RGG Studio has shared in a new interview that next week's PS5, PS4 game Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name originally started out as DLC for the next mainline entry Infinite Wealth. Speaking to Automaton, it is revealed by director Masayoshi Yokoyama that Kiryu's latest story began life as DLC, but since the team thought it was "engaging enough" to get a physical version, more content was added so it could be spun out into its own standalone game.
Yokoyama added: "We could have just told of Kiryu’s past through a thirty-minute interlude as part of Like a Dragon 8, but we decided it would be a lot more interesting as a game of its own, which is how the project came to be. Though this meant having a whole extra game to make, it still uses the same engine, so we thought 'It’s not like we have to make it from scratch,' and decided to go with it."
It is also revealed in the interview that Like a Dragon Gaiden was developed in "about half a year", which came about from Yokoyama pushing for the project. "I said: 'If you’re going to make an episode about Kiryu’s past, it’s going to be much quicker to make a game about it.'" Including Like a Dragon: Ishin!, RGG Studio will have released three Like a Dragon titles in the space of a year, all of which were done by "one team for the most part".
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name launches for PS5, PS4 next week on 9th November 2023, and then Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth continues the story of Ichiban Kasuga on 26th January 2024. Will you play both? Share your Yakuza plans in the comments below.
[source automaton-media.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 29
Kiryu is just too cool to be just a DLC.
Infinite Wealth might be a day one for me, the main protagonist might be one of my all time favourites. I'm skipping Gaiden though.
Will I play both? What a silly question! Of course I will!
On steam it says out on the 8th.
'revealed by director Masayoshi Yokoyama that Kiryu's latest story began life as DLC, but since the team thought it was "engaging enough" to get a physical version, more content was added so it could be spun out into its own standalone game.'
.......so i do have to ask where the physical version is then.
Yes i will be getting this, although given xmas and backlog, i probably will play this as originally intended (aka as dlc for infinite wealth) as i doubt i will get to this any sooner unfortunately
@Rob_230 I think it's an exclusive on Play-Asia. Kinda silly but it's only 40USD, which I guess could be worse. Claims to have English options & there will be a patch for English dub.
Yes I will. Gaiden first then need to finish the first game in the new series before tackling Infinite Wealth. Binged Yakuza in the past so happy to play 3 in short order.
And is that why we won’t be able to get a physical disc for this game? Ugh
@mwatcher There is a physical disc. On the website, Play-Asia.
Other studios should learn from this. There is no need to only make games with 5 years of development!
You can reuse world, assets, textures, and make fantastic games within a year like good old times
Kudos for RGG studios
I can't believe something this fun-looking, beautiful, and content-rich was developed in six months. Goes to show why RGG is one of my favorite studios.
@yohn777 But not in the US. Have to import it.
Since we're not getting a physical copy of this here in the west (without importing) I may get it on PC. I also want to get it and beat it so I can try the Infinite Wealth demo.
I want to say stuff just to be part of this comment section but I have nothing new to say.
I will say that when Japanese developers are talking about their games and their release, they are hardly concerned with the Western market it seems. So to them, the game is a physical game as it is physical in most of Asia.
Side note. Japan is getting a physical release of Baldurs Gate 3 at the end of December and both Play Asia and Amazon.jp have it for pre-order
@MikeOrator you just love yakuza that much eh 😂
@dskatter Thank you for your completely pointless reply. Don't you think that since in BOTH my comments I mentioned it's physically available on Play-ASIA that it's implied if you're not in Asia you'll have to import? I was just trying to help people lol if you don't care then please don't go out of your way to waste my time next time.
@Cherip-the-Ripper
lol I guess. I went and read the interview that this article is referencing and it's a good read. Everyone who cares should follow the link and give it a look, its interesting stuff.
@yohn777 The POINT was that they’re weirdly skipping this as a physical release in non-Asia regions, so the whole thing in the article about it being enough for a physical release rubs the wrong way for those of us who thought we were beyond this “releasing here, but not THERE” for this series.
Sorry to trigger you so badly, but after that reply…very not sorry.
I'll play the game when it is feature complete with the English dub. I don't like rush jobs.
Wait, which one is the spin off game? 😅
I thought the Hawaii one was the spin off, and the Gaiden one was the regular series.
Shouldn't it be the games that are set in Kamurocho that they can knock out in 6 months, rather than ones in new settings, too? 😅 Not saying it's a red flag, but... you know.
Yakuza is the most confusing series to outsiders, and I've even played the Judgement spin off, and I'm still confused to what games are what 😁
Looking forward to it in just a few days. I'm hoping it won't be so short that the price will feel absurd in hindsight, though. But unlike something like The Kaito Files, this does have side stuff to do, so I'm not very worried.
@Ravix FYI, Gaiden literally means side story.
@Gaia093 aha, cool. Yeah, what confused me is I thought the first Like a Dragon one was a spin off to the Yakuza series, as it had a new name, and the tone seemed a lot more silly and different to the Yakuza series, then they changed the whole series name to Like A Dragon anyway, and now everything is Like A Dragon in the west. The man who sold his name seemed like the type of tagline and tone for a full series game too. I'll watch out for the Gaiden tag I guess, if I ever try to really get stuck in and make a good go of the series, and work out which to play 😅
I enjoyed Judgment, but I was already getting a bit bored of fighting and running around Kamurocho over and over in the one game, despite really liking the rest of it, so that put me off getting into Yakuza for a while, I guess.
So... if it's this easy to port the arcade games, let's have Scud race as well, thank you.
I'm here for every game they want to pump out. There's so much content to do. Physical version should be delivered in a week hopefully
Hmm guess I am buying it twice then.
@CutchuSlow I was talking to friend about that 2 weeks ago. Steam has it for the 8th but every other place even the official website has it as the 9th. I’m thinking the 8th is when the game goes “live” for digital versions, but the 9th is the actual release date.
That's what I call productive!! Guess the team have a lot of fun
Day 1 Play on gamepass
@Ravix - For clarity, the main series goes like this: 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Like a Dragon, Infinite Wealth. There are also two spin-off series (Judgement/Lost Judgement, and Kenzan/Isshin) and two single spin-off games (Dead Souls, and the upcoming Gaiden).
The reason why the Ichiban games feel so different is because it’s making a conscious break from the Kiryu games and going in a whole new direction.
———
Not surprised to find out that it was originally DLC, it always seemed like a short side story before the next main installment. 6 month dev time tracks as well. Thankfully, that fits in perfectly with my plan to play it throughout December, and with Infinite Wealth coming out in late January, there’s just enough downtime to let it sink in before moving on to that game.
On a related note, I’ll be interested to see if it has a platinum trophy, given its DLC roots.
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