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some time ago, sega yakuza studio released a promotional video for its new work "yakuza: pirates of hawaii". this game will continue the timeline of "yakuza 8", with players' old friend goro majima as the protagonist, driving a pirate ship to embark on an adventure among the hawaiian islands.

at the tgs tokyo game show, in addition to a one-to-one life-size statue of majima goro and a giant pirate ship, sega also brought a demo to players.

the stage of this demo is set in honolulu, hawaii. players can choose to explore a city map full of hidden elements, or try classic mini-games such as karaoke, go-karts, and takeout delivery. however, personally, i left the 20-minute trial what impressed me most was the more refreshing action design.

this game does not continue the well-received turn-based gameplay of "yakuza 8", but chooses a real-time action system that is close to "yakuza 7 gaiden: the nameless dragon", and like the original kazuma kiryu, "yakuza" goro majima in "8 gaiden" also has two different fighting styles.

in the default "rabid dog" state, majima will fight with the short sword that players are familiar with. after switching to the "pirate" style, majima's weapons will also be changed to double swords. in general, there is not much difference in the operational logic of the two combat styles, except that "rabid dog" is more balanced, while the skills such as muskets and long whips carried by "pirate" are more suitable for dealing with distant enemies, and they are not worthwhile in themselves. a special place to expand.

surprisingly, majima's attack speed in this game is much faster than kiryu in "yakuza 7 gaiden". jump attacks and aerial combos also make majima's attack methods more complicated, making this work shows a freshness unprecedented in the series.

on the other hand, the game adds a slightly "sci-fi feel" such as the "clone technique" into the action as a powerful explosive skill, and the performance is very generous. this "one-click to open up" operation method is also important to a certain extent. to a certain extent, it balances the rising threshold brought by complex operations.

it seems that the combat system of "yakuza 8 gaiden" shows such an evolutionary direction: strengthening the protagonist's moves increases the complexity of the operation, but the addition of powerful burst skills reduces the difficulty of the operation and adapts to in addition to players with different preferences, it also enhances the thrill of combat from the side. for players who want to try goro majima's "sci-fi" moves, this game is definitely worth looking forward to.

after the trial, we interviewed the series producer horii ryosuke. horii has been involved in the development of the series since "yakuza 2" and is also the producer of "yakuza 7 gaiden." based on the content of this trial and the producer's answer, we can take a look at the general appearance of "yakuza 8 gaiden".

yokoyama masayoshi (left), head of yakuza studio,

ryosuke horii (middle) and "yakuza 8" producer hiroyuki sakamoto (right) take a group photo at the tgs sega booth

the following is the content of the interview, which has been edited and edited for ease of reading.

q: why did you choose goro majima to be the protagonist of "yakuza 8 gaiden"? judging from the game settings, he is older than kazuma kiryu, already 60 years old, but in the game his movements are more flexible than before. how is this possible?

horii:i also find this very incredible. majima may have some special maintenance methods, but because he is getting older, we will slow down his movements. it will definitely be boring for players to play, and we ourselves also find it boring. .

so although as a person, he is already 60 years old, we still hope that his movements will be the same as in his heyday, and as the game progresses, his movements and force will become stronger and stronger.

q: the theme of "yakuza 8 gaiden" this time is pirates, which is a relatively new theme in the "yakuza" series. why did you choose pirates as this theme? do the producers think there are any elements in majima that are suitable for the pirate theme?

horii:our original intention of making the game was not to use pirates or majima as the protagonist. we wanted to focus on depicting what happened after the story of "yakuza 8" ended. at the end of "yakuza 8", the game talks about nuclear and nuclear waste issues, and we need to explain the subsequent facts clearly. it is precisely in order to explain the story clearly that we think the role of majima is more suitable, so we chose him as the protagonist.

at the same time, we wanted to make the character of majima more interesting, so we introduced pirate elements and organically combined the two. in addition, our development team is constantly coming up with new ideas and creativity, thus presenting the work now in front of you.

q: regarding the combat system, can you please share the design concepts of the two combat styles? starting from "yakuza 7" and "yakuza 7 gaiden", the combat style of the series has gradually become more "sci-fi", and this time it looks even more "sci-fi". what are the considerations for such a design?

horii:the combat system this time is divided into two types, namely "rabid dog" and "pirate". for the rabid dog part, we want to reflect what kind of person majima is, let everyone know the charm of majima, and at the same time experience the refreshing and exciting feeling of operating majima, which is also the main selling point of this game.

another pirate style that mainly shows how to use different weapons to better attack the enemy on a technical level. this is the main difference between the two. when designing the pirate style, we wanted to highlight a different experience. in order to reflect this difference, after thinking and discussing, the production team came up with a way to fight with the two-sword style, and then developed the pirate style.

as for the feeling that the recent works have conveyed to everyone that they have switched to a "sci-fi" route, it does not mean that the entire "yakuza" series will take this direction, but that we will develop corresponding content based on the impression of the protagonist of each work. . for example, kasuga ichiban is a relatively sunny and optimistic character, so we created the battle system for "yakuza 8". the character of majima seems to be crazy, so we made this game based on his character. this does not mean that future works will always maintain this style.

q: players' impression of majima has changed a lot through "yakuza 0" before. this time, players will play majima again. will the plot change players' impression of majima again?

horii:majima's character seems to be a bit crazy. if i have to say it, he is a character who is more likely to appear in the local camp. i think it is not easy for players to empathize with him. although majima in "yakuza 0" is also relatively crazy, it mainly depicts the story before he became a "rabid dog", so it seems to give people a more serious impression.

the majima in this side story is majima after losing his memory. what players have to do is to retrieve the memory with such majima, and it should be easier to empathize with majima whose memory is cleared. as the plot progresses, majima continues to retrieve his memories, and eventually becomes the majima everyone knows. through this process, i think players can more easily empathize with majima in front of them.

q: in "yakuza 8", from the perspective of kasuga ichiban and kiryu kazuma, we experienced many mini-games in hawaii that fit their personalities. so in "yakuza 8 gaiden", do players have the opportunity to experience branch lines and mini-games that fit the style of majima?

horii:of course we have prepared and designed quite a few mini-games for majima. in addition, in this work, players can also travel to all areas of hawaii in "yakuza 8" and play most of the mini-games featured in this work. in addition to the content we currently publish, we will also add some new mini-game content in the future, so please look forward to subsequent releases.

q: after the "yakuza" series changed the system from the 6th generation, the combat experience has undergone some changes, and some old players feel uncomfortable. judging from the new pv, this game has also enhanced the gameplay of aerial combos. will this type of action be the main direction of attack in the future?

horii:although there is an aerial combo gameplay in this game, our main purpose is to make the character of majima have a different sense of exhilaration than other characters such as kazuma kiryu. it is designed to highlight the characteristics of the character of majima. it does not mean that similar content will be added to every work in the "yakuza" series.

q: you mentioned in an interview last year that "yakuza 7 gaiden" was born because during the development of "yakuza 8" you felt that more plot preparation was needed. so is "yakuza 8 gaiden" a product that was only developed during the development of other works, or was it planned from the beginning? and does the plot of this work pave the way for the next work?

horii:when we released "yakuza 7 gaiden" and "yakuza 8" last year, we already had the idea of ​​"yakuza 8 gaiden". although we didn't decide on a pirate theme at that time, we had already decided to add follow-up plans for "yakuza 8". although the theme of pirates in the end seems to have no connection with other works and is a work that suddenly appeared, in fact, the world view and storyline are closely related to the works before and after the series.

reporter: in "yakuza 7 gaiden", kazuma kiryu will use some special props and scenes to interact. will there also be corresponding exploration methods in "yakuza 8 gaiden"?

horii:yes, this game will use a unique pirate prop system. majima can interact with hooks and locks as well as various other types of props and scenes. in addition to being used in combat, the hook lock can also be used in daily exploration. you can use it to climb to the top of a building or catch some insects or fish. these are all possible. in addition, players can also open treasure chests, open shortcuts, or use caught fish to make items. in short, we have prepared a lot of interesting content, and we hope that players can explore the game world by then.

reporter: both "yakuza 8" and "yakuza 8 gaiden" are set in hawaii. are there any new expansions on the map for this game to bring some freshness to players?

horii:of course there will be. in this game, players will not stay in the map of hawaii all the time. proportionally speaking, the proportion of time players spend passing through hawaii is about 20% to 30%. in addition to hawaii, there are also different maps such as rich island and frenzy landis. players can move between these maps. we feel that these contents can bring some freshness to players.

q: will you consider letting other characters return as game protagonists like majima in the future? especially since majima also got a new style this time, will you consider designing new styles for other characters in the future so that they can reappear?

horii:unfortunately, there is no such plan at the moment. this game did not feature majima as the protagonist from the beginning. it was mainly to complete the story after the main part of "yakuza 8". in the process, we found the real character that best suited the situation. island, we will also use this as a guiding principle to create interesting stories in the future. some old characters may return in the future, but it depends on the subsequent planning of the series.

q: finally, please ask mr. horii to say a few words to chinese players.

horii:what we have been doing before is a game with a gangster theme, so this game is a new challenge for us in every sense. as i mentioned just now, this work has added jumping movements that fit the image of majima's character, and the story will be more interesting and engaging than before. i hope that old players of the "yakuza" series can enjoy this work. experience different feelings and at the same time we hope that this work can explore a new possibility for us in the future.

in addition, the information we have released so far is not all. before the release, we will continue to release some new information in stages, and i also have some very interesting things hidden. i look forward to making them available to everyone one day. please look forward to this. the release of this game!