Yakuza 3 producer Toshihiro Nagoshi chats about the inspirations and early influences that went into this PS3 game in the first developer diary released by Sega. It turns out that Nagoshi was influenced by movies that he’d watch in his childhood. Games? Sure. Anime and comics? Yeah. But movies is where it was at for him, and that definitely shows in all of his games.
He also touches on the Japanese style of storytelling, which he says focuses on human drama. He notes that while it may seem like something new in the west, this style is something that all Japanese people know well. I think it’s that type of storytelling that really speaks to me and all the other Yakuza series fans.
We’re just a few weeks away from the March release of Yakuza 3 here in the US.