When Yakuza 3 was finally released to Western audiences this past Spring, gamers rejoiced at the release of a critically acclaimed, yet niche title. All was not well however, when Sega decided to cut a majority of the content. Will it happen again?
Fret not Yakuza lovers! Western gamers who like their Japanese games pure and populated by signature elements of Tokyo culture are sure to get a dose of what they want in next year’s upcoming release of Yakuza 4. Yes, the hostess bar will make a triumphant return. Sega’s Aaron Webber, the community manager of the forums that turned into a cesspool of hatred during the previous game’s release, said that ALL of the side-quests “will pretty much be in there.” How much is “pretty much”? Well, according to an interview with Kotaku, Webber actually said he was unaware of any side-quests being cut.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be any cuts at all however. One part that has definitely been cut is the mini-game of an interactive Japanese game show, Answer X Answer. While the extensive nature of the Japanese trivia was deemed “too exotic” for Western audiences in Yakuza 3, the lack of the trivia section was actually not the case at all for this game. This mini-game involved custom-made 16-bit graphics with very specific fonts. To keep the game on schedule for a March 2011 release date, this portion had to be cut. They really looked in to implementing it, but it just would have been too much work. Webber said that the main goal is to minimize the time between the Japanese and Western launches of the game, so as long as Yakuza 4 sells well, it looks like Sega will be able to fully localize more and more content in the future.
Interested in the Yakuza at all? Check out PlayStation LifeStyle’s review and tell us what you think!
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