Sega celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Yakuza and Like a Dragon series with special messages from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. The video reminisced on the growth of Yakuza and Like A Dragon with significant developers. It even provided insight about what to expect from the upcoming Yakuza 3 Kiwami & The Dark Ties with Ryosuke Horii, the game’s director/producer.
The interview had Horii emphasize the importance of change rather than remaking the same formula, calling it “disrespectful.” He likes to interest new players in the Yakuza series with the new changes in Yakuza 3 and the Dark Ties. While the game will still favor long-time Yakuza fans, it will also welcome more newcomers into the series.
“We naturally wrestled with how much to change, but we felt that simply recreating something similar would actually be disrespectful to the original. So we challenged ourselves to aim for something even more interesting.”
The Dark Ties is the newest addition that expands Yoshitaka Mine’s story, revolving around the development of bonds. It’s a new tale that Masayoshi Yokoyama, RGG Studio executive producer, described as more character-focused, since Mine will discover the truth of managing true bonds in the underground world of the yakuza. His adventure becomes more dramatic when he climbs the Tojo Clan ranks, making him develop with other expressive characters.
“This installment focuses more on the characters than the city, especially Dark Ties. It’s a title you can enjoy through the character-focused approach.”
