06 January 2024 , 13:00
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Happy Resort Dondoko Island is the latest entry into the pantheon of side games in the Like a Dragon series, and it may help me to finally understand the Animal Crossing hype.
Like a Dragon is a highly serious series, each game features political turmoil both within crime families and throughout Japan. It has our heroes risk their lives countless times to protect their friends and family while dealing with the constant cycle of violence being involved in organised crime brings. Yakuza: Like a Dragon dealt with serious themes about how the homeless and former prison inmates are treated by society.
Like a Dragon is also a series with a side story that involves following a crime boss to a club, only to find he’s dressing up like an adult baby, before sending his goons to “pacify this bitch” when you won’t join in.
No series invokes the concept of ludonarrative dissonance more than the Like a Dragon series, and Infinite Wealth is going to continue that trend with the latest distraction ‘Happy Resort Dondoko Island’ which I had the chance to play some of during my Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth preview.
Through some random circumstance, Ichiban Kasuga is shipped off to a remote island off the coast of Honolulu, where the only residents are two bizarre mascots Gachapin and Mukku, as well as Matayoshi, who is keen to get the island back to the resort that it once was. You’ll then get rid of trash around the island, go fishing, catch bugs, and build furniture and facilities, all to build up the island into the resort it's destined to be and pick up star ratings from the Resorts and Tourism Association. Basically, it’s Animal Crossing.
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New horizons
Personally, I’m the opposite of the target audience for Animal Crossing. I’m into fast-paced action games, and as much as I love the characters and the charm of it, it’s never really grabbed me the way it seems to have everyone else. But anyone who has played Like a Dragon before will know that the series has the unique ability to craft the most elaborate side content possible. I spent hours playing the Ichiban Holdings business management sim included in the last entry, and I can see myself playing even more of this one.
From the small section I played, it feels like a loving recreation of Animal Crossing while simultaneously retaining the classic Like a Dragon charm. The mascots themselves are bizarre. From Matayoshi asking Ichiban to find him a girlfriend every five minutes, and the band of pirates called the Washbucklers who want to wreak havoc on this derelict island for whatever reason (bizarrely, this is also the only part of the game to feature real-time combat outside of Kiryu’s special move).
I only managed to get a short taste of Happy Resort Dondoko Island, but this may be the way to finally get me into Animal Crossing after all these years. Considering how long Infinite Wealth is set to be, I’m not sure I need any more distractions, but I can see myself dumping a good 10 hours into this in no time.