Chapter One
A child ran off from their village, filled with rage. A petty kind of anger; one that the child would have all but forgotten about the next time you saw them. This next time would never come, though. The child disappeared and in their place stood a Destroyer.

Chapter Two
The village seemed different. Strange new people kept showing up, with pig shaped masks covering their eyes. On the surface, they went about their business and chatted like any other villager but the more mind you paid them, the more their words rang hollow. Their thoughts and jokes seemed inorganic; mass produced even. As these Pigmasks gathered in the village, the original people there felt alienated. An old man, once known for his insights and his sharp wit would get angrier and angrier, lashing out at those around him and eventually leaving. More villagers would follow suit, some of them against their will, as this community they saw as a safe haven to share things they couldn’t share anywhere else slowly but surely became part of that “anywhere else.”
Were these Pigmasks to blame for everything? Or was it merely a case of things that always infested the community finally bubbling up to the surface? And what of the Destroyer, a one-time villager, now hailed as the champion of the Pigmasks?

Chapter Three
A monkey walked through a forest with boxes on their back; head and torso fighting a fierce battle to not fall and hit the ground. This grueling process eventually became routine and the monkey’s body eventually went on autopilot. They had all this time to think about if they’ll ever move past this task and if they’ll ever have a purpose.
Did the Destroyer have the same thoughts in this same forest?

Chapter Four
Another village child was not unlike the one who would become the Destroyer. In fact, you could say that these two village children were a single entity; two sides of the same coin. The Destroyer was the head of this coin, facing up and always the topic of conversation from those who saw this “face.” The tail, stuck to the ground, reveled in the attention the head received. They took glee in seeing friends talk about the Destroyer without any clue of its relation to the one standing near them. They searched for other villagers’ words on this mysterious Destroyer and snuck into houses to see them: the praise, the insults, the natural discussions surrounding this new “symbol” of the village.
This was not healthy for the village child. But still, could you blame them? This sensation of feeling important, even if that importance was just a niche micro-celeb in a small village, was much more comforting than the cold reality of meaning nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Chapter Five
A Pigmask working in a tower was a big fan of a rock band. They were utterly awestruck at the sight of that band’s merchandise on the man that entered the tower earlier that day and could not talk about anything other than that band: expressing their love of the band’s work, idolizing the ones behind it as supposedly great people, and elevating the band to some moral paragon because of milquetoast political opinions in its songs.
The Destroyer was in the tower too, watching this Pigmask’s conversation with mere apathy if not active contempt.

Chapter Six
Sometimes, ghosts of the past appear as reminders of what will never come back.

Chapter Seven
The Destroyer pulled a needle out of the ground and felt nothing. They pulled quite a bit of these needles before but something was different this time. The act was now done only out of some perceived obligation; to the Pigmasks and villagers cheering on or to the fake images of hearts that result from the act. It was time for the last needle to be pulled.

Chapter Eight
The Destroyer laid on the ground motionless as its tail pulled the final needle on its behalf. Its supposed stardom was crushed into not even half a star.
It’s over.

I had always held the belief that Yakuza 0 marked the perfect entry-point into this franchise but after spending over 100 hours beating this behemoth of a game to 100% completion, I can safely say Yakuza Like A Dragon has taken that mantle. YLAD is dripping with genuine adoration for not only the previous Yakuza entries but for the medium of video games as a whole. It creatively took huge risks which paid off immensely, changing from the classic beat-’em up action to an interactive turn-based JRPG. Additionally, they pivot significantly from what came narratively before this release, choosing to follow the story of a brand new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, that genuinely rivals the iconic Kazuma Kiryu. The charismatic performance of Kaiji Tang skyrockets Ichiban to the forefront of my mind when it comes to my favourite video game protagonists of all time. He isn’t alone here either, 99% of the entire cast is absolutely goated and they’re able to demonstrate genuine emotional impact, humorous moments, and portray the relationships between characters with authenticity. The soundtrack is absolutely incredible too, this game has some absolute bangers

Of course this wouldn’t be a Yakuza game without the iconic worldbuilding and Isezaki Ijincho is filled to the seams with boundless content to enjoy. Whilst some familiar locations will undoubtedly return later in the game, this new city is perfect for a brand new start to the franchise and I have come to love all aspects of this diverse location. The draw of these games is the heart-wrenching, dramatic, and intense narrative juxtapositioned against the ridiculous, zany, and oftentimes slapstick humour. Whilst the previous games in the series have definitely had it’s emotional moments, YLAD genuinely made me cry with it’s beautiful story about loyalty, dreams, oppression, and friendship and it’s themes and story arcs felt much more impactful than it has ever been. I was blown away by the witty writing and insane scenarios Ryū Ga Gotoku Studios were able to implement into the story whilst keeping it cohesive.

As always with this franchise the characters were the highlight of the experience. Ichiban’s genuineness is sincere and embodies what it means to truly be a good person. His positivity is infectious and his journey has personally shaped my own life and I can't pay a greater compliment to a piece of media than it having a profound effect on my own character. Kasuga’s party were also incredibly fantastic, I found it difficult to decide which characters I wanted to accompany me and oftentimes found myself switching between 5/6 of them. The weakest party member is by far Eri Kamataki who’s narrative influence is entirely absent and exists primarily for the business management game mode, whilst she shines during this she is not involved at all in Kasuga’s personal journey nor the party’s greater motives which led me to neglecting her throughout most of my playthrough. The supporting characters and antagonists supplemented the story masterfully and safely cemented themselves to feel as important to the narrative as the main cast did.

It’s evolution from an action brawler style of video game into an entirely turn-based JRPG is not only the boldest move I have seen from a studio in recent times but also the correct move to breathe new life into the series. Inheriting the job class system from other JRPGs like Dragon Quest, it allows user variety and preference in their team composition, build, and playstyle to encourage creativity. Unfortunately this shift in gameplay style did lead to moments where I felt vastly overpowered at times and underpowered at other times. This required a lot of grinding which definitely slowed the pacing down but I wouldn’t detract this from the overall experience (except for the grind for the True Millennium Tower because that is insanely difficult and ridiculous).

The iconic humour previously demonstrated in limited scripted fight scenes or special heat moves in previous titles is now pervasive in every department. Whether you’re witnessing Adachi perform a Sonic The Hedgehog inspired spin-dash attack or Ichiban summoning an orbital laser strike on his enemies, the bar in it’s creativeness and hilarity is raised throughout the entire game. The enemy variety is also fantastic as the world is extenuated through Ichiban’s insane imagination which is an ingenious way of freshening up the rather mundane and unimaginative enemies that would be present otherwise.

I could write about this game for as long as I’ve played it, the music is outstanding, the side content is widespread and well-crafted, the environments are beautiful and feel as lively as ever. It’s balance in tone attaches you to the characters so deeply, you’ll be with them in their best and worst times. YLAD establishes itself as it’s own experience, carving a new path forward for the franchise whilst respecting it’s forefathers. Whilst you do not need to have played the previous entries, if you have committed yourself to this world you will be rewarded with a tonne of cameos and greater plot threads being tied up, thrusting this decade-long series into the modern era in a stylish way.