Yakuza series

Was it well-received? It seemed to come out and then just… disappear. With Yakuza: Like a Dragon taking such a total departure from the series, I assumed Judgement had been something of a let-down.

Apparently it was excellent - just with a completely different cast of characters, and more of a detective-oriented slant to the gameplay. Haven't played it myself, though I've heard nothing but good things about it from fans of the main series.

Kind of amazingly, it's not getting a PC release.

It is, however, getting a Stadia release.

Remember Stadia.

Out next year - a remake of the historical spin-off Ishin that's never previously made it to the West:

Fans have been crying out for this for years so this has made a lot of people very happy.

It's out on everything apart from Switch. As the original was a launch PS4 game in Japan, this means they've remastered a PS4 game for the PS4 - is that a first? Either way it looks good.

Also Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, a smaller-scale spin-off that seems to be basically Yakuza 6.5 (2023) as well as full-on Yakuza/Like A Dragon 8 (2024). Good times for Yakuza fans.

https://x.com/RGGStudio/status/1797826081166184839

Live action TV show coming in the future. You in, Gar? Can't wait to see an entire series of just side quests brought to life.

This is either going to:

a) Remove all the game's weird stuff, and be pointless as a result

Or

b) Keep all the game's weird stuff, and scare off everyone who's never played the game.

I’m sure it’ll just be the main plot, probably of the first game, and therefore rather miss the point of the whole thing. I don’t think you can really capture the insanity of Yakuza without it coming across as a parody.

I hope I’m wrong and 75% of the show is the main protagonist dicking around in the batting cages and doing a spot of light karaoke. But I can’t see it.