RPGHQ

I'm just glad they're going back to action on a mainline game. Going with an old protagonist (age wise) in a JRPG for the last two was stupid, IMO. They also ran out of runway with the series and made the Yakuza irrelevant. Although, it looks like they're pivoting everything to force in the Daidoji to be the overarching baddie going forward.

Personally, it kind of shocks me that RGG never went back to the 80s for a game. Especially knowing their penchant for milking everything out of this franchise. Yakuza 0 had the most fun atmosphere, music, gameplay, mini-games, etc. Anything else in the series doesn't even come close.

Yakuza 0 was neat, but you can't keep rehashing the exact same thing forever. After 7/9 or however many games if you count the spinoffs, the concept has been mined out. You can still have thrillers and urban conspiracies without it being tied specifically to the Japanese Yakuza. Personally I think they should lean into the corpos and state sec thing, and they can do that without it being modern day. A really ripe setting would be South Korea, where the country is a corpocracy ruled by Chaebol - The Five Families (Samsung group, SK Group, Hyundai, LG, and Lotte) - who are treated like royalty and can imprison people, etc. Or they could go back in time to the early 20th century when you had the military junta with generals trying to frame each other and agents running around starting little internal coups, assassinating rivals, etc.

I’m skeptical of Stranger than Heaven. Didn’t Sega and the original creator leave RGG studios around Like a Dragon and Lost Judgement?

Why is Snoop Dogg in this and portrayed as an older mentor to the main character, his black *** would’ve been heavily discriminated and prejudiced against in 1915 lmao. Why is the founder (main character) of the Tojo clan half American.

This smells like RGG studios took some of dat sweet ESG loans to insert some hidden DEI initiatives in the plot. All this is sus to me.

Also, why are we still focused on the **** Tojo clan and the Yakuza. With RGG game engine they could’ve made a new IPs.

Maxlofla-32 wrote: ↑ June 2nd, 2026, 03:46

I’m skeptical of Stranger than Heaven. Didn’t Sega and the original creator leave RGG studios around Like a Dragon and Lost Judgement?

Why is Snoop Dogg in this and portrayed as an older mentor to the main character, his black *** would’ve been heavily discriminated and prejudiced against in 1915 lmao. Why is the founder (main character) of the Tojo clan half American.

This smells like RGG studios took some of dat sweet ESG loans to insert some hidden DEI initiatives in the plot. All this is sus to me.

Also, why are we still focused on the **** Tojo clan and the Yakuza. With RGG game engine they could’ve made a new IPs.

Toshihiro Nagoshi left in 2021 and Lost Judgment was his last game. The only exceptional instalment they've made since his departure is Gaiden.

I imagine they cast Snoop Dog to try and increase their audience and sales numbers in the West by using a well-known celebrity. I really hate it when companies do **** like this because it just alienates long-time fans like myself and will most likely give the OPPOSITE effect that they're after.

Making him half-American is a mystery that will be revealed during the story I imagine. It could also be a similar case with Snoop Dog with them trying to draw in more American customers.

If it ends up being woke, I'll wash my hands of this franchise for good. It's already gone downhill since Pirate Yakuza, but that would be the nail in the coffin for me. I have hope though.

I think it's cool that we're getting an origin story for the Tojo Clan. We still know nothing about it's past and who the first and second chairmen were, so that'll be interesting.

The new combat mechanics sound neat too.

Bhaalspawn Jr wrote: ↑ June 2nd, 2026, 05:02

If it ends up being woke, I'll wash my hands of this franchise for good. It's already gone downhill since Pirate Yakuza, but that would be the nail in the coffin for me. I have hope though.

They're already shoving pro-immigration and pro-blacks propaganda down your throat with a single trailer. How much woke do you need?

Valter wrote: ↑ June 2nd, 2026, 09:59

Bhaalspawn Jr wrote: ↑ June 2nd, 2026, 05:02

If it ends up being woke, I'll wash my hands of this franchise for good. It's already gone downhill since Pirate Yakuza, but that would be the nail in the coffin for me. I have hope though.

They're already shoving pro-immigration and pro-blacks propaganda down your throat with a single trailer. How much woke do you need?

I'll judge the full game. The ******'s role is probably brief since he's old and only in the first era from what we've seen.

Valter wrote: ↑ June 2nd, 2026, 09:59

Bhaalspawn Jr wrote: ↑ June 2nd, 2026, 05:02

If it ends up being woke, I'll wash my hands of this franchise for good. It's already gone downhill since Pirate Yakuza, but that would be the nail in the coffin for me. I have hope though.

They're already shoving pro-immigration and pro-blacks propaganda down your throat with a single trailer. How much woke do you need?

I'm too invested to not play it but I'll be pirating (assuming it's big enough to get a crack)