THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON
One of the very few games to have ever made me into a complete emotional mess when the credits rolled. Like A Dragon Gaiden is a thrilling emotional rollercoaster. Working within its set limitations as essentially an expansion to Yakuza: Like A Dragon to narrow the focus on Kiryu following his first finale so many years ago. It was developed in a six-month cycle, has the third of the content and scope of a regular Yakuza/Like A Dragon entry, yet it told probably the most tightly personal story these games could ever hope to achieve. It directly addresses the elephant in the room -- what’s the point behind bringing back Kiryu when we’ve had a perfectly fine sendoff for him? Why is he back? What’s he going to do now given Yakuza 7 ends with Ichiban leading the series in his place? Some remain unanswered for what I expect Infinite Wealth to tackle head-on, but what it answers reframed Like A Dragon Gaiden as a needed epilogue to provide more closure for Kiryu’s journey as a legendary yakuza.
The main antagonist is quite up there for me as far as amazing villains go in the series. The perfect final obstacle Kiryu needs to defeat for what he represents. Someone who wants nothing more than to prevent the extinction of his way of life. A twisted, savaged incarnation of the older ways of the yakuza we were first familiar with, but gradually saw fade away entry by entry. A guy who genuinely believed the days of yakuza like Nishiki, Ryuji, Mine, and even Kiryu have never ended despite us seeing how they’ve been phased out with entitled schemers who don’t uphold any ideals painted on their very backs. A man who saw the yakuza life as a chance for fulfillment and freedom needed to be preserved even in a changing era where they’re becoming hollowed out. Trading their freedom and purpose with a tight leash on their neck by higher authority who strip it all away. Making his fate one of the most morbid things that will ever haunt me.
I still need to push through the Judgment games to give a definitive end-all statement, but this is the best combat has felt in the Dragon Engine. It pulls notes from Yakuza 0 with switching between styles again and using money to level up your move set, which led to some tedious side content grinding shoehorned in to pad out the game, but I overall enjoyed it incredibly for a small enough package. There isn’t really much more to dig into here, it is the shortest Yakuza/Like A Dragon game after all, so a lot is the usual standard fare by now. It was made with one sole aim in mind, bridge the gap between Yakuza 7 and Yakuza 8, explore Kiryu through those events, offer some sentimental moments for the long time fans, and hopefully hook you on whatever the hell Infinite Wealth is cooking by pairing Ichiban and Kiryu together as dual protagonists. This affirmed my love for Kiryu and this series, and with no surprise ranks very high for me among the rest. I hope my GOAT can somehow get the happy ending he deserves.
One of the very few games to have ever made me into a complete emotional mess when the credits rolled. Like A Dragon Gaiden is a thrilling emotional rollercoaster. Working within its set limitations as essentially an expansion to Yakuza: Like A Dragon to narrow the focus on Kiryu following his first finale so many years ago. It was developed in a six-month cycle, has the third of the content and scope of a regular Yakuza/Like A Dragon entry, yet it told probably the most tightly personal story these games could ever hope to achieve. It directly addresses the elephant in the room -- what’s the point behind bringing back Kiryu when we’ve had a perfectly fine sendoff for him? Why is he back? What’s he going to do now given Yakuza 7 ends with Ichiban leading the series in his place? Some remain unanswered for what I expect Infinite Wealth to tackle head-on, but what it answers reframed Like A Dragon Gaiden as a needed epilogue to provide more closure for Kiryu’s journey as a legendary yakuza.
The main antagonist is quite up there for me as far as amazing villains go in the series. The perfect final obstacle Kiryu needs to defeat for what he represents. Someone who wants nothing more than to prevent the extinction of his way of life. A twisted, savaged incarnation of the older ways of the yakuza we were first familiar with, but gradually saw fade away entry by entry. A guy who genuinely believed the days of yakuza like Nishiki, Ryuji, Mine, and even Kiryu have never ended despite us seeing how they’ve been phased out with entitled schemers who don’t uphold any ideals painted on their very backs. A man who saw the yakuza life as a chance for fulfillment and freedom needed to be preserved even in a changing era where they’re becoming hollowed out. Trading their freedom and purpose with a tight leash on their neck by higher authority who strip it all away. Making his fate one of the most morbid things that will ever haunt me.
I still need to push through the Judgment games to give a definitive end-all statement, but this is the best combat has felt in the Dragon Engine. It pulls notes from Yakuza 0 with switching between styles again and using money to level up your move set, which led to some tedious side content grinding shoehorned in to pad out the game, but I overall enjoyed it incredibly for a small enough package. There isn’t really much more to dig into here, it is the shortest Yakuza/Like A Dragon game after all, so a lot is the usual standard fare by now. It was made with one sole aim in mind, bridge the gap between Yakuza 7 and Yakuza 8, explore Kiryu through those events, offer some sentimental moments for the long time fans, and hopefully hook you on whatever the hell Infinite Wealth is cooking by pairing Ichiban and Kiryu together as dual protagonists. This affirmed my love for Kiryu and this series, and with no surprise ranks very high for me among the rest. I hope my GOAT can somehow get the happy ending he deserves.