Yakuza: Like a Dragon New Battle System Detailed
Yakuza 7, coming to the west as Yakuza: Like a Dragon, is really changing things up with a “Live Command RPG Battle” system! The game’s chief producer, Masayoshi Yokoyama, has explained the brand new combat system in more detail through a series of tweets.
Here’s a rundown of the details:
1. The media should be publishing detailed articles about the battle system later on, but I’ll explain the points I talked about yesterday in order.
2. “Live Command RPG Battle” means battles where you execute commands in a constantly moving battle situation. In usual RPGs, enemies and allies are stationary until the playback of an action that has been selected, such as “Attack”, but battles in Yakuza: Like a Dragon are different.
3. Specifically, it’s a battle system with “characters moving in real time” where you “fight in a living city”.
4. With the exception of some bosses, encountering an enemy will begin the battle right from where you’re standing. In other words, your position at the start of battle will change depending on how you encounter the enemy, which can be both an advantage or disadvantage. Some enemies may also appear suddenly from hiding.
5. When entering battle, the enemy, allies, and the “city” will continue to move. They don’t stop. Characters will turn towards nearby enemies and keep their distance. Naturally, as it’s a battle in a city, hitting a street sign or bike will cause it to fall down.
6. All the physics are controlled through the Dragon Engine, developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku. As a result, “objects” on the battlefield can be used as weapons or obstacles, like in previous games.
7. Turn order is determined by parameters such as a character’s stats but attacking just any enemy won’t give you the same result. If you attack by running up to a remote enemy, there’s a high chance another one will get in your way and block it.
8. The situation changes completely depending on your distance from an enemy you’re attacking or city objects. If a bicycle rolls by, you can kick it at the enemy or pick it up and attack with it. This action depends on a character’s class type and characteristics.
9. Enemies outside of the one you’re attacking can become involved in an attack. For example, there is a high chance of you being interrupted while running up to attack a distant enemy. On the other hand, depending on the technique, you can hit multiple enemies at once with sweeping and ranged attacks.
10. If you the impact of an attack blows you into the road, you may get hit by a passing car. Naturally, you will take damage. Basically, this system is called “Live Command RPG Battle” because it’s one where the people and city are constantly moving.
11. Depending on the technique, there are also action-like operations, such as pressing a button repeatedly during an attack. Conversely, there is an “Auto” mode for those who want to progress quickly, where actions are determined automatically based on a character’s class and traits. However, this may not always behave as expected.
12. Everything uses the real-time physics of the Dragon Engine, which we have built up over previous entries in the series, and no battle situation is the same. As enemies become stronger, they will also become smarter, and will take actions such as running behind other characters when they are in trouble.
13. Previously, we only revealed basic information about the battle system. There are variations of skills unlike any before due to the class changes you can select at Hello Worker, as well as various other unannounced special moves.
14. Everyone on the team is working hard so people will be able to experience the Live Command RPG Battle for themselves at Tokyo Game Show 2019, which starts September 12th! If you are attending, please stop by and play! If you are unable to make it, we will work hard to share information through videos and such.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is really taking things in a new direction! It sounds like a lot of thought has gone into this new battle system, and there will be elements reminiscent of the previous Yakuza games too, which is nice to hear.
The official website for the west should launch soon, so hopefully we’ll get some more information then too. In the meantime, take a look at this subtitled trailer:
Yakuza: Like a Dragon releases for PS4 on January 16th 2020 in Japan and later in 2020 in North America and Europe.
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