Yakuza: Like a Dragon Gets Hilarious Japanese Commercials, New Gameplay

Iyane Agossah January 11, 2020 1:41 PM EST

Sega published six commercials for Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Famitsu published gameplay showing the first 15 minutes of the game, exploration, and battles.

Sega published multiple commercials for Yakuza: Like a Dragon as the game will launch in Japan next week. Three of the commercials are pretty hilarious as they focus on introducing the series’ change from action to turn-based RPG and the various Jobs the party members can use. The other three commercials are more traditional and show some story and gameplay bits from the game. Lastly, the game was featured in this week’s Famitsu Live stream, revealing an hour of new gameplay.

Each of the Jobs-themed commercials shows how mixing two completely different Jobs from the game would work in real life. The first one is about a female idol who also works as a company division boss. The second commercial features a b-boy fortuneteller old man. The last commercial, which I found the funniest, is about a flamboyant host detective trying to make an old woman talk in the interrogation room.

Next up, this week’s Famitsu Live stream featured Yakuza: Like a Dragon, with Director Ryosuke Horii and Chief Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama commenting on some gameplay. We most notably saw the very beginning of the game, something big Japanese outlets always do right before a big game’s release. As a side note, the Famitsu Live stream was, as always, MC’ed by seiyuu Honoka Kuroki, who voiced Ruise in Seiren, Amagami‘s sequel which sadly still doesn’t have a game.

All the Yakuza: Like a Dragon commercials and the Famitsu Live are included below. Here are some timestamps for the various gameplay sequences:

14:30-30:00: first 15 minutes of Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

32:42-47:20: Showing company management mode.

48:40-1:02:02: Some exploration and battles.

1:04:00-1:077:35: Showing off the Akuma and the Anego DLC only Jobs.

Ryu Ga Gotoku 7 Hikari to Yami no Yukue launches in Japan on January 16 on PS4. The game will come later in the west. You can read more details with our previous coverage, and how the game parodies many JRPG franchises. We have details on the story, on returning characters, on the Final Fantasy summons-like system and on the Pokemon parodying Sujimon system, how the game parodies Dragon Quest‘s Puff Puff, some mid-game gameplay, details on the Persona-like friendship system, comments from the producers, and lastly how the series will go back to action if this game doesn’t sell. You can also check out our playthrough of the demo and how rather than the RPG change, the overall wacky feel of the battles is what might alienate old fans of the franchise.