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Sega has announced Like a Dragon: Ishin, a remake of one of the few Yakuza titles to never be released outside of Japan, as part of today's State of Play broadcast.
Like a Dragon: Ishin is set to hit PS4 and PS5 in February 2023. Set in a fictionalized version of Kyoto in the 1860s, the game casts familiar faces from the Yakuza series, including Kazuma Kiryu and Majima Goro, into new roles as part of the feudal Japanese setting. You play as Sakamoto Ryoma, a real-life historical figure credited with leading Japan to a major reformation - only appropriate that he takes Kiryu's face in the game.
Ishin will feature familiar gameplay for Yakuza fans, with brawler combat spiced up by ridiculous heat actions that you can use to turn the environment to your advantage. The difference here is that all the combat is weapon-based, allowing you to switch between swords in the Swordsman style, revolvers in the Gunman style, or a combination of the two in the Wild Dancer style. There is still a bare-fisted Brawler style, too.
This will be the first game from Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio to be developed on Unreal Engine 4, as the devs explain in a PlayStation Blog post. The update version of the game ill feature "new textures and other graphical details."
The game was originally released for PS3 and PS4 in Japan in 2014. That was actually the second samurai-themed Yakuza spin-off. An earlier title, Kenzan, was released for PS3 in 2008, though neither of the games have any direct story connections with each other.
For all the announcements from the PlayStation State of Play for September, you can follow that link.
