A pre-release review of "Dragon's Dogma 8"! Enjoy more strategic battles and countless activities in scenic Hawaii!

SEGA held a hands-on media event for "Yakuza8," which is set for release on Friday, January 26, 2024. In addition to the outlandish command battles, visitors were able to experience the "Dondoko Island" featuring Gachapin and Mukku, the "Matching App" to win the hearts of women by making full use of their smartphones, and other voluminous activities.

Yakuza8" is the latest title in Sega's "Yakuza" action-adventure series. Yakuza" is set in a real-life sightseeing and entertainment district, and the lives of the men who live in the underworld are intertwined.

Kazuma Kiryu & Ichiban Kasuga! New and old protagonists go on a rampage in Hawaii!

The series is characterized by wild fighting action using not only fists but also surrounding objects such as billboards and bicycles, as well as a variety of activities such as karaoke and cabaret clubs. RPG Battle," a new frontier in command-input style battles. The newest title, "Yakuza8," allows players to enjoy both command-input battles and traditional fighting action.

Yakuza 8" also features a double protagonist system, with the bright and maverick Kasuga Ichiban, the protagonist from "7," and Kiryu Kazuma, the protagonist from "6" and a legendary ex-gokudo in the underworld, engaging in new battles in Yokohama's "Isesaki Ijinmachi" and Hawaii. In addition, at this test play session, pre-grown data was prepared for the player to experience activities in Hawaii. Therefore, please note that this was not a chance to check out the play feel of the early stages of the game.

Kasuga Ichiban is the new protagonist from "Yakuza 7: Whereabouts of Light and Darkness. He is a maverick, cheerful, and a big fan of "Dracula," and has a habit of comparing things to the RPG series. He attracts people with his high human power and charisma.

Kazuma Kiryu is the main character of the "Yakuza" series. He is known as a legendary ex-gokudo, but for some reason he is currently living in hiding.

Hawaii is a resort island where palm trees grow thick in the tropical sunshine and lightly clad passersby come and go. The realistically created fields exude a cheerful atmosphere, making you feel as if you are really here for sightseeing. The sprawling town is dotted with countless activities and points of interest for bonding with friends, and this sense of variety is typical of "Yakuza.

While leisurely strolls are great, getting around is even more comfortable with the OKA Surfer, a standing electric scooter that can be called up at the touch of a button. It can be called up at the touch of a button, and can be driven by yourself or auto-driven to a predetermined destination, making it a pleasant way to get around the tropics. The gap between Kiryu and other strong and beautiful characters riding the "OKA Surfer" with a straight face and upright posture is also interesting. While walking around town, you can play your favorite background music, including the Sega fan favorite, "Can You Become a Rent-a-Hero for Others?

As in "Yakuza," there are enemies everywhere in the city, and when you find them, you are plunged into battle. The battle system in this title is titled "New Live Command RPG Battle," which allows players to enjoy more strategic battles than in previous titles. This unique battle system combines "Yakuza" style battles that utilize the surrounding environment with actions by selecting commands such as "attack" and "defense. The battlefield is a mix of friend and foe, and if a player blows up an enemy and finds a companion in the path, he or she will automatically follow up with an attack.

The player can also attack using surrounding objects such as billboards. The key is to make good use of the positioning of enemies and allies and the environment, which changes in real time. In this title, the player can move the character whose turn it is to take to some extent freely. This makes it easier to aim for follow-up attacks and object attacks, and in addition, players can launch coordinated attacks when they are near friends with whom they have a close "bond.

When a fellow player is in the vicinity of an enemy who has been blown away, a "bond pursuit" is triggered, inflicting even more damage.

Let's battle with tropical jobs unique to Hawaii!

The fun of the out-of-the-ordinary jobs (occupations) is still alive and well in this title. The "Chimama," a job that continues from the previous title, pours champagne on the enemy to induce abnormal conditions, while the "Assassin" fights sadistically with claws and whips. ...... The surfer-like "Marine Master" who can hit enemies with his surfboard is also a unique feature of this work.

The battles, which seem to be a combination of RPG and reality, are performed seriously by photorealistic characters such as Kasuga and Kiryu, and have a unique lightness.

Marine Master" uses a surfboard as a weapon.

Chi-mama" fights with champagne, hair irons, and handbags.

Assassins" use key claws and crossbows.

Costumes also change with different jobs, such as "Dancer," "Chef," and "Idol.

At the same time, consideration for fans of previous titles has not been forgotten. For a certain amount of time, Kiryu can fight with the same actions as in the previous "6" games. The exhilaration of rampaging through the fight with punches, kicks, and grabs, as well as the feeling of control that allows you to move Kiryu as you wish, is in the tradition of the "Yakuza" series. Players who have played "7" or later may want to go back in time if they are intrigued by this action.

Kiryu can fight in the action for a certain amount of time.

Kiryu's great action "Shin Oryu no Kiwami" summons dragons and burns down the enemy.

In the "Super Bonding Technique, the Ultimate in Friendship," all allies attack simultaneously and a huge explosion occurs behind them. It looks like something out of a special effects show.

The volume of "Dondoko Island," a new element in which Gachapin & Mukku also appear, is amazing!

Among the activities that can be enjoyed in this title, the "Matching App" and "Dondoko Island" are particularly humorous.

The purpose of the "Matching App" is to chat with girls using an app developed by Machiko, a fortune teller and app developer, to increase their likability and get them to go on a date. The time available for chatting is limited, so it is important to be efficient in raising the level of likability. The battle begins when you register your profile before chatting. The initial value of a girl's "Gokigen Gauge" (a kind of likability gauge) changes depending on how well you match the girl's preferences. The reason is that the initial value of the girl's "Gokigen Gauge" (a kind of likability gauge) changes depending on how well you match her preferences.

Once the self-presentation is complete, it is time for the much-anticipated matching time. The app picks up a few people, but at this point you only know their handle, icon, profile text, and the percentage of matches they like. Members' occupations vary from college girls to freeters to cosplayers. Unlike the familiar "cabaret clubs" in the series, you have to choose from a list of people whose faces you do not even know, which makes you nervous.

When chatting, in addition to having the sense to choose a response that will increase your likability, it is also important to have good finger skills. This is because there is a mini-game when you tap your phone to enter a response. The content of the mini-game is to press the buttons in the correct order within a time limit. In some cases, the players are asked to input spells such as "[□][△][×][△][○][□][×][△][×][×]", which requires both quickness and accuracy. If you press the wrong button or run out of time, you will not be able to send a response because you will have tapped the wrong button on your phone. If they like the answer you send, your "Gokigen Gauge" goes up, and a picture is sent to you every time it exceeds a certain value. The feeling of accomplishment comes from starting a conversation with a person whose face you don't even know, revealing their hobbies and preferences, and finally getting a picture of them.

In this play, I arranged a date, but it turned out to be a chicken with a smartphone that was at the meeting place. Of course, use is not free; you have to buy points from Machiko. Since this one is pre-prepared data, the balance with the actual income is unknown, but it seems to be a nice addition to the play.

Another activity that seemed to be so voluminous that it could stand alone as a stand-alone game was "Dondoko Island," a redevelopment of a desolate island. Kasuga rescued a turtle that was about to be caught and was invited to the mysterious Dondoko Island. Dondoko Island is piled with illegally dumped garbage here and there, but it used to be a resort island that many people visited. Haruhi, who is a kind-hearted person, works hard to revive the island with Gachapin and Mukku, the mascot characters of Dondoko Island, and Matayoshi, the owner of Dondoko Island.

The Gachapin and Mukku who appear in the film are not look-alikes, but the real people themselves. The two have collaborated with various games in the past, but no one could have predicted that they would appear in "Yakuza. In addition to the realistic reproduction of their body shapes and skin textures, they speak in familiar TV voices during event scenes, which will make even fans want to help them.

To develop Dondoko Island, it is important to remove trash and DIY installations (like furniture). First, let's remove trash and secure materials.

However, since Kasuga is a maverick, there is no way that this will end with mere cleaning, so he uses a baseball bat. The trash scattered around the island is a treasure trove of materials for DIY, which allows the island to be decorated. The excitement of acquiring materials to create new furniture, the fun of gradually cleaning up the field, and the exhilaration of blowing it up with a baseball bat combine to make you dispose of trash as mindlessly as if you were crushing packing paper.

Once you have accumulated enough materials, you can start DIY projects, which can be anything from chairs, plants, umbrella stands, jets, and other daily necessities to chaotic items such as a "finger-stuffing set" with a knife stuck in the cutting board and a "free information center sign" with the words "I can clear my home" printed on it in bright colors. The variety is abundant.

By displaying these items on the island's land, the "richness" and "popularity" of the island will increase, and the island's reputation will also rise. Some of the items have attributes such as "natural" or "adult," which also seem to affect the rating. The placement of installations can be freely changed at any time, and it is even possible to place an installation on top of an installation, such as a chest of drawers on top of a chest of drawers. If you make chairs, you may want a table that matches the atmosphere, or you may want to make it look like a garden by arranging plants around it ....... Your desire for the layout will continue to grow.

The amount of available land increases rapidly, and eventually, buildings and stores that have appeared in the past titles can be placed, so the scale of the game is huge. The goal is to create a resort island in the daytime or an entertainment district with a nighttime atmosphere. It is also possible to visit other users' Dondoko Island, which is sure to be a very exciting content.

With more strategic battles, a myriad of activities scattered throughout the city, and a "Dondoko Island" (......) that seems to be a hit with those who are into it, "Yakuza8" is simply huge in scale. There are many other activities to look forward to, such as "Crazy Delivery," where you ride a bicycle across Hawaii to make deliveries, "Raid Battle," where you can battle powerful enemies, "Suspicious Snap," where you take photos of suspicious people, and "Sujimon Battle," where you scout out "Sujimon (people of that stripe)" in town and have them fight against each other. The "Yakuza" series is full of fun, and the brightness of the "7" series and beyond has been added to the series.

The "Sujimon Battle" pits "Sujimon" (those who have the same lineage) against each other. Sujimon have affinities based on their attributes.

The latest "Yakuza" titles are "Yakuza 7: Whereabouts of Light and Darkness" for the command battles between Kasuga and his friends, and "Yakuza 7: Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name" for Kiryu's action battles. The latter includes a demo version of "Yakuza8," so it would be a good idea to preview these games.

In a joint interview with Hiroyuki Sakamoto, chief producer of "Yakuza8," we were able to ask him about the highlights of "Yakuza8" and what he is aiming for, so please check it out as well.

(Reporting by Shinichi Yanamoto)