According to the chief producer of the "Royal" series, Hiroyuki Sakamoto and director Ryosuke Horii, the derivative work "Royal 3 Legend" will be released in February 2026 with "Royal 3" and will present the darkest plot in the series ever.
Dark Ties is a long spin-off game that features the popular villain Yoshitaka Mori, the famous villain in "Royal 3", tells his prequel story in the familiar Kamimorimachi background of the series.In a recent interview, the development team said that the key concept of this work is to describe what exactly made the person "Feng Yixiao".Director Ryoyu Horii commented that unlike the protagonist Kiryu Kazuma fighting out of a sense of justice and helping those in need, Yoshitaki Mine is by no means such a character.
"He is an extreme man, a character immersed in loneliness and madness. He is not the type who will take the initiative to help others, but if someone begs him, he may intervene. We pay great attention to capturing these unique aspects of Yoshitaka Matsu in development." Horii explained that based on this goal, "Dark Ties" will be a game centered on introspection and deeply focused on Yoshitaka Matsutaka.The work will not focus on many characters extensively, but will focus on the spotlight on Yoshitaka's inner monologue and self-question.
"This is not a journey of self-discovery, but as Yoshitaka becomes increasingly despair in despair, the core question becomes whether the thing he is looking for really exists in the world of the Great Dao. While other characters will appear, it is ultimately a story about Yoshitaka facing himself. I think that makes it a very novel work."
Series producer Kiyoshi Sakamoto added: "I think this is the darkest story in the entire series. So far, the series has revolved around ex-boys or retired members of the genius to help others or fight to protect something. But the story of Yoshitaka Mori is a constant sinking towards darkness. His choice of how to spend his life makes the tone of the story particularly darker than other works in the series, which may be a refreshing change."
Recently, the "Dragon" series has tended to be wild and humorous, while "Dark Ties" seems to be decisively moving into a heavier theme with its moral gray protagonist.Interestingly, this spin-off was initially conceived as a watchable video, but the development team ultimately believed that the opportunity to turn Yoshitaka into an actionable character was precious and should not be missed.
"Royal 3" and "Royal 3" will be available on Steam, PS5/PS4, Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S platforms on February 12, 2026.
