The coming months are going to be good years to be a Yakuza fan, since Sega announced the Yakuza Remastered Collection at Gamescom today. While not Kiwami-level remasterings, Yakuzas 3, 4, and 5 are still upscaled ports intended for the Playstation 4, bringing them up to current-gen visuals. The first, Yakuza 3, is already out now.
As the first Yakuza games, the Yakuza Kiwami titles were remasterings (if anything, full-on remakes) of Yakuza 1 and Yakuza 2. With the close proximity that Yakuza 0, the Kiwami games, and this title have come out in, there’s never been a better time to start the Yakuza games.
With pulse-pounding martial arts action, deep plots, a huge neighborhood to explore, and the sort of wacky Japanese humor that you wouldn’t expect from a game that focuses on big burly men engaged in vicious martial arts brawls, the Yakuza games are a worthwhile purchase for anyone.
The Yakuza games have had a spotty history in the West, as for most of their history they were only available via imports. While some of the games were originally avialable in the west, lackluster sales caused them to be Japan-exclusive.
However, the huge amount of fan demand eventually brought them back, hence the Kiwami games, Yakuza 0 being available in the West, and the Yakuza Remastered Collection happening too. And now, you can easily own all the games, if you’re willing to wait just a few more months.
While the remastered version of Yakuza 3 is already available, the Yakuza Remastered Collection consists of three games, but all of these are timegated and will be coming out at different times. Yakuza 4 will come on October 29, while Yakuza 5 comes on February 11.
In February the entire trio will be available to buy physically, but if you want to get started now you can buy a season pass that will get you access to all three games as they’re ready. So, with Yakuza 3’s remastered version already available, you might want to book a flight to Kamurocho.
