Like a Dragon will continue being about “middle-aged guy things," developer says
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has confirmed that the core theme of Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza) will remain unchanged, with middle-aged men doing "middle-aged guy things."
The details:
In an interview with Automaton, series director Ryosuke Horii stated that while the studio is pleased to see the franchise reach a wider demographic, it has no plans to change its unique theme of focusing on the lives of middle-aged men. “I think that this is precisely one of Like a Dragon’s selling points,” Horii explained. “In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, everything starts with three unemployed middle-aged guys being like ‘Let’s go to Hello Work.’ They have a different air about them than a group of young heroes would, complaining about back pain and the like. But this “humanity” you feel from their age is what gives the game originality.”
Horii and lead planner Hirotaka Chiba went on to say that the games are more like "chilling out with older guys in a bar" instead of "going on an exhausting drinking party with young people." Chiba then provided an example of a small interaction in the series that perfectly captures its tone. "For example, there's a conversation where Adachi is conflicted about whether he should drink beer or not because he's worried about his uric acid level," he explained. "We're making the hearty talks of middle-aged dudes our identity, rather than youthfulness."
When asked if the developer planned to tackle different conversation topics after the series' surge in female fans, Horii confirmed that this would not be the case. "We have had a large increase in new fans, including women, which we're truly happy and grateful for," Horii said. "However, we don't plan to do anything like deliberately changing conversation topics in order to cater to new fans."
RGG Studio plans to reveal its next game at the Tokyo Game Show later this month. It is currently unknown whether the title will be directly related to the Like a Dragon franchise, another spin-off series like Judgment, or a new IP. Sega filed a trademark for "Yakuza Wars" earlier this year, leading fans to speculate that it could be a collaboration with the Sakura Wars franchise.
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