Yakuza 5 To Explore Five Cities, Continues Directly After Yakuza 4

First-up, like the rest of the series, it will be exclusive to the PlayStation 3. The big change this time around will be the inclusion of multiple cities. In fact, the game will feature locations in Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. Fans of the series will recall SEGA holding a competition to decide on a setting for the game. It seems like they all won.

Series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu will once again reprise his role for the game, but it's unknown if he'll be going it solo this time around. Given the critical success of Yakuza 4, we imagine he'll be joined by other faces once again.

The plot will follow on directly from Yakuza 4, ignoring the events of spin-off zombie shooter, Yakuza: Of The End.

Producer Toshihiro Nagoshi also said that the game will feature a number of technical improvements, including better camera-work and faster loading times. Nagoshi said that the team had learned a number of techniques from the development of upcoming PS3 shooter Binary Domain.

The game's in its early stages of development, so is still without a date. Don't expect to play until at least next year.