Review | Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Fun And Fear In Paradise
I waved at some people on the bustling streets forging online friendships. Fought some gangsters with a surfboard. Ate lunch while discussing coconuts. Went to my own personal island resort. Souvenirs were generously distributed to my guests. Spent five hours fixing the island and fighting henchmen. Then I rode a dolphin home. Had drinks with friends. Invited some guests to the resort. Stopped an AI-powered Roomba from killing everyone. Finally I went on a skydiving course. Waved to some more strangers. And then remembered why I was in Hawaii. Went there to find my birth mother.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a surprise. The series’ pivot from beat ‘em up combat to a turn-based RPG has changed the iconic stoic Kiryu to a new type of hero. Four years later, the return of Ichiban Kasuga, the ex-yakuza with a fluffy perm and the personality of a naive labrador, as he looks for love alongside the dynamic crew of lovable companions make Infinite Wealth an absolute joy of an RPG, full of charm and positivity.
Set mostly in the first non-Japanese locale for the series – the paradisiacal Hawaii. Following on from the dissolution of the two great Yakuza clans, Ichiban embarks on a mission to find his birth mother, only to soon discover Honolulu's seedy underbelly beneath its tropical façade. It's visually striking, offering a blend of a Hawaiian holiday through a lens of a mixed with the childlike imaginings of the Dragon Quest obsessed Ichiban.
Goons stylized through Ichiban’s imagination swarm the streets but it’s not a bad thing. The turn-based combat with timed button presses is massively improved. Being able to reposition during your turn gives the whole system a more tactical feel, allowing you to use improvised attacks with nearby weapons, ricochet mooks into one and another, and lining up AoE attacks add an excellent flow to battle. The series’ surreal job system was already funny, but weaponizing bees gave me a wry smile every time. It also adds new classes influenced by Hawaiian and American jobs like the gunslinging Desperado, or fire dancing Geomancer. Add in a light multiclassing system and it’s a lot more interesting this time.
The main side time sink now is the DonDoko Island resort. It initially comes off as a ‘barebones Animal Crossing’ style resort island builder to build up the resort and Ichiban’s home, by collecting bugs and fish, clearing trash, and fighting off goons. However, the more you play it adds on elements and builds into slight guest management to appeal to the buildings and attractions. You can build a functional area, okay, but to create anything remotely aesthetic is a nightmare. Placing buildings is also really awkward.
The other big side activity is. to ‘become a Sujimon Master!!’ This is another Nintendo-inspired side game. Using 3v3 Pokemon-style battles with the many varieties of Ichiban’s fantastically zany enemies is a fun idea, and while it’s quite rudimentary, it does add another element to normal combat. It’s fairly basic but it just adds to a cute emphasis on top of just standard combat. It even integrates with farming facilities on DonDoko Island.
Add in the always goofy and funny substories against the relatively intimidating main story antagonists and death defying set pieces, and you have plenty to do whatever mood you are in. It’s also worth noting most of the other popular side activities from the previous game return. In fact there is so much to do it nearly feels intimidating.
However, the game’s scale does result in some pacing issues. The main story in general can drag with how long it is and there’s fatigue due to regular recapping in dialogue. Kiryu’s sections in Japan feel undercooked compared to Ichiban’s and would be a slog if you’ve not played through the rest of the series as it focuses a lot on fanservice.
Still Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s true brilliance lies in how so many gameplay and story elements integrate together as your journey progresses. Through its expansive environments, engaging combat, and impactful story - and more importantly, how they interconnect as a way to tell the story of Ichiban, Kiryu’s, and the rest of the party is admirable. Whether it’s combat, the side minigames, or bonding with allies, progression becomes a continuous journey, where actions in one aspect of the game ripple through to others.
On top of this, Infinite Wealth improves on nearly every aspect of its predecessor. Combat is a great improvement to Like A Dragon, Dondoko Island especially is a fantastic crafting based mini city builder. While the main story has some really slow pacing it builds on Kiryu’s legacy and the new companions and locale is great. It demands a huge amount of your time but it’s fun, bizarrely funny, and heartwarming. As one of the strongest games in the entire series, this could stand out already as a contender for one of the best games for the rest of 2024.
