Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Goes Old School

There was more than the usual amount of intrigue regarding precisely what projects Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio had in development for a couple of reasons. For one, there had been more time than usual between their projects, undoubtedly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bigger reason for this was the studio shakeup, after longtime Yakuza series head Toshihiro Nagoshi and series producer Daisuke Saito both departed Sega for NetEase nearly a year ago.

RGG Studio showed what the future holds for them through a summit for Tokyo Game Show and other interviews they’ve done around then. A number of releases in the Yakuza Like a Dragon series are coming, albeit with a healthy dose of familiarity. Some of that familiarity is good; some of it is not.

Immediately noticeable here is the Yakuza name change, dropped thanks to a certain incident that occurs near the end of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. There was also a desire to use a name closer to the “Ryu Ga Gotoku” title used for Japan and Asia, the very name the development studio took on.

One key announcement was inarguably a good one. It’s a genuine surprise that Like a Dragon: Ishin is getting a worldwide release after so much time, but it does makes sense as to why it’s happening now. Nagoshi made it no secret that he enjoyed Ghost of Tsushima, a game with sales and popularity that fully disconfirmed the made-up notion that westerners don’t enjoy samurai games. I was far from the only one who read his comments and hoped they would lead to a localization of a samurai-based Like a Dragon game. It turns out that was also their logic.

This is not a mere localization, though. Ishin is being given a full remake, a “Kiwami” version similar to what Yakuza 1 and 2 received. The game will retain the same story and cutscenes, all redone in a more pristine form, and its gameplay will receive updates for polish. The original game was a cross-generation title that released at the PlayStation 4’s launch in Japan, and on PlayStation 3 for the many who weren’t willing to pick up the succeeding console at that point. It needed a presentation upgrade for 2023.

The Ishin remake will arrive on February 21st for PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC. The game is remarkably using Unreal Engine 4 instead of RRG Studio’s in-house Dragon Engine. They’ve yet to fully explain why they’ve switched engines, and there’s a chance they never will, but it can be difficult for developers to maintain their own engines. This could be their way of working with UE4 so they can move on to Unreal Engine 5 for new-gen-only titles instead of updating and maintaining the Dragon Engine for this purpose.

Meanwhile, there’s Like a Dragon 8, game first confirmed to be development in the aforementioned statement about Nagoshi and Saito’s departures. Ichiban Kasuga is, as promised, returning… as one of the protagonists. The other one is Kazuma Kiryu, who’s been with the franchise since its inception.

I’m of two minds about this decision. Yakuza 6 was a fitting and touching sendoff for Kiryu, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon (the seventh numbered installment, for anyone who hasn’t followed) was planned to be a passing of the torch between protagonists. There were hints that this wouldn’t stick with Kiryu being a boss in LaD, but it’s now clear that RGG Studio wasn’t willing to go all the way with a new cast. There were plenty of vocal fans, especially in Japan, who were pissed off when the Yakuza series left Kiryu behind as protagonist and became a turn-based RPG, and the developers evidently listened to them. LaD itself was a nice risk that performed well critically and apparently fine-enough sales-wise, but the developers were unwilling to commit to it entirely.

On the other hand, I do want to see what Kiryu’s been up to after all this time. The developers claim there’s a reason for his peculiar haircut, the explanation for which is bound to bring the series’ trademark humor with it. Kiryu, like Ichiban, will fight in a party for turn-based combat, which makes sense. The man will be at least in his mid-50s in LaD8, meaning he won’t be able to hold his own against battles with multiple enemies like he could in his 20s, 30s, and 40s. This will be a good opportunity to bring back fan-favorite characters for his party. Shun Akiyama is an obvious choice, as is Goro Majima. But I’d love it if they brought back the largely forgotten (by the development team, anyway) Kaoru Sayama. I’ll get my wish with at least one of those characters.

It will be a while before other characters are revealed, since this game isn’t coming until sometime in 2024. The Studio plans to release two games before this arrives.

RGG Studio knows there’s a significant audience very interested in what’s happened with Kiryu. This explains the existence for Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which will elaborate on everything Kiryu done since Yakuza 6. This game, due out later in 2023, will have more in common with the older Yakuza games in having real-time combat. Again, this game is even bigger proof of how the studio wasn’t willing to go head-on into Ichiban’s quest, but I am interested in what Kiryu’s been doing. Truly, I’m part of the problem here.

There’s plenty of divisiveness regarding whether RGG Studio was willing to commit to the risks they started taking years ago regarding the switch to turn-based combat and Ichiban, and even I’m internally divided on it. But the fanbase can agree on one thing: It’s good that there’s plenty of Yakuza/Like a Dragon content coming in the near future.