Hokuto ga Gotoku

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise Launch Edition comes with reversible Japanese art

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Seems that SEGA is listening to its fan base, since a lot of people complained that SEGA changed the Japanese cover for the US release of Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. If you didn’t know, the Japanese cover for the game was original artwork made by the Fist of the North Star mangaka Tesuo Hara.Now if you pre-order the game and get the launch edition you will get the ‘Destiny Tailisman Set’ bonus DLC, Deathcry decals and a reversible  cover featuring the awesome Japanese box art, but extended. Wow, did we luck out and get the best release of this game? I think so!

Pre-order Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

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Yakuza 6 survey gauges interest in Fist of the North Star game Hokuto ga Gotoku – is localization likely?

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In case you forgot, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life released yesterday to the west. As is the new norm, SEGA tacked on a survey for those who purchased the game (accessible from the console’s home screen). The eleven page long survey asks the standard questions one might expect, however it also asks the following: “While no localization has been announced at this time, how interested are you in the Fist of the North Star game created by the developers of Yakuza?” with the possible replies being: “would not buy it,” “I probably wouldn’t buy it,” “I’d buy it under the right conditions,” “I’d probably buy it” and “Day One! I would pre-order it!”.

This isn’t the first time SEGA of America has asked fans about the Fist of the North Star game Hokuto ga Gotoku. In August of last year, SEGA asked if fans were interested in the newly announced Yakuza Studio titles including Hokuto ga Gotoku. Also on that list? Yakuza Kiwami 2, which has since been announced to be coming west on August 28, 2018.

So while we are not saying Hokuto ga Gotoku is coming west, all signs sure are pointing to yes. Fire up your PS4 and take the survey today!

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Shining Resonance Refrain Only Shifts 23k Units in Japan

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Shining Resonance Yuuma Jenius

Shining Resonance Refrain has launched in Japan and it has not put up great numbers. The game debuted number 6 in the Japanese Media Crate charts only shifting 23,054 units, this only being on the PlayStation 4 in Japan. The game was even outsold by Far Cry 5 which shifted 75,474 units! SEGA also saw a massive drop in sales for Valkyria Chronicles 4, with the game only making the chart at 9,108 units sold this week (bringing the total to 72,029). SEGA’s Hokuto ga Gotoku also charted at number 17 by selling 4,604 units (bringing the total to 156,805).

I have to say its not a great time for SEGA’s Japanese sales, all these numbers seem rather low. I guess we will have to see if they try to ‘shift’ directions once again. Who knows, maybe a few of these games will do good in the West?

[Source: Gematsu]

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Hokuto ga Gotoku gets a great review score from Weekly Famitsu

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The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has reviewed SEGA’s Hokuto ga Gotoku, the Yakuza Studio’s take on a Fist of the North Star game. The following are the review scores in the latest issue:

 

  • Crossing Souls (PS4) – 7/8/8/7 [30/40]
  • Fortissimo (PS Vita) – 8/8/8/8 [32/40]
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku (PS4) – 9/9/9/8 [35/40]
  • Immortal Redneck (PS4, Xbox One) – 7/7/8/7 [29/40]
  • Lucky Dog 1 (PS Vita) – 8/8/8/8 [32/40]
  • Tower of Babel (Switch) – 7/6/7/7 [27/40]
  • Your Four Knight Princesses Training Story (PS4, PS Vita, Switch) – 8/7/7/7 [29/40]

As for the legitimacy of the scores, a lot of people online agree that Famitsu is a industry magazine that always gives good scores to high bidders. Is it true? Who knows, but I had some hands-on with the Hokuto ga Gotoku demo and quite enjoyed it myself. Now we just wait to see if the game heads west…

[Source: Gematsu]

 

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SEGA News Bits: Hokuto ga Gotoku Demo Hands-On Impressions

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SEGA has released their demo for Yakuza Studio’s Hokuto ga Gotoku (Fist of the North Star). The demo had two different modes to try out, one that taught you the basics, while the other mode sends you on a quest to fix your newly acquired vehicle.  On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our impressions of the demo, how the driving works, how the combat is different from past Yakuza titles and what we noticed in our initial play through of the demo. Check out our video and have you tried out the demo? Let us know in the comments below.

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Hokuto ga Gotoku demo hits Japanese PSN later today

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If you have been waiting to get your hands on Hokuto ga Gotoku, the Yakuza Studio’s take on a Fist of the North Star game, you won’t have to wait that long since the demo is launching in Japan on February 22nd! Considering how time zones work, if you live in America it should be later tonight.

If you live in America (like me) it will hit the Japanese PSN store at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET.

The demo will include

  • “Experience Hokuto Shinken” – Learn the game systems by battling Shin. Includes a battle tutorial.
  • “Experience the Story” – Play a side mission from the game. This mission will have Ken driving a buggy, fighting scoundrels, and exploring Eden.

Hokuto ga Gotoku will hit PlayStation 4 in Japan on March 8, no release dates announced outside of Japan. Yet SEGA was (not so) quick to announce Shining Resonance Re:frain, so don’t count this game out yet.

[Via: Gematsu]

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SEGA reports video game division doing well, everything else not so much

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It seems that SEGA is really working hard to turn their console publishing arm around, with recent changes on how they localize games which included announcing three Yakuza games coming to the West. This of course has fans like me very excited and yesterday SEGA-Sammy posted their financial report that ended on December 31st, 2017. It was filled with good and bad news.

Let’s take a look at what SEGA-Sammy had to say about their performance in the last nine months.

Continue Reading ➜

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SEGA releases over an hour of Hokuto Ga Gotoku gameplay

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For SEGA fans that are big fans of the First of the North Star (Hokuto Ga Gotoku) series, SEGA of Japan have now done a long form stream showing off over an hour of gameplay. As you can tell from the gameplay, Hokuto Ga Gotoku is very much a licensed Fist of the North Star game built on top of the Yakuza 0 engine. This isn’t the first time that SEGA has done something like this, Yakuza Kiwami was built this way. I just find it weird that they kept a lot of the same UI design from the Yakuza series, would have been cool to see reworked maps and other UI designed by the manga creator instead of just reusing the Yakuza look.

Hokuto ga Gotoku is coming out on PlayStation 4, in Japan on March 8 with a standard and “Century’s End Premium” edition. SEGA hasn’t mention anything about this game coming out outside of Japan… fingers crossed!

[Via: Gematsu]

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SEGA Master System Fist of the North Star gets English translation patch

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If you are one of the many people excited for the upcoming PlayStation 4 Fist of the North Star (Hokuto Ga Gotoku), you might have something to play while you wait. If you didn’t know SEGA has created and published several Fist of the North games in the past, their first title was Hokuto No Ken (Fist of the North Star in Japanese), which released on the SEGA Master System (Mark III in Japan) in 1986. The game did make it outside of Japan as Black Belt, dropping all licenses to the manga. SEGA would later release a sequel to the game, which we got as Last Battle.

Fist of the North Star (SMS) Translation

As far as the Fist of the North Star Master System game, the title was actually one of the early games programmed by famed Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka. Looking at all the past SEGA published Fist of the North Star video games makes me want SEGA to port the 2005 arcade/PlayStation 2 game by Arc System Works. Please SEGA? While its cool to have a English patch, I don’t think you really need it to play the game.

The SEGA Master System version of the game will also be playable in the upcoming PlayStation 4 game, as an unlockable. No idea if the new one will make it over stateside. I guess we can only hope.

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SEGA News Bits: What to expect from SEGA in 2018

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On this episode of the SEGA News Bits, we say goodbye to 2017 and start discussing what SEGA has in store for 2018. Join us as we discuss all the major releases from SEGA, SEGA related games not published by SEGA and what surprise announcements we think SEGA has for us next year. So sit back, listen in and let us know what SEGA title you are looking forward to the most in 2018!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Hokuto ga Gotoku Limited Edition PlayStation 4 announced

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While I put SEGA in the title, this was actually shown off by Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia. This Hokuto ga Gotoku limited edition PlayStation 4 is set to hit Japan this March 8th, 2018. The limited edition console will be sold on the Japanese Sony Store and come in 500GB for 33,480 plus tax ($296 USD) or 1TB model for 38,480 plus tax ($340 USD).

  • PlayStation 4 console (Jet Black)
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 top cover
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 original theme
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 original designed package
  • DualShock 4 Jet Black controller
  • Monaural headset
  • Power cable
  • HDMI cable
  • USB cable

Yeah, it does seem that the Hokuto ga Gotoku limited edition PlayStation 4 won’t be coming with a copy of the game. It seems to be a normal think for Japanese limited edition consoles. Seems like a good move for a publisher like SEGA but not so great for consumers. SEGA has yet to announce Hokuto ga Gotoku localization, but they already announced Catherine: Full Body? What gives?

[Source: Siliconera]

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Hokuto ga Gotoku unleashes trailer, details Pressure Point Action system

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First up we have a new debut trailer for Hokuto ga Gotoku, which was revealed by SEGA via their live stream. This trailer has about six minutes of gameplay. We get to see a few things displayed in this trailer, including the “Pressure Point Action” system, various mini-games and even shows of Kenshiro racing in customized cars. Just like the Manga (wait, was that in the Manga?). Also, we see a SEGA Mark III console!

Continue Reading ➜

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SEGA Japan delays Hokuto ga Gotoku, issues apology

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Hokuto-ga-Gotoku_Bartender_Ken

SEGA Japan has just announced that their upcoming Fist of the North Star based game, being titled Hokuto ga Gotoku, has been delayed. The game was suppose to come out on February 22, 2018 and now has been moved to March 8, 2018. Not a huge change. SEGA also issued this apology letter to fans and thank them for their understanding.

As to why Hokuto ga Gotoku was delayed, the apology letter doesn’t say anything specific. I have a few different theories, one being that the game might need extra time for development seeing as the studio just released Yakuza Kiwami 2 on December 5th. The other theory is that they might have moved it to March because A Certain Magical Virtual-On comes out on February 15, 2018, a week before Hokuto ga Gotoku was set to release. As for us in the West, we still don’t know if SEGA America plans on localizing it. I guess we will find out sometime in 2018.

[Source: SEGA Japan]

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Hokuto ga Gotoku Japanese box art released and it looks amazing

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FistoftheNorthStarSEGAcov er
Below I have posted both the clean and retail box art for the upcoming Hokuto ga Gotoku on the PlayStation 4. If you guys didn’t know, Hokuto ga Gotoku is a game based on the Fist of the North Star IP, being done by the team behind the Yakuza games. The game’s box art was drawn by the and only Tesuo Hara, who obviously did illustration for the manga.

Hokuto ga Gotoku hits Japan, exclusively on PlayStation 4 this February 22nd! No western release plans have been shared by SEGA, but don’t be shocked if we get an announcement release early next year.

[Via: Gematsu]

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Fist of the North Star (Hokuto ga Gotoku) Extended Trailer shows off gameplay systems

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The Fist of the North Star (Hokuto ga Gotoku) seemed to come out of nowhere. It was announced a few months ago and in Japan its already going to get a early February 2018 release. It seems that the Yakuza Studio people are on a roll with releasing Yakuza Kiwami 2 in December, 2017, then a few months after that releasing this! I have to say, very ambitious studio.

This extended Tokyo Game Show 2017 trailer gives you a look at the story, some fighting mechanics, how leveling up works, mini-games (which we wrote about), and the most important thing is that they confirmed that Out Run is playable in the game. What is your opinion on The Fist of the North Star (Hokuto ga Gotoku)? Do you want to see the title come to the west?

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