Yakuza 5 Character Details Revealed

New details surrounding the five playable characters of Yakuza 5 have been revealed by Game Informer magazine.

Each of the five playable characters are located in different parts of Japan, at least when the game starts. The main protagonist of the series, Kazuma Kiryu, is now a cab driver in Fukuoka. He is no longer a member of the Yakuza, but when the Sixth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, as well as Kiryu’s “junior,” have gone missing, he must rejoin that part of his life he thought I had put behind himself.

Now imprisoned with a 25-year sentence for allegedly killing 18 people from rival gangs, Taiga Saejima begins the game simply wanting to complete his prison sentence without trouble, “until circumstances force his hand and his survival skills are tested in the harsh winters of Hokkaido,” Game Informer writes. What those circumstances are is not made clear.

Daughter of Kiryu’s late girlfriend, Haruka Sawamura is 16 years old and living in Osaka, where she has been working on a career in show business, competing on a reality TV series called Princess League. “The glitz of showbusiness [sic] won’t stop Haruka from learning firsthand just how dangerous the entertainment industry can be, though,” Game Informer writes.

Shun Akiyama from Yakuza 4 is still a successful businessman and, at the outset of Yakuza 5, is trying to set up a new branch of Sky Finance, Akiyama’s loan company. However, after Akiyama hears of the passing of a former client, he must put his loan company on the proverbial back-burner.

Last, but not least, is newcomer Tatsuo Shinada, a former baseball player that got caught up in gambling-related problems. He is now an adult entertainment writer in Nagoya. However, “a mysterious masked man” presents Shinada with the opportunity to find out why he was banned from playing baseball.

Yakuza 5 is scheduled to be released mid-November on PlayStation 3 “if all goes according to schedule.”

Source: Game Informer