The upcoming Like a Dragon 8 is seemingly one of the most anticipated releases to come out of the popular Japanese franchise. With fans finally receiving official confirmation and teaser material for the title, it is no wonder that speculation about the plot and characters of the game is running wild.
Of all the ambitious new titles recently revealed at the Ryu Ga Gotoku Summit presentation, Like a Dragon 8 received the least amount of screen time and detailed information, with the importance and intended scale of the title still fostering a lot of secrecy before its release. That has not stopped fans engaging in discourse and theories surrounding the title, and many would love to see Takayuki Yagami of the Judgment series feature in the upcoming game.
The Core Details of Like a Dragon 8
Like a Dragon 8 is set to be the latest mainline installment to the longstanding Yakuza franchise, which is now being officially rebranded to Like a Dragon thanks to the lesser-placed importance on Yakuza organizations within the newer titles. As announced in the aforementioned Ryu Ga Gotoku Summit presentation, Like a Dragon 8 will launch fairly closely to a spin-off title known as Like a Dragon Gaiden, as well as a long-anticipated remake of the samurai spin-off title called Like a Dragon: Ishin.
One of the only confirmed details of Like a Dragon 8 is that it will continue the story of new franchise hero Ichiban Kasuga, who won the hearts of many fans via his protagonist role in 2020's popular Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Interestingly, Ichiban is set to star directly alongside long-time franchise star Kazuma Kiryu, with the two figures acting in a dual protagonist role in the upcoming game. This surprising, important role played by Kiryu has led fans to believe that Like a Dragon 8 will open itself up to many franchise call-backs, with some deeply hoping for an appearance to be made by Takayuki Yagami in the upcoming title.
Takayuki Yagami in Like a Dragon 8
Takayuki Yagami is the protagonist of the popular spin-off series of games that come under the Ryu Ga Gotoku name, namely Judgment and Lost Judgment. Offering the familiar high-octane beat-em-up gameplay of classic Like a Dragon titles while offering more thought-provoking detective work sections of sleuth-based gameplay, the Judgment series and Yagami himself quickly rose to popularity among the LaD fan base, and it is clear to see why.
The merging of the Judgment series and Like a Dragon has been a long-anticipated move for many fans, with the shared locations and rough timelines of the two series of games making fans desperate to see character crossovers between the two. With the confirmation that the upcoming Like a Dragon 8 is set to take place in the familiar city of Kamarucho in which Judgment is largely based, the conditions seem perfect for Yagami to finally make his mainline debut for the franchise.
As seen in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the newer identity of the franchise does not shy away from embracing its past and the characters that make up its history, with characters like Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima making proud appearances in the aforementioned title. With this in mind, and when considering the popular release of Lost Judgment, which came after Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the fan base desire and plot-based feasibility of including Takayuki Yagami in Like a Dragon 8 appears to be a perfect storm.
Like a Dragon 8 will release in 2024 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.