Yakuza 5 is in the Works, Despite Apocalyptic Zombie Precursor
Even after releasing Yakuza: Of The End in Japan, wherein players help Kazuma Kiryu and other returning favourites from the Yakuza series survive a post-apocalyptic city, overrun by Zombies – SEGA have come out and confirmed that plans are underway for a fifth instalment in the regular Yakuza series to be made. This vomes on the heels of an announcement that SEGA are opening a new development studio, named Yakuza Studio, which will – despite the name – not simply be working on just Yakuza titles. Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshiwill leads this new studio, whose first title is set to be Binary Domain – an original squad-based shooter.
After Binary Domain has been completed, the team are going straight to work on the sequel to Yakuza: Black Panther – a PSP exclusive Yakuza spin-off that hasn’t yet made its way out of Japan to Europe or America. Yakuza: Black Panther 2 is planned to release to retail in Spring 2012. On top of all of that news, Yakuza 5 has just begun development – although it is at an extremely early stage, having only just been given the green-light from SEGA executives. We can hope for more information soon, as Nagoshi will be chairing a press conference based upon the formation of Yakuza Studio – fingers crossed for more info!
Recently, series creator Nagoshi stated that; “The basic style and mechanics (of the Yakuza series) is really an old game that started on PS2 and continued on PS3… Times keep changing, and if we started on some new games they would be in a very different shape – so the last game was the end of one particular era.” This indicates that we could expect big changes for Yakuza 5, as he also stated that Of The End was most likely the last Yakuza title to be made in the current, tried and tested style.
Yakuza: Of the End was recently released in Japan, whereas Yakuza 4 is the most recent title to get an English translation. We reviewed the game back in March, awarding it a well-deserved 8/10.
Source: Eurogamer.net
Robin Parker
If I'm not playing on a good Adventure Game - still longing for the long-past Golden Age of the genre, when Lucasarts and Sierra ruled supreme - you might find me searching for a local arcade, in the hopes that it still houses titles such as Sunset Riders or WindJammers.
