Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (2024)

Used to be a huge fan of the Yakuza games. I've fallen off a bit, noticing the flaws more than I have before. Nothing here is much different from prior games, but it seems that my nit picks have become more glaring.

Side content is very fun as always, but I'm noticing the grind and repetition much more.

Main story is interesting as a whole, but the slow, dumbed down way it gets presented ends up dragging on.

Voice acting is great!

Ended up getting maybe 30 hours in before falling off. Might dip back into the next one i

45 hours - This was my first jump into the Yakuza series and I wish I hadn't waited so long! Terrific fun, loved the characters especially. This kind of team bonding mechanic should be a staple in other RPGs (reminded me of the Mass Effects). I'm both interested in learning their side story and you get rewarded for hanging out with them with various upgrades.

Voice acting is top notch, honestly I didn't even know about the controversy with Kiryu's English dub until I read about it afterward. Some incredibly silly and fun moments, but also some solid melodrama and serious moments too. It's impossible not to love Ichiban Kasuga, what a protagonist.

Lots of side content that didn't waste my team and exploring Hawaii was a treat. Combat was mostly great - while there was a lot of extraneous fluff and I think the job system was undercooked, the movement mechanics and the combo attacks you can do are amazing. Fantastic.

Another great RPG for the year 2024 and man, there were a lot of them.

I'd really like to try out some of these games, but I'm also really reluctant to commit myself to playing 6+ previous installments. Scanning threads on Reddit, the usual feedback is "You'll really need to play the entire series!" - That may very well be true, but a lot of the discussion also happens in a echo chamber of die hard series fans.

So I'm looking for a perspective from someone who bought and played "Like a Dragon" and "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth" without having playing the previous installments: How much did you enjoy the games?

Just to make sure my question is not misunderstood, I'm not really looking for feedback on whether playing the previous installments enhances the enjoyment of the more recent entries (because I'm sure it does) - I'd really like to just know whether these two more recent installments, on their own merits, can be enjoyed.

This is the thirteenth Ryu Ga Gotoku game I've played since 2017, and it's now one of my very favorites!

• Honolulu is large, dense, varied and a blast to explore.
• New traversal options address the issues I had with Ijincho the first time around, even moreso than in Lost Judgment.
• I adored the minigames, especially Dodonko Island.
• The new characters are just as endearing as the old, and they mesh together extremely well. This is helped a lot by the infinite wealth of on-the-street conversations and drink links.
• The (mostly optional) dungeons felt way more interesting to me this time around.
• I did not personally experience any dramatic difficulty spikes.

All this makes for a game I was in absolutely no hurry to finish, which is the mark of a great Yakuza/Like a Dragon entry for me.

I am a little more conflicted on Kiryu's role in the game. On one hand, Kiryu and Ichiban compliment each other really well, and the game explores Kiryu's past in a different way than in Yakuza 6 or Gaiden. On the other hand, this is the third game I've played that feels like a swan song or passing of the torch... I'd love to see them go all-in on Ichiban, or incorporate a comparatively under-served legacy character like Akiyama or one of the grown-up Sunshine kids. To be clear, I really enjoyed Kiryu in this game, but we can't miss him if he never goes away!

And this is the first entry I've played where I sometimes questioned my preference for the Japanese voice track. Some of the Japanese voice-acting for English-speaking, American characters was a lot less polished than I was prepared to hear.

But the only real disappointment I have is that New Game+ is tied to paid DLC. I'm fine with DLC for bonus content (since the main game is so jam-packed), but restricting replays of the main game is a drag, especially when it makes earning certain trophies extra monotonous.

Overall, Infinite Wealth is a wonderful new chapter, and a validation of how well the series works as a turn-based JRPG. I still can't get enough!

3/5

Played on PS5. Unfortunately calling it on this one. Put about 15 hours in and it never really caught me - in terms of story, gameplay or anything. Big fan of turn-based RPGs so a little surprised by that. It might be that it needs more time (just recently unlocked jobs) but there are way too many games coming out right now. Loved the ostentatious goofiness of everything else. Especially the pokemon bum-like minigame, hilarious.

Ended up getting this after Dunkey his YouTube video. I played and absolutely loved the first Like A Dragon game and this one is just incredible. It's everything I expected and wanted from a Like a Dragon game. I'm about 5+ hrs in, and the game feels like it's opening up. Very, very cutscene heavy. But I'm really in love with the mechanics, the flow, the story, the characters. And I cannot wait to delve deeply into the quircky, silly stuff.

The fact that I can play poker to unlock Persona 4 songs, to listen to on my in-game smartphone whilst playing the game. Is just, wow. Baffling.

So i just finished my platinum on this (PS5), and i have to say i haven't been this captivated by a game in a while!

The game continues the story from Yakuza 7 (Like a dragon) and the intermission game (Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name), so in a sense this is Yakuza 8. If you're going to play Infinite wealth i would recommend playing at least the 2 games i just mentioned before it (7 was practically a reboot, it's safe to start from there).

Everything that Y7 does, this game does better, bigger and more awesome. The combined mapsize is huge, the amount of sidecontent is seriously daunting; there are 2 full-blown games inside this game, naming a full blown pokemon game with a LOT to do, and a full blown animal crossing style game, amongst the usual heaps and heaps of other side content to do.

This time however, they have gone full-out and the amount of stuff to do really is almost obscene. Where Y7 had a lot of 'empty map', with nothing going on, Y8 really has an activity or something else to see and do on every 5 steps you take in the several maps.

All of the sidequests this time have been done really well, Y7 already had some really good ones but in Y8 every single one of them has a fun or good story and none of the side quests really feel like a waste of time.

Story wise, they've done a good job, there's plenty of good plot twists, funny, sad and awesome moments during the game's main quest. Some parts of it were a bit too over-board for me (f.e. the whole vtuber part could've been left out for all i care) but overall, it was quite nice. Y7's story felt stronger to me than Y8's, but nonetheless i enjoyed myself while playing 8's story too.

Lastly, a word on the DLC. I wish you could review that separately because it really disappoints. The added dungeon has some decently cool stuff in it, but overall it is way too easy. All the bosses in it just fall over and even the endboss is just a complete joke, especially compared to the ones in the base game dungeon. NG + (i'm still playing through this to complete the game on legend difficulty) also only unlocks with the DLC, which is a highly questionable move.

The DLC really only serves one purpose, which is getting your Lvl 70 Ichiban achievement with a lot less grinding than without the DLC. The added dungeon reduces that grind from probably around 10-15 hours, down to 1-2 hours.

That said, if you're not chasing platinum (or the steam achievements) and you're not desparate to see the added dungeon (or be majorly disappointed if you do) or play NG+, just get the base version of the game!

Finished Infinite Wealth a few days ago and let some thoughts settle in.

• This is my favorite game to play in the series. Despite having one problem carried over from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, combat is vastly improved. They addressed the issue of not being able to move which blueballed you from taking advantage of positioning. Moving entirely freely would have been a compromise but they limit you so you can make more decisions. Also has, hands down, my favorite side content in the series
• Localization is good for the mosy part but as some weird kinks. Danny Trejo's character has a JP voice actor but in the last line before the fight, the audio switches to Danny Trejo speaking in English. (Correction: Dwight's English speaking in the Japanese audio was from a different actor yet Danny Trejo voices him in the English dub.) Movie actors learn skills for their roles. Have him learn Japanese to speak the Japanese script. Like how Kson speaks both Japanese and English in both dubs. The radio show has no translation when playing with Japanese audio.
• They really make Hawaii feel different from Yokohama and Kamurocho not only in looks, but in terms of how you interact with the world, how people talk on English and Japanese.
• Story is likely my least favorite so far out of the ones I have played. (0, Kiwami, 2 (PS2), 7). Towards the end, it feels like a lot of cutscenes and chapters were missing. I was shocked once I reached chapter 14 and learned that this was the last chapter.Stuff with the Daidoji is not Iaddressed, they don't address Tatara Hisoka exposing Kiryu to such an extent. Eiji went from evil to missing for a lot of the game to another Ryo Aoki moment but not as earned. No climax with Eiji. I have no emotional connection to Akane and Lani in the same way that I do with Haruka in Yakuza 1. I really would have asked for a lot more presence from those 2.

All in all though, I really liked this game. I haven't been so invested in a game in months so I guess that is really saying something. It's been a while since I have had consistently long play sessions with a game. Even if the story is the most underwhelmed I have been in a while

Trigger warning: sexual assault (no main story spoilers)

Don't do substories 47-52. I only did 47 and 48 because I wanted to complete the game as I am so close to done beating this game, but after 2 of these substories, I refuse. So you complete stuff by doing all of the Alo-Happy activities, the vocational exams, dating app matches, leveling up the weapons facility and the Poundmates rank to the max, giving the gifts to the women behind such stuff. The punchline is that the women in these substories throwing themselves at Ichiban and implied sexual assault with no consent from Ichiban. The scenes are treated as jokes with silly music. No excuses. These suck.

Anyone here finished this one? I'm deep into Chapter 4, and I'm really having to force myself to keep going. I know Yakuza games are usually slow starters, but I'm really not invested in this story, and I'm honestly starting to roll my eyes at the constant detours and distractions.

Is there a point where this game stops fucking around at gets to a narrative high, or is it just gonna continue to be flat like this?

Gotta say too - even for a Yakuza game, this one feels way too goofy and unrealistic in its scenario building. I dunno man. It also completely lacks the strong, progressive undertone of 7 that really had me invested in that one.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna sell this one and move on completely or just put it on ice for now, but I'm kinda disappointed so far. :/