Published , by Charles Singletary Jr
Published , by Charles Singletary Jr
The Yakuza series continues to thrive in a big way with new releases and updated versions of previous titles to usher in a new audience for the gritty and incredibly deep action games. The studio behind the series is utilizing its heightened exposure by taking on a new IP it announced pre-TGS 2018: Project Judge (working title). This new experience is a detective/courtroom thriller set in modern day Tokyo and will release on PS4 in 2019.
In the press release for the game's reveal, Project Judge casts players as private detective Takayuki Yagami, who's played by Japanese icon Takuya Kimura. Players will utilize investigative skills and other gameplay features to uncover Project Judge's truths. "What lies beyond the suffering and failures of the man trapped within his past," the team teases in the release. "Is it a divine revelation, or something more sinister?"
Lead character Takayuki Yagami is a man of conviction and Kimura worked extensively with the game's studio to bring the character to life, including recording more than 1,000 minutes of voice recordings for dialogue. The studio's core belief, as stated in the release, is to "create enjoyable games that address mature themes" and the team has spent three years pursuinging this goal with Project Judge's story and character development.
Akira Nakao, Kenichi Takito, Shosuke Tanihara, and Pierre Taki will all lend their voice acting talents to Project Judge as well, with band Alexandros creating original music for the game. Project Judge is slated for a 2019 release along with quite a few others in the Shacknews 2019 Video Game Release Schedule. Stay tuned to Shacknews for more updates.