The majority of the past few games developed by RGG Studios have mostly been a transition for the world of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise. Kazuma Kiryu, who had been the series’ extremely popular main protagonist for nearly a decade, was essentially retired from starring in the mainline games in 2016’s Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, after being featured as the lead or co-lead in numerous entries of the series. The mainline games then shifted genres entirely with 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, going from a 3D beat-’em-up to a turn-based RPG, while the beat-’em-up gameplay was delegated to the new detective-themed Judgment spin-off series. These games each featured fantastic new protagonists with their own charming supporting casts. It felt like RGG Studios was testing the waters with these new characters and approaches to gameplay, and since the Judgment games and Yakuza: Like a Dragon went on to be successful despite not starring Kiryu, it was time to officially pass on the torch to the new generation. RGG Studios does just that with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. It’s a seminal entry for the series that eclipses just about everything that came before it in scope.

The franchise has always been defined by its large and elaborate overworlds that are filled with stunning amounts of content to discover, including substories, mini games, mini bosses, and an assortment of other fun challenges and things to do. Infinite Wealth somehow manages to take that standard to the next level. The game primarily takes place in Honolulu, Hawaii, one of the largest overworlds the series has ever seen, in addition to including the cities of Ijincho and Kamurocho from the previous games. Each of these locations has an abundance of things to do, to the point where it’s honestly a little bit overwhelming. The first half of the game in particular has several back-to-back tutorials regarding how its systems and side content works and it can be a bit difficult keeping track of it all. This is a very enormous and lengthy game though, and as long as you give yourself time and breathing room, you’ll eventually get used to… most of it.

The turn-based combat is heavily improved from the previous game, with a ton of quality of life changes. A new and vital element of combat is that you now have a limited range you can move your characters in. This allows you to position your characters in order to make the most effective use of their special attacks, adding a whole extra layer of depth to the combat. Drink Links and Bonds, which are conversations that you can have with your allies that lets you get to know them better, are a lot more important in this game. Completing them unlocks additional combo attacks, which you can perform by knocking enemies into your allies, as well as chain attacks, where your allies will perform automatic follow-up attacks after landing one of your own. I can’t stress enough how much I love these. It is indescribably satisfying having all of these different methods of attacking an enemy come together all at once. Even if your party is outnumbered, it feels like you constantly have the jump on every enemy you come across.

Despite all of the quality of life changes to combat, there is one element of it that I found to be lacking. Perfect Guards return from the previous game, where timing a button press to the enemy’s attack allows you to mitigate some damage. It has been some time since I last played Yakuza 7, so I can’t trust my memory on this, but it feels like pulling off perfect guards in Infinite Wealth is a lot harder than the previous game. The timing of the button press won’t always align with the enemy’s attack and it can be difficult determining when you’re actually supposed to press the button. In addition to that, the camera won’t always shift to the character that’s getting attacked in time for you to see the enemy’s attack itself, so you’ll have to guess when you’re supposed to press the button. This is especially frequent with attacks where the enemy will quickly bounce from ally to ally, though thankfully, there aren’t very many enemies in the game that do this, it’s mostly reserved for boss fights.

In addition to the combat, there are a bunch of other quality of life changes that I really want to highlight. The job system has been changed so that you can choose any skill from any job and assign them to a character, which allows for an insane level of character customization. Enemies spotting you in the overworld doesn’t immediately start a battle. Now a battle will only start if you remain in their field of vision for a certain amount of time, or if you just run up to them. You can also immediately take out lower level enemies with the Smackdown option, which allows you to instantly win the fight and can help save time. These are all godsend changes that I’m so thankful for.

I didn’t engage with all of the side content because there is just so much of it, but I did want to highlight Dondoko Island. This is the equivalent to the Ichiban Holdings mini game from 7. This single mini game honestly feels like a fully-fledged spin-off title in its own right. It takes extremely obvious inspiration from Animal Crossing: New Horizons where you’re customizing your own island resort by breaking trees and rocks, collecting materials, and placing all sorts of different furnishings and attractions all over the island. You can invite several guests to experience your island where they’ll spend Dondoko Bucks, a currency which can be converted into actual money. While you won’t break the economy to the same extent that you could in Yakuza 7, you get pretty damn close, and it’s a side activity that’s not only very worthwhile, but also engaging and genuinely relaxing.

Infinite Wealth’s story left me with a lot of mixed, but mostly positive feelings. I wasn’t as moved emotionally by this game as I was with Yakuza 7, which by the end had me in tears. Despite that, I still think the story is really good overall. It handles both Ichiban and Kiryu’s stories extremely well. Ichiban’s importance to the story isn’t diminished or overshadowed by Kiryu, which was a worry of mine going into this game. A major plot point is that Kiryu is suffering from cancer and doesn’t have much longer to live. One of Kiryu’s biggest flaws as a character is that he is always undertaking the brunt of burdens unto himself, rarely letting people in and sharing his own personal struggles with others. While he did originally meet Ichiban in Yakuza 7, which left a huge impression on him, it isn’t until here in Infinite Wealth where he finally starts sharing the burden with not just Ichiban, but the rest of the playable cast as well. It’s not just fantastic character development, but it really feels like a passing of the torch between these characters. The biggest downside to the story I feel is that it doesn’t do the best job at balancing the party members and the roles they play in the game. A few characters like Zhao and Joon Gi Han feel like they’re kind of just along for the ride. You still get to spend time with them with the Drink Links and Bond system though, so it’s not the biggest deal.

The game celebrates Kiryu as well as the franchise’s legacy with side content exclusive to him. I don’t want to give too much of this away, but if you’re a fan of the series, then this side content should be considered essential. It’s not just a trip down memory lane, but a way of tying up some loose ends of the series as well. Still, I really want to talk about it as well as the ending to the game, so I’ve made a spoiler Pastebin where I discuss them.

I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the game with this review. Infinite Wealth is really the perfect title for this game, as it really does feel like it provides an endless treasure trove of sheer enjoyment. Time just stopped existing for me when I played it. I was locked in, having way too much fun and I couldn’t put it down. It’s a wonderful celebration of not just the series’ past, but its future as well. It’s truly incredible, and I genuinely cannot fathom how RGG Studios could possibly make a game that’s bigger and richer than this. It is overwhelmingly phenomenal.