HomeNewsYakuza: Like a Dragon
New SEGA trademark “Yakuza Wars” is probably not a Total War: Like A Dragon game, but let’s speculate wildly anywayIf I keep saying it they have to make it eventually
If I keep saying it they have to make it eventually
Image credit:Sega
Image credit:Sega
SEGA are also the parent company ofTotal Warstudio Creative Assembly, who earlier this yearput out a surveyasking fans about potential settings they’d like to see for thestrategyseries. Lord Of The Rings and Marvel were among the options, as was the rumoured-to-be-in-developmentStar Wars. Sigh, said I. Why dally with all these expensive, obvious choices when the real answer was in front of you all along? Then I realised that Total War:Crazy Taxiwould be a shitshow, so I set my hopes on the next best option.
The concept is bountiful, and the foundations of it exist in the Yakuza games already. I’m picturing something similar toYakuza 0’s Real Estate Royale, where settlements are different chunks of Kamurocho, provinces are entire streets, and individual buildings represent different specialisations. Want to recruit some high level thugs? Build a soapland. Want to rake in the cash? Gambling den. Need some morale buffs before you go into battle? Build a SEGA arcade and let your dudes play Space Harrier, then buy them some Takoyaki. Actually, Takoyaki can be its own resource. A Takoyaki-based economy. Practical. Delicious.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Gameplay Reveal Trailer | PS5 & PS4 GamesWatch on YouTube
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Gameplay Reveal Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games
Public order can be fleshed out as an extortion system where you ‘tax’ the locals. Diplomacy writes itself. The main obstacle I can see to this sort of thing working is scale, but the Total War series has always been a bit inconsistent on this front anyway, and I see no reason why Kamurocho’s carparks and alleys can’t be magically altered, on a whim, to allow 2000 men to hit each other with baseball bats. You’d of course be able to get in the series’ rotating cast of miscreants as heroes, commanders, and other special units. And, if you worked in Twarhammer’s magic system, there’s no reason why you couldn’t get Like A Dragon’s summoning system Poundmates in there too.
Again, this is just me taking the flimsiest of threads and spinning a glorious web of bountiful bullshit from it. It is probably just a mobile game, perhaps one rushed out to capitalise on theupcoming TV Show, or something related to the Japan-onlyRyu Ga Gotoku Online. It’s also possible RGG do not want to release their franchise into the dark underbelly of the Steam workshop, where mods to craft an entire army of differently-costumed Majimas will no doubt exist within a week. I’ll just have to keep on hopingYakuza Empireturns out good, I think.
