The Yakuza series may leave Japan in future titles
The Yakuza games continue to move in a new direction.
The concept of a Yakuza game taking place outside of Japan seems (pun intended) foreign to fans of the franchise. The series’ roots in Japan, from the setting to the culture, are part of what make the games so unique. However, the director of Lost Judgment Kazuki Hosokawa states the Yakuza franchise will in fact travel to new countries.
Hosokawa said during an interview with The Gamer that new Yakuza games will take characters “to new countries with new locations to explore, battles to fight, and mysteries to uncover.”
On the surface, this appears to be a risky move. After all, the series has a rich history of Japanese influence. However, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is no stranger to experimenting with their beloved franchise.
As Matt Kamen points out in an article on NME, the series has a number of spinoffs that take the franchise from Feudal Japan to a zombie apocalypse. The Judgment series also deviates by taking players on the opposite side of the law than the main series. In addition, the latest entry Yakuza: Like a Dragon drastically changes gameplay by introducing a turn-based combat system. In fact, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio intends to keep the new combat system for future installments.
As of now, there is no other new information on the plans for the next mainline Yakuza game. While Hosokawa states the series will see characters in new countries, it’s unclear where the new game will take place. It’s just as likely we could see characters explore South Korea as we could Australia or countless other exciting options.
For now, we have the impending release of Lost Judgment to be excited for. The new game in the Yakuza spinoff series promises to tell a powerful story with a new mystery to solve.
About Lost Judgment and where to pre-order
Lost Judgment is the sequel to 2019’s Judgment. The game is developed by Ryu ga Gotoku Studio and published by SEGA. The game releases September 24 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. To learn more, check out everything we know about Lost Judgment.
Pre-order Lost Judgment
PlayStation 4 | PlayStation 5 | Xbox Series X/S
A GameStop exclusive version of the game is also available to pre-order and comes with a collectible steelbook case along with the base game.
Via NME
