Frank-ProvoAs they're apt to do, Japanese magazine, Famitsu, dropped first details today on Sega's Ryu Ga Gotoku 2, the sequel to the game known to us in the west as Yakuza.
Ryu Ga Gotoku 2 is scheduled to be released in Japan on December 7, 2006. That's one year to the day that the first game was released in Japan, and three months following the first game's release in North America (as Yakuza).
The new game will take place one year after the first game did. It will greatly expand the in-game world, allowing players to explore much of Osaka, as well as re-visit the Kamutai region from the original game. Players will once again assume the role of an up-and-coming member of Japan's underworld mafia.
Among the many new features discussed, players will be able to visit a wider variety of shops, tackle 100 side-missions not tied into the main story, and partner with CPU-controller characters during certain battles. The battle system has also been greatly enhanced, such that there are now twice the number of attacks and players can interrupt combos and attack in any direction without being locked into drawn-out animations.
That's all we know for now. We don't have any word on a North American release just yet, but it stands to reason that if Yakuza, which comes out in one week, sells well, that Sega will have cause to publish Yakuza 2 in the west sometime in 2007.
Related Game(s): Yakuza