Support NeoGAF

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Written Previews:

After trying Infinite Wealth, it was hard not to reflect on how far this series has come, all the places it has gone, and everything all of its characters have been through. This feels like it is going to be special, and I am so excited to see it through.

Gamespot

In many ways, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a watershed moment for franchise. It's quite likely a final send off for the cancer-stricken underworld legend Kiryu, and the official induction ceremony for Kasuga as Kiryu's successor in the series moving forward. It's no surprise, then, that RGG would have put an immense amount of time and effort to make such a massive game that ups the ante on the nearly 20 years of titles that came before it while nailing the balance of silly and serious. I have no reason to believe this game isn't gonna rule.

IGN

But apart from the really enormous shark, the parts of Infinite Wealth that really stuck with me are harder to talk about without getting into spoiler territory. When I've evangelized about this series to friends and colleagues in the past, I've advised them not to worry about the story too much, and just let the batshit experience wash over them. Spending a few hours with the latest game in the series has made me realize that—oh no—I'm more invested than I thought. I'm too invested. This Hawaiian-style installment and The Man Who Erased His Name are telegraphing a "seriously, for real this time" torch-passing from Kiryu to Ichiban, and I don't think I can handle it.
What if the real Infinite Wealth was the friends we made along the way?

Kotaku

For all of the chances that RGG has taken, introducing a dual protagonist, new setting, and even adding in a sim element for good measure, among other new updates, I can say Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is by far the most ambitious entry to date. However, it still retains the characters and narrative that fans care about. The new setting puts the spotlight on this as Ichiban is out of his element in a strange new place, but I'm sure if we all stay diligent, we'll see him and Kiryu through the difficult times that lay ahead, and have sh*t ton of fun in the process.

Noisy Pixel

Yakuza is a storied franchise that keeps on giving. Each installment in the series leading to 2020's Yakuza: Like a Dragon has offered something new and innovative, along with consistently satisfying expansions to the evergrowing story of main characters Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga.

I'm glad to say that after a hands-on preview of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the trend continues. There is almost too much here for Yakuza fans, both new and old, to sink their teeth in and enjoy. This latest entry features a fusion of the series' original beat-em-up and current turn-based roleplaying style, an island-building mode, and even more charm than ever.

PS Blog

With the chance to refine its turn-based combat system, introduce another new location, and tell two connected stories at once, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth feels like the most ambitious entry yet — and playing for roughly four hours proves it. There's more to see and do than ever before, improved fights, and the wild and wacky side of the series in abundance to match the serious tones of Kiryu's potentially final tale. No matter how it ends, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is shaping up to be an essential experience for anyone with even a passing interest in the franchise. This is the biggest and most important one for some time.

PushSquare

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is shaping up to be an exciting new entry in this long-running series. It takes its new leading man and has him go off to exciting new places I'd never imagine this series would ever go to. For its classic hero, it seems to be that they're setting up a more somber and retrospective experience. Kiryu's chapter felt tender in how they addressed his legacy, and I'm excited to see how they'll tackle certain subplots.

Sakamoto also mentioned during the introduction that Kiryu's part of the story tried to tackle the core theme of "What does it mean to be happy?" and that resonated with me. What does that truly mean? Was it visiting new places or being at home with those you love? What if that isn't an option? What are you left to do but wander the city streets all alone, homesick, and missing your family? If Kiryu is taking any advice, I say that another big bowl of ramen certainly did me a lot of good on that cold, late night walk back to my hotel room.

RPGSite

You can skip fights with weak mobs by initiating a "smackdown" when they catch you, find collectables and missions more easily on the map, fast travel and scoot around the world more quickly, and unlock new classes pretty much whenever you like. It reminds me of the jump from Persona 4 to Persona 5 - which Infinite Wealth and Like a Dragon obviously take a lot of inspiration from - but takes things further, which I'm a big fan of.

All this means Infinite Wealth feels smooth gameplay-wise. I hate when (especially turn-based) games get bogged down in glacially-paced systems, and with loads of random battles and unvoiced text conversations to mash through. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth would have been massively at risk of that without the attention paid to speeding things up, moment-to-moment.

On top of that, there are tons of extra little systems I didn't get a chance to fully explore, including incredibly deep-looking parodies of Pokemon battles and an Animal Crossing-style island sim. But really, while the early signs are promising, everything will hang on the strength of the central story, which we won't get a sense of until we're fully let loose as both Ichiban and Kiryu.

VG247

Video Previews:

 

[R6Rider]

Me: This looks amazing!
Also Me: I'll play this after I finally beat Lost Judgment, Yakuza 6, Yakuza 7, and Gaiden.

 

[Nankatsu]

Barely saw anything about the game.

Finishing up with Gaiden and jumping straight into this.

Yakuza 6 gutted me, hope Kiryu gets a good send off this time around. I'm glad he is back, but I'm quite sad considering this might very well be his last playable game. My GOAT character.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[LordCBH]

Barely saw anything about the game.

Finishing up with Gaiden and jumping straight into this.

Yakuza 6 gutted me, hope Kiryu gets a good send off this time around. I'm glad he is back, but I'm quite sad considering this might very well be his last playable game. My GOAT character.

The end of Gaiden hit the feels like a truck. Was not expecting it. I absolutely can’t wait for 8

 

[Nankatsu]

The end of Gaiden hit the feels like a truck. Was not expecting it. I absolutely can’t wait for 8

I'm currently on the final chapter.

I've seen some posts on reddit talking about how the last chapter hits hard, but I ran from them.

 

[LordCBH]

I'm currently on the final chapter.

I've seen some posts on reddit talking about how the last chapter hits hard, but I ran from them.

I completely misread your post and thought you had finished it. My apologies!




Buckle up.

 

[NanaMiku]

Japanese preview

 

[NanaMiku]

Holy shit, I just watched the 4Gamer video, they put Kiryu singing karaoke in story cutscene.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I'm in like one of the son of the bitches

 

[NanaMiku]

Oh yea, in case anybody miss it, Sega also did their own preview with kson, one of the winner for the cabaret club. The video in Japanese though

 

[CosmicComet]

I beat 1-6. Judgment, Lost Judgment and just beat Gaiden.

But I've yet to start Yakuza 7 because of the turned based style...is it worth it?

 

[Alexios]

Oh yea, in case anybody miss it, Sega also did their own preview with kson, one of the winner for the cabaret club. The video in Japanese though

Ugh, such an annoying voice/character.

She's just the one in Gaiden, not also in Infinite Wealth, right? Right?

 

[NanaMiku]

Ugh, such an annoying voice/character.

She's just the one in Gaiden, not also in Infinite Wealth, right? Right?

She is in the revolve bar, as the assistant of the owner.

 

[Alexios]

She is in the revolve bar, as the assistant of the owner.

Nooooo. At least her 3D model is better than herself

O wait in that video all she does is sell you food/drink without even much VA? Hope her use is kept at a minimum like that. But even her greeting and thanks are so annoying, how did she ever win?

 

[NanaMiku]

Nooooo. At least her 3D model is better than herself

O wait in that video all she does is sell you food/drink without even much VA? Hope her use is kept at a minimum like that. But even her greeting and thanks are so annoying, how did she ever win?

If it's the same as the previous one, you can access the small talk collection there.

She is a big fan of the series. Previously she was known as Kiryu Coco





If you don't like her voice, you can always change to English dub. But it seems she will also dub the English voice (she is half American-Japanese)

 

[Alexios]

If you don't like her voice, you can always change to English dub.

Ok you found one thing that would be worse than dealing with her. Thanks.

 

[Nankatsu]

Ok you found one thing that would be worse than dealing with her. Thanks.

You got me a present?

Cheeeeeers, Kanpaiiiii!

 

[EDMIX]

Me: This looks amazing!
Also Me: I'll play this after I finally beat Lost Judgment, Yakuza 6, Yakuza 7, and Gaiden.

lol Yakuza is one of those series you have to keep up with.

Fucking around and blink (introducing Yakuza 12: The Return Of Haruka: The bloodening...FROM THE GRAVE)

 

[Chukhopops]

Just realized one of the previews seems to casually confirm/drop the fact that Kiryu

Spoiler: Mega spoiler unless it was actually revealed already?

has cancer?

Not a big fan of this plot device but let’s see how the game handles it.

 

[Nankatsu]

So when they revealed the first trailer, I thought Kiryu dyed his hair for whatever reason.

After playing Gaiden, and considering he is now an agent. I honestly thought it could be some undercover shit he was going through.

But judging from the post credit scene...he just got old

 

[NanaMiku]

Just realized one of the previews seems to casually confirm/drop the fact that Kiryu

Spoiler: Mega spoiler unless it was actually revealed already?

has cancer?

Not a big fan of this plot device but let’s see how the game handles it.

Not really a spoiler, it's in the trailer

 

[balls of snow]

I said fuck it and started Gaiden. Gonna play through Yakuza 7 and Infinite Wealth throughout the year.

 

[Chukhopops]

Not really a spoiler, it's in the trailer

Well shit, I’m not ready for this especially after the Gaiden ending.

Guess it makes sense when your diet is cigarettes, energy drinks, alcohol and Wild Jackson burgers.

 

[Hudo]

I will get hate for this but I wish they'd finally let Kiryu go. Either commit to Ichiban (I was surprised how much I came to like him) or let it be. But this "we need to keep Kiryu around as a failsafe/backup for the IP" is getting weird.
Edit: I know that Kiryu

Spoiler

has cancer. So I hope they don't pull a Korean soap-opera drama "twist" and go through with it.

 

[Chukhopops]

I said fuck it and started Gaiden. Gonna play through Yakuza 7 and Infinite Wealth throughout the year.

Just be aware that playing Gaiden will spoil the main plot of 7, since the events of both games happen more or less at the same time.

 

[Soltype]

I will get hate for this but I wish they'd finally let Kiryu go. Either commit to Ichiban (I was surprised how much I came to like him) or let it be. But this "we need to keep Kiryu around as a failsafe/backup for the IP" is getting weird.
Edit: I know that Kiryu

Spoiler

has cancer. So I hope they don't pull a Korean soap-opera drama "twist" and go through with it.

I'm 76% sure Kiryu is retiring after this.That Gaiden ending would be a waste if he continued running around for more games.

 

[NanaMiku]

I will get hate for this but I wish they'd finally let Kiryu go. Either commit to Ichiban (I was surprised how much I came to like him) or let it be. But this "we need to keep Kiryu around as a failsafe/backup for the IP" is getting weird.
Edit: I know that Kiryu

Spoiler

has cancer. So I hope they don't pull a Korean soap-opera drama "twist" and go through with it.

From the preview, it seems this game is really the farewell for Kiryu.

Spoiler: gameplay spoiler

In the preview, Kiryu can be seen reminiscing in certain spots. When reminiscing, the game showed scenes from the previous games.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Did anyone doubt they will deliver the goods? The last trailer was way too spoilery, too much good stuff shown, staying away from all media, day 1.

 

[balls of snow]

Just be aware that playing Gaiden will spoil the main plot of 7, since the events of both games happen more or less at the same time.

Yeah I know. Its fine, I get to see from Kiryu perspective and then the new guy. I just cant do a 100 hour rpg before vii rebirth.

 

[Hudo]

I'm 76% sure Kiryu is retiring after this.That Gaiden ending would be a waste if he continued running around for more games.

From the preview, it seems this game is really the farewell for Kiryu.

Spoiler: gameplay spoiler

In the preview, Kiryu can be seen reminiscing in certain spots. When reminiscing, the game showed scenes from the previous games.

I really hope so lads. Don't get me wrong. Kiryu is cool and I really liked him and especially his later games. It's just that I think if they have Ichiban, then let him have the stage.

I do wonder though if they'll ever make a new Judgment game or if they come up with something else.

 

[ssringo]

I think 7 was setting the stage for Kiryu to finally retire and since it did well and Ichiban is well received they'll go through with it (doubt they'll kill him though).

No way they would if Ichiban was rejected by the fans.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Like a Dragon was my personal GOTY....over the span of two years. I sopped up every last bit of content in that game and I loved it.

This game will be fan-fugging-tastic.

 

[Nankatsu]

Played a bit of the infinite wealth demo and stopped.

Really liked what I saw, specially what they did to Kiryu combat wise. The segway had me laughing. Nothing revolutionary, but such a cool way to travel around town.

Went to Karaoke, played Judgment and quit. I wanna experience this first hand.

 

[NanaMiku]

I do wonder though if they'll ever make a new Judgment game or if they come up with something else.

That still up in the air. There was a really big scandal with the agency of the actor for Yagami. Maybe they were testing the water with Kaito DLC to make him the new MC?

 

[Soltype]

I really hope so lads. Don't get me wrong. Kiryu is cool and I really liked him and especially his later games. It's just that I think if they have Ichiban, then let him have the stage.

I do wonder though if they'll ever make a new Judgment game or if they come up with something else.

If they do another judgment, I'd like to see them flesh out the city. Just have it in one city and give it the level of detail more akin to shenmue.

 

[Hudo]

That still up in the air. There was a really big scandal with the agency of the actor for Yagami. Maybe they were testing the water with Kaito DLC to make him the new MC?

Holy shit.

Edit: Oh, well. Maybe they can make a new FIST OF THE FUCKING NORTHSTAR game instead.

 

[StereoVsn]

Still have to finish Gaiden, and I will probably play Infinite Wealth after FFVIIR2, but yeah, looking forward to it. I still kind of like action combat better for Yakuza/Like a Dragon, but it is what it is. Not going to say no to Turned Based RPG set in the modern world, with great characters and in this series.

Yakuza is one of my favorite series in gaming so more power to devs. Hopefully Infinite Wealth sells well.

 

[DenchDeckard]

If this or ffvii Rebirth end up being at the quality level to nail GOTY, I would be so happy.

Cant wait!

 

[Tunned]

I'm so glad I got into the Yakuza series. I've cleared 0-6 in the last 3 years, and loved each and every one of them. Will soon get to 7, then Gaiden, and Infinite Wealth to top it all off.
There are so many games to play for us single player crowd!
Also playing these games anywhere on a Steam Deck OLED, for me is gaming bliss.

 

[Nankatsu]

Lol seems like they locked NG+ from base game.

You'll need to get either deluxe edition or ultimate to get access to NG+.

Pathetic decision.

 

[NanaMiku]

Lol seems like they locked NG+ from base game.

You'll need to get either deluxe edition or ultimate to get access to NG+.

Pathetic decision.

Yes, it's actually the same as Yakuza: Like a Dragon in Japan. But for the English version, they patched it the NG+ and secret dungeon to the game (the true final millennium tower)

 

[xrnzaaas]

Just realized one of the previews seems to casually confirm/drop the fact that Kiryu

Spoiler: Mega spoiler unless it was actually revealed already?

has cancer?

Not a big fan of this plot device but let’s see how the game handles it.

I fucking hate how many spoilers are floating around. And it's not only the journos fault, SEGA is showing way too much in its story & gameplay trailers from Infinite Wealth. And it was the same with Gaiden when they spoiled the ending.

I'm trying to avoid watching anything, but yeah, unfortunately you can't avoid some spoilers completely.