Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth /IMPRESSIONS

Infinite Wealth? More like Infinite Wealth of Side Content, am I right?

…sorry, it’s kinda hard to write about the new Like a Dragon game without attempting some cheap wordplay with its subtitle. After all, it doesn’t take long to realise just how much the newest entry in the series (previously known as Yakuza) is jam-packed with cool stuff. Want interesting gameplay mechanics and countless minigames? Infinite Wealth has got you covered. Interested in Japanese crime melodrama, crazy stories and good-hearted guys and gals righting all the wrongs of their world, one punch at a time? You’ll get it all — and then some.

Like its predecessor, Infinite Wealth puts you in the shoes of Ichiban Kasuga, and sets you on a new Yakuza adventure with richly detailed world to explore, filled to the brim with side activities and minigames — as well as with goons that you will fight in turn-based combat, while issuing orders to both Ichiban and his friends that will join his adventuring party.

But, unlike its predecessor… and, come to think of it, every other game in the series, Infinite Wealth will send you far away from Japan. Yep, you read that right — after a long intro in Japanese city of Yokohama (that I totally should have seen coming, knowing how Yakuza games like to take their time setting up their stories), Ichiban will find himself on Hawaii, in search of a person that is very important to many people, for various reasons. Why exactly, and to whom, remains to be seen — I am just a few chapters in and it seems like I have barely scratched the game’s surface.

And the game’s surface is quite impressive on its own — not to mention all that it hides underneath. Take combat for example, in which your positioning will matter (attacks from behind or those that push enemies into walls or their buddies will deal additional damage), and in which you will get to use a bunch of different items and impromptu weapons lying around (including series’ staples like bicycles and traffic cones). Or, let’s take Ichiban himself as another example — you can improve many of his skills and attributes, from health and strength, to charisma and kindness, just as you can deepen your connections with his party members in various ways, like talking to them, giving them gifts or playing various minigames together. What’s even better is that the game will reward you for your socialising with new combo attacks and skills that you will later be able to perform together with your buddies in combat, often with funny and/or spectacular results.

And yes, the game can get just as funny and bizzare as its predecessors, from the simple moments like when Ichiban changes his profession to “freelancer” after being fired from his job, to some crazy enemies that will scramble around their trash bags for secret weapons… or those sleeping — and moving around — in their sleeping bags, looking like huge caterpillars with human faces.

Of course, humour is prominent in the game’s narrative as well, and intertwined with classic Yakuza melodramatic stories, that will see Ichiban joined by some of his old friends — including Adachi and Nanba — as well as by the Dragon of Dojima, who will stomp enemies with his multiple fighting styles like only Kazuma Kiryu can.

And that brings me to the core of the game — minigames. Minigames with which Infinite Wealth is chock-full of, from old fan favourites like karaoke and mahjong, to some new ones, including a full-fledged online dating app minigame (with its own subscription, profile editing, conversations and everything that goes with it), and an incredibly zany food delivery one, that will see you riding a bike on walls and doing crazy tricks while delivering burgers and pizzas to citizens of Honolulu. And then there’s Dondoko Island, a whole Animal Crossing style “minigame”, in which you will manage and decorate your own island tourist resort, potentially losing yourself there for days on end.

But, rest assured — lose yourself for days on end you will in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth whether or not you get hooked on Dondoko Island, because the game is simply huge, fun, and funny. And it has heart in addition to a great combat system — on top of looking nice and relaxing like you would expect from a vacation on Hawaii.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth | developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio | publisher: Sega | platforms: PlayStation 5 (played), PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC