Destructoid TGS 2012. Hands on with Yakuza 5
There’s no questioning that Yakuza series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu is a badass of the highest order, but his first appearance in a Tokyo Game Show demo of upcoming PS3 game Yakuza 5 has him in a cab driver’s uniform. Yep, the Dragon of Dojima is a taxi driver.
My first thought: Oh no they didn’t!
It’s cool. No worries. As any series fan would guess, Kazuma’s help is needed once again. While cleaning his taxi cab with a feather duster (really!), two suits approach him and try to get him to help out with an urgent matter. But after some impassioned pleas and a bit of a tussle in an really dramatic cutscene, Kazuma…stands his ground. But you know where this is going.
Under the goofy vest-and-slacks taxi driver uniform (yes, that’s really a thing here in Japan) is still the same hard-ass gangster we’ve grown to love over the past four games. The TGS demo has him running around his new stomping grounds of Fukuoka to meet up with the same gents that pleaded with him earlier. A brand new game engine for the series makes it debut with Yakuza 5, and I could see it at work while running through town. Surroundings looked more lively than in previous games, and NPCs seemed a tad more human. Even Kazuma’s movement seemed slightly different, though I couldn’t put my finger on what had changed.