'Yakuza: Like A Dragon' Heads West To PC And Consoles In November

“Yakuza: Like A Dragon,” also known as “Yakuza 7,” is coming to Western consoles and PC on Nov. 13. Next-gen console releases are planned soon after.

Currently exclusively on the PlayStation 4, ScreenRant notes that “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” has already been released in Japan this past January. It’s a bit misleading, but despite that title, this is actually the eighth main release in the “Yakuza” franchise. The game has been received favorably in Japan, complete with a 38/40 rating from Famitsu.

This marks a significant departure from the rest of the “Yakuza” series as the previous games focused on a real-time beat ’em up style gameplay. “Yakuza: Like A Dragon,” however, shifts into a turn-based JRPG model similar to what we’ve seen in “Persona 5.”

“Yakuza: Like A Dragon” also introduces character jobs that will give characters unique abilities that they can learn and then use in battle. The game also follows the “Yakuza” model of giving players an open world to explore with side quests and minigames should you stray from the main storyline.

Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announced on Twitter that “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” will have a global release on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on Nov. 13, finally ending the rest of the world’s anticipation for this game.

The Xbox Series X will get its own version of the title when the console itself actually launches as expected in November. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 version of “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” is only labeled with “coming soon,” likely because a release date for Sony’s next-gen console remains a mystery to this day.

The announcement brings with it a trailer that heavily emphasizes the turn-based combat in the game as well as the interchangeable character jobs that can be collected and equipped. These strange occupations result in outlandish applications when fighting including a chef who can pour pepper over foes, or a catering host who can devastate enemies by dropping a table full of champagne flutes on them.

Although the setting of “Yakuza: Like A Dragon” is in modern Japan, the trailer concludes with the main characters decked out in full plate armor, brandishing a long sword, and facing down a literal dragon.

Over the past few years, the “Yakuza” series has seen a bit of a renaissance in popularity in the West, with major games in the series getting remastered and released overseas to bring new fans into the fold.

Given the franchise’s predilection towards going wacky and over-the-top despite promoting itself as a crime drama, then there are certainly several things about the franchise for people to enjoy.