Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the latest game of the franchise Yakuza/Like A Dragon, by the developer RGG Studio carried out by the publisher SEGA.

Due to being a game revolving around the new protagonist of the series – Ichiban Kasuga, the game will bring turn-based combat gameplay, similar to Yakuza: Like A Dragon before.

Other notable points of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which will be the first game to take players on a ‘virtual tour’ to a location other than Japan – more specifically, the Hawaiian city of Honolulu.

Over 70 hours of play, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth can be said to be a Top 3 of the best works that RGG Studio has created. Why is that? Please take a look at the following review.

CONTENT

3 years since the events of the previous game, Ichiban Kasuga is now gradually building a stable life, as he becomes an employee of the job placement center. Ichiban’s goal is to give ex-yakuza a chance to pay back after the dissolution of the two major criminal organizations Omi and Tojo.

But, things don’t settle down for long, and Ichiban gets caught up in another incident, when a Vtuber spreads slanderous rumors that he is collaborating with criminals to do nefarious things. This of course caused Ichiban to lose his job.

Not only that, but through Sawashiro — Ichiban’s former superior as a yakuza — he learns that his mother, who he thought was long gone, is actually still alive, and is now in Hawaii.

Despite his confused mood, Ichiban decides to go to Hawaii to find his mother. Little did he know that his mother was being targeted by criminal gangs in Hawaii, as well as the Daidoji political intelligence organization, of which Kazuma Kiryu was a member.

And so, our two protagonists will team up on an investigative journey into the hidden corners of Hawaii. This will probably also be Kiryu’s last journey, as he is currently suffering from cancer.

YOU’LL LOVE

A meaningful story!

With Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, RGG Studio borrowed the theme of crime drama to tell a story with meaningful themes such as forgiveness and atonement, facing the past, living a meaningful life, and realizing your worth.

These themes are expressed clearly but without being forced, they are conveyed through appropriate character lines. For example, Ichiban Kasuga, with his positive personality, represents the idea of ‘hit the runner, no one beats the runner’, when he tries to find jobs for former gypsies who want to reintegrate into society.

Meanwhile, the theme of confronting the past is best expressed through Kiryu’s story, when he has to acknowledge how bad decisions in the past have had bad consequences

These two important themes exist side by side in the story, with the message that only when we admit past mistakes can we receive forgiveness and begin to make amends.

With Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, RGG Studio borrowed the theme of crime drama to tell a story with meaningful themes such as forgiveness and atonement, facing the past and living a meaningful life

Next is to live life to the fullest, so that when we leave, we not only have no regrets, but also let those who remain happy that we have been a part of their lives. This is an important theme for Kiryu, who is dying of cancer, but also applies to Ichiban, who is remaking his life in his 40s.

And finally, it’s about recognizing your worth. It’s hard to talk about this topic without spoiling a sub-mission of the game, but the writer’s feeling when talking about this topic is emotional, as it is a synthesis of Kazuma Kiryu’s journey after nearly 19 years.

Of course, the story of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Not perfect, with some slightly silly plots, the potential of some minor characters wasted and some story plots that have not yet had a proper ending, but overall, the writer still has a good impression of the story that the game brings.

Improved combat system

Compared Yakuza: Like A Dragon, combat system of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth has been upgraded, making matches feel stronger, more dynamic and exciting.

The first improvement is that the characters can now move freely in a certain area. This is a weakness that makes many players dislike the previous game and it has become the first thing that the writer pays attention to when playing the game.

The freedom of movement allows players to orient their attacks, pick up roadside items as weapons, or launch coordinated attacks with teammates. The higher the characters level up, the more the width of the area they can move increases, and this will create even more tactical choices.

Second, the effects of the attack are also more concrete. For example, with attacks with the attribute of ‘knockback’ (knocking enemies), we can know which direction the enemy is thrown and take advantage of that to deal more damage by throwing them at accomplices, or objects on the road such as gas tanks, billboards …

Knocking enemies is even more fun if we throw them at our teammates to perform collaborative attacks, like ‘playing ping pong’ with the enemy himself.

But, the most remarkable one in the combat system of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which is how the game integrates Kiryu’s left-right, beat-em up fighting style into turn-based combat gameplay.

Compared Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the combat system of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth has been upgraded, making the matches feel strong, dynamic and exciting

With his health weakened by cancer, Kiryu is no longer able to fight as hard as before, but must rely on the help of his teammates. Even so, he can still use his rage to activate Dragon’s Resurgence, a mode that allows him to fight freely like in previous games.

Although only active for a short time, Dragon’s Resurgence creates a very good sense of contrast with the other characters of the group, showing how Kiryu is actually stronger than the other members of the team.

The game’s career system is also significantly improved. The number of occupations is not only increasing, but also more balanced, with most professions having their own useful tools.

There are still some other interesting elements about the combat mechanics that the writer has not mentioned, but overall, RGG Studio not only overcomes weaknesses, but also completely improves the game’s combat mechanics.

Hawaii, beautiful, but not paradise

New places that Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth brought to players, it is the city of Honolulu in the famous Hawaiian state of America.

The arrival of Hawaii marks a memorable milestone of the series, which is that developer RGG Studio has brought their game outside Japan, bringing a new virtual travel atmosphere.

Of course, the Honolulu city of the game has been redesigned to better suit RGG Studio’s style, which is to shrink a bit, but make up for it with the density of shops and eateries that we can enter to experience the culture.

It’s called miniature, but Honolulu is still three times bigger than the Ijincho neighborhood (and 6 times larger than Kamurocho), so RGG Studio also granted Ichiban and his accomplices segway cars to save time on the street.

The remarkable point about Honolulu for the writer is that it contrasts with Ijincho and Kamurocho at its best. If two Japanese neighborhoods shine at night, with neon lights everywhere, Honolulu is most beautiful during the day, when we can clearly see blue beaches, white sand, and coconut trees everywhere.

The arrival of Hawaii marks a memorable milestone of the series, which is that developer RGG Studio has brought their game outside Japan, bringing a new virtual travel atmosphere

But, if Honolulu is so beautiful, why not heaven? The reason is that developer RGG Studio is also not afraid to ‘badmouth’ Honolulu, similar to how they show the dark side of Japanese neighborhoods.

More specifically, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth mentioned that Hawaii has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the United States, leading to the existence of slums, and indirectly pushing people into a life of crime.

What led to thisThis is due to the heavy exploitation of the tourism economy, causing prices to rise for those living locally. This is something that after the game studio consulted with people who used to live in Hawaii, they all confirmed to be true.

Giving players, especially those who have never been to Hawaii, a realistic expectation of where American films often present as ‘paradise’, is actually a good thing.

In the end, it’s like any game Yakuza/Like A Dragon On the other hand, Hawaii will also be filled with different problem people, resulting in small stories that are interesting, funny but also full of emotion.

Fun side activities!

As a game under the brand Yakuza/Like A Dragon, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Of course, there are not dozens of mini-games for players to ‘cool down’ after hours of punching each other with gangsters and following the plot.

As usual, we have karaoke, gaming at the amusement park, golf, baseball, cards of all kinds, as well as some new activities such as phone dates, fast food delivery with Crazy Delivery.

All of these activities are enjoyable in a relaxing or humorous way, but to the writer, two real highlights of the extra activity in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth the minigames Dodonko Island and Sujimon.

Dodonko Island is a mini-game revolving around Ichiban ‘reviving’ a small island that is being used as a bluff dump to become a 5-star luxury resort.

To do this, he will have to exploit the island’s natural resources, hunt animals, build his own resting places for customers, and fight cliffhangers in real-time battles.

What makes the writer quite addicted to this minigame, is that it has a pretty good gameplay mechanism loop. Every day on the island, the minigame will task us to build this, catch that, exploit that item, with rewards corresponding to the difficulty of the task. The more I play, the more the writer feels ‘well, try to finish building 1 more building and then rest, try to catch more of this one and then rest, try to plow for 1 more day and then rest…’ And the end is to spend 10 hours on the minigame.

And the reward for this minigame, which is a significant source of income, makes upgrading weapons easier.

All of these activities can lead to a sense of relaxation or humor, but for the writer, two real highlights of the extra activity in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth the minigames Dodonko Island and Sujimon.

Sujimon Batlle, is basically a team-based underground ring tournament for gypsies, but what’s interesting here, is that it’s held in a humorous style based on… Pokemon.

Instead of personally fighting this ring, Ichiban will have to collect the fighters he likes through street battles, train them, and bring them into the tournament to assert himself that he is the best trainer.

The Sujimon Battle minigame possesses just the right depth with mechanics such as Sujimon attributes ‘carving’ each other, capturing good Sujimon more easily with genuine items, or even practicing Sujimon on Dodonko Island or using them as a workforce on Dondonko Island.

The bonus of Sujimon Battle is that Ichiban will have access to the Sujimancer profession. This is a highly versatile profession, an extremely valuable reward to motivate players for an exciting minigame!