Much like Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise and the more recent Judgment, the next Yakuza game may be getting an English dub. PCB Productions, the company SEGA hired for Judgment as well as Persona 5, had listed Yakuza: Like a Dragon as a credit on its official website. Said credit has now been removed, but it obviously suggests that an English dub is happening.
It's worth noting that this probably means Yakuza: Like a Dragon will ship with both an English dub and the original Japanese dialogue paired with subtitles. At this point we'd find it hard to play through a Yakuza game in anything but Japanese, but it's a nice option to have, and Judgment's English dub was rock solid.
As for Yakuza: Like a Dragon itself, it's still due to launch this year here in the West, but we don't have a definite date yet. Here's hoping we get an announcement soon, seeing as the game's out in Japan next week.
[source resetera.com]
Comments 15
I agree, I'm so used to playing Yakuza games with the Japanese VA and subtitles that it just feels wrong with an English dub.
But the option is there for the folks that can't stand it.
In this day and age, there's no excuse not to have full language localisation for all games.
Here's to the day that this kinda thing isn't a headline.
If mark hammil voices majima I’m 100% in. Otherwise I’ll stick to the japanese dub.
i sure hope it gets one
I just couldn’t play them with a dub, I hit that Japanese voice option in Judgment so damn quickly lol. Fair enough if you don’t want to squint at subtitles all day but it just wouldn’t feel right without the incredible Japanese voice acting.
Ooh, that would be very much appreciated.
@darkswabber the one thing I missed from the PS2 😊 great shout
I'm usually a dub over sub kind of pleb but not with Yakuza, it feels utterly wrong
Fist of North star dub was actually very good. I much prefer Japanese though. I couldnt figure out why Shenmue 3 wasnt doin it for me (adore first 2)...it was the horrible english lol. Easy to overlook at 13 when it first dropped. But after switching to Japanese audio the game has its hooks in deep. Any reviews point out that you can basically play in first person and its beautiful. Makes the long treks so enjoyable while picking herbs
I sometimes play at night after work... reading subtitles just make my eyes get tired quicker.
Weekends is fine, but I rather have the option now.
@RogerRoger I dunno, man. It's not like most foreign language films have a dub and films have been around way longer than games. Typically it's mainly kids films that get dubs in foreign languages since kids can't read that quickly. Well, and films for the American market but Americans don't watch many foreign films to begin with anyway. But yeah, the overwhelming number of films don't get dubbed - and generally the dubbed version of films (outside of animation) are seen as cheesy and funny.
Nice to have the option, but I’ll stick with Japanese.
@Matroska You said it yourself, though, when you said "outside of animation" because games are a form of animation. You're right, dubbing live-action creates an awkward disconnect between the real lip movements and the dubbed words, but in artificial entertainment (cartoons / anime, games, etc.) there's already that disconnect, by virtue of it being artificial to begin with anyway. And you can always spend a little extra development time re-syncing lip movements to alternate dialogue.
I'd love an English dub but I'm glad it's with a new protagonist because I can not imagine Kiryu with anything but his Japanese voice.
Judgement was phenomenal and the English acting is a game changer for me.
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