Classic Characters to Return in Yakuza 7

I’ve been playing the Yakuza 7 demo quite a lot recently and let me tell you, it’s amazing. Despite the drastic change to the series’ formula and despite the fact I can’t read a word of Japanese I’ve had a great time with it.

The turn-based combat is going to put off some people, however, I love that genre and the whole thing reminds me of Persona 5, which is no bad thing at all. The only issue I can really find with it so far is the camera, that thing is all over the place as it darts between characters.

Hopefully, that is an issue that will be fixed and we can all enjoy a brand new, equally crazy, entry in the Yakuza series. A series of games that happen to feature one of my all-time favorite games ever.

You may have seen the latest trailer for Yakuza 7 and if you have you’d have received a huge shock at the end when retired protagonist Kiryu showed up. It was thought we wouldn’t see him again as new lead Ichiban took the series forward in a fresh new direction.

Thankfully, we were wrong and the legend will make another appearance in Yakuza 7 as an NPC and probable boss fight.

Turns out, Kiryu isn’t the only classic character that’s returning as a few more have been announced in a live stream by Sega as first reported by Siliconera.

I’ll get the bad news out of the way first. The all-time great Shun Akiyama has not yet been announced to return. I’m sure he will, but I want confirmation of this yesterday. I love that guy.

So far, we have been promised the return of his Yakuza 4 & 5 teammates Taiga Saejima as well as the almost ever-present Daigo Dojima.

It’s wonderful news that classic characters will return as the latest entry heralds a new beginning. I for one am glad Yakuza isn’t forgetting where it came from.

Let us know in the comments your thoughts on Yakuza 7 in general. Are you excited about the changes, have you played the demo? Let us know.

Oh and one more thing, there’s one more confirmed character. A man who has inspired a rather large tattoo on my arm, a man who is a fan favorite, a man who is quite simply fantastic even with his limited depth perception. That’s right, Goro Majima is back. I’ll leave you with that.