Nagoshi visited last weekend at the Sega Fes 2019 event in Japan. During the event dedicated to the Yakuza series, he referred to its future.
"Considering that the Yakuza is an action-adventure game, I would like to drastically change the formula of the series. In the past, we tried to make changes, but fans often claimed that they were small. Now we would like them to be as big as in network games, when version 1.0 becomes version 2.0. This process takes some time.
Some time ago we released Judgment and this was also part of the experimenting process. The energy we put into producing the new game is like when we created the first Yakuza. We are waiting for the day to be able to surprise you.
Changing the main character from Kazuma Kiryu to Ichibana Kasuga was also a good idea. With the difference of characters, the target changes, and when the target changes, the game also changes. Both speak differently, think differently and act differently. It also opens a new change and allows you to change the image of Yakuza that many people have.
We want to use the change of heroes as best as possible. As far as the story is concerned, in the past there were many tearful scenes or those that aroused anger [playing and Kiryu]. Now we are thinking about showing more comedy scenes (...)"