The Dragon of Dojima’s exploits may come to a close in Yakuza 6, but don’t count on that being the only title featuring him as a protagonist to release this year. During a live stream of a Yakuza art event in LA last night, Sega announced that Yakuza Kiwami 2 will have a release date in the West later on in the year.
Considering that it took two-and-a-half years to bring Yakuza 6: The Song of Life West, it’s astounding that Yakuza Kiwami 2 will make it across the Pacific in only nine months. The game just released in Japan in December and already Westerners can look forward to playing it on August 28.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 will follow the story first told in Yakuza 2, which picks up around a year after the events told in the original game. This entry in the series deals with the after-effects of Kiryu leaving the Tojo Clan and the rivalry between Kiryu and Ryuji Goda, the “Kansai Dragon” of Tojo Clan Yakuza rival the Omi Alliance.
Of course, this being a complete remake, there will be some cool new features. The game will be in the new Dragon Engine that powers Yakuza 6 and will include all the original Heat Actions of the original Yakuza 2. Clan Creator will return and be featured in a new chapter starring Majima Goro after he left the Tojo clan. In addition to the usual arcade cabinets, the original Virtual-On arcade game will be playable, and the Cabaret system will return from Yakuza 0.
Unfortunately, there was no word on whether Hokuto ga Gotoku (Fist of the North Star) would be coming stateside or not, but perhaps if Yakuza 6 and Kiwami 2 sell well, Sega will bring it over as well.
I’m super excited to play Yakuza Kiwami 2, and after not hearing anything about a Western release since the game was announced for Japan in August 2017, I was afraid it wouldn’t make it stateside. Fortunately, the recent prosperity of the series has evidently increased Sega’s interest in bringing the games here.
