Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a remarkable game that manages to completely shake up the Yakuza format without losing the series’ charm and excellent story-telling. The new gameplay system feels shockingly natural, and while the story gets a bit distracted, it’s a blast to experience. Whether you’re a Yakuza fan or an RPG fan, Like a Dragon is a must-play.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Developer: Ryu ga Gotoku Studio
Price: $60
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed)
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review
I’ve literally reviewed every single Yakuza game over the last four years, so I thought that I would know what to expect from a Yakuza game by now. Then Like a Dragon comes out, and mixes two of my favorite things in the world: Dragon Quest and Yakuza, in order to produce an entirely new experience that I could have never seen coming. That’s perfectly fine though, as the result is so good that I can barely complain about anything.
In Like a Dragon you play as Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking member of the Arakawa family. After an incident occurs in the family, Kasuga serves time for nearly two decades. By the time he gets out, everything has changed. His family is completely different, Kamurocho is a whole new place, and a series of events lead to Kasuga becoming a homeless man in Yokohama. After meeting a number of wacky friends, Kasuga has to navigate between three different crime families in Yokohama while uncovering the truth about the Arakawa family. It’s another thrilling Yakuza story that has a couple of pacing issues in the middle but is a blast to follow overall. I simply wish the first story arc in Yokohama was a bit more brisk, as I wanted to know more about the Arakawa family before anything else.
The characters of Like a Dragon are possibly the best part of the game, as everyone from Kasuga to Nancy the crawfish stand out as fun and delightfully goofy. Kasuga strikes a perfect mix between Kiryu’s compassion and Majima’s lunacy, with a glorious dash of Dragon Quest fanboyism for good measure. Every party member is their own wonderful brand of odd, with Nanba standing out as a particularly strong character. As always, every substory is filled with weirdos and hilarious misadventures, which make the world of Like a Dragon feel full and truly insane in the best way.
“There are a lot of fun callbacks to previous games too, so longtime series fans will be rewarded for their history with the franchise.“
Like a Dragon’s gameplay is radically different from any other Yakuza game. Gone is the heavy-hitting action combat of previous titles, as Like a Dragon is a turn-based RPG. After a battle begins, your party transforms and meanders around, ready to fight. Like many RPGs, you choose what attacks and skills to use in a set order, which makes the characters all standing around way funnier. There’s a lot of strategy to the gameplay, as using certain skills on foes can lead to follow-up attacks and status ailments. It’s impressively deep, and it makes even random battles feel meaningful in-part due to the experience you receive. Leveling up and equipping new weapons feels strange in a Yakuza game, but it quickly begins to feel just right.
Like with many classic RPGs, Like a Dragon has a job system. It’s based on actual jobs though, like a chef, bodyguard, or club host. Each job has its own fantastical skills, from summoning pigeons to smacking an opponent with a birthday cake. It’s all ridiculous but perfectly fitting for the game, and it makes switching between classes far more appealing. You get to not only try a new set of stats and skills, but you get to see all sorts of hilarious new attack animations.
There are so many side-missions and minigames that you won’t run out of things to do for a very long time, as there’s a ridiculous amount of depth put into each minigame. From the classic karaoke mode (which includes the now-viral hit Bakamitai) to can-collecting and a full-fledged Mario Kart mode, there’s something to appeal to everyone’s sensibilities in Like a Dragon. There are a lot of fun callbacks to previous games too, so longtime series fans will be rewarded for their history with the franchise.
Visually, Like a Dragon is stunning to look at. The faces look vividly realistic, which makes the over-the-top goofiness even better. The costume designs for each job are a lot of fun, as are the NPCs in each substory. The voice acting is excellent in both languages, though I prefer the Japanese delivery overall.
The Final Word
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a brave and brilliant next step for the Yakuza franchise. The story gets a bit held-up, but the strong characters, excellent gameplay, and breadth of side-content make Yakuza: Like a Dragon into a true winner.
MonsterVine Review Score: 5 out of 5 – Excellent
