Yakuza 8 Screenshots Reveal Returning Characters, Ichiban’s New Haircut

Yakuza 8 is a continuation of Yakuza: Like a Dragon — set in an entirely new town.

By Rahul Chettiyar | Updated: 20 July 2022 19:53 IST

Yakuza 8 Screenshots Reveal Returning Characters, Ichiban’s New Haircut

Photo Credit: Sega

Yakuza 8 could feature turn-based combat akin to the previous entry --- Like a Dragon

Highlights

Ichiban Kasuga, Koichi Adachi and Yu Nanba will return in Yakuza 8
Ichiban has traded his afro for a ponytail hairstyle in Yakuza 8
MMA fighter Mirai Asuka could also star in Yakuza 8

First images from the upcoming Yakuza 8 title have appeared online. A few work-in-progress screenshots from the game were leaked in a behind-the-scenes video of developer Ryo Ga Gotoku Studio. Glimpses reveal returning characters from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, including Ichiban Kasuga, who seems to have his hair tied back instead of the iconic afro. It also appears Mirai Asakura (MMA fighter/ YouTuber) will be starring in Yakuza 8 — though there is no word on whether he is a playable character.

The Japanese martial artist vlogged his visit to the Sega offices, where he could be seen pulling weird facial expressions while surrounded by a bunch of cameras. Throughout the tour, we are treated with small clips and images from Yakuza 8, as they appear on the developer's monitors. In addition to former Yakuza Ichiban, Koichi Adachi and Yu Nanba will be returning in the latest instalment.

Famitsu just published the first look at YAKUZA 8 https://t.co/zlJyu7xSio
— Nibel (@Nibellion) July 19, 2022

Yakuza 8 is reportedly set in a new town, with MMA fighter Asakura playing a role in-game. Lore details are still kept under wraps, though much like Yakuza: Like a Dragon, players can expect turn-based combat where they get to control the aforementioned characters in high-octane, overexaggerated fight sequences and dialogues. Additionally, director Masayoshi Yokoyama confirmed that the new game is a direct continuation, set a few years after the events in Yakuza 7 — further explaining the recurring characters.

Back in January, Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi left Sega to announce his own development studio with NetEase. The company was named after him and consists of 7 key members, all of whom were previously part of the Japanese multinational video game company. The studio will be focussing on developing high-quality console titles that will be released globally.

“I decided to leave Sega, where I had been working for a long time because I wanted to do something different than before. If you do the same thing, you can stay in Sega,” he said in an interview with Famitsu.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has added the first 3 Yakuza games — Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 to its Xbox Game Pass catalogue for July. All three games are available to play on PC, console, and cloud, following a brief absence from the service.

Is PS Plus better than Xbox Game Pass now? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: yakuza, yakuza 8, yakuza 8 release date, yakuza 8 news, yakuza 8 kiryu, yakuza 8 leak, yakuza 8 screenshots, yakuza 8 images, yakuza 8 ichiban, yakuza 8 mirai asuka, yakuza like a dragon, yakuza 8 leaked screenshots, sega, ryo ga gotoku studio