According to Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the developers of Like A Dragon (formerly Yakuza), a franchise that has a unique effect on the way you relax in a bar with older guys.
In an interview with Automaton, franchise director Ryosuke Horii and lead designer Hirotaka Chiba said that although the franchise is becoming more popular in the West and attracting more players, it will continue to have the middle-aged nature that was evident in the previous installments. The protagonists have such charisma, and the developers believe that this is what gives Like A Dragon its unique flavor.
“I think this is one of the selling points of Like a Dragon. In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it all starts with three unemployed middle-aged guys who say ‘let’s go to Hello Work’. They have a different air to them than a group of young heroes complaining about back pain and the like. But that ‘humanity’ you feel from their age is what gives the game its originality.
This game feels like chilling with older guys in a bar instead of going to a hard drinking party with young people. We’ve had a huge increase in new fans, including women, which we’re really happy and grateful for. However, we don’t plan to do anything like deliberately change the topics of conversation to appeal to new fans. That would make it impossible for us to continue talking about things like uric acid levels,” Horii said.
According to Chiba, there’s a dialog where Adachi is worried about drinking beer because of his uric acid level. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio makes heartfelt dialogues about middle-aged people’s conversations, so it’s not their youth that makes the games appealing. While all of this may sound a bit unusual, there may be something to it, as there really is a unique style to the episodes of Like A Dragon (and before that, Yakuza).
And ultimately, that’s why the franchise is so successful, because it dares to be unique.
