Sega’s cult favourite Yakuza series is gaining more momentum in the West, and that won’t be slowing down with the series’ newest confirmed Japanese installments. Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 6 were both confirmed to be releasing in the West during today’s PlayStation Experience showcase, after formerly being announced exclusively for Japan.
Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza game, which first released for PlayStation 2 in 2006. An action-adventure sandbox game in a Japanese-themed vein of Western sandbox franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Yakuza Kiwami updates and re-envisions the original adventures of Kazuma Kiryu, a former Yakuza who takes the fall for a crime he didn’t commit, and resurfaces ten years later as the Japanese crime syndicate hunts for a vast deposit of lost wealth at the center of a grand conspiracy. Yakuza Kiwami is releasing exclusively for PlayStation 4, and will arrive in North America and Europe at some point in Summer 2017. The game released in Japan during this past January.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is the English-localized name of the series’ most recent sequel, which is releasing in Japan in just a few days. Also exclusive to PlayStation 4, Yakuza 6 will once again see returning protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu return to Japan’s criminal underworld, with most story details currently unknown. Potential alternate player characters in the game will also be present, though their identities are also currently unknown. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life will arrive in North America and Europe in early 2018.
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