcement for me. 6 felt like a somewhat rushed ending, and I really like that we can see how Kiryu feels after 

Spoiler

having to abandon his family.

Apparently it will be more of an expansion like the Kaito Files from Lost Judgment rather than a full game, but I think that with having to develop 8 and Ishin, this is reasonable.

 

RGG is going strong and I love to see it!