Mysterious 'Project K' is Yakuza spin-off for PSP
Special K
Japanese gaming mag Famitsu has revealed that the action RPG series Yakuza will be making its next stop on the PSP.
Previously seen on PS2 and PS3, the Yakuza games cram a remarkably dense mock-Tokyo onto your console, complete with convenience stores and arcades packed with coin-op machines.
They might look like side scrolling beat-'em-ups or even GTA styled open-world games, but they're in fact a series of action RPGs, complete with stats, EXP, long-winded cut-scenes, and equippable weapons. You just beat up mouthy street punks, instead of blue slimes.
The images, scanned in by All Games Beta, show that Yakuza PSP is set in modern day Japan (unlike the spin-off Yakuza Kenzan, which was set doing the Edo period in 1605).
They also reveal that you won't be playing as series veteran Kazuma Kiryu. Instead, you'll be playing as some new character with a black and gold hoodie, a heavy tan, and some rocking corn rows.
Andriasang has translated the magazine article, and found some interesting details on the upcoming game. Yakuza series director Toshihiro Nagoshi said that the new character is an 18-year-old delinquent: a departure from the 40-year-old protagonist of the main series.
It will be fully voiced featuring stylish graphic-novel cut-scenes instead of full CGI movies. The battle system, complete with heat action system, is still in the game, but will be more "in your face" than ever before.
No release date is given, and it's very up in the air as to whether we'll ever get it in America or Europe thanks to weak sales of the main games in the west.
