Sega has announced that the next entry in its crime-filled dramedy series, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, will feature English voice overs for its worldwide release. Yakuza games have traditionally used Japanese voice work with subtitles–exceptions being the very first entry on PS2 and the recent spin-off Judgment–so this is a major development for the franchise.
Along with the news of the English voice cast, Yakuza: Like A Dragon now has a release window (but not a specific date). The game will launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in November this year; however, a Microsoft Store page lists the game as “available on November 12, 2020” with platform icons for for PC and Xbox One. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X version will launch alongside the console itself–whenever that ends up being.
A PlayStation 5 version is now confirmed, but Sega states that the game “will release at later date.” Xbox One owners can upgrade to the Series X version via Smart Delivery, and Sega says that an “upgrade path is also being planned” for the PS5 version. No matter which version you prefer, be sure to check out our Yakuza: Like A Dragon pre-order guide for details on the different editions.
The most notable member on the voice cast is actor George Takei who will be playing Masumi Arakawa, a key character who runs the Arakawa family of the series-staple Tojo Clan. Main character Kasuga Ichiban belongs to that yakuza family, which an important piece to the story.
Kaiji Tang stars as the voice of Ichiban, while Greg Chun (who played the main character in Judgment) voices the character Yu Nanba. Elizabeth Maxwell plays Saeko Mukoda and Andrew Morgado voices Koichi Adachi. You can watch the brand-new trailer featuring the English voice work below and see these characters in action.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/YIAYEzinKRE
Yakuza: Like A Dragon takes the series in a new direction by shifting from an action-brawler style of game to a turn-based RPG. It also changes the setting a bit by leaving the red-light district of Kamurocho and going to Yokohama. This is the first mainline game that doesn’t include long-time protagonist Kazuma Kiryu as the star, but Kasuga Ichiban has his own wild personality and life story to show off in Like A Dragon.
The game has been out in Japan since January, but the Western localization is what’s coming in November. You can get an in-depth look at the game in our video above where I interview Sega localization producer Scott Strichart, and you can catch up on some non-spoiler story details on Yakuza: Like A Dragon from a previous breakdown we did.
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