Yakuza Creator Is Drawing On Tarantino Influences For Next Game

Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi has revealed more details about his upcoming game, which is currently being developed at his new Nagoshi Studio for NetEase. The veteran developer described the game as a project which doesn’t stray too far away from the Yakuza formula and contains plenty of violence, humor, and drama.

“It will definitely contain violence as a game element, but I don’t want to go too much in the direction of thriller or even horror,” Nagoshi said to 4Players (via VGC). “I want my game to be more like a Quentin Tarantino film, so there can be humor. Something that’s just intimidating or just bloody and brutal doesn’t suit my taste. I want a human touch, a bit of silliness and a bit of seriousness, that’s what I’m in the mood for at the moment.”

As for when players can expect to see the game announced, Nagoshi was vague and commented that people will get to see the project revealed “much sooner than other developers would”. His comments also line up with the type of content that’s usually seen in a Yakuza game, as those brawlers regularly contain over-the-top action that can be inflicted on enemies and only leave them slightly worse for wear. Turns out that you can walk off having a knife karate-kicked into your stomach.

Nagoshi had also mentioned human drama in a previous interview, explaining that he wants to adds cinematic qualities to his game so that it can be enjoyed by a global audience.

The next game in the series, Yakuza 8, doesn’t have a release date yet but is in development and once again stars Ichiban Kasuga alongside former nurse Yu Nanba and retired police officer Koichi Adachi. If you have several hundred hours to spare, you can jump into the entire Yakuza series on PS4 and PS5, where the games will be available through PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium.