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All Articles: Yakuza 4
Sega will bring Yazuka 3-5 to PS4 as part of The Yakuza Remastered Collection
Since last year, Sega has been treating fans of the Yakuza franchise in Japan to remastered remakes of Yazuka 3, Yazuka 4, and Yazuka 5 for the PS4. Today, the publisher confirmed that all three games will be released in North America and Europe as part of The Yakuza Remastered Collection.
Beginning today, players who purchase The Yakuza Remastered Collection through the PlayStation Store will be able to download a remastered re-release of Yakuza 3. Yakuza 4 will unlock on October 29, and Yakuza 5 Remastered will complete the series on February 11.
Though, if you’d prefer to wait for the retail release, Sega will bundle all three games into a single retail package (also known as The Yakuza Remastered Collection) on that same date.
So what changes can fans look forward to in The Yakuza Remastered Collection? In addition to a graphical overhaul, Sega has promised to “re-localize” all three titles and restore previously cut content:
The Yakuza Remastered Collection is far from a typical console generation port. In addition to graphical and performance upgrades (720p at 30fps > 1080p at 60fps), all three games have gone through a rigorous re-localization process. The English scripts for each game have been reviewed, revised, and even rewritten in some cases, and content previously cut from the Western releases of Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 have been re-added in The Yakuza Remastered Collection.
Several quality-of-life changes have also been added for each release in the collection, including a Substory Tracker on the map and the ability to toggle between English and Japanese written lyrics during Karaoke.
The first trailer for The Yakuza Remastered Collection has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Gamescom 2019, Yakuza 4
Yakuza 4 Review: Our Powers Combined, We Are Captain Kamurocho!
The Yakuza franchise has always struggled for respect in the West. Despite being extremely popular in its native Japan, none of the games have made much of a dent outside its borders – but at the same time the series has built a small, dedicated following. After the painful “will it or won’t it” with Yakuza 3, Sega made sure to avoid the same situation by quickly confirming that, yes, Yakuza 4 was getting localized.
Though it still requires a modicum of knowledge in the lore of Yakuza, this fourth entry is, in many ways, a re-introduction to the characters and universe. While the game doesn’t have any revolutionary changes to the formula – not a surprise considering there have been four releases in five years – some of the design choices make Yakuza 4 seem like a new starting point for future entries in the series. As long as you’re not completely worn out by the familiar formula, this is another great entry into a seriously underappreciated franchise. (more…)
New Releases: Homefront, Okamiden, Yakuza 4, More
The Spring thaw is doing more than raising the mercury in your thermometer, it’s also bringing more big games to stores.
This week, THQ’s Red Dawn-inspired war game, Homefront, will be released on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. In fact, Red Dawn director John Milius was heavily involved in the creator of Homefront’s storyline.
Other big name releases this week fall into a few well known franchises:
- Capcom will release Okamiden, pint-sized spinoff of Okami, for the DS
- Sega brings Kazuma Kiryu back to America (but keeps the game’s Japanese sensibilities intact) in Yakuza 4 (PS3).
- Andre Agassi serves up his first video game appearance in over 15 years in Top Spin 4 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).
- And finally, Sega will release Total War: Shogun 2 on the PC.
The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Yakuza 4 Hands-On Preview: Kazuma Returns, And He’s Brought Friends
Much to the shock of Yakuza fans, Sega has handled Yakuza 4 with a surprising amount of competence. Compared to Yakuza 3, where they engaged in almost a year’s worth of “will we bring the game over, or won’t we?” nonsense, they quickly announced a Western release of the sequel. Instead of getting weird, and cutting out the sort of content that worked just fine in the PlayStation 2 games, they announced the game would be localized without any silly “cultural cuts.” Instead of releasing the game on the same day as a long-awaited sequel in a popular franchise, they found a date where it could release in relative peace. It’s almost like they replaced the entire Yakuza team at Sega USA with smart people, and started to show the series some respect. Then, they released the demo… (more…)
Go Back to the Future with 2/15/11 PlayStation Store update
This week should be pretty special for many different types of gamers on the PSN, especially fans of Telltale Games. Most notable on the PlayStation Store update this week is Back to the Future: The Game, featuring Christopher Lloyd himself as Doc and the best Michael J. Fox impersonation ever. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this game so you couldn’t go wrong with a $19.99 subscription. Also from the folks behind Monkey Island comes four new Sam & Max episodes exclusive to the PSN, for $8.99 a piece.
Acceleration of SUGURI X-Edition and ATV Pure round out the new games list with insane robot combat and quad racing, respectively.
There’s also a few notable entries outside of new games. The demo for the much-anticipated Yakuza 4 is available for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and the Killzone 3 single player demo is available in 3D and normal for all PSN gamers. Definitely check that one out if you haven’t already.
Most importantly for me, as you may tell from our podcasts, is Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. You read that right, Square Enix has released a PSP game on the PSN. No one expected this to land digitally, but Senior Editor Nicole Kline speculated that because the NGP will for the most part use digital media, Square may finally have to get their act together. In any case, be sure to take a look at this masterpiece, as well as more information on the new games on the Store after the break (details on all of this week’s add-ons can be found at the PlayStation.Blog). (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PSP
Tagged Back to the Future, Killzone 3, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Yakuza 4
Demo for Yakuza 4 coming to PlayStation Store
Sega’s European and American divisions announced today that the latest entry in Japan’s answer to Grand Theft Auto, Yakuza 4, will have a downloadable demo coming to the PlayStation Store. The demo will come early for PlayStation Plus subscribers on February 16, 2011, and a week later for all PSN users on February 23. One unique aspect Yakuza 4 brought to the series was the inclusion of four playable characters, and you’ll be able to try out all of them when the demo hits.
Yakuza 3 and 4 on the PlayStation 3 were those kind of rare gems from the East no one really expected to eventually make their way to American shores. These games coming over is proof that Sega still does a few things incredibly right.