New Yakuza: Like a Dragon Screenshots Show More Persona-Like Features: Relationships with Friends

Today Sega released another small gallery of screenshots of its upcoming JRPG Ryu Ga Gotoku 7: Whereabouts of Light and Darkness, which will be released in the west as Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

The screenshots focuses another new element introduced in the game, the ability to deepen the relationship with Ichiban Kasuga’s friends.

By deepening those bonds you’ll be able to gain advantages in battle, unlock new jobs for your buddies, and even enable co-op attacks with them. 

You can check them out below.

There are multiple ways to improve the relationship with your friends, including emnjoying minigames and play spots together. 

For instance, you can go to the movie theater and watch a movie with one of them. 

You can also eat together, and if you pick the right meal a special coversation defined “table talk” will occur. This improve the relationship. 

As those bonds become deeper, special side stories named “Relationship Drama” will become available. Your companions will reveal their hidden past, worries, and troubles.

If you listen to them carefully and solve their problems, the relationship will progress considerably. 

By clearing the Relationship Drama quests you’ll unlock a “Relationship Technique” which is a powerful co-op move that can be used with devastating effect against powerful enemies and bosses. The effect varies depending on the characters involved, but these techniques are among the strongest in the game. 

Combined with the previous reveal, it appears that the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is really taking a page from Persona’s book.

If you’d like to see more about the game, you can check out the original reveal, the first trailer with English subtitles,  more trailers and gameplay, even more clips, another batch of videos, the latest one, and  another gallery.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon will launch in Japan on January 16, 2020, exclusively for PS4. It’ll also come west later next year.