While Goro Majima is finally getting his own Like A Dragon game, fans hoping for a Shun Akiyama spin-off should prepare for disappointment.
Goro Majima might be getting his own Like A Dragon game this year, but don't expect another fan favorite to get the same treatment. The Yakuza series, now known as Like A Dragon, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, with its most extravagant entry yet. Despite being a fan favorite character since the original, it's only now Goro Majima is taking the wheel in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii.
While he's been present in every mainline entry, this is the first time the ferocious 'mad dog' has been the sole protagonist, after his joint-billing with Kazuma Kiryu in 2015's Yakuza 0. It feels like a long overdue move, but Yakuza/Like A Dragon is built on an ensemble of memorable (and sometimes playable) characters: including loveable brute Taiga Saejima, Kiryu's adoptive daughter Haruka Sawamura, and police detective Makoto Date. After Majima, perhaps the most requested character for a dedicated spin-off is Shun Akiyama, who first appeared in Yakuza 4 as the suave owner of generous loan company Sky Finance. Since then, he's appeared in Yakuza 5, Yakuza 6, and most recently in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, where he reunites with Kiryu in an optional side mission. With Majima's spin-off ticked off the list, the obvious question is whether we could see a game dedicated to Akiyama down the line. When we put this question to Like A Dragon producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto, he was apologetic, as he quashed our dreams. 'Sorry, no hope for an Akiyama spin-off,' Sakamoto told GameCentral. 'If we just made spin-offs, we'd never actually make the main stuff we want to make.' Akiyama was a playable character in Yakuza 5. The decision to pick Majima for an off-shoot seems to have been borne out of various factors after Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, although one of them is simply a desire to explore the character further. Asked why they chose to bring back Majima now, Sakamoto said: 'We initially said to ourselves, 'OK we want to do a spin-off, we want it about a year to make, and we wanted it to really just be fun and do something that surprises the people who have seen our games before. 'When we did Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name before, we had Kiryu as our protagonist, and we thought, 'OK let's go for somebody different – who is an interesting character we could explore more? And that, within a year, we could make a really fun, out of the normal mould game? And Majima seemed a pretty good fit for all of these things.' At the moment, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is working on various other games outside the Like A Dragon series, including the mysterious Project Century, set in 1915 Japan and a new Virtua Fighter. If you want more on Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii before it launches on February 20, 2025, we recently went hands-on with the ship combat and spoke to Sakamoto further about the studio’s approach to game development
LIKE A DRAGON GORO MAJIMA AKIYAMA SPIN-OFF SEGA YAKUZA HIROKI SAKAMOTO PROJECT CENTURY
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