Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (2023)

If you're not into the whole game it's understandable. But if you're a fan of the series you should at the very least speedrun this game and see the ending. It's to be honest some of the best acting delivered by any Ryu Ga Gotoku game.

The game itself is definitely not the best entry in the series, gameplay wise, but it's well worth its time and price. And you can decide to avoid the silly new combat style, just in case.

I love this series.

This game, in particular, has the best Kiryu Kombat yet.

After the last 7 Yakuza games I've played (0 through 6) with entirely-Japanese voice acting, the English voices are refreshing. And (the vast majority of) the acting is particularly well done in this entry.

The music? Yup, it's great.

The story is the same Japanese crime soap opera I've come to love.

What holds this back from 5 stars is the lack of batshit crazy side missions. There's no Mr. Libido or weird-ass ghost stories here. What there are: a whole bunch of uninteresting fetch quests. "Take a picture of a sign." "Bring me a Tauriner." "Bring me some Japanese food."

Also, the cabaret club is extra-creepy this go-around. Now you flirt with live action girls. So you get to look a real person in the eyes while you do awkward videogaming.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name more than justifies its existence. It creates fantastic points of tension and a real constant threat in Kiryu’s attempts at anonymity as he butts head with the Yakuza and some mysterious, shadowy figures. Always keeping me on the edge of my seat, it’s a heavy-hitter in the narrative, having me actively weep at the conclusion. This kind of magnificence is the payoff of years upon years of hard franchise work, entirely rewarding for longtime fans though boldly unapologetic and unforgiving to the newcomers.

Slamming enemy’s heads into walls and getting emotional over the franchise-long angst and baggage our beloved protagonist holds has truly never felt this good. Despite now hosting more than a dozen entries, Gaiden proves the Like a Dragon name is still endlessly valuable to this day. Bring on the next dozen, I say.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is the first Yakuza spinoff that I've played that truly feels like a spinoff. It's short, it's made on a clearly tighter time-budget and it takes a detour from the newly set RPG style. It felt slapped together so much so that at times I was thinking whether I'm reaching the end of the line of my own journey with Yakuza games.

In some ways, the game is still really impressive for a quickly-made spinoff: the Dragon Engine graphics are a treat, (proper) cinematic cutscenes are a joy to watch and the soundtrack is top notch as usual. Yet, I can't deny that I was feeling disappointed with the game here and there. For example, the side content in this was either very recycled or quickly thrown together to have some typical Yakuza-style content. Also the combat system never really clicked with me and the emphasis on group battles (both in story and side content) resulted in messy, clumsy fights with constant knock-downs and annoying "mash A to remove stun" shenanigans.

Despite all this, after beating the game, I was very content. This is because the game works wonders with the rich legacy of the Yakuza series: a treasure trove of larger than life story twists and incredibly memorable characters. Unlike the two new turn-based RPGs with their new cast, Gaiden harkens back to the old guard and gives Kiryu one more game to star in. While the story is interesting, tense and avoids the more groan-inducing tendencies of the Yakuza series, it's the character of Kiryu that takes the cake (again).

When Gaiden was announced, I was happy to see one more beat 'em up entry in the series but also remember thinking that they should just let Kiryu retire. After this, I'm glad they didn't as this game acts as a wonderful continuation to Yakuza 6's story. I don't remember tearing up because of an RGG game before (it has come close though) but the ending of this was just incredibly emotional and poignant that I couldn't just help it.

Before this, I really didn't feel like taking up a 80-100 hour RPG any time soon (i.e. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth). This game has made me consider the option, just to see how the loose ends of this game will be tied up.

P.S. Oh yeah, Gaiden also has some really cool SEGA arcade games in it, specifically the first ever home console release of Daytona 2... or Sega Racing Classic 2 as the trademark-free version of it is called in this.

After adoring Like a Dragon but having some quibbles with Lost Judgment and Ishin, I thought maybe I was just getting a bit tired of the "beat-em-up" flavor of this series. I'd played ten games in that style already, surely it's time to move on?

But then this side game comes along, offering combat as fresh as anything I enjoyed in previous entries. Plus an emotional story that justifies Kiryu's continued involvement in the franchise while filling gaps between major chapters.

If you haven't played Yakuza 6 and Like a Dragon, this isn't the best jumping-on point. But if you're a fan of the series, don't sleep on this one. I loved it!

¿Do you know this feeling when you are looking forward to play a game and then you finally play it and it isn't so good as you expected?. Well, that has never happened to me with a Yakuza game, I have played every single game in the series (except for the zombies one) and the hype has always been matched by the game when playing it.

I believe there is no game in the full Yakuza/Like a Dragon series worthy of less than a 5 star rating. And I include the Judgment games here as well. You may like for example Yakuza 0 better than the others, but they all are really good.

¿Are you in this situation, when you just finished a good game and do not really know which game you should start now?. Well, then choose a Yakuza, it is a safe choice.

So, enough about the saga. About this game in hand "Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man who erased his name" (BE AWARE OF SPOILERS):

As I read in Twitter (I refuse to call it "X") when the trailer was released, this must be the coolest videogame name ever. After Yakuza 6 we all thought it wouldn't be a new Yakuza game protegonized by Kiryu so this game came a bit as a surprise. Having a new chance (this time I guess it is the last for good) to walk the streets with him feel like a present.

These games all have soul: all the little details, the side missions...And in this one is not less. This may very well be the last game we play with Kiryu as I said before, so Ryo Ga Gotoku made the best tribute out of it for the fans by recovering old characters (like the woman who calls Kiryu "Juntaro", I don't recall her name) and old mini games, like the Pocket Circuit, and it did work really well.

The story is good, as always, as it is the combat system. I did like also the new fighting style "agent" and its special weapons.

And the ending...It is impossible not to be touched by the scene with the tablet.

In an ideal world I will play through most of my backlog, then get The Man Who Erased His Name; play through it and then delve deep into Infinite Wealth as that will have come out by then.

Yeah...

Like A Dragon (Yakuza 7) is the only Yakuza game I ever finished and as you can probably tell, I absolutely loved that game.

I have been following every (US-released) game in this series. I care about these characters.

Maybe they should have let sleeping dogs lie or given the dragon of dojima a happy ending but for now I am ok with more of this.

For an open-world game, the world is TINY! This is where the Gaiden comes in.

Anyway, people who where they stand on this series. It is either for you or not. Do not start here if you do not know yet.

I am looking forward to INFINITE WEALTH.