The Success of Like a Dragon
The Yakuza series has been running for almost 20 years now, but its success outside of Japan has historically been mixed. That all changed with the release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, a turn-based JRPG heavily inspired by games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
Infinite Wealth: The Best Game Yet
A new game in the series, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, is about to be released on PS4, PS5, Xbox, and PC via Steam later this week, and we’ve been playing it for a few weeks now. While Yakuza: Like a Dragon had some balance issues, and struggled to find its feet in turn-based JRPG combat, Infinite Wealth has perfected just about everything, making it the best game in the series.
A Deep and Touching Story
Infinite Wealth tells the story of two former yakuza – Japanese mafia – who’ve dedicated their lives to making the world a better place. The story explores the intricacies of life, death, and family, and is one of the game's strongest points. It takes a layered approach to its portrayal of villains, diving deep into why they do the things they do and how life led them to that point.
A Coherent and Improved Gameplay Experience
From a gameplay perspective, things have massively improved from the last game, too, with a bunch of small refinements that add up to a much more coherent experience. Positioning in battle makes a huge difference, adding a layer of strategy to combat. The game is also filled with side quests and minigames, offering hours of gameplay depending on how much you want to explore and what you’re interested in.
Excellent Presentation
Presentation is excellent too, with great visuals, stunning animations, and amazing voice acting and music. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is as close to perfect as a Yakuza game can be.
Score: 5/5
Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.
