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Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth review: thank goodness for YakuzaI won’t need another game for several years
I won’t need another game for several years
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
Yakuza: Like A Dragon was a brilliant foray into turn-based chaos, but some of itsRPGelements didn’t quite lead anywhere. Well, in swaggers the frankly ginormousLike A Dragon: Infinite Wealthto tie off the loose ends and give us a follow-up that links all the best bits of Yakuza into a far more satisfying reward loop. Some of the refinements make for superb silliness, while others are a bit eh - not everything is perfect. But spending time with Ichiban and his pals in the sun-soaked Hawaii and beyond is the real treat. It’s a wonderful, happyJRPGand it will never fail to brighten my day. Thank goodness for Yakuza.
Tomi and Chitose are a great addition to the team, as they both have storied histories to uncover and are the equivalent of squabbling siblings. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
What’s wonderful about Hawaii is how it perfectly compliments Ichiban’s personality and, to some extent, Yakuza as a whole. It bursts with colour - perhaps too much, as the contrast might blind you during the day - and has various districts with shiny malls, surf shacks, sleaze, and an azure sea you can actually swim about in. It easily sits as one of my favourite Yakuza locales ever, because it also embraces the slow life (a bit like Y6’s Onomichi, my all time fave), as you stroll along its coastal paths or hop in a tram with nothing in mind besides basking in the orange glow of the sun set. Just as Ichiban radiates positivity, so does Honolulu.
Later, you’ll spend time with Kiryu in Yokohama as he ticks off things on his bucket list. It’s a neat way to remix the familiarity of Yokohama through the lens of a legend bowing out - a man who not only imparts knowledge to Ichiban’s original gang, but shines a light on how much everyone else has matured around him, too. For those invested in the story, both Ichiban and Kiryu’s paths make for all the melodrama and occasional fits of silliness you could ask for.
One thing I don’t like is New Game+ being locked behind Digital Deluxe and Ultimate Edition versions of the game. Hawaii is chill; locking New Game+ behind a paywall isn’t. Come on man. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
You see, there are moments throughout the story where the game’s like, “Hey, you might want to reach level 13 and have this sort of equipment before you venture onwards”. Infinite Wealth tweaks are additive, sure, but it’s still very much an RPG with a straight trajectory, where the story follows one track and won’t veer off course no matter what you do. And in a traditional JRPG sense, it’s reliant on the occasional grind, because it’s only your party’s level thattrulylets you push forwards.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
Granted, they have made these dungeons a bit more interesting. There are lasers to avoid, more novelty moments, and more bits of terrain to toss around. And against enemies way lower level, there’s now an option to whizz through the fight super quickly and get a portion of the EXP/Money you would’ve got otherwise. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
While east Hawaii’s ruffians are weaker than your west variety, it’s difficult to tell how much everyone’s levels carry. There were times when I went up against some brutes around four levels higher than me and got obliterated. Then there were times when I tackled a gaggle of goons seven levels higher and emerged unscathed. Honestly, I do think the level balance is a little borked, and it can be especially frustrating as enemies' levels don’t actually appear until a fight kicks off. Don’t do a me folks: save regularly, lest you get battered.
Having upgraded PC mid-review, I can safely say the game runs absolutely fine at medium settings on an RTX 2070 at 1080p. With my current PC, everything gets bumped to high and ultra, and runs flawlessly. I’ve had a tougher time getting it to run at a consistent 40FPS on the Steam Deck. The frames tend to suffer in the busyness of Hawaii and I haven’t found a golden suite of settings to rectify the churn. I’d give hardware editor James' take onSteam Deck settingsa look if I were you.Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
Spells and attacks have been tuned a bit too, making everyone’s suite of abilities more useful. Adachi’s suplexes break guards, preventing enemies from hunkering behind titanium forearms, while Chitose’s perfume bottle can spray multiple lads with a pungent debuff. And it’s wonderful being able to inherit any skill from any Job later on, making it truly beneficial to have fun and experiment. The extra options aren’t always enough to make regular battles less of a chore, but against tougher hoodlums they shine. Infinite Wealth’s finally found the right blend of turn-based and chaos to graduate from an experiment that went well, to a series staple that feels uniquely Yakuza.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Sega
Yakuza’s always been big on extra side stuff and Infinite Wealth has taken it up several notches, to the point where I could probably write two separate reviews for both of its offerings. The first is a Pokémon parody called Sujimon, where you capture, level up, and battle weird goons. The second is Dondoko Island, anAnimal Crossingparody where you rejuvenate a polluted island and turn it into a tourist attraction. I think Sujimon’s the lesser of the two (still a good laugh), whereas I can see myself losing hundreds of hours to what’s a bit of a mash between AC and Yakuza’s real estate mini games of the past. What’s neat is you don’t have to engage with either of them beyond their intros, but can reap big benefits if you do (extra currency, the odd special move, a Sujimancer Job).
Infinite Wealth is everything I wanted from a Yakuza: LAD sequel. It refines and expands on many of Yakuza: LAD’s RPG loose ends or underexplored bits, whisking you away to the wonderful Hawaii in the process. Yes, it may be a bit too expansive for some, retains some of Yakuza’s more annoying quirks, and isn’t an RPG in the sense of making Ichiban’s story totally your own. But the story it does tell, and the adventures you do go on, are heartfelt and funny and told with such rich detail. I’ll say it again: thank goodness for Yakuza.
