Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi is no stranger to borrowing dramatic themes and dramatic ideas from movies, and his first project at Nagoshi Studio was inspired by one of Hollywood’s greats, Quentin Tarantino. It was found that
speak to german publications 4 people (Translated by IGN) Nagoshi shared some quick insights on the kind of violence and humor his next game could entail.
“Of course, I can’t say much about our games yet, but I can give you a vague idea: Violence is of course a gameplay element, but Thriller and my game are Quentin Tarantino. Humor may also play an important role, as it will be closer to the movie of the 1980s,” Nagoshi said. No. I’m looking for humanity, silliness and seriousness, and that’s what I’m striving for right now.”
Nagoshi also said that he now spends most of his time recruiting for projects. This likely means it’s in a very early stage of development.
Quentin Tarantino is known for ultra-violent movies like Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Dark humor and stylish violence are also common in the filmmaker’s films. Yakuza games are also full of stylized violence and goofy moments, so Nagoshi doesn’t seem to plan to stray incredibly far from his roots.
Nagoshi left Sega and Ryuga Gotoku Studios last October, and said the team he left behind “will continue to bring great games to the world.” Founded by NetEase Games, a Chinese gaming powerhouse fueled by the success of mobile games such as Identity V. But as Nagoshi explained shortly after he joined NetEase, his new studio will not be in the business of making games for smartphones. Nagoshi reiterated that fact in this recent interview, stating that their current project is going to be his game for consoles.
Prior to retirement, Mr. Nagoshi spent more than 30 years at Sega in various roles. He has been involved in many famous franchises beyond the yakuza, such as Virtua Fighter, Super Monkey Ball, and F-Zero. He said it was nearby.
Meanwhile, Yakuza Studios continues its Yakuza franchise without Nagoshi. We recently got our first glimpse of the returning character in Yakuza 8. We know this takes place a few years after Yakuza: Like A Dragon. We also know that the studio plans to “pay close attention” to the Judgment series, and that the studio is working on unannounced projects outside of these two series of his.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @Logan J Plant.
