The success of its most recent entry, Yakuza: Like a Dragon has reminded players that the Yakuza series is one of the greats. With more Yakuza games coming to Game Pass, it's a good time to be a fan of the series.
A huge amount of the love for games in the series, including Yakuza: Like a Dragon, is the tone that mixes zany, bizarre moments with serious gangster drama. It's a staple of the Yakuza series, and sprang from the mind of Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the franchise. His work for Sega led him to be their Chief Creative Officer, but now Nagoshi is stepping down from that role for another, though still within Sega itself.
Toshihiro Nagoshi is stepping down from the role of Chief Creative Officer to become a creative director for Sega. At first, this may seem like a downgrade in career and one wonders what could have led to it. However, many think this will actually be beneficial in the long run, for Nagoshi and Sega, as the role lets him get more hands on with game development. As a director, he can ensure that the greatest strengths of the Yakuza franchise, as well as other Sega games he's assigned to, will be emphasized.
Whether this decision came as a result of recent Sega restructuring or was a request from Nagoshi himself is unknown as of the writing of this article. Chief Creative Officer is, after all, an important and prestigious role in a company like Sega. It's one that Nagoshi earned too, since he's worked on more than just the Yakuza series, and his stable of games are mostly big names in Sega. Hopefully this position will let him get his hands dirty again and 2021 will be a good year for Yakuza.
For those unfamiliar with the Yakuza franchise, they are particularly odd in their mix of tones and gameplay features. These many disparate elements somehow come together into a truly enjoyable whole, with Yakuza: Like a Dragon mixing up the formula by being an RPG. With the new RPG format and strange tone/side activities, many players make mistakes with Yakuza: Like a Dragon the first time, but these are seldom enough to derail the experience.
The series has a longtime following and new entries are welcomed by Western audiences. In fact, one Yakuza game that never got a Western release got a fan translation recently, showcasing the dedication of the series' devotees. If Nagoshi winds up back at the helm, odds are the Yakuza series will continue to impress, and perhaps continue to innovate.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The PS5 version releases on March 2, 2021.