Now is a great time to get excited about the Yakuza series, with Yakuza 5 being made available for free with PSPlus in August and new information on both Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 6 surfacing.
Starting with Yakuza 0, which will explore the origins of the game’s protagonist Kazuma Kiryu as a young 20-something man rising up in the Yakuza ranks and earning the moniker of “The Dragon” as well as long time rival/NPC Goro Majima being playable for the first time in a numbered series.
Sega announced that the game will be set for a western release on January 24, 2017 with Japanese voice acting and English subtitles. This shouldn’t be new to Yakuza fans as this had been the process for all the Yakuza games with the exception of the first in the series, which featured the voices of Mark Hamill, Michael Rosenbaum, Michael Madsen, and Eliza Dushku.
A handful of new screenshots were released as well. Which you can view in the gallery below.
The next entry in the series, Yakuza 6 also received some big news yesterday with a brand new trailer, showing off the PS4 exclusive crime-brawler. While the trailer doesn’t offer much for gameplay, it does set the bleak tone that is meant for the final chapter in Kazuma Kiryu’s story.
Several famous Japanese actors make an appearance in the trailer as well including Takeshi Kitano (Battle Royale and the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie), Shun Oguri (Crows Zero, Great Teacher Onizuka) and Tatsuya Fujiwara (Battle Royale,Death Note).
Yakuza 6 is set for a December release in Japan with no current plans on the title coming West. Sega also released Yakuza Kiwami earlier this year in Japan, however no western release date have been given for this title as well.