Yakuza 5 launching for PS3 this month, Yakuza 0 announced for PS4

By Danny Cowan December 7, 2015

Sega confirmed during this week’s PlayStation Experience event that a prequel in its long-running Yakuza series is due to launch for the PlayStation 4 in North America in 2016.

The publisher also nailed down a release date for its promised localization of Yakuza 5, announcing that it will premiere digitally for the PlayStation 4 this week.

Tracing its origins back to the PlayStation 2, Sega’s Yakuza series features a crime drama narrative that unfolds over the course of an open-world adventure. Players navigate the crowded streets of Japan as they complete missions and hunt for rival gang members throughout each mainline series entry.

The Yakuza series made the jump to the PlayStation 3 with 2010’s Yakuza 3, and a sequel followed in 2011. Though a fifth game in the series hit Japan in 2012, a localization never surfaced in the years afterward, leaving fans wondering if future Yakuza games would ever arrive stateside.

Sega finally confirmed its plans to localize Yakuza 5 earlier this year, revealing that an English-language version would launch digitally for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network by the end of 2015. After missing a scheduled November launch date, Sega finalized its release plans, and Yakuza 5 will make its North American debut on December 8th.

After confirming the sequel’s release date this week, Sega revealed that it also plans to localize the PlayStation 4 prequel game Yakuza 0. Released in Japan earlier this year as Ryu ga Gotoku Zero: Chikai no Basho, the game takes place in the years leading up to the events in the original Yakuza game.

Set on the streets of Kabukicho and Shinjuku Golden Gai in 1988, Yakuza 0 features Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima in starring roles. Yakuza 0 features open-ended gameplay in the same vein as its series successors, and marks the series’ first stateside appearance on the PlayStation 4.

Yakuza 5 premieres for the PlayStation 3 on December 8th. A release date for Yakuza 0 was not announced.

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Red Dead Redemption is coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4 this month

red dead redemption switch ps4 release date key art

The original Red Dead Redemption is coming to two new platforms, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, later this month. It'll retail for $50 on both platforms.
Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare Coming to Switch and PS4
Rockstar Games' open-world western game first launched in 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3. It was critically acclaimed and a smash sales hit, creating a new franchise for Rockstar that could stand alongside the likes of Grand Theft Auto. It received a sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2, in 2019, but the original Red Dead Redemption remained stuck on older platforms outside of backward compatibility support on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
That's why fans got excited when a rating for the game from the Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea popped up. We've now learned that this rating is for new Nintendo Switch and PS4 ports of Red Dead Redemption by Double Eleven Studios. Red Dead Redemption will release across both of those platforms digitally on August 17, with a physical launch to follow on October 13.

It will cost $50 and includes the base campaign as well as the zombie-infested Undead Nightmare expansion; the Red Dead Online multiplayer is not included. This is the first time Red Dead Redemption will ever be on a Nintendo system, although it doesn't look like the port will have much in the way of Switch-exclusive features. That said, a press release does reveal that this will be the first version of the game to include Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese localizations.
Red Dead Redemption comes out on PS4 and Nintendo Switch on August 17.

Gaming

Resident Evil 4 makes the best use of PS5’s DualSense since Returnal

Leon fights off a parasite in Resident Evil 4's remake.

Capcom's excellent Resident Evil 4 remake is out now, making one of the best games of all time even better. If you're on the fence about what platform to buy it on, I've got a firm recommendation for you: PS5. That's because the remake takes full advantage of Sony's unique DualSense controller to make the horror game even more immersive.

Ever since the PS5's launch, developers have been a bit hit-and-miss with integrating the DualSense's features into their games. Launch game Astro's Playroom is a fantastic showcase of what it can do, getting the most out of its adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, while Returnal sets the bar for how the controller can enhance an experience. Other titles haven't been quite so creative or, even worse, have gone a little too far. Games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart can be a little painful to play due to heavy, repeated trigger pulls.

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God of War Ragnarok shares a key strength with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Hafgufa flies away in God of War Ragnarok.

God of War Ragnarok’s main story is memorable, but some of the smaller moments are what have stuck with me most since completing it. I'm not just talking about its moments of quiet, but its optional Favors as well. These sidequests can be entirely ignored, but skipping them is a mistake as they contain some of the game’s best scenes. It's a trait that God of War Ragnarok shares with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, one of the best RPGs of the last decade.
In some large RPGs, sidequests can often boil down to boring fetch quests, or they simply may not have as much polish put into their writing. As a result, they can feel like content bloat that does more harm than good to the game’s pacing. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and God of War Ragnarok avoid this problem by elevating these sidequests, making the entire adventure feel more cohesive and ensuring that the small moments stick out as some of the best.
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Like God of War Ragnarok, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features a lengthy main story full of memorable characters, set pieces, and boss fights. While those alone would have made it a strong RPG, it’s remembered as an all-time great because of how rich its world is, something that's reflected in its side content. There were quests like Ghosts of Past, which pays off the character arc of Witcher 2 character Letho, but it's entirely possible to finish the game without ever seeing it.

Others, like Return to Crookback Bog, turn what could just be some fun supernatural fights into a chilling tale about abuse and broken families. While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s main narrative is strong, these side moments are what make it a game that sticks with you years after release. I can already tell the same will be true of God of War Ragnarok, as some of my favorite missions in the game are entirely optional Favors.
An early game Favor called The Weight of Chains sees Kratos, Mimir, and Atreus freeing a giant Lyngbakr sea creature that Mimir imprisoned while working with Odin. They manage to break its chains, but find that it now struggles to move and do what it used to. This sidequest takes a series of somewhat standard combat encounters and puzzles and spins them into critical aspects of a memorable tale. The Weight of Chains reflects on how Kratos and Mimir’s reckless actions have had irreversible consequences, but they now have an opportunity to be better people in the future.
Another standout Favor called Secret of the Sands, where Kratos and Atreus free a trapped jellyfish-like creature called a Hafgufa, is also quite beautiful. The short story shows what Kratos will do to be able to spend more time with his son in the face of Ragnarok. However ordinary these sidequests may be from a gameplay standpoint, their narrative relevance and level of polish are on par with some of God of War Ragnarok’s main quests. This high effort even applies to some side missions that wholly exist with NPCs in the game’s overworld, ones that aren't even built around huge set pieces. For example, there’s The Lost Treasure quest.