SEGA of America and Europe have issued a new press release announcing the release date for Yakuza 0! The game will be released on January 24, 2017 in both physical and digital form (so Europe will get physical copies as well this time around). For preorder links, you can visit the official website here. It appears it will also be possible to preorder the digital edition, although it’s not available yet at the time of writing.
Yakuza 0 is a prequel to the original Yakuza, and takes players back to Japan in 1980s, where they play as the series’ main protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and recurring character Goro Majima. The game is already available in Japan on PS3 and PS4, but in the West the game will only be available on the PS4. You can find a few screenshots and the E3 2016 trailer for the game below, courtesy of SEGA.
For more information, you can read the game’s localization producer Scott Strichart’s blog post here. He notes that for the first time since Yakuza 2, all of the chapter titles, character introductions, opponent names, and on-screen directions will be shown in English, instead of just subtitles for the kanji. He also points out that the team will be maintaining general-use honorifics in the English script. We quoted Scott’s explanation for that here:
Beyond just marrying the subtitles to the spoken word, the honorifics actually play a pretty important role in understanding the respect (or lack thereof) characters have for each other.
John Hardin also answered questions from the fans on the blog post. When a fan approved of the decision regarding the honorifics, John Hardin mentioned this about their team of localizers:
Yeah – we’ve been steadily working on cultivating a dedicated core of localizers – Scott and the rest of the team are super committed to making sure that the Y0 localization sets a new high-water mark for the Yakuza series.
When asked about a potential western port of Yakuza 1 HD:
No plans right now, but we’re definitely feeling the Yakuza love from you all after 5 and now 0.
Regarding potential content changes in Yakuza 0 for the West:
This is the rawest Yakuza yet. AFAIK, nothing is getting cut.
When asked about localizing Yakuza Kenzan and Ishin:
For Isshin, etc., we don’t have any plans to localize those; from what I’ve heard from our counterparts in Japan, it would require a high-level knowledge of Japanese shogunate history to understand the story, which isn’t very common outside of Japan. 🙁
Judging from the comments in the blog post, it really feels like SEGA is aiming for this to be the best localization of a Yakuza game yet. We’re looking forward to see the result!
Make Kamurocho Yours – Yakuza 0 Launches in the Americas and Europe on January 24
Pre-orders Now Available for the Prequel to SEGA’s Long-running Crime Drama
IRVINE, Calif. – July 27, 2016 – Behind the decadent glitz and glamour of 1980s Japan lies an underworld of money, sin, and above all else… opportunity. Anything and everything is ripe for the taking, but always remember that more money inexorably leads to more problems. And for Yakuza 0’s two protagonists, Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima, the problems are just starting. And their problems will become players’ problems when SEGA® of America, Inc.’s gangster drama Yakuza 0 launches in the Americas and Europe beginning Jan. 24, 2017 for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system. The game will be released physically and digitally for $59.99, and pre-orders are now live at retail!
Yakuza 0 tells the origin stories of Kazuma Kiryu, the rising Dragon of Dojima, and Goro Majima, before he’s known as the Mad Dog of Shimano, as they fight, hustle, flirt, and dance their way through the seedy underbelly of Japan. Taking place in a chilly but electric Kamurocho, Tokyo in December 1988, Kiryu’s story follows his steady ascension up the ranks of the Dojima yakuza crime family until he gets blamed for a debt collection gone wrong. Kiryu must utilize his cunning and his fists in order to regain his honor and save the reputation of his father figure, Shintaro Kazama. Meanwhile, Goro Majima is running a popular cabaret in Osaka, but he wants more than anything to rejoin the yakuza clan that ousted him. He’ll need to complete a series of impossible tasks set by his bosses, but will these tasks push Majima past the point of no return?
Yakuza 0 Features:
- The Dragon’s Origins: What lies in a man’s past defines his future, and in this case, we learn a lot about what inspires Kiryu down the paths he takes in the rest of the Yakuza series. Plus, you don’t get to be called “Dragon” without being able to knock a few heads. Combat styles can be hot-swapped during fights for some of the most intense battles in the Yakuza series to date.
- Embrace the Mad Dog: For the first time in a numbered game, long-time NPC Goro Majima is playable. With his own fighting style, abilities, and his penchant for turning sleaze into profit, stepping into the role of Yakuza’s most eccentric character will provide some eye-opening insight.
- The Decadence of the 1980s in Japan: Cash rules everything in the world of Yakuza 0, and in the game, there are a million ways to spend, make, or take money. From cash spilling out of the pockets of gang members you fight to Telephone Clubs, Disco Halls, or even Pocket Circuit car races, there are tons of ways to be a well-to-do gangster.
Yakuza 0 is being localized by SEGA® of America, Inc. and will be released physically and digitally in the Americas and Europe beginning Jan. 24, 2017. The game will be available on PlayStation 4 systems for $59.99 (with comparable prices throughout the Americas), and is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information, please visit: yakuza.sega.com/yakuza0