Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth – the perfect send-off for the Dragon of Dojima
There’s a side quest pretty early on in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, in which Ichiban Kasuga meets an elderly man who is desperately trying to make it snow in Hawaii; all so that his dying wife can see the snow once more. It’s a poignant tale, with a heart-warming ending that, I’m not ashamed to admit, had me welling up a bit.
That same side quest also involves chasing down a baby buggy across Honolulu, which happens to have a Yakuza boss swaddled in a nappy inside of it. And, to me, that’s almost the perfect encapsulation of Like a Dragon.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a game that lives up to its name. RGG Studio has created its most ambitious and confident entry in the franchise yet, all while wrapping up the 20-year legacy of Kazuma Kiryu, and handing the series off to the new generation headed by Ichiban Kasuga. This is done alongside bringing in some of the most elaborate side content available in the series to date.
The Song of Life
Following the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Kasuga has put the hero's life behind him to help former Yakuza members integrate back into society – following the dissolution of the major Yakuza clans years prior. Eventually, a chain of events causes him and his former party members to wrongfully lose their jobs, and thus he dons the red suit, gathers the party, and equips his bat once again.
This leads him to running into his former Captain, Sawashiro, who informs him that not only is his mother – Akane – alive and well in Hawaii, but that she finally wants to meet her son after 40-odd years. Shortly after touching down he is almost robbed, drugged, and ends up bare-assed on Aloha Beach before meeting up with the legendary Yakuza, Kazuma Kiryu.
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Eventually he learns that Akane is not only missing, but is being hunted by Honolulu’s many underworld factions. And, in a devastating turn of events, Kiryu reveals he has been battling a cancer diagnosis. Despite this, Kasuga is as unphased as ever and recruits Kiryu, Tomizawa (the guy who tried to rob him) and Chitose (the girl who drugged him and left him naked on the beach) to find his long-lost mother.
Going into Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I was fearful that Kiryu's return would overshadow Kasuga; someone I managed to grow more fond of in his debut game – Yakuza: Like a Dragon – than I had of Kiryu across his seven titles. However, as it turns out, I needn’t have worried, as RGG strikes the balance between the two protagonists perfectly.
For the first half of the game, this is Kasuga’s story through and through, with Kiryu coming along for the ride. The plot splits off into two for the latter half; Kiryu heads back to Japan, while Kasuga finishes the mission in Hawaii, and the game employs the back-and-forth chapters found in Yakuza 0, giving Kiryu his own arc and party.
Ichiban Kasuga continues to be my favourite protagonist the series has had to offer, and that’s only strengthened with this latest entry. He’s the ultimate Himbo, and despite every hardship thrown his way, his infectious enthusiasm radiates to the other characters and even to me as the player. I was already happy for him taking the reins of the series going forward, and his ability to be the core of the games most emotional and hilarious moments over the course of the adventure made my appreciation for him even stronger
Kasuga’s party returns from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and the likes of Adachi, Nanba, and Saeko are just as engaging as Kasuga himself again. Plus the newcomers like Chitose, and Tomizawa fit in seamlessly, and I’ve grown just as attached to them as the returning cast.
Despite having 20 years of baggage to contend with, and sharing the spotlight with Kasuga, Infinite Wealth is a fantastic farewell to Kiryu – and arguably does a better job than his previous send-off in Yakuza 6. While it’s undoubtedly tough to watch someone who is basically a superhuman face the end, Infinite Wealth doesn’t revel in misery, thanks in part to Kiryu’s bucket list side quests, which are both a great burst of nostalgia for longtime fans, and a wonderful celebration of the character.
Although the balance between the two is generally solid throughout the game, my only gripe is that the final act of the game made Kasuga take the backseat a bit; even if it’s probably the right move from a plot standpoint, it would’ve been nice to see him more involved.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth had the potential to spiral into a muddled mess, balancing two protagonists and a Pacific-spanning story, but RGG Studio pulled it off, and to me it sits among the best the series has to offer alongside Yakuza 0 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Honolulu City Lights
Kasuga's new party in Hawaii features a mix of old and new faces (Sega)RGG Studio has made significant changes to the gameplay to make Like a Dragon’s RPG stylings take on its own personality – in comparison to the Dragon Quest homage that was Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It can be hard for games to make turn based combat feel exciting, but Infinite Wealth excels at this.
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The most integral new addition is the ability to move your characters around to choose your attacking angle. While this is good for moves which deal AOE damage, or attack in a straight line, the real highlight of this comes to light once you get the full team involved; you’re able to chain something as simple as bashing one enemy into a teammate for a follow up, which can in turn end up dealing massive damage to the entire team of enemies. Plus, RGG manages to sprinkle in the dynamic combat moments that made the brawler entries so engaging – such as the classic cinematic fight intros, and mid-fight cutscenes.
And while it feels like RGG Studio is more confident with the combat compared to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it also doesn’t shy away from the ridiculousness of the fantasy RPGs that inspired it. The intense one-on-one brawls where two men slug it out until they can barely stand is still a series highlight; this time around though, RGG got far more weird with it, with some bosses – such as a giant shark – feeling ripped out of a classic RPG. But that’s part of the charm; only in Like a Dragon is one man with a knife more intimidating than an actual sea monster.
While the series excels at side content, Infinite Wealth takes it to another level, with usual suspects like Karaoke (which has some all new bangers like the fantastic Summertime Groove), batting cages, and the Drink Links all making a return. And the wide swathe of sub-stories which place Kasuga in all sorts of bizarre situations – like becoming a stuntman, lifeguard, and training up a burgeoning MMA influencer – are as wonderful as ever.
But the main event has to be Happy Resort Dondoko Island, which is a far more elaborate version of the business management sims found in previous games – now with a full blown Animal Crossing homage mixed in. Even as someone who doesn’t vibe with the life sim genre, Like a Dragon’s take on it was a hit for me. I got super invested in building up my island resort, and battling the evil pollution pirates who seek to fill it with trash. At one point I actually had to stop myself tending to my island because I had completely sidelined the main story.
That’s not the only Nintendo homage with Sujimon Battles offering up an RGG Pokemon parody. The mode sees Kasuga form a party of six Sujimon (the name given to all of the enemies he runs into during his adventure, who he can then bribe to join his team), to take on the Discreet Four. I don’t really care for the Pokemon formula typically, but as I soon learned with Dondoko Island, it’s the bizarre Like a Dragon tone which is apparently the missing ingredient needed to get me hooked. The mode is surprisingly deep, with a full storyline based around your adventure to become the best Sujimon trainer around. It’s one I’m excited to get back into in Premium Adventure.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has a lot to live up to: it’s the first game in the series to step foot out of Japan, it has the unenviable task of wrapping up a 20-year storyline while pushing a brand new one forward, and it has two protagonists to contend with. And yet RGG Studio has nailed all of that, while simultaneously improving on the gameplay tenfold and introducing some of the series’ most in-depth content to date.
If this is the last time we ever see Kazuma Kiryu, it’s a more than worthy send-off for the Dragon of Dojima.
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