Launching earlier this year in the West, Yakuza: Like a Dragon has already been hailed as a worthy new entry in the Yakuza series, changing up the game's central combat and trying something wholly new. In turn, it acts as a pretty substantial reboot for the franchise, casting a new lead character in Ichiban Kasuga and shifting gears to make the game an RPG.
One thing that stayed the same though was the series' wacky humor, as is evident through a new ad for the game published on Sega's American YouTube channel. The commercial focuses on the relationship and working life of Kaiji Tang, the voice of Ichiban Kasuga, and Nancy, who's a literal toy crawfish.
That's right, Sega has made a whole ad about a fake crawfish's life on the set of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, including her aspirations, frustrations, and role as a voice actor in the game. As expected from Sega and the outlandish nature of Yakuza as a series, the ad is a hilarious showcase of what makes these games so special, as Tang describes Nancy living in LA and always getting typecast as the crawfish served at restaurants in movies. However, she then met Tang, and the two set forth to conquer Hollywood as a pair.
The whole thing is shown through a host of screenshots, following Nancy and Tang recording in the studio, sitting by the pool, playing mini-golf, and drinking coffee (with Nancy, of course, having a "pincher-sized" mug). The commercial ends with Tang admitting that Nancy is booking even more jobs than him following her work on Yakuza: Like a Dragon, with the industry clearly recognizing her exceptional talents.
For those out of the loop on the relevance of a crustacean in a crime-focused action RPG, one of the game's side-missions sees players tasked with tracking down a homeless man's pet crawfish, Nancy. Upon recovering her, however, it turns out the man was preparing to eat Nancy, with Ichiban trading him a sushi set for her life. Following this, she becomes an ally to Ichiban, joining him in battle as a summon. In typical Yakuza fashion, her attack is incredibly over the top, seeing crawfish fall from the sky as Nancy viciously grabs an enemy's nose, inflicting massive damage.
As for the game itself, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is proving to be one of the most successful entries in the series yet, scoring an 84 on Metacritic. Its also been one of the biggest titles on the Xbox Series X, with timed next-generation exclusivity on the console. It'll be interesting to see where the series goes from here, with the franchise's future slated to be discussed on December 8.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The PS5 version launches on March 2, 2021.