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In an incredibly exciting development for Yakuza fans, Like a Dragon studio Ryu Ga Gotoku has revealed a brand new IP which, for the first time in a long time, doesn't look a whole lot like Yakuza at all.
The announcement trailer for Project Century, which debuted during The Game Awards 2024, starts out in black-and-white and shows a busy street in 1915 Japan. As we transition into full color, everything looks pretty peaceful. A band of street musicians is performing to a small but elated audience, street vendors are popping with customers, and folks are slurpin' some noodles in food stalls.
Then a couple of jerks come and punch the protagonist in the face and all hell breaks loose. As the unidentified protagonist mercilessly beats one of his assailants to the ground, another foe comes in with a swift kick to the jaw. From there, it's just a whole lot of really bloody violence. Our hero fights off people with various melee weapons and at one point uses a glass bottle to dome rock one of the baddies.
Now, Like a Dragon games aren't exactly non-violent, but I'm surprised to see just how bloody Project Century is. A knife is shoved into a belly and gallons of blood gush from the wound. A jugular is sliced to similar effect, and a giant human-like monster wildly swings a giant hammer at the protagonist, which I can only imagine will be very bloody when it lands.
Combat in general seems a lot slower paced and more deliberate than the melee combat in Like a Dragon. It's not quite Souls-like, but it's definitely a lot closer than any Like a Dragon game I've played. The way the hero moves around the map is also much, much slower than the way Kiryu and Ichiban dart around Kamurocho. Oh, and there appears to be no UI at all in the gameplay footage, which isn't very Yakuza-like at all.
All that said, it seems like Project Century is still fairly early in development, as the title still appears to be a codename and there's not so much as a release window in sight. With RGG handling Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and the newly announced Virtua Fighter game, it might be some time before we get our hands on this highly intriguing new action game.
In the meantime, why not pick something from our list of the best JRPGs to play right now.
