I'm a Yakuza superfan and the new Like a Dragon game made me cry

THE YAKUZA series has been around for almost 20 years now, but its success outside Japan has historically been mixed.

That all changed with the release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, a turn-based JRPG heavily inspired by games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon was so successful that publisher Sega changed the name of the series to Like a Dragon, to be more in line with the Japanese name and to capitalize on the newfound success.

Now a new game in the series, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, is about to release via Steam later this week on PS4, PS5, Xbox and PC, and we've been playing it for a few weeks now.

While Yakuza: Like a Dragon had some balance issues and struggled to find its feet in turn-based JRPG combat, Infinite Wealth has perfected just about everything, making it the best game in the series.

Infinite Wealth tells the story of two former yakuza (Japanese mafia) who have dedicated their lives to making the world a better place.

The first of the main characters is Ichiban Kasuga, the leading man of Yakuza: Like a Dragon and who spent twenty years in prison to protect his sworn brothers.

Once outside, he discovered that the yakuza were on their way out, and after being betrayed by the head of his yakuza family, he set out on a quest to restore his honor and become the hero of Yokohama.

The other main character is Kazuma Kiryu, who was the main character in the first six Yakuza games, the prequel, and spin-offs such as Like a Dragon: Gaiden.

Kiryu has had a long and storied history, but has fallen on hard times in Infinite Wealth, after being diagnosed with a terminal illness and given only months to live.

Kiryu and Kasuga met briefly in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, but after unusual circumstances brought them both to Hawaii, the two teamed up to investigate the disappearance of Kasuga's mother.

The story of Infinite Wealth is probably one of its strongest points, as it is a deep, moving story that explores the intricacies of life, death, and family.

One of the areas in which developer RGG Studio excels most is its nuanced portrayal of villains, and while some have been almost cartoonish in the past, Infinite Wealth takes a layered approach.

While most games would be content with calling a villain a bad guy and calling it a day, Infinite Wealth delves deep into why the villains do the things they do, and how life has led them to that point.

However, that doesn't mean there aren't objectively bad people in the world, but exploring how they got that way is the bread and butter of Infinite Wealth.

It's backed by strong character work, heartbreaking storytelling and, most importantly, a sense of when to lighten things up.

It's sad that Kiryu is on the brink of death, and we see him in a pretty bad state at some points in the game, but RGG Studio isn't afraid to show Kiryu being crazy and having fun too.

It's these moments of levity among the deadly serious moments of fear that make Infinite Wealth feel so real and such effective storytelling.

From a gameplay perspective, things have also been vastly improved over the previous game, with a number of minor refinements adding up to a much more coherent experience.

Positioning in battle makes a huge difference and not only adds a layer of strategy to combat, but also opens up new options to make those battles dynamic and interesting.

The game is also filled with side quests and mini-games, including a full Pokémon-like mini-game that is very good and a whole Animal Crossing-like life simulation game.

The result is a game that can easily be completed in 50 hours, or for completionists can take 100 hours, all depending on how much you want to explore and what you're interested in.

The presentation is also excellent, with great visuals, stunning animation and great voice acting and music.

There really is nothing to complain about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, it really is as perfect as a Yakuza game can be.

Rating: 5/5

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.

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