Yakuza (2005)

Yakuza (2005), created and produced by Toshiro Nagoshi, was a PS2 released 3rd Person combat game following a “Yakuza Legend '' known as “the Dragon of Dojima”. Taking place in a fictional district of Kamurocho (and heavily based on the real life district inTokyo of Kabukicho), the game centers it’s story around the local yakuza clan in a bind after their storage of 10 billion Yen goes missing. Kiryu has been in prison for 10 years after taking the blame for the murder of his family’s patriarch Sohei Dojima, who was really murdered by his sworn brother Akira Nishikiyama. He returns to the city and is not interested as heavily in being a part of the Yakuza. The story is serious and dramatic, but the setting allows you to experience the nightlife and daylife of citizens in Tokyo’s most famous red light district.

Nagoshi had to push through the higher-ups in the SEGA studio in order to greenlight this project, he fought his bosses, then the ratings system in Japan, all to release this game. The game was a big success, regardless of its rating, likely due to the realistic setting (they used many real brands to make the city come to life) and its powerful marketing campaign. This was met with a Western release and a poorly done English dub. The series would get 4 more sequels and three spin off titles before dropping off in popularity. Leading the company to create one final game, which ended up becoming Yakuza 0, a prequel game that takes place a few years before the events of this initial title.

Programmers Kazuhisa Hasuoka and Tetsuya Kaku, with help of designers Daisuke Sato  and Takeshi Tanaka worked to create an almost 1-1 recreation of the red-light district in Tokyo, Japan. With minigames and features that echo those of Shenmue. With realistic recreations of the night life and the city of Kabukicho, these creators began a series that would keep this energy and love for the craft for the series that spans 8 games now in the mainline series alone. These games have climbed in popularity and have become one of SEGA’s top franchises.