Japan has already been enjoying the latest entry in the Yakuza series, Yakuza: Like a Dragon (known as Yakuza 7 over there), since January. Western fans don't have much longer to wait, though, as the series' first foray into the RPG genre will be releasing in only a few months.
Originally only scheduled for the PS4, the game will now be releasing on PC and Xbox One as well and was even recently confirmed to be a launch title for the Xbox Series X, which left many wondering if it would also come to the PS5.
Today, in an exclusive report from IGN, not only was it confirmed that a PS5 release is planned, but Like a Dragon will also feature a full English dub.
There's no release date for the PS5 version, suggesting that it won't launch alongside the console, but Sega did state that a "PlayStation 5 upgrade path is also being planned for the Western release," meaning those who own the PS4 version can get the PS5 version at no extra cost. The Xbox version has already been confirmed to be part of Microsoft's Smart Delivery service.
Sega also confirmed that all versions of the game will be priced at $59.99, though there are three collector's editions, with two of them costing a bit more. The Day Ichi Edition costs $59.99 and comes with eight costumes based on previous Yakuza characters, with the physical version also including a steelbook case.
The other two are digital only and both cost $69.99. The Hero Edition comes with the aforementioned costumes, two extra jobs (Devil Rocker and Matriarch, with no word on whether they can be obtained in-game regardless) and extra employees for the Management Mode mini-game.
Lastly, the Legendary Hero Edition comes with all of that and bonus items for crafting, karaoke, ultimate costume and stat boosts.
Going back to the English dub, Sega have revealed some of the main cast members. Kaiji Tang (the voice of Detective Pikachu and Persona 5's Iwai) will be protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, with Andrew Morgado, Greg Chun, and Elizabeth Maxwell as his companions Koichi Adachi, Yu Nanba, and Saeko Mukoda respectively. But the big star, though, is Star Trek's George Takei as main antagonist Masumi Arakawa.
The Yakuza series has only ever had an English dub once, which was for the very first game and wasn't received particularly well, so subsequent games have since stuck with only a Japanese language track. Sega's decision to try again may have been influenced by spin-off game Judgment, which was given a dub that was praised by critics.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon will release in November for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with releases for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to follow.
Source: IGN
