^ Hell Yeah So, there's gonna be more Yakuza. http://segabits.com/blog/2017/04/21/toshihiro-nagoshi-confirms-yakuza-team-are-working-on-more-games/ My personal hope is that they make 2 Kiwami, then give the series a break. A lot of hardcore fans seem to think 2 is the best entry, so giving us an awesome remake of 2 then exploring new ideas with new IP would be great. I'd be OK with them coming back to the series down the road, but I'd like to see them end the series on a high note for now instead of running the risk of milking the series too dry.
It would be foolish to give the series a break considering it's starting to pick up steam in the west, though I do think that remaking Y2 and porting over the other games will allow time to create a fantastic successor to Kiryu. Also this new protagonist will be another great way for new comers to enter the series without being concerned about past games.
If anything I think further chapters of Yakuza will focus on Shun Akiyama, considering how big a part he's had in 4 and 5 (and Dead Souls, if you want to count it).
Yakuza 6 stuff: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H9xc4X-f49M https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H9xc4X-f49M Even more info at the link: http://gematsu.com/2017/08/yakuza-6-song-life-launches-march-20-americas-europe
Yakuza Kiwami 2's existence leaked. Possibly using 6's engine. Lesssssgo. http://segabits.com/blog/2017/08/24/yakuza-kiwami-2-leaked-early-by-psn-store-page/
Yeah it's using Yakuza 6's engine for sure. Stream where it'll be officially announced will be tomorrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPtfA507syg They said multiple game announcements so expect at least one more new game from the Yakuza team. Iirc they've said they're working on something that isn't Yakuza so probably whatever that is will be announced then.
Sega Europe just uploaded the latest Yakuza 6 trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C09UWqgad4 So I guess they're actually publishing the game instead of Deep Silver.
Super happy about the series' renewed popularity and recent revival and this is just more awesome news to add to the fire. I've heard Yakuza 2 is thought to be the best in the series so that makes this news doubly awesome. Might actually get in to this series soon with all these releases.
For me personally it's all thanks to HyperBitHero and GamingBrit. Their videos on the series got me interested and after playing Yakuza 0 I was blown way with just how amazing it is. I blame Sega for the abysmal marketing and horrendous mismanagement of the western localisations. They're damn lucky to get a second chance with what they did, many game companies would never be granted such an opportunity even if they fucked up less.
I imagine the recent surge in popularity is mainly cause social media is great at giving attention to how great the side quests are. Stuff like the turkey reward was shared a lot on Twitter and such. plus Yakuza 0 being the first localized Yakuza game since the original that makes for a good entry point.
Yeah. Feels like poetic justice to me. A fantastic series with love and passion behind it that created excellent games, finally seeing adoration and popularity as well as much better sales. You're right about that second chance - you really don't see it often in the games industry if ever. I'd say the PS4's popularity and Sony's helping hand contributed to it too as Yakuza has always been synonymous with PlayStation so it does help that Sony are steam rolling everyone at the moment and Yakuza is quite the noteworthy exclusive series. Might jump in to the series soon. I take it Yakuza 0 is the natural starting point then? Or the remake of Yakuza 1?
HyperBitHero. Haven't heard that name in a long time. Yakuza 0 is the new starting point. We need a 3-5 Collection though.
Also they announced a "new Yakuza series project" in which this guy, Kazuga Ichiban, will be the new protagonist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX09BHL2A4M His first appearance will be in Yakuza Online for mobile/PC, but he will be in future console games too. I'm guessing it'll be a while until his first console game will be released though since the Yakuza team has been busy with Kiwami 2 and the Fist of the North Star game.
What a good day to be a Yakuza fan. I finished Zero last week and started up Kiwami today. I played and beat Yakuza 1 last year for the first time, so it's a little repetitive to go back to Kiwami, but it's really, really improved. It's a must buy, for sure.
Yakuza 6 CE up for pre-order: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074XDLKNV/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=sec2002-20&linkId=ba7b723736ba26f130c12dc87b01894e
Sega just put out this survey that's basically asking if people want to see the recently announced Yakuza games (Kiwami 2, the Fist of the North Star game, and Yakuza Online) localized: http://yakuza.sega.com/RGGStudioAnnouncementSurvey/
Someone is going to have to tell me how North Star and Yakuza are related since some people are hating on North Star and talking about Yakuza fatigue for North Star only.
