After 2 years it looks like we’ll be finally getting a Western release of Yakuza 5 on PS3. This was the last in the current series and brought the main storyline to a close.
With main characters like Kazuma Kiryu (shown above), the Yakuza series has stood out in terms of its complex tone. While they can be brutal, the protagonists are generally quite kind and generally framed as contemporary Robin Hood-esque characters. It’s always been one of the more interesting aspects to the series.
The Yakuza games started out as a spiritual successor to Shenmue, with shades of GTA. Generally quite violent, with ostentatious action, they tended to temper that with a modicum of pathos. Over the years they’ve received scattershot releases and even more haphazard localizations.
The games have tended to do well in Japan but Sega hasn’t really done a great job of supporting these games abroad. With many of them being very poorly localised, resulting in some pretty great parodies.
In the case of Yakuza 5, that looks to change. As both Sega and Sony are teaming up to bring this game to the West. It looks like we’ll actually get a decent localization this time around (the trailer bodes well on that front, as shown below).
This is not to be confused with the upcoming Yakuza 0 on PS4 and PS3. That is a prequel to the current games and set in Tokyo during the late 80s. While that too is released next year, there are no plans currently to release it abroad.
Yakuza 5 will be released sometime next year and I am happy to see that Sega are doing the decent thing in terms of releasing it in the West. Now if only Sega would get on and make Shenmue 3.
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