Shaun Munro reviews Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth…
Beyond signalling the change of the series’ naming convention, 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon marked a controversial if ultimately wildly successful transition from real-time brawler to turn-based RPG, all while subbing out longtime franchise hero Kazuma Kiryu for a new protagonist – the charmingly dorky Ichiban Kasuga.
The new mainline follow-up, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, stays true to its predecessor’s IP reinvention while levelling up many elements which felt only thinly sketched last time – alongside a bevy of welcome quality-of-life features.
Story-wise, Infinite Wealth unsurprisingly continues to deliver the series’ tried-and-true combination of outrageously convoluted crime drama fare paired with character-driven melodrama. If the former proves relatively par the course for the series – and in no way a bad thing, mind – the character work offers up some of the richest and most emotional storytelling the franchise has seen to date.
This aspect is centered around both Ichiban’s quest to find his biological mother and Kiryu’s attempts to come to terms with his grim recent cancer diagnosis. Yet despite the obvious potential, neither of these serious-minded plots drag down what’s a fundamentally, absurdly entertaining 40-hour critical path.
Indeed, Like a Dragon makes it clear early on that it hasn’t lost its funny bone; an opening sequence in which Ichiban spectacularly derails a seemingly successful date ranks among the most hilarious things I’ve seen in a video game since the drunken bar fight in Red Dead Redemption 2.
But Infinite Wealth’s juicy new hook is the setting shift to Hawaii as Ichiban seeks out his mother; an inspired move which positions him as a fish out of water while trying, often in vain, to interact with the English-speaking locals. Ichiban’s far from alone, though, being joined by Kiryu roughly five hours into the story, while many familiar faces from Like a Dragon return, alongside a few new instant fan faves, perhaps best of all enemy-turned-ally Eric Tomizawa.
The various bosses and factions you’ll take on throughout the game are also a colourful and memorable bunch, with Danny Trejo’s machete-totting gangster Dwight Méndez probably being the most immediately attention-grabbing of the lot. That the game’s story can sustain interest for several-dozen hours (and much, much longer if you want it to – and you’ll definitely want it to) is certainly a testament to the engaging writing and performances throughout.
And though there are absolutely some periodic lurches in pacing, with many sure to find the game’s opening hours especially slow, the ability to skip single lines of dialogue at will once you’ve read them ensures you can nudge things along a little faster per your own preferences.
The sun-kissed Honolulu setting may not rank among gaming’s most impeccably rendered open worlds, but what it lacks in pristine visual fidelity it more than compensates for with sheer lived-in charm. Practically every inch of the game world is populated with tantalising points of interest and folk worth speaking to, even if only to hear a riotous sliver of dialogue.
The combat still won’t be everyone’s bag, but in an era where turn-based RPGs feel like they’re fast becoming extinct, for many it’ll feel like a welcome haven. It helps that Infinite Wealth has polished and refined its predecessor’s first attempt, offering players considerably more freedom to take on enemies as they like. First and foremost, you can now move your party members during battle, allowing you to strategically position them in order to string attacks together for additional damage.
You’re also now able to select particular environmental items to smack foes around with, and even straight-up smash enemies into both objects and each other to amplify the blow. And for those craving a little of the series’ traditional combat, Kiryu can at least switch between his three typical fighting styles featured in the earlier Yakuza games.
Infinite Wealth also arrives with a number of general ease-of-use fixes for those who felt that Like a Dragon occasionally descended into busy-work; that game’s infamously brutal late-game grind is mercifully nowhere to be seen here, and numerous times throughout the story you’ll be given a recommended level and gear rank for the upcoming battle.
Also, you can now fast travel between taxi pickup spots, but if you want to get around without spunking endless cash on cabs, you can hop on a Segway to auto-travel to a pin on the map, all while being able to soak in the local sights. Just remember to keep the thing charged up, though.
Beyond the main story there is of course a mind-boggling bevy of side content, from the deliriously funny substories to the myriad bonding activities you can partake in with your party (like, my personal fave, karaoke!), the returning Pokemon-aping Sujimon mini-game, a Crazy Taxi ripoff called Crazy Delivery, and the time sink that is the game’s Animal Crossing-esque Dondoko Island. This is without getting into the various jobs, app-related interactions, and collectible gumpth that can also be hoovered up during your travels.
Again, the Like a Dragon games are never going to be technical powerhouses and, honestly, that’s probably why Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio can crank them out at a regular clip. All the same, the personality of the world trumps everything else, aided by terrific voice work throughout – even if hearing several character hot-switch between Japanese and English, often with blatantly different voice actors, can prove hilariously jarring at times.
On the subject of performance, as a shameless Steam Deck evangelist I was extremely eager to see how a game as beefy as Infinite Wealth would hold up on Valve’s already fairly aged handheld hardware, but after last year’s spin-off The Man Who Erased His Name fared surprisingly well, I went in optimistic.
With out-of-the-box settings on the OLED Deck, Infinite Wealth’s framerate will range from 30 to 50 fps depending on how populous the location you’re ambling around in is. Hawaii in particular struggles to remain entirely smooth at times, with micro-stutter regularly noticeable. However, you can reduce this considerably by tinkering with the Deck’s display settings, and this technical trade-off is still more than worth the benefit of having such an intoxicatingly addictive game on the go.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth feels very much like the franchise’s apotheosis; a culmination of everything it’s been building towards while leaving a ton of runway for future entries to build upon. For fans of the series this is quite obviously a must-play title, and while newbies won’t connect with the story nearly as emphatically, this is still a best-of-class RPG well worth playing regardless of your own frame of reference.
Pros:
+ Ludicrously entertaining story-driven campaign.
+ Improved combat.
+ Incredible side content.
+ Terrific voice acting.
+ Tons of quality-of-life improvements.
+ It’s the series’ best entry yet.
Cons:
– Occasional pacing issues in the main story.
Rating: 9/10
Reviewed on PC (also available for PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Series X/S).
A review code was provided by the publisher.
Shaun Munro – Follow me on Twitter for more video game rambling, or e-mail me here.
