During a recent interview, the producer behind the Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza) series expressed his shock at fans' loudly outspoken fondness for Goro Majima. The reveal of results of a poll held by the Like a Dragon developer received a tremendous response from the audience, further cementing his standing as one of the most popular characters from the franchise.
The surprise of the producer is arguably somewhat understandable, as the game franchise has primarily focused on the story of Kazuma Kiryu. However, Goro Majima has been a popular character since his introduction in the original Yakuza game, and the prequel Yakuza 0 only increased it by putting both Kiryu and Majima into the playable character roles.
In a recent interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Ryu Ga Gotoku studio's lead producer, Hiroyuki Sakamoto, spoke about the upcoming Like a Dragon: Ishin game, which remakes the PS3 game that never reached western shores. Sakamoto briefly explained that in order to determine which characters to recast in Like a Dragon: Ishin, the developer held a poll, asking fans who their favorite characters were in the series. As it turns out, Goro Majima came in at the number one spot, and it seems that the audience reaction to this news was so overwhelming that it shocked Sakamoto and other members of the team.
The results of the poll were revealed at an event in Shinjuku, and according to Sakamoto, the female members of the audience went absolutely wild at the reveal that Majima had taken the number one spot. While it's been clear for some time that he's a popular member of the cast, Sakamoto and co were genuinely stunned at how popular he specifically seems to be with women, judging from the screaming and cheering from the audience. Like a Dragon: Ishin did end up recasting a few roles to introduce newer and popular characters from the core franchise into the historical game, altering their voices and likenesses accordingly. Needless to say, though, Majima's equivalent - Souji Okita - isn't going anywhere.
While Goro Majima is an extremely popular character, fans haven't been given many opportunities to actually play as him. Aside from Yakuza 0, Majima had a brief mini-campaign in Yakuza Kiwami 2, and was a playable character in the oft-derided Yakuza: Dead Souls, the zombie spin-off game. Thankfully, he usually plays some sort of important role in the plot of the core games, but with the devs now fully aware of his popularity, he might get more focus in future titles. With Like a Dragon 8 bringing back Kazuma Kiryu as a playable character, Majima might end up returning to a starring role, too.
Like a Dragon: Ishin is set to release on February 21 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: RockPaperShotgun