This review contains spoilers
As a prequel to Infinite Wealth, Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is solid and sets the groundwork for what could very well be an amazing send off for one of gaming's most iconic protagonists. But as the continuation to what I thought was already an amazing send off for the character, this doesn't really justify bringing him back and brings its own issues that muddle the entire experience.
First things first and WOW is this game a looker. For something made in just six months time RGG really didn't pull any punches with the engine, showcasing what just might be the prettiest game on the aging Dragon Engine. This impressiveness also bleeds into the gameplay, with some of the most crowded fights in franchise history that manage to not kill the frame rate and delivers a pretty solid experience throughout. Both styles are fine but I had a lot of issues getting used to how Agent worked because of how slow so much of it felt, with only the Whip and Rocket Boots being effective (the drone felt like ass and the Cigar was too slow). Yakuza though was an amazing style and just might be my new favorite style for Kiryu, being a great mix of the various slower styles that really packs a punch. Story was pretty solid besides the elephant in the room, with it being a pretty entertaining story within 7s plotline that still manages to be engaging and more importantly its own thing. Was actually shocked how much I loved its main villians too, with the final boss in particular being one of the best Kiryu has faced in both gameplay terms and narrative.
SPOILERS FOR Y6/7/GAIDEN
This might be one of my more controversial takes but here it is: I absolutely adore 6s ending and consider it one of the best ways they could've sent Kiryu off while staying true to his character. I say all this because this game does not justify AT ALL why they decided to bring him back for Infinite Wealth. The decision to expand the Daidoji Faction to being yet another secret society that has ties to the criminal underworld feels so odd and the decision to essentially force Kiryu into it worse. I don't necessarily hate the idea that he's doing it for the Orphanage but the fact that they're put in danger MULTIPLE TIMES in the story just feels like it spits in the face of the entire point of 6s bittersweet finale. It also decides to ruin LADs cameo of Kiryu with it being revealed that the entire climax of this game happened in the same timeframe as his first scene in 7, which makes his abrupt appearance less special. Also funny detail but legitimately everyone knows its Kiryu but still call him his alias, mainly because his only disguise is some shitty sunglasses (should've went with his dumb IW design at least it'd make sense).
END SPOILERS
Besides the spoilers my biggest issue with Gaiden is how fucking awful the progression is. Because of how short the experience is they decided to go back to the money system from 0 which isn't bad in theory (0 is one of my favorite leveling systems in the franchise). Where it all goes wrong is how they decided to distribute money in this game, as for SOME REASON you don't get anything from story/boss encounters and have to rely on side content to get the cheddar (side content THAT YOU'RE REQUIRED TO DO FOR PROGRESSION WHY DO THAT IN AN ALREADY SHORT GAME RGG). This leads into the second issue where some of these upgrades are really expensive and make choosing a wrong upgrade feel incredibly punishing, with some of the endgame stuff costing upwards to 3 million yen (the most a substory will give is 1 million). As I mentioned before Agent felt incredibly finnicky to use and its because of just how much you need to upgrade for it to feel effective, with each gadget requiring insane amounts of money to make viable which made me gravitate towards Yakuza because of how much cheaper it costs to upgrade. As I've said before I don't mind the idea but the execution is complete dogshit and makes this the second worst leveling in series history (only behind Y6/K2s atrocious system).
Infinite Wealth is shaping up to be one of the best games in the Yakuza franchise, so it's sad to see Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name be a somewhat middling bridge. Maybe when IW finally does come out I can look back on this one more fondly but as of now Kiryu should've went away like Song Of Life obviously intended.
7/10
First things first and WOW is this game a looker. For something made in just six months time RGG really didn't pull any punches with the engine, showcasing what just might be the prettiest game on the aging Dragon Engine. This impressiveness also bleeds into the gameplay, with some of the most crowded fights in franchise history that manage to not kill the frame rate and delivers a pretty solid experience throughout. Both styles are fine but I had a lot of issues getting used to how Agent worked because of how slow so much of it felt, with only the Whip and Rocket Boots being effective (the drone felt like ass and the Cigar was too slow). Yakuza though was an amazing style and just might be my new favorite style for Kiryu, being a great mix of the various slower styles that really packs a punch. Story was pretty solid besides the elephant in the room, with it being a pretty entertaining story within 7s plotline that still manages to be engaging and more importantly its own thing. Was actually shocked how much I loved its main villians too, with the final boss in particular being one of the best Kiryu has faced in both gameplay terms and narrative.
SPOILERS FOR Y6/7/GAIDEN
This might be one of my more controversial takes but here it is: I absolutely adore 6s ending and consider it one of the best ways they could've sent Kiryu off while staying true to his character. I say all this because this game does not justify AT ALL why they decided to bring him back for Infinite Wealth. The decision to expand the Daidoji Faction to being yet another secret society that has ties to the criminal underworld feels so odd and the decision to essentially force Kiryu into it worse. I don't necessarily hate the idea that he's doing it for the Orphanage but the fact that they're put in danger MULTIPLE TIMES in the story just feels like it spits in the face of the entire point of 6s bittersweet finale. It also decides to ruin LADs cameo of Kiryu with it being revealed that the entire climax of this game happened in the same timeframe as his first scene in 7, which makes his abrupt appearance less special. Also funny detail but legitimately everyone knows its Kiryu but still call him his alias, mainly because his only disguise is some shitty sunglasses (should've went with his dumb IW design at least it'd make sense).
END SPOILERS
Besides the spoilers my biggest issue with Gaiden is how fucking awful the progression is. Because of how short the experience is they decided to go back to the money system from 0 which isn't bad in theory (0 is one of my favorite leveling systems in the franchise). Where it all goes wrong is how they decided to distribute money in this game, as for SOME REASON you don't get anything from story/boss encounters and have to rely on side content to get the cheddar (side content THAT YOU'RE REQUIRED TO DO FOR PROGRESSION WHY DO THAT IN AN ALREADY SHORT GAME RGG). This leads into the second issue where some of these upgrades are really expensive and make choosing a wrong upgrade feel incredibly punishing, with some of the endgame stuff costing upwards to 3 million yen (the most a substory will give is 1 million). As I mentioned before Agent felt incredibly finnicky to use and its because of just how much you need to upgrade for it to feel effective, with each gadget requiring insane amounts of money to make viable which made me gravitate towards Yakuza because of how much cheaper it costs to upgrade. As I've said before I don't mind the idea but the execution is complete dogshit and makes this the second worst leveling in series history (only behind Y6/K2s atrocious system).
Infinite Wealth is shaping up to be one of the best games in the Yakuza franchise, so it's sad to see Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name be a somewhat middling bridge. Maybe when IW finally does come out I can look back on this one more fondly but as of now Kiryu should've went away like Song Of Life obviously intended.
7/10
AndreBvenom
6 months ago