Yakuza 5

Yakuza 5 announced

ega has announced the development of Yakuza 5 and the formation of Yakuza Studio.

 

Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi heads up the new team. According to Japanese magazine Famitsu (translated by Andriasang), Yakuza Studio is not a Yakuza-exclusive developer, despite its name. In fact, its first game is Binary Domain.

 

Following that game's launch, Yakuza Studio will create Yakuza Black Panther 2 for PlayStation Portable, the sequel to the PSP spin-off. In Japan it launches in spring 2012.

 

Meanwhile, development on Yakuza 5 is described as at an early stage. Sega has only just decided to make the game, so details are scarce. Nagoshi is holding a press conference to formally announce the creation of Yakuza Studio, and may reveal more information.

 

The last game in the PlayStation-exclusive series to launch in the UK was Yakuza 4, which Eurogamer awarded an 8/10 earlier this year.

 

At Gamescom this month Nagoshi told Eurogamer Sega's long-running open world franchise was unlikely to ever be ported across to Microsoft's Xbox 360.

 

Nagoshi also said Yakuza: Of the End, the spin-off game recently released in Japan, was the last of that style of Yakuza.

 

"The basic style and mechanics is really an old game that started on PS2 and continued on PS3," Nagoshi said, "Times keep changing, and if we started on some new games they would be in a very different shape - so the last game was the end of one particular era."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-31-yakuza-5-announced

I would like to see some of the spinoffs come over to Europe and North America before Yakuza 5 comes out (which I hope it does).

Yakuza 5 built using new game engine, has five main characters

PlayStation 3 exclusive Yakuza 5 features five main characters and is set in five cities: Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.

 

The five main characters are Kazuma Kiryu, Taiga Saejima, Shun Akiyama, Haruka and Tatsuo Shinada, according to Japanese magazine Famitsu (via Andriasang). All five are playable.

 

Shinada, a former baseball player, is the newcomer. He was slapped with a life ban for gambling, but apparently he's innocent. And in debt.

 

Kiryu is working as a taxi driver in Fukuoka. Soejima is doing time behind bars. Akiyama is in Osaka on business. Haruka left Okinama to become an idol, and is living on her own in Osaka. It seems her talent agency has some nefarious plan for her. The story connects directly with Yakuza 4.

 

Designer Toshihiro Nagoshi said the game uses a new engine, which means zombie spin-off Yakuza of the End marks the end of the engine that served the series so well. Because of this, Yakuza 5 is considered a "New Yakuza", with better controls, and a bigger and better script.

 

Yakuza 5 is 70 per cent complete. It's out in Japan on PlayStation 3 in December.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-23-yakuza-5-built-using-new-game-engine-has-five-main-characters

I really should get around to completing Yakuza 4.

Does that mean another March release?

Does that mean another March release?

Given Sega's current state I'm not even going to assume a Western release until one's announced. Hopefully Sony will step in if not, though.

I'm glad to hear they're using a new engine. I don't come to the series for production values, but the PS3 games can look a bit long in the tooth.