Yakuza: Like A Dragon is the latest entry in the Yakuza series developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios and published by Sega. I am happy to be jumping into the newest Yakuza game, but there have been a couple of massive changes to this game, compared to previous entries.
Before I talk about that, I want to point out something about the Yakuza series. There have been eight released Yakuza games in North America between 2017 and 2020. I understand that five of these games are remasters of the original five Yakuza, but this series is starting to suffer from oversaturation. I find myself having to take a significant break between Yakuza games, because they all follow the same formula. I do not want to see this series become as tired as other video game series such as Assassin's Creed.
Okay, so let us talk about what is new with Yakuza: Like A Dragon. For starters, you do not play as Kazuma Kiryu anymore, but rather, you play as Ichiban Kasuga. Ichiban was a low-level Yakuza member of the Arakawa family until he took the fall for a murder charge and had to serve eighteen years in prison. Following his release, his former boss betrays him, and Ichiban sets out on a quest to find out the reason for his betrayal and to uncover the inner workings of the seedy underworld. I will admit that I did not like playing as Ichiban at first, as I found him to be a bit of a spineless idiot. However, as I continued further into the game, he develops an endearing personality with a big heart for his friends. In many ways, Ichiban is a more expressive character than Kiryu.
The other big change for Yakuza: Like A Dragon is with the combat system. Instead of being a traditional "beat 'em up", Yakuza went full turn-based JRPG with its combat. This almost felt like sacrilege to me for a game like Yakuza, but the RPG mechanics are just as good as any other celebrated JRPG. You can attack, use special moves, change classes (changing your job), use items, and summon other characters like any other RPG. There are many types of enemies and they have their own (sometimes humorous) unique attacks (such as a hospital patient sneezing on you, causing you to develop a cold). One detriment about the turn-based combat is that sometimes, the dense city environment gets in the way to someone trying to attack someone else. I will have one of my characters attack an enemy, and they will end up running into a wall for 10 seconds until the game just teleports the character to the enemy so they can attack. Generally, the AI is good enough to avoid obstacles and jump over railings, but this was a minor nitpick for me.
Like the other Yakuza games, there are major side activities that offer engrossing and deep gameplay. My favorite side activity is Dragon Kart, which is a bootleg kart racer. It is no Mario Kart in its precise kart control, but the activity is quite fun. You can run your own corporation, and defend yourself in the shareholder meetings. There are also many of the classic side activities to enjoy, such as darts, karaoke, and casino games. I also enjoyed all the other characters that you get to control. They all have their distinct personalities and the interactions between each other are entertaining and never boring. I also still love the substories and they are just as wacky as they were in previous Yakuza games.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon is not just an excellent Yakuza game, but it is also a surprisingly excellent JRPG. I can talk about this game in the same breath as the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Persona 5 Royal (which I am hoping to play and review later this year). You have all the positive qualities of a Yakuza game, but then you swap out the repetitive "beat 'em up" combat with a fleshed-out turn-based combat system. The combat was a refresh that the Yakuza series needed. If you do not feel like playing a fantasized RPG set in a fantasy world, and would rather play an RPG set in a realistic and modern environment, then Yakuza: Like A Dragon is the perfect fit. Truly a terrific game.
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