Like a Dragon: Kenzan! translated to English on PS3
By Tgames · · 2 min read
Eighteen years after its Japanese release, Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!, the samurai Yakuza, is playable in English thanks to a fan patch, with no AI.
The forgotten Yakuza
Released in 2008 on PS3, only in Japan, Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Like a Dragon: Kenzan!) never got a Western release or a remake, unlike Ishin!. You follow Miyamoto Musashi in 17th-century Kyoto, under the identity of Kiryu Kazumanosuke, in a game close to the other Yakuza titles.
In early November 2026, a team of fans released an English translation patch covering the whole game. The team includes majDima, who already made the English patches for the Japanese PS3 versions of Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Ishin!, and jurxd. The work took about two years.
What the patch includes
No AI, according to the team
Asked by Time Extension, jurxd states that the translation and the code were done "without the help of AI", line by line. The team warns that passages translated early in the project may be less polished than the later ones, and invites players to report errors. It also states that it has no connection with another translation patch shared on Tumblr.
Our take
Kenzan! was the last major entry in the series still out of reach without speaking Japanese. The patch can be downloaded from ModDB, the page given by the team; avoid copies posted elsewhere. For the Japanese PS3, a console running CFW or HEN will do. On PC, the series already runs very well on RPCS3, as shown by its report on Yakuza: Dead Souls.
Sources: Translation patch (ModDB) · Patch preview (YouTube) · jurxd's reply (X) · Time Extension
The forgotten Yakuza
Released in 2008 on PS3, only in Japan, Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Like a Dragon: Kenzan!) never got a Western release or a remake, unlike Ishin!. You follow Miyamoto Musashi in 17th-century Kyoto, under the identity of Kiryu Kazumanosuke, in a game close to the other Yakuza titles.
In early November 2026, a team of fans released an English translation patch covering the whole game. The team includes majDima, who already made the English patches for the Japanese PS3 versions of Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Ishin!, and jurxd. The work took about two years.
What the patch includes
- dialogue, menus and the glossary, with terms added to the game's dictionary;
- all the mini-games, including Iroha Karuta, the Japanese card game;
- extra fonts to display English;
- announced compatibility with modded PS3s and emulators, and therefore RPCS3 on PC.
No AI, according to the team
Asked by Time Extension, jurxd states that the translation and the code were done "without the help of AI", line by line. The team warns that passages translated early in the project may be less polished than the later ones, and invites players to report errors. It also states that it has no connection with another translation patch shared on Tumblr.
Our take
Kenzan! was the last major entry in the series still out of reach without speaking Japanese. The patch can be downloaded from ModDB, the page given by the team; avoid copies posted elsewhere. For the Japanese PS3, a console running CFW or HEN will do. On PC, the series already runs very well on RPCS3, as shown by its report on Yakuza: Dead Souls.
Sources: Translation patch (ModDB) · Patch preview (YouTube) · jurxd's reply (X) · Time Extension
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