Yakuza 5 Comes With Five Cities and a New Engine

[The Wooster]

Yakuza 5 Comes With Five Cities and a New Engine

A new Yakuza game arrives in Japan this December, complete with a surprising new playable character.

According to the latest issue of Famitsu, Yakuza 5 will feature five Japanese cities; Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka, each with its own protagonist. Grimacing series protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, is making a welcome return, as is Shun Akiyama and Y4's Taiga Sejima. The other two characters are Tatsuo Shinada, a former baseball player given a lifetime ban for gambling, and Haruka, Kiryu's teenage daughter. I wonder if Haruka's gameplay segments will play out anything like her dad's; I certainly hope so.

Yakuza 5 has had double the development time of previous games in the series, and currently stands at around 70% complete. The game also features a new engine which will apparently let the gameplay switch between adventuring and delicious violence seamlessly. The game is headed to Japanese PS3s in December.

While previous Yakuza games have eventually made it to Western shores - albeit not entirely unmolested - there is some doubt as to whether Yakuza 5 will see a release in the barbarian lands. SEGA has always been a bit flighty when it comes to localizing the series, particularly after it spent so much on celebrity voice acting for the first game, and the poor sales of Zombie-based spinoff, Yakuza: Dead Souls, could be the final nail in that particular coffin.

That being said, if Kiryu is heading to Osaka, he may want to cover up that tattoo. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117364-Japanese-Mayor-Wouldnt-Hire-Johnny-Depp]

Source: Adriasang [http://andriasang.com/con13w/yakuza5_detailed/]

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[Veldel]

I will import this game if I have to I love Yakuza games and they are some of the most fun I have ever had

 

[Burst6]

Does it take so much to localize it? Just translate it, slap some subtitles, and ship the disks. Ive been a fan of these games since yakuza 3.

I hope they tone down the plot though. It got really ridiculous in 4. I was invested emotionally until the last part where it just got comical.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, celebrity voice acting isn't nessicary, all we need is good voice acting, recognizing the voices of famous people is hardly nessicary as long as the voice acting doesn't make me wince.

I think "Dead Souls" suffered from not being heavily promoted. I've mentioned it a few times and most people haven't even heard of it. I think one problem with Japanese games is that they don't seem to understand the need to get word out in the US with a lot of their titles. "Yakuza" might be a big deal in Japan, but in the US it's not that well known compared to say "Grand Theft Auto" and really, why would it be when I can't think of ever having seen it advertised. I mostly knew about it from talking to other gamers.


That said "Yakuza 5" looks pretty decent, and the multiple city approach sounds cool. I do hope it makes it to the US uncensored.

I'll also say that the general engine/playstyle they use could be adapted to a lot of other things. I've kind of dreamed that Bioware could get permission to use (and modify) SEGA's basic engine to do "Jade Empire 2" in a more sandboxy manner.

But then again, I've always wanted to see sandbox games get away from the whole "modern crime" thing. The super-hero thing was a nice touch, but I don't think either inFamous or Prototype really exploited the potential.

 

[WanderingFool]

Well, celebrity voice acting isn't nessicary, all we need is good voice acting, recognizing the voices of famous people is hardly nessicary as long as the voice acting doesn't make me wince.

I think "Dead Souls" suffered from not being heavily promoted. I've mentioned it a few times and most people haven't even heard of it. I think one problem with Japanese games is that they don't seem to understand the need to get word out in the US with a lot of their titles. "Yakuza" might be a big deal in Japan, but in the US it's not that well known compared to say "Grand Theft Auto" and really, why would it be when I can't think of ever having seen it advertised. I mostly knew about it from talking to other gamers.


That said "Yakuza 5" looks pretty decent, and the multiple city approach sounds cool. I do hope it makes it to the US uncensored.

I'll also say that the general engine/playstyle they use could be adapted to a lot of other things. I've kind of dreamed that Bioware could get permission to use (and modify) SEGA's basic engine to do "Jade Empire 2" in a more sandboxy manner.

But then again, I've always wanted to see sandbox games get away from the whole "modern crime" thing. The super-hero thing was a nice touch, but I don't think either inFamous or Prototype really exploited the potential.

Dont they just add subtitles to the Yakuza games, and leave it at that?

 

[Therumancer]

Well, celebrity voice acting isn't nessicary, all we need is good voice acting, recognizing the voices of famous people is hardly nessicary as long as the voice acting doesn't make me wince.

I think "Dead Souls" suffered from not being heavily promoted. I've mentioned it a few times and most people haven't even heard of it. I think one problem with Japanese games is that they don't seem to understand the need to get word out in the US with a lot of their titles. "Yakuza" might be a big deal in Japan, but in the US it's not that well known compared to say "Grand Theft Auto" and really, why would it be when I can't think of ever having seen it advertised. I mostly knew about it from talking to other gamers.


That said "Yakuza 5" looks pretty decent, and the multiple city approach sounds cool. I do hope it makes it to the US uncensored.

I'll also say that the general engine/playstyle they use could be adapted to a lot of other things. I've kind of dreamed that Bioware could get permission to use (and modify) SEGA's basic engine to do "Jade Empire 2" in a more sandboxy manner.

But then again, I've always wanted to see sandbox games get away from the whole "modern crime" thing. The super-hero thing was a nice touch, but I don't think either inFamous or Prototype really exploited the potential.

Dont they just add subtitles to the Yakuza games, and leave it at that?

As far as I've seen, but the article said they used celebrity voice acting for the first one, and I didn't play that one, so I'm guessing it's true. I have no reason to doubt it. I'm fairly recent to the series.

 

[The Wooster]

Well, celebrity voice acting isn't nessicary, all we need is good voice acting, recognizing the voices of famous people is hardly nessicary as long as the voice acting doesn't make me wince.

I think "Dead Souls" suffered from not being heavily promoted. I've mentioned it a few times and most people haven't even heard of it. I think one problem with Japanese games is that they don't seem to understand the need to get word out in the US with a lot of their titles. "Yakuza" might be a big deal in Japan, but in the US it's not that well known compared to say "Grand Theft Auto" and really, why would it be when I can't think of ever having seen it advertised. I mostly knew about it from talking to other gamers.


That said "Yakuza 5" looks pretty decent, and the multiple city approach sounds cool. I do hope it makes it to the US uncensored.

I'll also say that the general engine/playstyle they use could be adapted to a lot of other things. I've kind of dreamed that Bioware could get permission to use (and modify) SEGA's basic engine to do "Jade Empire 2" in a more sandboxy manner.

But then again, I've always wanted to see sandbox games get away from the whole "modern crime" thing. The super-hero thing was a nice touch, but I don't think either inFamous or Prototype really exploited the potential.

Dont they just add subtitles to the Yakuza games, and leave it at that?

As far as I've seen, but the article said they used celebrity voice acting for the first one, and I didn't play that one, so I'm guessing it's true. I have no reason to doubt it. I'm fairly recent to the series.

Sega was under the impression the first game was going to be the next GTA, so they spent quite a bit on the localization. Since that tanked, they've stuck to subs.

 

[s_h_a_d_o]

I will import this game if I have to I love Yakuza games and they are some of the most fun I have ever had

Same here - I really liked Yakuza 4.
I'd even settle for poorly-synched, overly-melodramatic, badly-dubbed voice-overs...
in fact, I'd love that! Would remind me of the Asian film and television productions of my youth.

 

[Andronicus]

Does it take so much to localize it? Just translate it, slap some subtitles, and ship the disks. Ive been a fan of these games since yakuza 3.

I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that, otherwise they wouldn't make such a big deal out of things like the segregation of the American, European/Australasian and Japanese PSNs. I'd imagine there's all sorts of copyright issues, distribution issues, compatibility issues, classification/cultural issues, that sort of stuff. That, and I think you're understating the idea of "just translating something". Releasing overseas with sub-par translation is both insulting to us as english-speakers and insulting to the writers/devs who put in the effort to make something worth experiencing in the game. Doing it properly takes time and money.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Uh-oh a schoolgirl,
in Japan.
http://theawesomer.com/photos/2009/01/010309_grape_1.jpg

Fortunately the Yakuza series was always more about japanese culture then it was about stuff foreigen people think about japanese culture. Well, for the most part. There were some obviously parodical parts.

 

[wooty]

I'm glad Akiyama is back, he seems like the perfect role model for life. I also hope Hana is back too, the sections when those two fought with each other were quite good. It'd also be nice to see if she actually kept to that diet of hers.

I'm quite interested in seeing how they deal with Haruka's character in this, I wonder if shes now old enough to go looking for revenge for her parents O-ren Ishii style. Plus I hope they keep Rie Kugimiya on as the actress, kicking yakuza bum while playing as Shana/Kagura/Aria/Alphonse/Taiga would be somewhat interesting.

 

[Teimuraz]

I think DS failed cuz it was... well, Dead Souls. I liked Yakuza 3 alot, because of it's story. Captivating and serious. Just the idea of placing zombies into that kind of game freaks me out.


VA is not needed in this game, Original voices are good, so just slap some subtitles and release this freaking game in Europe.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Uh-oh a schoolgirl,
in Japan.
http://theawesomer.com/photos/2009/01/010309_grape_1.jpg

Tentacle joke; check.

I dig the Yakuza games but neither my wife nor I finished 4 yet. It's like the AssCree games; I like them but I can't keep up at the rate of 1 a year. I never even finished Brotherhood so I'll probably just skip Revelations entirely.

I'm glad Akiyama is back, he seems like the perfect role model for life. I also hope Hana is back too, the sections when those two fought with each other were quite good. It'd also be nice to see if she actually kept to that diet of hers.

I'm quite interested in seeing how they deal with Haruka's character in this, I wonder if shes now old enough to go looking for revenge for her parents O-ren Ishii style. Plus I hope they keep Rie Kugimiya on as the actress, kicking yakuza bum while playing as Shana/Kagura/Aria/Alphonse/Taiga would be somewhat interesting.

Yea, she can be like Hit-girl.

I was hoping Hana would be a playable character. She looks like she would kick ass.

 

[Burst6]

Does it take so much to localize it? Just translate it, slap some subtitles, and ship the disks. Ive been a fan of these games since yakuza 3.

I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that, otherwise they wouldn't make such a big deal out of things like the segregation of the American, European/Australasian and Japanese PSNs. I'd imagine there's all sorts of copyright issues, distribution issues, compatibility issues, classification/cultural issues, that sort of stuff. That, and I think you're understating the idea of "just translating something". Releasing overseas with sub-par translation is both insulting to us as english-speakers and insulting to the writers/devs who put in the effort to make something worth experiencing in the game. Doing it properly takes time and money.

Yeah it's more complicated than i make it out to be, but compared to other games it's not as much. Every Japanese game that gets translated has these obstacles but Yakuza lacks a very big one, English voices. They don't have to pay voice actors and they don't have to mess around with the game as much for things like lip syncing, so relative to other Japanese ports it's much easier.

 

[The Great JT]

I think I may like to try this.