Today Sega released a batch of screenshots of the upcoming turn-based JRPG Ryu ga Gotoku 7, which will be released in the west as Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
The screenshots show the beginning of the game, with the new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga spending 18 years in jail after taking the fall for the young heir of the Arakawa family Jo Sawashiro at the behest of his mentor Masumi Arakawa.
After finally being released in 2019, he is surprised to find that no one was there to welcome him.
The Tojo Clan had collapsed due to the “Operation Kamurocho 3K” by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, and the district was ruled by the cops and by the Omi Alliance from Osaka. Masumi Arawkawa himself was said to be the cause of that situation.
“My father can’t have done this!” was Ichiban’s reaction.
Forcing his way through the opposition by the men of the Omi Alliance and by Sawashiro, who he used to consider like a brother, Ichiban finds Awakawa to confirm the truth.
Yet, he was not welcomed by the smile of the man he loved and respected like his real father, but by the cold muzzle of a gun. He heard a gunshot and his vision faded.
When he woke-up, he found himself in a garbage dump surrounded by homeless people living in cardboard boxes. “Where am I?” He asked. One of the people living there informed him that he was in Yokohama.
We also learn abut Ichiban’s childhood following his birth in a Soapland in Kamurocho. Both his mother and father are unknown, so he was raised by the manager.
After the death of the manager, Ichiban did not go to high school and soon found himself in deep trouble. He was sawed by Arakawa, and out of gratitude, he decided to join the family.
After that fact, his respect for Masumi Arakawa grew to be comparable to how he would feel about his real father.
The stage of the story is moved to Yokohama, a new setting full of charm mixing high-end areas and old streets.
The battle system is turn-based, featuring “greatly improved” heat actions with the addition of a strategy element.
You can check out the screenshots below. If you’d like to see more about the game, you can check out the original reveal and the first trailer with English subtitles.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon will launch in Japan on January 16, 2020, exclusively for PS4. It’ll also come west later next year.
