Yakuza 4, that was released earlier this year in Japan, had 4 playable characters and it seems that Nagoshi might do the same for the next Yakuza game. There was a event held in front of Don Quijote in Shinjuku to announce the new game, Nagoshi spoke a bit about what we should expect. When a reporter asked him if it was true that Majima would be the lead, not Kazuma, Nagoshi answered:
“It’s correct to say that when we were deciding who to show first, the first person to come out was Majima and not Kazuma. The visual of Majima that we’re showing is not the main visual. The main visual will show everything about the game. You can use Majima as main character, but Majima is just the first visual that we released.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi, Series Producer
So this means that Kazuma might still have a place in this game, as a playable character. Kind of disappointed, I think if anyone deserved his own Yakuza title, it is Goro Majima. Nagoshi also said the drama will remain intact, but the way that it is told will be changed. As for the game focusing on ‘destroying’, it seems that he was referring to the development of the game and not what we will actually do in the game world.
“Yakuza must evolve. To evolve, some things must be broken. A Yakuza that is being broken is under construction and thus cannot be released. This probably saddens the fans, so as we break things, we make new things.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi
The game will have some small ‘showings’ before TGS, but the game will be shown in its full form in September. Nagoshi says he thinks people will all go home surprised. I hope so, all I can think of now is how this series is being milked.
[Source: AndriaSang]
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I think its a better idea to have multiple playable characters… Goro is the character everyone wanted to play as but after Yakuza 4 it will feel like a step back to go back to just one playable character.