Sega is dishing out Yakuza 5, a drama-filled game involving the lives of four people: Taiga Saejima, Tatsuo Shinada, Shun Akiyama and Haruka Sawamura.
Haruka, the only female of the bunch, is the protagonist for the first time in the Yakuza game series and she has big dreams of becoming a pop superstar. Unfortunately, the quartet gets mixed up in some serious mafia mess across 5 major Japanese cities: Osaka, Hakata, Nagoya, Saporro, and Tokyo. To protect their loved ones, the four troubled people must do as the Yakuza asks of them or face dire consequences…but to what end?
In an exclusive interview video that PlayStation conducted with two Yakuza 5 producers, they explained that fans requested Yakuza 5 over 2 years ago and that the game revolves around people pursuing their dreams. They wanted to make a new Yakuza game that appealed to what the fans requested and what they could possibly relate to, like having dreams and goals in life. Being involved in organized crime, Yakuza members have very limited capabilities when it comes to pursuing dreams hatched well before joining the Yakuza. So why not crush the dreams of others just for the fun of it?
The premise of chasing dreams makes sense, since most of the mini-games within the game have some career relevance both in and outside of the game. From short clips provided during the interview, viewers can see characters cooking food, hunting, fighting (of course), singing karaoke, dancing and practicing in batting cages.
Aside from being able to go back and forth from five major cities in Japan, having plenty to do in those open world cities is more than any Yakuza fan could ask for.
