Like a Dragon Producer Says Every New Game Could Be the Last

In a recent interview, long-time Like a Dragon producer and current Ryu Ga Gotoku head Masayoshi Yokohama detailed his views on franchise-building, revealing that he treats each entry as though it could be the last one. Yokohama has been involved with the Like a Dragon (AKA Yakuza) franchise since its inception, and has been instrumental in shaping its narrative over so many releases.

There certainly have been plenty of releases under the Yakuza and Like a Dragon banner: the franchise has received nine mainline entries, not including remakes, remasters, and spin-offs like Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Lost Judgment. Surprisingly, this prolific legacy wasn’t front-of-mind during the early years of the IP’s production, when the younger Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio couldn’t be sure of its financial or cultural liability. Even today, according to Yokohama, that sense of pressure and decisiveness remains potent.

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Like a Dragon Developer Still Treats Each Entry Like It Could Be the Last

Speaking to Japanese gaming outlet Famitsu, Yokohama offered some valuable insights into his frame of mind during Like a Dragon development. He said that he didn’t begin to think of Yakuza as a proper franchise until development began on Yakuza 3; Yakuza 2‘s satisfying and definitive ending could have been the IP’s last word. Now, all these years later, that mentality persists: “Even now that it’s a series, I still create each installment thinking that it could be the final chapter,” he said.

As for what this mindset means for the near future of Like a Dragon, Yokohama says that he hasn’t “thought about what happens to Ichiban Kasuga in the future yet,” meaning that he hasn’t planned the character’s trajectory beyond his most recent canonical appearance in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. This would suggest that Ichiban’s story can theoretically be considered complete, even if demand will probably dictate another Ichiban Kasuga adventure at some point in the future.

Ichiban in Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth

Like a Dragon’s Freeform Narrative Style Works in Its Favor

Yokohama’s comments are illuminating, as they contradict assumptions that audiences often have about long-running series. One would imagine that an especially prolific video game franchise with an overarching narrative would be aided by some grand design, or at least a vague outline. This outline would, again in theory, be like a driving force for the plot, or guardrails to ensure that everything stays on track.

However, in actuality, Yokohama’s self-identified approach has critical advantages, especially in the context of a decades-long story that has as many distinct factions, settings, and characters as Like a Dragon. Massive, mathematical planning of a narrative can be helpful, but it can also lead to writers getting stuck more often: opinions, attitudes, and focal points change naturally over time, so it’s good for a writer to keep enough wiggle room to accommodate such variations. Put another way, a story can take on a life of its own, and even the best-laid plans can become irrelevant in this event.

By treating each entry as though it could be the final one, Ryu Ga Gotoku is able to provide better, more self-contained stories, while also leaving the door open for further development. An individual Yakuza or Like a Dragon game thus doesn’t exist to tee up future projects, with each entry having its own unique vision, with the studio adapting from there.

For those worried about Ichiban Kasuga’s uncertain future, Yokohama admitted to Famitsu that Goro Majima’s increasing screen time over the years was not planned from the start, and was influenced by audience reception to the character. This would indicate, mercifully, that Ichiban will probably remain a mainstay in Like a Dragon, even if Yokohama hasn’t decided what to do with him yet.