{"id":46036,"date":"2025-03-25T12:42:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T03:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=46036"},"modified":"2025-03-25T12:42:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T03:42:44","slug":"like-a-dragon-cleverly-avoids-complaints-about-reused-assets-by-getting-players-emotionally-attached-to-its-recurring-locations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-cleverly-avoids-complaints-about-reused-assets-by-getting-players-emotionally-attached-to-its-recurring-locations\/","title":{"rendered":"Like a Dragon cleverly avoids complaints about reused assets by getting players emotionally attached to its recurring locations\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>At GDC 2025, Sega\u2019s RGG Studio held a session about the <strong>Like a Dragon<\/strong> series\u2019 development, entitled \u201cRGG DESIGN: The Secret to Narrative-Driven and Short-Term Development in Like A Dragon&#8221; (as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.4gamer.net\/games\/798\/G079868\/20250323001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported on by 4Gamer<\/a>). During the lecture, Like a Dragon producer Ryosuke Horii and background artist Eiji Hamatsu talked about some of the secrets behind the series\u2019 famously fast development cycle.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the key points inevitably brought up was the recycling of existing assets. Important locations, like the bustling, neon-lit Kamurocho, have reappeared throughout most of Like a Dragon\u2019s mainline entries, and the series frequently refurbishes individual city components and buildings for reuse in new games.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1508\" height=\"848\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1508px) 100vw, 1508px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-002JPG.jpg\" alt=\"Sotenbori in Like a Dragon\" class=\"wp-image-46042\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-002JPG.jpg 1508w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-002JPG-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-002JPG-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The developers explain that while reusing locations in games tends to result in players complaining of \u201cbeing taken to the same places again,\u201d the Like a Dragon series \u2013 where the same locations reappear as a necessary part of telling the story \u2013 turns this into emotional significance for the players.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This includes \u201cthe joy of revisiting a place where a past story has left its mark\u201d and \u201cthe satisfaction of coming back to a place where a certain event occurred, but for a different reason.\u201d Due to the Like a Dragon series\u2019 accumulated stories and experiences, revisiting the same locations in a new entry gives the player a feeling of nostalgia, becoming a \u201cmeaningful encounter\u201d of its own, according to the developers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1071\" height=\"599\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1071px) 100vw, 1071px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-003JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-46043\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-003JPG.jpg 1071w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-003JPG-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250325-46036-003JPG-768x430.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, another important point of successfully reusing assets is not relying on existing assets for everything. The Like a Dragon developers redirect the time and resources that get freed up into creating something new for players to bite into, balancing the nostalgia with freshness.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, (which was overflowing with bittersweet nostalgia for Kiryu fans), locations like Sotenbori were reused, but the developers implemented elements like The Castle, an all-new explorable location. Similarly, as the latest Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii reused Infinite Wealth\u2019s Hawaii setting (<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/like-a-dragon-infinite-wealths-artists-made-all-of-hawaiis-3d-assets-from-scratch-creating-the-series-largest-area-to-date\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">which was carefully made from scratch<\/a>), the developers were able to focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-pirate-yakuza-in-hawaiis-developers-were-still-overhauling-the-games-ocean-maps-as-late-as-october-last-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">creating its ocean, islands and ships,<\/a> incorporating them into gameplay.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1260\" height=\"703\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1260px) 100vw, 1260px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250226-44860-001.jpg\" alt=\"Ships in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii\" class=\"wp-image-44865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250226-44860-001.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250226-44860-001-380x212.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/20250226-44860-001-768x428.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is out now for the PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3061810\/Like_a_Dragon_Pirate_Yakuza_in_Hawaii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>), PS4\/PS5, and Xbox One\/Xbox Series X|S.\u202f\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RGG Studio developers talk about how they give locations emotional significance, avoiding player dissatisfaction about reused assets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":46041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-46036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46036"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46044,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46036\/revisions\/46044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}