Bringing Yakuza’s Kiryu back like a dragon 8 is silly

Last night we finally got a look at the next mainline game in the yakuza Series, Like a dragon 8and the announcement trailer immediately had to assemble the online races Memes mocking the youthful new hairstyle of the series’ longtime, stalwart protagonist, Kiryu Kazuma. Although it’s nice to know that the grandpa-kuza is in a new one yakuza game, I couldn’t help but ask out loud: Kiryu, baby, why are you still here? Haven’t we already said goodbye?

During the yakuza studios RGG Summit 2022Sega announced three brand new yakuza Games: Like a dragon 8; Like a dragon: Ishin, a historical samurai spin-off of the series set in a fictionalized version of Kyoto in the 1860s; and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name which will depict the events in Kiryu’s life in between Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and Like a dragon 8. Although we already knew that LaD8 game camethe announcement trailer confirmed that the game would have two protagonists in Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu.

Having two or even more playable protagonists is not new to them yakuza Series. Yakuza 0, Yakuza 4and Yakuza 5 In all of them, you play from the perspective of characters other than Kiryu. While I’m excited to see Kiryu’s Moveset reinterpreted in Like a dragon‘s dragon quest-like turn-based combatNarratively, Kiryu’s return ignores the multiple narrative send-offs he’s already received throughout the series and underscores how shitty he is Yakuza 6a game advertised as his final adventure was.

Before I get to spoilers, this needs to be aired: Kiryu’s hair in there Like a dragon 8 is bad. His barber has abandoned all of Japan and given a 51-year-old man a frosty gray hair. Except for the sporty one his best Virgil out Devil May Cry Cosplay, I suppose there’s a very simple answer to why he’s sporting this new midlife crisis look. Look inside Yakuza 6Kiryu fights this guy named Joon-gi Hana Korean with a hairstyle similar to Kiryu’s Yakuza 8Announcement trailer by . As it turns out, Joon-gi Han is an identity that’s been passed down to people throughout the series, and Kiryu is rocking the hair Like a dragon 8 could mean he has now adopted the nickname for himself. Let’s hope he’s just taking some fashion inspiration from him, though, maybe to dress up while he’s working undercover Stardust, the host club of Kamuroucho. Given that Kiryu is friends with the guys who run the cabaret, it would not be out of the question for him, a man notorious for terrible disguises, to believe that this incognito look is deceiving someone.

Now why it’s a bit frustrating to watch Like a dragon‘s hero Ichiban must share the spotlight with Kiryu on his next adventure.

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On the entire main line yakuza series, Kiryu has received three goodbyes. in the Yakuza 5last sceneKiryu lies bloodied in the arms of his adopted daughter on the street, haruka, after a tough fight. The camera then pans up from his limp body and greets you with a single word: “Fin.” If you were a gamer in the West in 2012, this ending basically read like developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s way of saying, “Yes, Kiryu might be dead. Rip Bozo.”

But it turns out that Kiryu’s potential death was fake. Dude is as durable as a Nokia phone and that’s from 2016 Yakuza 6: The Song of Life saw his glorious return. However, the game was advertised as Kiryu’s final adventure, his true farewell. Unfortunately, the ending of that last adventure was pretty much bullshit.

Continue reading: The end of Yakuza 6 Is some bullshit

The climax of Yakuza 6In his story, Kiryu leaves Haruka and her baby who “still has that new baby smell” Haruto. In Kiryu’s thick skull, he justified his departure by protecting his orphan family from being prosecuted for his criminal escapades. Watching Kiryu abandon his loved ones after spending 60 hours fighting to restore the family he had started for himself felt utterly contrary to his determination to stay with them at all costs his, a defining trait of his throughout the series. needless to say Yakuza 6‘s ending not only marred the experience of playing his supposed “final adventure,” but also made his characterization feel criminally poorly conducted up to that point.

but Nobody is ever really goneand 2021 Yakuza: Like a dragon saw Kiryu’s great return to the series as a super-powerful supporting character supporting Protag Ichiban Kasuga towards the end of the game. Mentioned verbatim in one chapter Past the torch, Kiryu, you know, passes the torch to Ichiban at the end of their macho shirtless fight. The fight serves two purposes: it allows Ichiban to blow off some steam before doing something reckless, and it symbolizes Kiryu giving the JRPG-loving hero his seal of approval as the series’ new protagonist. I guess that was a damn lie.

For me, Kiryu returns as a dual protag Yakuza 8 puts a lot of pressure Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name effectively go back Yakuza 6‘s half-baked ending and plain on why the next three yakuza Games will feature the Oops! All Kiryu” for the next few years. Hopefully Kiryu’s presence doesn’t cause us to perceive that Ichiban is suffering as a result Worf effect go forward.