Hitting the early 2017 launch window, SEGA announced today that Yakuza 0 will be available on January 24, 2017 in North America and Europe, exclusively for PlayStation 4. Available both physically and digitally, it costs $59.99 USD.
Discussing the localization, Associate Localization Producer Scott Strichart said that, for the first time since Yakuza 2 on PlayStation 2, they’re putting all the chapter titles, character introductions, opponent names, and on-screen directions in English, instead of just subtitling the kanji.
Additionally, they’re leaving the original Japanese voices, meaning Yakuza 0 will be subtitled in English:
Secondly, and this is sometimes controversial, but hear me out — we’re maintaining general-use honorifics in the English script. We’re leaving the original Japanese voices intact for the authenticity that only a Japanese voice actor could bring to a yakuza experience, so we took the opportunity to bring the subtitles you’re reading closer to what you’re actually hearing the characters say. 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. I think you’ll really see how much more this adds to the story when you get to play it!
Set in Kamurocho, Tokyo in December 1988, 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 make their way through the underbelly of Japan.
The description adds:
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?
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 was also released for PlayStation 3 in Japan, but it’s only coming to PS4 in North America and Europe.
If you haven’t played Yakuza 5 yet, it’s one of the PS3 PlayStation Plus free games for August 2016.
