The latest entry in the long running series has broken out the passport and decided to bring its unique blend of virtual tourism and violence to the sunny shores of Honolulu, Hawaii. With Yakuza 7 or Yakuza: Like a Dragon or Like a Dragon: Like a Dragon being the greatest April Fool’s Day joke to become reality. Its sequel was going to have to be something truly special to surpass its predecessor. The series’ metamorphosis from Brawler to Turn Based Combat was a big shake up and the introduction of our new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga as a replacement to the almost mythical figure of Kazuma Kiryu seemed to be an impossible feat. Thankfully the team managed to pull both of these feats off with aplomb. The new combat system added several extra layers to proceedings that were starting to feel stale. Thankfully random battles, recovery items and upgrading equipment were already staples of the series. Which helped make the transformation feel seamless. Our new protagonist Ichiban turned out to be a human labrador in a maroon suit, playing the part of a retired Yakuza. With his unbridled loyalty, compassion and energy; it’s not hard to see why he won over much of the fanbase so quickly. Why are we talking about the previous game in the introduction of a review for the sequel? Merely taking a cue from the game itself. If you are a newcomer to the series, the opening of this game will spend some time getting you caught up with previous events. This might also come in useful for those fans that may have forgotten a few of the finer details in the wait between games.
Ichiban has found gainful employment in Hello Work and is giving it his all to help find steady work for other ex-Yakuza in the city. There are certain laws and a general stigma around hiring people that were involved in organised crime; but silly little things like that don’t deter our Ichiban from his goals. He earned the title of The Rock Bottom Dragon due to his ability to crawl back from the most dire of situations and fight his way back to the top. Not named for his rock hard bottom. Which does make a special appearance once or twice. Things are going brilliantly for Ichiban since we last saw him, steady job, good friends and possibly a special someone in his life. This does feel a bit too low drama to be a Yakuza title, of course something would have to upset the apple cart. Without going too deeply into plot points, a Vtuber decides to make content about Ichiban’s previous life in the Arakawa Clan. Spinning a version of events that makes it look like he is using his current role in Hello Work to manipulate and recruit ex-Yakuza back into a life of crime. Which cascades into a series of events that causes him to lose his job and his title as the Hero of Yokohama. Once again becoming the Rock Bottom Dragon. It seems his friends have shared a similar upheaval from their employment because of their association with Ichiban. Which can only be resolved by one course of action. A trip to the barber to reinstate one trademark haircut, slip back into the shiny arsed gangster suit and dust off the Hero’s weapon of choice; one trusty baseball bat. Violence can fix all of our woes in this universe. Although the introduction can feel slow paced and well stocked with cutscenes, it does a great job of setting the scene and character motivations. Although if you’re somebody that skips cutscenes and dialogue, you’re in for a world of confusion and ambiguity.
The story continues from the previous title and it feels like the studio went to great lengths to find a narrative balance to placate long term players and newcomers. You are greeted with a lot of information early in the game, which can be the make or break point for a lot of players. The Dragon Engine is a thing of beauty and they will make you appreciate that fact with close ups of incredibly detailed characters and some lovingly rendered animations. Usually Chapters begin and end with quite lengthy cutscenes and this ties in with the melodrama and action movie feel the series is renowned for. The story beats are split between two playable characters, similar to how the story was divided in the prequel title Yakuza Zero. It’s no secret that Kiryu has returned to the main series, given that he’s on the main cover and advertising. His inclusion was fortified for those that played Lad: Gaiden to completion recently. The Dragon of Dojima’s story isn’t over just yet. For a spell Ichiban and Kiryu partner up in Hawaii and there is an amazing contrast between the two. Kiryu continues to be his trademark stoic self as he watches Ichiban stumble through another substory that requires some public humiliation just to help out a stranger. Possibly reminiscing about similar situations he found himself in years previously. This opening portion is a great reminder as to why our two Dragons are such beloved characters. Acting as a solid introduction for any first timers as well. They continue to be human, loyal and true to a fault. Turns out the duo have landed in Hawaii with a similar goal. Which naturally allows them to team up and gives us a sense of something familiar as we get established with the new locales.
While Honolulu City is a brand new location to the series, its mechanics operate in a similar manner to previous entries. You’ll find a variation of shops as you travel that stock everything to suit your needs, from coffee beans to revolvers. There are various eateries and bars that can restore your health without using up those precious items you might need to use during battle. You can tackle trees like a Hanna-Barbera character to knock down some fruit that can be crafted into powerful healing items back in the Revolve Bar. This new drinking establishment behaves the same way as the Survive Bar does in Yokohama. A place to rest and unwind for you and your party. If you’ve been especially nice to your team members, you may unlock Drink Link sections. Where they open up to your character and may dive into their backstories. Revolve even comes equipped with a surly barman with a heart of gold; which is a requirement for owning a dive bar in any form of media. There are plenty of familiar faces in this sequel, decked out in their casual holiday clothes as they vacation in the tropical settings. Ichiban will recruit some brand new team members with even more battle abilities to freshen up proceedings. Ichiban seems to be able to make friends no matter where he ends up. He’s everyone’s favourite thug that you want to hug. The City map is segmented into danger levels and it won’t be until much later in the story that you have full free reign of your surroundings. The map is pretty hefty and densely packed. Of course, it’s as badly infested by gangs that like to pick fights with six foot tall men with back tattoos and baseball bats as Japan seems to be. The Ichiban crew leaves a trail of Menacing Men in traction wherever their destination may be.
When reviewing this title I tried to skip a lot of the diversions that are present in the city; this was not successful. I wanted to get the review out this year. Hawaii still has a healthy stock of claw machines and Ichiban is a sucker for those coin hungry agents of acquisitiveness. You’ll find all the usual time sinks around the cities. Darts, Karaoke and of course, the arcades. You can lose yourself to a bit of Virtua Fighter if you find the gangster driven theatrics of the main story a bit too much. Partaking in some of these activities with your party members is a surefire way to increase your bond levels. There is a chance visiting areas like the arcade will trigger some chat between the party and you may learn something from their childhood, some embarrassing memories or an insight to what makes them tick. Moments that could be missed if you simply stuck to the main path in the game. You do accumulate quite a hefty cast of party members by the end of the game and they’re all very well established. Each personality radiates from the game and it all comes together to feel like a tightly knit posse, thanks to the gallant amounts of effort that went into their character development and performances. I did play through the game in the original language rather than the English Dub. Which led to some confusing segments where they skipped between English and Japanese for various parts of the story. It’s another part of the game that requires your suspension of disbelief. Look homeboy, if you can punch a tiger into submission with your bare fists. Then people speak Japanese all over America. A country renowned for its excellent grasp of the English language, not being afraid of vowels and being skilled multilinguists. Okay? Get over it.
Later in the story Kiryu returns to Japan while Ichiban continues his quest in Hawaii. Eventually they will both lead their own party of four characters and we will alternate between them at various points in the game. If you’ve played an RPG before, then you’re aware how much character management comes with keeping your team in top condition. The aforementioned bond system returns from the last game with added features. Once you are joined by a new companion, various conversations can be triggered throughout the city that flesh out the character’s personality and backstory. Strengthening their bond with the party is not only entertaining, but it will also add benefits that come into play during combat. For example, in the previous game you had to choose your targets carefully. If your party targeted an enemy, but another foe was on the path of your attempted attack. You would take damage en route from the bystander. Getting hit and losing a turn is not ideal in turn based combat; you may be shocked to learn. This feature has been removed in the sequel and at first felt like they had nerfed the combat heavily with this decision. Without that element of combat, you were free to attack anyone at any time. What they’ve replaced this with, is a variation of contextual attacks and team member involvement. Thanks to the newly added circle of movement you can control your character placement to a degree. Provided your character can get close enough to an enemy, a powerful proximity attack can be unleashed. Knockback attacks can be used to project flailing bodies into other hapless goons to damage both offending parties in one turn. Those bond levels? They improve the chances of triggering combinations with other party members for extra damage. Partners may also run over and stick their boot into a thug that’s been dropped on their head. On a well orchestrated turn, you can trigger a few of these actions in a row. A successful chain is incredibly satisfying every time your party manages to pull it off. Each physical strike recovers MP for powerful skills. When you perform combo attacks, each team member involved will recover a share of precious MP. This refresh to the combat system means you infrequently find yourself stuck without enough MP for special attacks during bigger battles. Especially if you find yourself in short supply of healing items. This restructuring of the combat system makes it feel far more involved and adds a greater sense of immersion thanks to the team’s extra actions. It’s a great feeling to see your opponent get knocked about like a pinball between your team.
The enemies on the overworld are colour coded for the likelihood of Ichiban getting his face smashed in. Blue Boys are far beneath you and unworthy of your time, which is truly art imitating life. Red is your comfort zone, just be aware of crown icons to indicate stronger mini-bosses. Pinky Purple enemies indicate they’re at a much higher level than your party. Curiosity led my party into a few attempts against these foes and the party got decimated rapidly each time. Trying little RPG tricks like obtaining good equipment from casinos early in the adventure and using powerful summons weren’t enough to tip the scales in my favour. When the game warns you not to fight somebody just yet; listen to them. They’re much smarter than you. I was definitely left looking like an iPhone user at times. The coloured icon above an enemy just fuels the desire to prove the programming wrong. Behaving like a red rag to an especially nerdy bull. Thankfully the game doesn’t tax you too heavily for getting wiped out and defeated. Merely taking some pocket money from Ichiban, the exact amount depending on how much you’re carrying at the time. You can always deposit Dollars or Yen at the nearest ATM to avoid this happening. Ichiban is still hallucinating during battles and our enemies take many shapes and guises during our adventure. Thanks to the change in geography we have a lot of bad guys with Sunny Seaside themes that I’ll get into more further down the review. These gangs have a very special side game all to themselves. In certain areas there are static enemies with gold icons who are locked to precise locations on the map. They will not move until they’re defeated. This is usually the game’s way of gating certain areas away. These enemies also seem to usually drop some decent equipment for the party that can be upgraded for increasingly expensive amounts. It remains infuriating when there is a collectible icon on the map that you can’t pick up until the party gets stronger. Although that may only annoy fellow accumulators.
Kiryu has made the jump from his traditional brawling techniques to the new and improved turn-based combat. Of course he has kept his own flair, able to switch between Rush, Brawler and Beast styles on the fly. If you’re not familiar with the character, he could switch between these styles to help contend with different types of enemies in the past. Rush is his quick style which translates to taking two turns that consist of weaker attack flurries in this combat system. Brawler is your middling style that eventually allows Kiryu to counter-attack on perfect guards and is the game’s go-to style at the start of every encounter. Beast Mode Kiryu will always be my favourite mode in any form. For this game, Kiryu uses grapple attacks in this hard hitting form he will break enemies with shields allowing other members to get attacks in. Get in close enough for a proximity attack and he will pick the poor gang member up and swing him around in circles, damaging every enemy in the vicinity before throwing them away. Disposing of them like the refuse they are. Like the rest of the party, he also has an Ultimate attack. Which allows him to ignore the turns system completely and beat enemies into submission until he runs out of steam. Kiryu also has an “Awakening” system that behaves similar to Ichiban’s personality traits. Body, Soul and Tech levels, which require points gained by achieving certain in game goals both in and out of combat. Each upgraded level you gain improves the matching style’s combat ability. Unlocking resistances, adding extra moves, even Heat Actions make a welcome return. When you are rewarded for taking part in the optional aspects of the game by improving the character’s combat ability, it makes the extracurricular digressions feel beneficial rather than mere procrastination. Kiryu may have advanced in years but the Dragon of Dojima continues to uphold his legendary status in combat. While every other character relies on Baseball Bats, Crowbars or Surfboards to deal out doses of pain. Kiryu is content with using his fists, without the need for those silly upgrades or enhancements.
The substories in the game continue to be a main draw. They’ve been funny, heart-warming and downright bizarre. The pleasure is in finding them for yourself, so rest assured they’ll not be ruined for our precious readers in this review. Only the barest hints at two that really hit hard. A young boy selling lemonade and an old man throwing shaved ice around. Seeing other players post their reactions to these scenarios is always a joy and contains many of the fan’s most memorable moments. You can choose to do side stories pretty early on and you’re always well rewarded for completing them. Newcomers should keep an eye out for blue speech icons on the map that can appear after each chapter. These signal where a substory begins or continues. The franchise has never shied away from jumping between comedy and drama with breakneck tone shifts before. However Infinite Wealth feels like it’s fully leaning into those themes now. The game hits new heights in storytelling and still has plenty of surprises in store. Especially for somebody that has been playing these games for almost two decades now and thought nothing here could cause their eyebrows to raise sharply again. The main story really got the hooks in deep and I found myself equally hooked between Kiryu and Ichiban’s situations as they rolled out. Back in Japan Kiryu is reflecting back on his deeds in various locations and with certain people. This works in another mechanic where reminiscing in key areas greatly improves his fighting ability by providing lots of Awakening experience. This is a master class in fan service as they reference every game in the series through Kiryu’s memories. We have call backs, character memorials and even mentions of strange dreams in place of spin-off titles. There was a lot of love poured into these parts of the game. Walking Kiryu through his old haunts as he reflected over the course of actions that led him to where he is now was nothing short of profound. There are very few series that have been able to deliver a slice of fanservice in such a genuine manner. Hopefully other properties learn a lesson from this by taking a leaf out of Kiryu’s book.
Ichiban isn’t short on his own form of fan service as he finds himself on an abandoned island that used to be a resort before it was covered in garbage and fell into disrepair. I knew there was an Island Crossing style minigame called Dondoko Island before starting this title, so I had prepared myself. I am no stranger to the ways of Tom Nook. This is digital heroin and you will crave simply just one more hit. Ichiban spends his days collecting resources, cleaning the island, beating up pirates and returning order to the resort. You chop down trees, smash rocks and dispose of bags of refuse with your trusty bat to collect building materials. As crafting begins it’s just your standard fare. Toilets and Traffic cones. Once your crafting skills improve to a high enough level, entire buildings can be knocked together. Familiar premises from Kamurocho, Sotenbori and Yokohama become available. Yes, you can create your own little city on the island. Become popular enough and you can invite guests to the island to make some much welcomed currency. These guests, as you may have guessed, come in many shades of easter eggs. I had Ono Michio visiting a love hotel I’d built with my own two hands. Another life goal off the bucket list. You can leave the island at any time if you choose to do so; this is an optional side game. But I was completely hooked, I couldn’t leave until I had my five star rating and that took many, many hours. Like Ichiban Confections in the previous game, the time investment results in some hefty payouts. Hard earned cash that you can spend back on the mainland. Once my wildly successful island thrived with a flight list that detailed many rich and influential eccentrics. I was able to use those finances to equip the party with incredibly expensive paraphernalia that helped with battering punks in the main campaign.
One more side game that deserves its own paragraph is the Palworld rip off, Sujimon. All the enemies you fight in this game are Sujimon and once they are defeated, automatically get added into your Sujidex. Gotta Batter ‘em all. Each Sujiomon has a level and an element. These two factors are what most of the battles will boil down to. There are coloured arrows that indicate if your attack type is effective on a targeted opponent before you confirm the action. So it’s wise to keep a good balance of different element types in the party. After a certain point in the game you may be able to recruit an opponent after battle by offering up a gift and showering them with compliments. I was rapidly pressing the A button when dear Lady Punk entered the room in time to witness me trying to recruit a bodybuilder wearing an enormous anime head prop. I’m not sure if this was more or less awkward than the hostess management sections in previous games. She was also instantly able to recognise it was a new Yakuza title from that brief moment of embarrassment. She has walked in on many Yakuza moments that were incredibly difficult to explain, so Sujimon was definitely on brand. With a full party of six members, three active and three on the back bench, you can challenge trainers, take part in raids and compete against gym leaders. You can earn tickets to use in Gacha machines to try unlocking some rare Sujimon or pour some of your shady resort money into the dispensers. You can also train Sujimon back on Dondoko island or use them to gather additional resources. It’s a fun diversion and if you take the time to see it through you are once again well compensated. The battle victory music is so eerily similar to another franchise, I’m shocked they were able to get away with it. Another reason for becoming a Sujimon Trainer is the new job role. This allows you to use your powerful Sujimon Trainer abilities in the battles that happen in the main game.
Which leads me to the job system which has returned in the form of Alo-Happy Tours. A guided tour company in which you can buy several expensive day trips that result in unlocking new roles to assign to your characters. Alo-Happy also has a mascot that strikes fear into your very soul; a terrifying monstrosity that should be burned on a pyre. You can choose which skills to inherit manually after changing from one job to another. This adds even more strategy to battles when picking the best role to complement each character’s natural abilities. I wasn’t able to fully analyse each role for every character by the time I finished my playthrough. I simply picked which one I thought was the funniest. A timeless strategy which once again proved successful. I finished the game with a party that consisted of a Hero, Samurai, Cowboy and Housekeeper. There are some exciting new additions to the roster and it comes across as well balanced in my experience. I don’t think there are any “wrong” decisions when assigning jobs to your characters, but it definitely requires some testing and becomes another avenue to pour more time into. You might need to get the notepad out to start balancing stats. Sticking to your original roles is always an option, but you are leaving yourself with a disadvantage. Swapping jobs doesn’t seem to be a requirement if you really don’t want to fall down into this particular rabbit hole. Although the ending chapter may test you if you haven’t spent time on increasing your levels and equipment. Changing jobs, bolstering your stats and unlocking a wide range of abilities will leave combat much easier to manage during the end game. Each job requires different equipment, which will need to be sourced, crafted or upgraded. Building the perfect team isn’t for the weak-willed or short on time and there are a lot of variations to play around with.
One of the comforts in Like a Dragon is returning to your old haunts. For long term Yakuza fans, Kamurocho should be as familiar as your own home town by now. When it was revealed that Infinite Wealth was going to be set in a different country, there were some small reservations throughout the community. Once Ichiban was let off the leash in Honolulu, those small minded trepidations swiftly vanished in a haze. The city feels larger than anything we’ve experienced before, making much more use of quick travel taxis than in previous entries. An experimental Segway called the “Street Surfer” is unlocked early in the adventure to help speed up travel between goals. The team seemed to realise just how grand the map was and offered up these alternative modes of transportation to reduce our downtime. The Segway substitute being a much more reliable vehicle than Yagami’s Skateboard in Lost Judgement and really helps accelerate your exploration. The city also feels dense and teems with activity as you make your way to your next objective; materials, Sujimon Trainers and the newly introduced social media format called Aloha Links help break up your journey. Strangers appear on the streets with empty gauges above their heads. This is a signal that alerts Ichiban that if he runs into their personal space and screams “ALOHA!!” into their faces, this forces the terrified prey into being his friend. Do it frequently enough and they become his buddy. These characters always seem to be the victim of the stereotypical shakedown, where a civilian is cornered by a group of villains. So be sure to step in and protect your newly acquired pals. Which is probably a better way of making friends than by screaming at them in the street. You can also visit the beach and find yourself some out of the way vendors or go diving in the water for more materials. Enemies can hide in hedges, sand dunes and trees. Very few areas in the overworld are completely safe from the possibility of being jumped by goons. The city has so many distractions, there is always something that leads you off the main path unless you knuckle down and force yourself through to your original destination. Of course this is also true in Japan as well. It’s always impressive when you stop and realise just how much they manage to pack into these games.
Some of the issues I encountered were small, but still worth noting. In larger combat areas where groups of enemies would fan out and spread across the surroundings. This not only made chaining your attacks impossible but the camera seemed to struggle between snapping over to characters being attacked. Which meant you missed the animation for an incoming attack and had to guess when to block incoming attacks. This didn’t happen too frequently, but I was glad when bigger fights happened in contained areas. Those Perfect Guards can make a big difference during battles and missing them for technical reasons outside your control could be exasperating. Another aspect I didn’t enjoy was progressing through substories that would require that you travel between multiple distant locations to progress. This has happened in all Like a Dragon games, but with Hawaii having such a large map it became grating to zip between far flung locations constantly for a conclusion. The available taxis and Street Surfer did provide a bit of ointment for that issue. but it still felt like more of a chore than it needed to be in places. Each time you unlock a new character they come with a bingo card that gets filled out with conversations you unlock from visiting certain areas that I mentioned earlier. These are a surefire way to strengthen your bond quickly, which in turn improves combat capabilities. They’re absolutely worth doing and you encounter them as you explore the city with your first teammates. The characters that join much later in your adventure require you to do another few laps of the city and feels more like a disjointed errand than something you can incorporate into the main gameplay loop. Compact irritations in an otherwise incredibly entertaining romp.
After finishing this title I wanted to give it a while to mentally percolate and digest all the various revelations before writing the review. I returned to Hawaii to finish up some more optional activities in the post game Premium Adventure mode. Which also opened up a new dungeon and of course the option to begin a New Game Plus; that was shockingly paywalled behind certain editions of the game. If there was anything you missed or didn’t manage to mop up in time for the ending, at least you could check off your to-do list at a later date. This was a touching adventure that continued to pay equal tribute to Ichiban and Kiryu. I often wondered why they decided to bring Kiryu back into the fold after his story seemingly concluded at the end of Yakuza 6, but the team excelled in writing his return to the frontlines. If you’re a fan of the series then you’ve probably already finished this before I’ve managed to get this review published and you know what has been achieved in the latest entry. A powerful prose that reflects on both roads we have travelled and those we chose not to. A reflection on how actions can shape our future and how those around us can perceive those choices. This game ended with me placing down the controller and reflecting over what had transpired. Something that has excelled in its narrative goals and left me excited for what comes next. For newcomers, both this game and the predecessor Like A Dragon are excellent jumping on points for the series. A slice of digital globetrotting where you spend most of your time beating up Menacing Men that try to bully poor citizens, peppered with bizarre quest lines, high stakes drama and unique character interactions. If this sounds like your idea of a good time. I can fully recommend Infinite Wealth without a hint of hesitation.
-DeadbeatpunK