Sega may be considering giving one of the Yakuza series’ Japan only spin-offs the “Kiwami” treatment. Series producer Daisuke Sato has hinted that a Yakuza Kenzan Kiwami could be in the works.
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan, nicknamed Yakuza Kenzan by fans, originally launched on PlayStation 3 in Japan in 2008. The game took the series’ unique take on the open-world genre and gave it a samurai twist, setting the action in 17th century Kyoto. The game sold enough in Japan that Sega released a second Yakuza samurai spin-off, Ryu ga Gotoku Isshin in 2014.
Talking to GNN at the launch event for the release of the Chinese language version of Yakuza 5, Sato stated that a Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan was a suitable candidate to get the Kiwami treatment. He cited the game’s age, stating that a simple HD remaster wouldn’t do and he would rather do a Kiwami version.
As part of this, he discussed the possibility of finding new actors to portray the characters from the game. Of course, this could mean greater changes to it as the original had a samurai version of main series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu as its hero.
Additionally, Sato acknowledged that there were many players who would like to be able to play the game in their native language. Specifically, he mentioned both English for Western players, as well as Chinese for Asian players. Prior to this, Sega actually did release Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan in some Asian countries, but this was still the Japanese language version.
Of course Sega has made other Yakuza series spin-offs aside from Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan and its follow up Ryu ga Gotoku Isshin. In 2012, it finally brought over the zombie apocalypse themed Ryu ga Gotoku Of the End to the West as Yakuza Dead Souls. With this news, the West may see yet another Yakuza spin-off headed its way.
