‘Like A Dragon’ Devs Say Franchise’s Growing Popularity Will Have No Effect On Its Identity: “We Will Not Change Our Policy Of Creating Games, Which Is Based On Our Personal Ideas Of What’s Fun”
The team behind the Like A Dragon franchise says that despite growing interest in their work, they have no intention of changing their creative direction in order to pander to new fans.
This affirmation was provided to fans by current series director Ryosuke Horii and lead planner Hiotaka Chiba during a recent interview given to Automaton Editor-in-Chief Amber V.
Reflecting on the fact that the recent Like A Dragon games have seen their characters and plots focused on “middle-aged guy things”, both Horii and Chiba admitted, “We are middle-aged guys ourselves… so I guess that’s the kind of target audience we’re going for, probably.”
“I think that this is precisely one of Like a Dragon‘s selling points,” said Horii. “In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, everything starts with three unemployed middle-aged guys being like ‘Let’s go to Hello Work.’ They have a different air about them than a group of young heroes would, complaining about back pain and the like. But this “humanity” you feel from their age is what gives the game originality.”
“The characters are flesh-and-blood human beings much like our players are, so their problems are relatable,” he added. “That’s why it’s easy to really get into the game and feel like you’re listening to conversations between ordinary people. There isn’t any typical ‘game-like’ language like ‘Where is the treasure chest?'”
Turning to a scene from the series’ most recent entry, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Chiba asserted, “For example, there’s a conversation where Adachi is conflicted about whether he should drink beer or not because he’s worried about his uric acid level. We’re making the hearty talks of middle-aged dudes our identity, rather than youthfulness.”
To this end, Horii then admitted that while the series has seen a massive influx of female fans in recent years, the demographic’s growing interest will have no effect on its “middle-aged guy” narrative.
“We have had a large increase in new fans, including women, which we’re truly happy and grateful for,” thanked the director. “However, we don’t plan to do anything like deliberately changing conversation topics in order to cater to new fans.”
He then joked, “That would make us unable to keep talking about things like uric acid levels.”
“Our policy as creators has not changed,” he further detailed as his time with Automaton drew to a close. “We are very grateful for the recognition we have received from overseas fans and new, younger players, but we will not change our policy of creating games, which is based on our personal ideas of what’s fun.”
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