LIKE A DRAGON QUEST
Also for: Playstation 4, Windows, Windows Apps, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Yakuza is back with its eighth major installment, introducing a new hero in
Kasuga Ichiban, a low-level Yakuza in a low-ranking crime family. Apart from
starting off a brand new saga, this is the first Yakuza game for the new
console generation, and my own first Playstation 5-playthrough whatsoever. It
is also the first since the PS2-era to feature optional American voice acting. Above all, I'm continually blown away by the smooth framerate and non-existing
loading screens, even as they keep me from catching the usual, redundant
gameplay tips and tricks. What a time to be alive!
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is revolutionary in several ways. The new hero,
Ichiban, differs a lot from his predecessor Kazuma Kiryu. He is very
extroverted. He's brimming with fiery passion and empathy in equal measure.
But he also has moments of thoughtfulness where he shares some rather profound
one-liners. Although vain to a fault, his unkempt hair makes him look like he
kissed an electrical outlet. Series veterans might liken him to an
electrifying mix of Goro Majima's personality and Kiryu's morals.
The prologue and early main story segments are mesmerizing. Through a series
of unfortunate events, Ichiban becomes the scapegoat for a high-ranking
Yakuza's mistakes. He faces a long prison term, and some 18 years down the
line he's finally released. But in the hopes of reuniting with his former,
beloved family boss, he faces heartbreaking betrayal. Eventually he finds
himself stuck in a homeless shelter in Yokohama, wounded and tended to by a
former male nurse named Nanba. They become fast friends.
The lion's share of the story takes place on this biggest-yet map of a district in
Yokohama, where you, in the role of Ichiban, try to find a foothold in life. Along the way you meet and recruit more companions, and pretty soon you have a full roster of
well-established, great characters with a lot of fun banter.
The tone
lightens up a little as the world opens up. Together you start investigating
signs of corruption brewing in city leadership, all vaguely connected to your old
Yakuza family. The Yokohama district is relatively large, with several different parts like Koreatown, Chinatown, Red Light District and many others. They all play an important part in a delicate power balance.
Newcomers to the franchise should take note that this is a great starting point. Yakuza: Like a Dragon mostly takes place in new locations with a new character roster. The few references to previous entries are as vague to Ichiban as they would be to any newcomer. You learn about them alongside him.
Some old side activities remain as a through line, like karaoke, baseball, golf, gambling, mahjong and SEGA arcade
cabinets. Yakuza: Like a Dragon also introduces some
brilliant new ones, like a full-fledged business simulator and a
go-kart arcade racer, both highly addictive. I was overjoyed to find a hilarious cinema-watching mini-game where you must try to stay awake by reacting to
onscreen button prompts.
This is Ichiban's origin story, and one of the series' best. The first half of
the plot, in particular, is exceptional. Even though it feels somewhat
disjointed, like a series of short stories strung together, every chapter is
connected in theme and spirit. It follows Ichiban as he falls from grace into
hardship and homelessness, and bounces back to at least modest success as an
entrepreneur. In recent Yakuza games we have seen signs of emerging class
awareness, and here it comes to full fruition. This is one of the most
outright political games I've yet seen from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.
Since Ichiban grew up hooked on the Dragon Quest-games from Square Enix, his worldview is that of a role-playing game hero. His life is a series of quests, and all lessons learned can be
measured in experience points and levels. Different jobs allow him to unlock
certain skills. Ichiban's own default job naturally becomes "Hero" - one of
the best classes in the game, unique to him - after he pulls out a bat wedged into the
ground, Excalibur-style.
His worldview also brings about a major alteration in Yakuza gameplay; the
action combat is replaced by classic JRPG turn-based combat, a paradigm shift
that works surprisingly well. As Ichiban enters a fight, his mind's eye warps
the enemies into monstrous variants of human beings.
For instance, aggressive
drunkards become "Beerserkers", and territorial garbage dwellers become
"Rotten Garbage Bag Men". Their attacks and power-ups reflect their
appearances; like the semi-nude, oiled-up "City Slickers" who can cover their
bodies with grease to raise evasion. Some have elemental attacks and others
can inflict status ailments, like charm or confusion.
This also means you're finally able to control more than one character in a
fight. Combat is strictly turn-based, but still emulates the
frenzy of the action. You can strengthen certain attacks by simple button-mashing or timing your strikes. Hitting while the enemy's down will harm them further. Helping certain strangers will unlock them as summons to call in the midst of combat.
With
the high pace and smooth transition between turns, I found the random
encounters, at least initially, engaging and ultimately less obtrusive than the action counterparts. The combatants constantly move back and forth across the battlefield, and if
you catch the enemies grouped together, your attack's splash damage might
spill over to others.
Although Ryu ga Gotoku handles the new direction very well, some boss fights,
particularly in the final fourth of the game, become brutal difficulty spikes. The only way to remedy that is to pause the story for a while to level grind. This isn't fun, and the
one time that the developer's inexperience with the genre becomes apparent.
One infamous (and story-wise really impactful) moment in particular happens after a
lengthy gauntlet of standard fights, that doesn't come close to prepare you for the upcoming boss. If your characters ain't strong enough, you won't stand a chance. You
need to back out, get stronger and start the entire raid over.
A few areas are designed specifically to help with that, but these - the battle arena and the sewer dungeons - are lacklustre. You can also improve your odds by strengthening your equipment. But running or fast-traveling between the
crafting workshop and the crafting material peddler - who are situated at
opposite ends of the city - is a nuiscance. And some rare materials you can only find in the aforementioned arena or dungeons.
For a moment, I completely ran out
of steam with Yakuza: Like a Dragon. That hasn't happened since
Yakuza: Kiwami and the constant "Majima Everywhere!"-interruptions. And it's a shame, because until it happened I was ready to hail this game as my new series favorite.
To make matters worse, these roadblocks happened just as I'd run out of most
side-content. Up until that point, I'd enjoyed some of the best mini-games and the finest optional dialogue in
the series. With the focus on group dynamics, the side characters are given a
lot of room to flourish. By increasing Ichiban's bond with the different
companions, you advance their personal side-stories and unlock new abilities.
This was so intriguing, I exhausted all this content way ahead of schedule.
Needless to say, the substories are as great and imaginative as ever (let's
just ignore the fact that some are rehashes). But in the case of Ichiban, they
don't feel as integral to his character development. In previous games, the
substories were a way to explore the relatable flipside to Kiryu's heroic
facade. Different substories portrayed him as weak, nostalgic, randy, nerdy,
romantic, humbled or whatever. They made him more humanly relatable. In Yakuza: Like a Dragon most of those sides to Ichiban
are addressed within the main story. The substories feel more like asides from
the main events.
Clocking in at almost 92 hours, this became my longest Yakuza playthrough yet.
I began enchanted with it through the pitch-perfect banter between party
members, the dramatic turn of events in the story, and the intricacies of the job
system and all its unlockable skills. I was determined to fully explore most
avenues, until that unfortunate difficulty spike soured my mood. In theory
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the most replayable game in the series, thanks to all
the added RPG mechanics. But I'll always dread that difficulty spike.
But I'll never know unless I replay it: What lies hidden beyond all the hours
you put into a fully-leveled "Chef" job? Or what lies in store of one who
takes a chance on the "Night Queen" S&M-job? You could spend hundreds of
hours answering such questions in a single playthrough. But in spite of its
massive size, and some added endgame dungeons I never burrowed into, I doubt
the game holds enough content to make such an undertaking worth your while.
For me, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a great first step down a brand new boulevard in my old hometown.
It's familiar territory, but it offers so many new ideas the possibilities
seem daunting. The new map is great and the writing staff steps up to the
occasion. The new hardware generation makes the journey smooth.
Ichiban may
appear off-putting, but it doesn't take long for his charm to drill a hole
right through your armor of doubts. He is every bit as appealing as Kiryu (and
Yakuza 0-era Goro Majima). And who'd have guessed it - turning Yakuza
into something Like-A-Dragon-Quest was a natural fit in more than title alone.
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