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RGG Studio Director Masayoshi Yokoyama Talks About the Making of Like a Dragon: Ishin First

1K View2022-10-28

Adapted by Cecil Gao

In September, Sega announced three upcoming new works of the Like a Dragon game series during the Tokyo Game Show 2022. From the latest Like a Dragon 8 to Kiryu Kazuma's reappearance in Like a Dragon 7: Side Story and the upcoming remake of Like a Dragon: Ishin after eight years of Japanese exclusive release, this summit has certainly ignited the series' fans.

During TGS, we interviewed the Director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Masayoshi Yokoyama, and Yakuza Series Chief Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto to talk about details of all three upcoming new games.

Superpixel: Why did the team decide to remake Ishin instead of Kenzan, which started being developed earlier?

A: The entire Like a Dragon series is still relatively new to localization for global audiences. We first started from Yakuza 0, and have received much feedback from players worldwide, hoping we can remake and localize older titles of Like a Dragon, including the aforementioned Ishin and Kenzan.

From all the feedback we received, most fans hoped for an Ishin remake more than Kenzan, which is why we chose this time to announce it.

Superpixel: The remake version has added new characters, how does the studio balance the relationship between the new and old characters? Will there be new stories?

A: The change of the characters is just appearance or their "actor". So there are no new stories.

Also, Ishin was released exclusively in Japan, and not many foreign players have played the game. So many players may not know that we have remade the entire guide system and improved the combat system. Players can now use the combat skills in the main game that were previously only available in the dungeons.

Superpixel: A lot of characters' new appearances are from Yakuza 0, which feels very suitable for the Shinsengumi samurais. Is this something that has been considered during the casting process?

A: Ishin's casting process is not quite the same as other Like a Dragon games. It is more about choosing the right character from the studio's past works to portray Ishin's story rather than choosing the suitable actor through the characters. So no, there are actually no considerations for that.

When choosing the face models, Mr.Yokoyama designed the Japanese Shinsengumi as yakuza, and that fit the characters very well.

Superpixel: Compared with the Like a Dragon series that happened in modern times, what would be the unique point of Ishin?

A: The combat system is really a very charming point. For the combat system of all the generations, Mr.Yokoyama enjoys Ishin most. After all, the previous modern city background of Like a Dragon is difficult to show how interesting cold weapon combats are, but Ishin can perfectly show this characteristic. Mr. Yokoyama believes that new players can enjoy the game as well.

Superpixel: As a history lover, which character in Shinsengumi is Mr. Yokoyama's favorite?

A: As mentioned earlier, Mr. Yokoyama designed the Shinsengumi as if they were yakuza, which means that none of the Shinsengumi characters is good people like they are in traditional artistic creations.

While developing the game, Mr. Sakamoto was interested in Saito Hachime, captain of Shinsengumi's third team and the game's protagonist.

Superpixel: Why did the team decide to use Unreal Engine to develop Like a Dragon: Ishin instead of the Dragon Engine?

A: Dragon Engine was designed to portray the night scene and beautiful artificial lighting of Japanese streets. But Ishin, a game that takes place in 19th century Japan, has a lot of daylight scenes and focuses more on natural scenery. So the studio needs to find a new engine more suitable for portraying these scenes, and the Unreal Engine becomes the right one after many experiments.

Superpixel: Will the four play styles in the original game change in the remake version?

A: We have redesigned the data of the combat system. Players can now freely choose in a wide range of difficulties.

Superpixel: Will new maps, dungeons or mini-games be in the remake version?

A: No, the only change is that we added a new song and some remixed versions of old songs to the karaoke mini-game.

Superpixel: How long has the Ishin remake project been developed?

A: I don't remember exactly when, but it was already in development last year.

Superpixel: How did the production team think about the game genre when developing Like a Dragon 8?

A: Like a Dragon 8 is a game where the protagonist fights together with his brothers, and the most suitable game genre is RPG.

For development, when we make a like a Dragon game, we don't usually think about "I want to make an action game" or "I want to make an RPG". We just want to present an interesting game and choose the game genre that best fits the stories.

Superpixel: Will future Like a Dragon game consider adding some modern entertainment industries? For example, a side quest about virtual YouTubers?

A: Like a Dragon 8 is expected to be released in 2024, so we will put some new things that feel very "2024" into the game. We have to keep a secret about what exactly will be put to highlight the future of 2024.

Superpixel: Kiryu looks even younger in Like a Dragon 8, why is that?

A: Kiryu might not look exactly the same as how he looks in the trailer. Game characters are designed according to the needs of the stories.

Superpixel: Anything else you want to say to players out there?

A: For Japanese game developers, it is pretty common to learn about the history of other countries through movies or games. But when it comes to producing such works by ourselves, I'm not that confident at first about whether I can present Japan's historical background and cultural heritage to everyone.

I hope that through this game, players can have a greater interest in the history of the end of the Japanese shogun era.

As the first Like a Dragon game that goes for globalizing, players who have not played the series games can also enjoy Ishin a lot. Please keep looking forward to it.

Like a Dragon: Ishin is scheduled to release on February 21, 2023, for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and PC.

Like A Dragon: Ishin Remake IS Finally Here

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Sega's Yakuza Styled Series Just Keeps Getting Better!

The Yakuza series is by far one of my favorite series in the gaming world and one of my favs regarding Sega lineup. This time around i got my hands on there latest project called Like A Dragon: Ishin. Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! is an action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. It is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series, formerly and commonly known in English localization as Yakuza.

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