There was big news at the Tokyo Game Show 2009 regarding Sega’s open-world Yakuza series.
First up is the exciting announcement that the oft-requested Yakuza 3 WILL be coming to the United States. Whoo-hooo! This is a big deal as it was reported that no English version of Yakuza 3 was being localized, however Sega then retracted and said that a Yakuza 3 Enlish localization was still in the cards. And now, FINALLY, Yakuza fans can rest easy.
But over in the Land of the Rising Sun, Yakuza 4 is already underway, exclusively for PS3. And thanks to the game being there, we now have new video and there are a ton of new Yakuza 4 screenshots as well (hit the link to check them out from IGN).
To quote 1UP:
“The story of Yakuza 4 takes players back to Kamurocho, the fictional red-light district that’s a seething pot of mob outlaws and sleazy nightclubs. Now-legendary Yakuza chief Kiryu is back in this town, caught up in a couple of seemingly-small mob skirmishes that quickly balloon into serious business — but he’s not the only main character this time.
The biggest new gimmick to Yakuza 4 is its four heroes, each with his own story — you’ll play through each character separately as the story demands. The rest of the cast: Shun Akiyama, a former homeless man who now runs a small-time loanshark outfit; Taiga Saejima, a yakuza assassin who escapes from prison 25 years after being involved in the massacre of 18 rival mobsters; and Masayoshi Tanimura, a thoroughly corrupt Kamurocho police detective.”
Here is video of the game in action!
Via 1UP