{"id":26872,"date":"2022-07-29T04:10:39","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T03:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pley2win.com\/pc\/sega-please-release-the-yakuza-kenzan-spin-offs-in-english\/"},"modified":"2022-07-29T04:10:39","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T03:10:39","slug":"sega-please-release-the-yakuza-kenzan-spin-offs-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=26872","title":{"rendered":"Sega Please Release The Yakuza Kenzan Spin-Offs In English"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Majima,<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Screenshot: Sega<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2022 Yakuza <\/em>is a pretty big series in the West, as we saw yesterday when eight games <\/em>made it to PlayStation Plus<\/span>. But it wasn\u2019t always this way! Between the release of Yakuza 2 <\/em>and 3<\/em> things were looking incredibly<\/em> dicey for English-speakers, and there were real fears that if Yakuza 3<\/em> didn\u2019t sell well, it would be the last game in the franchise we\u2019d ever get to see here.<\/p>\n

I know this sounds absurd given the number and prominence of Yakuza <\/em>games around these days, but it\u2019s true! Folks were so anxious about it, in fact, that every tiny little change that Sega made to Yakuza 3’s<\/em> English release<\/span> was scrutinised to hell and back, with fans terrified that any little thing that could potentially hurt sales would mean the end of the series in the West.<\/p>\n

All that fear counted for nothing, of course\u2014Yakuza 3 <\/em>did just fine and the rest is history<\/span>\u2014but all that trepidation over low sales helps set the stage for why, around the same time, a different Yakuza <\/em>game was released in Japan (later followed by a sequel) that we still to this day have not been able to play in English. And it\u2019s about time that changes.<\/p>\n

In 2008 Sega released Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!<\/em> for the PS3, which I guess you can best describe as a Yakuza<\/em> holiday special. Set in Kyoto in 1605, it was a Yakuza <\/em>game sent back in time, with players still controlling Kazuma Kiryu, only now he\u2019s called Kazumanosuke Kiryu, and instead of being a gangster he\u2019s a retired swordsman now working as a bodyguard.<\/p>\n

Then in 2014 Sega released Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!<\/em> for the PS4, which did the same thing\u2014only now set during the end of the Shogunate in the mid-19th century\u2014and introduced more cameos from the main series, with appearances from favourites like Majima and Daigo. <\/p>\n

While set in different time periods and with a sword-heavy, historical slant, these were still Yakuza<\/em> games through and through. Check out the Japanese trailer for Ishin <\/em>and you\u2019ll see what I mean:<\/p>\n