Playstation does a Yakuza 5 interview with Toshihiro Nagoshi and Masayoshi Yokoyama

Its been a long journey for us Yakuza fans, I’m seriously surprised at the cult fanbase the franchise has garnered in the West. I have been pretty much into the Yakuza series since I heard about the first title, since it reminded me of a 3D Streets of Rage brawler mixed with RPG elements. After the sales failure that was Yakuza 1, I never thought we would really get a chance to play another entry in the west, guess what? We are literally in our 5th release (6th if you count Dead Souls) in the West and this one sets to conclude the journey.

The developers talk about their goals with the series, basically about how there weren’t many games that where aimed at an adult Japanese audience specifically and how that was the birth of the franchise. Check out the intereview and make sure to pick up Yakuza 5 this fall on Playstation 3.

First Yakuza: Ishin details revealed by Famitsu

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Even though Yakuza 5 only came out 8 months ago over in Japan, SEGA is already teasing the next title in the franchise, Yakuza: Ishin (Ishin apparently translates to Resurrection). So, why not just make Yakuza 6?

“In terms of volume and quality, we felt like we did everything we could with Yakuza 5. If I had to put it out there, I’d say that if we want to do another numbered title in the series, we’ll need a little time for that.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi, director of Yakuza series

Like we told you when the game was first revealed, you will take the role of a real life historical figure, Sakamoto Ryoma. The game will take place in mid 19th century Japan during the final years of the shogunate ruling.

Just like in history, Sakamoto was born into a low ranking Samurai clan known as Tosa fiefdom. Ryoma gets frustrated with the strict caste system, so him and his friend Takechi Hanpeita form a political group to reform the government and resist the rapid Westernization that is taking place in Japan at the time. The villain the the game? Saito Hajime, leader of the Shinsengumi group of samurai that are loyal to the shogunate.

Yakuza & Phantasy Star developers love Heavy Rain


Sony’s big budget story driven game gets love from SEGA’s Masayoshi Yokoyama (Yakuza 4) and Satoshi Sakai (Phantasy Star series), who confess that it is their favorite game released last year. Not only that, Sakai adds that he also enjoyed Call of Duty: Black Ops and Monster Hunter Portable 3rd.

Atsushi Inaba (from Platinum Games) said his favorite game last year was Mario Galaxy 2. I always keep on forgetting that the game came out last year. Just seems like it’s older!

[Source: Andriasang]