First Look At Yakuza 8 Shows A Fresh New Look For Ichiban

The first look at Yakuza 8, a direct sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, has been revealed. While the new images don't show off too much detail, they do confirm that protagonist Ichiban Kasuga will return, alongside former nurse Yu Nanba and retired police officer Koichi Adachi. Sadly, Ichiban's glorious perm is nowhere to be seen.

In a tour of developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio that he uploaded to his channel, MMA fighter and YouTuber Mirai Asakura discovered that Yakuza 8 will feature a new town for Ichiban and his crew to explore. Asakura was also offered a chance to be in the game by Sega president Haruki Satomi and RGG president Masayoshi Yokoyama, which he accepted on the spot.

Satomi and Yokoyama also mentioned that RGG is working on another title as well that's not related to Yakuza 8, although there was no mention of Judgment. That franchise appears to be in limbo, as actor the talent agency for Takuya Kimura--who portrays Judgment protagonist Takayuki Yagami--apparently has a big problem with computers.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a major shift for the long-running series when it first arrived in 2020, as it switched from the beat-em-up style of previous games to turn-based RPG action instead.

Yakuza 8 will be the first game in the franchise that creator Toshihiro Nagoshi isn't involved in, as he left Sega earlier this year to set up Nagoshi Studio at NetEase Games. Nagoshi still plans to create games that are heavy on cinematic and dramatic flair, and he has no plans to develop for smartphones at his new studio.