Doing Your Taxes and Losing Your Pension is Cooler Than Killing God; The Yakuza: Like a Dragon Review
Fun fact: Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s new turn based combat system started out as an April Fool’s prank. Gameplay of Ichiban with his cavalcade of pals taking turns beating the shit out of goons surfaced seemingly out of nowhere on April 1st, 2019. The global reactions to the mysterious genre change were incredibly positive; so positive, in fact, that it changed the path of the Yakuza franchise forever with a soft reboot of the series into a marvelous JRPG.
Like a Dragon is a love letter postmarked from it’s new neighborhood Ijincho. The love letter is sent to its past self; it thanks the series for what its done, while simultaneously weaving a fresh and spicy story with a new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga. Kasuga steps into the hard to fill shoes of Kazama Kiryu in stride. Ichiban’s temperament is a refreshing change from the aloof and stoic temperament of Kiryu. While Ichiban shares Kiryu’s intense dedication to justice and helping the less fortunate, he does so with his heart on his sleeve. Brash, short tempered, and willing to die for his friends, Kasuga’s determination is a welcome and refreshing sight for the franchise. His fierce loyalty and stubbornness get him into more trouble than Kiryu ever could, but these exact qualities are why the story of Like a Dragon evolves and changes. Ichiban is the only character that could drive this game forward, and his permed up visage makes it a tale that I’ll never forget.
While Ichiban is a wholly welcomed change, he isn’t the only star of the show. Like a Dragon features a retinue of colorful characters that enhance the journey of Kasuga while having rich stories of their own. Each party member is given just enough time in the spotlight to highlight their own personal drama and demons without taking anything away from the telling of Kasuga’s tale. There wasn’t a single moment that felt out of place with the group. I was never left wondering what a character’s motivations were, or why they were in this motley crew of wanderers. Everyone’s tales are masterfully woven together into a top tier melodrama that turned me into an emotional and blubbering mess by the end.
The variety and pace of combat managed to keep me enthralled and not giving a second thought about the deluge of yakuza thugs who do gymnastics on the side.
A story filled with drama, emotion and intrigue is just peachy, but if it’s not fun, then what’s the point? Luckily for us, an incredibly well done mega shift in genre is the highlight of the game. Ichiban’s obsession with Dragon Quest leads him to the single best in-game explanation of game mechanics I’ve seen in video games. You see, Ichiban doesn’t participate in any sort of realistic beat em’ up and knock em’ down. His obsession with the JRPGs of yore is so intense that he sees reality in a turn based format. Party members and enemies alike transform into brand new entities. Your favorite detective is now moonlighting as a construction worker, and the hobo gave up on living in the streets to finally become his fantasy; a classy host for the hottest club in town. Enemy’s transformations are even more intense. Some find themselves becoming half man, half machine abominations, while others turn into something much more insidious: Twitch streamers. The delusion of man allows the game to have a wide variety of jobs and enemies, which helped me stay invested in the Super Mario RPG-style combat much longer than I should’ve. The combat system has faults; wonky camera angles can cause you to mess up perfect guarding, sometimes your characters just get… really stuck on railings, and enemies like to do backflips after you punch them in the face. The variety and pace of combat managed to keep me enthralled and not giving a second thought about the deluge of yakuza thugs who do gymnastics on the side.
I can say that Yakuza: Like a Dragon is retroactively the best game I played in 2020. That’s not a call I make lightly. The titan of my childhood Final Fantasy 7 got a remake, and my rogue-like addled brain’s addiction to Hades made 2020 a hard year to make a game of the year choice. Like a Dragon topples the nostalgia serpent guarding the industry tower with sheer quality and charm. Classic turn based combat with a party of boomers left me invested in the challenge, and made me laugh at the same time. A story that ping pongs between light hearted moments of brevity and deeply emotional moments of vulnerability left me speechless in some of it’s more intense moments. A phenomenally acted English dub that lets the greater gaming universe finally get attached to this wonderful series. All these positives culminate in one of the only open worlds I’ve found myself enjoying; Ijincho. The place where those without a home to return to come to make a new life. It’s fitting Ijincho is the new setting for Like a Dragon, because Yakuza itself needed to find a new path after so many games in the franchise treaded the same waters. Just like Ichiban, Like a Dragon has carved out a new path in life for Yakuza, and I can’t wait to see what this new dragon will grow to be in the future.
It’s fitting Ijincho is the new setting for Like a Dragon, because Yakuza itself needed to find a new path after so many games in the franchise treaded the same waters.
