The Yakuza series is renowned for its engaging story, wackiness, variety, and over-the-top combat, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon delivers on almost every aspect. Game Rant got a chance to play a few hours of the game’s preview build, which starts off in Chapter 5, roughly 6 hours into the normal play time of the game. Starting a decent chunk through the game, it became clear that this Yakuza changes up the combat system, but still delivers as many intense story twists and hilarious side-mission diversions as are expected of a Yakuza title.
The Yakuza: Like a Dragon preview starts with main protagonist Ichiban Kasuga and a ragtag team of three other misfits investigating a mysterious death, apparently at the hands of a leader of the Chinese mafia. The story has the player talking to people around town, sending a teammate to infiltrate a hostess club, and dishing out beatdowns to delve deeper into the mystery. Investigation is carried out in an open area of city streets, full of restaurants, businesses, NPCs, and all sorts of diversions. Rather than the main story and combat, it feels like exploration and side missions are the true heart of the game though.
The main story and combat both focus in on the team dynamic. Having a team of unique characters following the player around isn’t a new concept, but Yakuza does it quite well. Each team member has a well-defined personality that is still more nuanced than a simple stereotype, sharing funny banter or telling stories during free roam and each having a unique role to play as the main story progresses. Scruffy Nanba offers streetwise advice, former cop Koichi Adachi is a gruff and experienced investigator, and battle-hardened hostess Saeko is clever and bold in equal measure.
The main story is a bit more serious than the side content but is still full of twists and turns, plus a main character who can win over the hearts and minds of even the toughest criminals because of his honorable principles and genuine honesty. Clearly, though, Yakuza‘s writers know what they are doing with all that parody-ripe material. The game is genuinely funny and entertaining in a way that not many titles can manage. Even so, the English voice acting can be a little stilted. Switching to Japanese voices and turning on subtitles ensures every joke delivery is a lot more spot-on.
Combat is different from previous Yakuza titles, using a turn-based RPG system reminiscent of Persona 5 or other JRPGs. Each teammate takes a turn, using standard attacks or special skills to target individual enemies before the other side gets its turn. At least in the preview, combat, even against bosses, was a little too easy. There is an auto-combat option, but every minute or so the player will run into a group of street thugs and have to watch their team slowly knock out every enemy with a single blow, while the thugs deal 5 damage at a time to characters with over 300HP. Because the preview is curated, the final product might not be as easy to get through, but what was on display did not feel challenging.
In Yakuza‘s combat there are tons of interesting skills to use, objects on the street can be picked up as weapons, and sometimes a dynamic combo will occur when one character knocks an enemy into another teammate, who promptly finishes their hapless target. However, the true depth of the combat system never really appeared in the preview, if there actually is more complexity to be found. The combat feels more like an obstacle to the fun that can be had with exploration.
The side content in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, on the other hand, is phenomenal. Any random NPC dialogue can turn into a full-blown caper, usually with hilarious results. Talking to an old man complaining about youngsters napping in his classic film theater becomes a quick-time minigame in which the player frantically tries to keep the protagonist awake through 80’s action masterpiece RoboCook. Any small interaction can lead to a totally wild ride, and it is the perfect reward for players who want to check out every little thing going on in town.
For example, a man being hassled by a gangster on a street corner may in fact be having his baby formula extorted from him. This leads to heart-to-heart between the orphaned main character and the new father, resulting in the two trying to rescue a baby suddenly heard crying in a nearby building. The baby turns out to be the gangster from before, role-playing with his henchmen as infants being given milk, who then commend the hero and his new friend for their dedication to saving babies and give the young father the advice he needs to fix his marriage.
One small area of city streets is filled to the brim with these sorts of minigames, puzzles, and wacky tales. In most RPGs, the cookie-cutter NPCs milling around are an afterthought to make the world feel more lively, but in Yakuza it seems like each one has a cartoonishly dramatic life, ready to be changed forever by a gangster with a heart of gold.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon releases for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2020. The PS5 version will release on March 2nd, 2021.
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