In a new article from spansish magazine Hobby Consolas We are treated to an article on the upcoming VF: Crossroads and, of course, a little love for Shenmue!
Image and translation by Iago Molist from Issue 420
VIRTUA FIGHTER CROSSROADS
A CROSSOVER WITH SHENMUE AND YAKUZA
Shenmue was born as a role-playing spin-off of Virtua Fighter and, interestingly, the sixth installment of the fighting saga (the “VI,” in the style of the latest Resident Evil games, is implied with different colors in the first two letters of the name) will be almost a throwback.
Yu Suzuki is no longer at Sega, but currently, the license is in the hands of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, which already made the revisions of the fifth installment and which, obviously, are the author of Yakuza, the saga most similar to Shenmue that has existed. Therefore, and in the absence of a Shenmue IV, we are pleased to see the approach that the team has taken for this reimagining of the mythical AM2 saga. We say this because, in addition to being a one-on-one fighting game inspired by various martial arts, Virtua Fighter Crossroads will feature a deep story mode that will include exploration and massive battles on a Southeast Asian island called Vilasapara, with a Chinatown and a criminal undercurrent. It’s like if Ryo Hazuki would be returning to Hong Kong.
This Heaven is also a sky
That narrative mode, as cinematic as a Yakuza game, will star four new characters. The most important one will be a Latino named Cielo (Sky/Heaven, in Spanish), who, in fact, will replace Akira as the central character. In that sense, the SGF trailer was accompanied by a song in perfect Spanish, despite being a Japanese game. But apparently, RGG Studio wasn’t satisfied with the sky of Stranger Than Heaven and, in 2027, they also want to take us to this other one (heaven).
Opinion – From Vilaspara, to Heaven
We’re not exaggerating when we say that Virtua Fighter has just become the resurrection of the classic Sega sagas we’ve been most looking forward to, far ahead of the also confirmed Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio, or Crazy Taxi. Knowing that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the team responsible for Yakuza, was handling it, we suspected it would have punch, but what we didn’t imagine was that they would opt for a street brawl mode that would close the circle with Shenmue, Virtua Fighter’s RPG twin soul.
