In a recent interview with the studio leads over at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for theYakuza Like a Dragonseries, chief director Ryosuke Horii revealed his interesting inspiration behind the addition of the beloved Karaoke mini-game. That has been a staple of theYakuzagames since its addition all the way back in 2009 forYakuza3.
The interview took place a day before Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios was set to announce what the future was going to look like for fans of the studio just prior toSony’s State of Play. After the announcements, the future for the studio seems to be a busy one. With three mainline titles on their way, starting with a remake ofYakuza Ishin, which was only released in Japan and will be known asLike a Dragon: Ishin!, another installment of the mainline series withLike a Dragon 8, and a spin-off known asLike a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, it’s safe to say they had a lot on their plates during the interview.
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Diving into the interview that was conducted by GameInformer, Horii revealed that even before his time working atRyu Ga Gotoku Studios, he had an immense passion for Karaoke and was rather good at it. With up-to-date spreadsheets tracking down each score and song he sings every year, he’s managed to accumulate an extremely impressive tally sheet with a whopping 7,964 songs, and that number shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Horii even stated that it managed to get him the job when he first had his interview at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, and it came to the final interview, and he had to talk about himself.
Before becoming Chief Director on theLike a Dragonseries, Horriworked on theYakuzaseries' side content, where he first created the waterfall training rhythm mini-game inYakuza Kenzan. He then later found himself not only working on but also leading the development ofYakuza 3’skaraoke mini-game. However, while directing the development of the Karaoke mini-game, Horri stated that his coworkers believed he had misdirected the mini-game and taken it too far, as they said it was too odd and out of place for a tough man like Kiryu to do something so out of character. However, Horri followed through with his own ideas and was confident in the vision he had set and planned for the Karaoke mini-game, and many fans will thank him for that, as it’s argued to be one of the best things to do in the series.
Many fans of theYakuzaseries argue that the Karaoke mini-game is not just one of the best mini-games in theYakuzaseries but one of the best pieces of side content in gaming as a whole. This just proves that having passionate, well-informed people can make a world of difference, as is the case here with theYakuzaandLike a Dragongames. TheLike a Dragonmini-game would not have turned out the way it did without Ryosuke Horii and his love of Karaoke, and it may not have even existed in the first place without him.
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