Yakuza 8, now officially titled Like a Dragon 8, will be released in early 2024 and will unexpectedly feature a return for original series hero Kazuma Kiryu.
Announced during a stream from developer RGG Studio, the game will also see the return of Yakuza: Like a Dragon heroes Ichiban Kasuga, Koichi Adachi, and Yu Nanba. We saw a teaser trailer featuring the Kasuga and Kiryu (who has a new, grey haircut) wandering through the fictional Kamurocho. The game will be released for PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Steam.
Onstage, the game's producer and two voice actors appeared to tease the game, saying that this would be the story of both characters, both of whom will lead a party. It appears to be an RPG again, in the vein of Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon. The team also said it will be "the largest game to date" in the series. Kiryu will apparently also introduce a new fighting style in the game.
As for why Kiryu is returning, the team was coy, but they said the game's theme is about "the man with all the weight of the past on his back, and the man with all the weight of the future on his back".
We'll get an explanation for how Kiryu returns in the spin-off, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which arrives in 2023.
This will be the first mainline Yakuza game made without series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, who has left the studio to create his own with NetEase.
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