Persona fans who have already conquered Persona 5 Royal have a long wait on their hands before the series receives its next main entry. While Persona 5 Strikers is just around the corner, players hungry for a more traditional JRPG experience are in luck, as another recently released title will likely satisfy those cravings perfectly. Complete with stat-boosting minigames, relationship building, and dating sim elements, the latest Yakuza game scratches the same itch. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the seventh installment in Sega’s popular crime drama series, but unlike its action-based forerunners, the new game is a full-on, turn-based JRPG that stands by itself.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon follows the story of Ichiban Kasuga, a dedicated Yakuza who takes the fall for a crime he didn’t commit, only to emerge from prison years later in a world he scarcely recognizes. Like Persona 5‘s Joker, Kasuga deals with prejudice based on his criminal record, and gravitates towards a colorful cast of other misfits who have been shunned, falsely accused, or otherwise marginalized by society. The game’s real world setting and focus on heavy issues of abuse, sexuality, crime, and censorship feel more like Persona than most anime-styled fantasy JRPGs.
There is no denying the differences between Persona and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The former features a more fanciful world, firmly situated in Japanese Urban Fantasy tropes, while Yakuza blurs the line between the absurd and surreal, with the tone rapidly switch-hitting between screwball comedy and deadly serious crime drama.
There is no scheduling element (apart from aspects of the management mini-game) and the monster collection aspect of the game is a far cry from Persona‘s compendium. Yakuza’s music and UX design is also arguably generic compared to Persona 5‘s distinctive visual design, and the game’s exquisite soundtrack — which recently hit Spotify. But Phantom Thieves languishing between jobs should still check out Kasuga’s adventures.
Like Persona, Yakuza: Like a Dragon places great narrative and mechanical emphasis on improving the player’s avatar. Just as Joker starts out as a troublemaking student with meager social skills, Kasuga emerges from prison with no prospects, skills, or connections. To unlock certain job classes, relationships, and side quests, Kasuga must engage in mini games like watching movies, attending vocational classes, and more. Yakuza: Like a Dragon teems with mini games, and most of them are intrinsically fun in addition to rewarding the player with upgraded stats.
Even though Yakuza: Like a Dragon doesn’t have a time-crunching calendar mechanic, the game is broad and deep enough that it can easily overwhelm first-time players. But those who take their time to explore the world, play a variety of minigames, and relentlessly fight the random opponents wandering the city, will see tremendous growth in Kasuga that will gradually begin to snowball with satisfying momentum.
Few games do relationships as well as the Persona series, both mechanically and narratively. Fortunately, Yakuza: Like a Dragon comes very close to that same formula, with character interactions directly fueling the party’s combat effectiveness. Players with levelled character relationships can increase the rate at which characters gain experience and what kinds of job classes are available for them to equip. More importantly though, the side stories and conversations that players engage with are well-written, with an endearing blend of humor and heartbreak.
There are even aspects of Yakuza: Like a Dragon that are arguably superior to Persona‘s social systems. Kasuga is a much more vocal and distinctive presence than Joker throughout the game, moreso when compared to Yakuza‘s previous stoic protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu. When socializing with party members, there are no “right” or “wrong” answers in dialogue. Rather, the lines you select for Kasuga will influence which of the six aspects of his personality improve, giving full benefit to the relationship regardless. This allows for more individuality and flexibility when talking to people. Players will rarely feel torn between saying the mechanically “correct” thing, or choosing an option that seems most entertaining, especially early on before the player starts maxing stats.
Players looking for a bit of romance in their lives are also in luck. Kasuga can romance several different ladies with distinctive personalities catering to different preferences. Even though the dating sim aspect of the game is comparatively shallower than Persona, Yakuza: Like a Dragon does a much more subtle job of telegraphing the opportunity. The ability to woo a sweetheart is another welcome addition to the title.
Turn-based combat is increasingly being substituted with action-based systems in JRPGs, which is why Yakuza: Like a Dragon‘s switch to a turn-based system is so surprising. Fortunately, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio nailed everything that makes turn-based combat compelling, and added just the right amount of modern touches to ensure fights feel fresh every time. Like Persona 5, battles load almost instantly, wrap up with just a dash of fanfare, and allow players to see enemies on the map rather than relying on random encounters.
There are some traces of the Yakuza series’ action game roots. Kasuga’s party will move around the overworld map throughout combat, interacting with adjacent objects and suffering screening from certain obstacles. Maximizing the value of AOE attacks will require players lining up foes correctly, or waiting for an opening to avoid being countered when attempting to attack.
There are also timed inputs for most attacks and guarding against enemy strikes, introducing a hint of skill as well as strategy. The element and status effect system is slightly simplified compared to Persona‘s elemental rock-paper-scissors, but enemies have exploitable weaknesses, and party members have unique strengths in the form of immunity to specific damage types and debuffs.
The game’s job system is lovingly cribbed from Dragon Quest — and Yakuza: Like a Dragon makes repeated reference to it — allowing players to gain new skills that fulfil different roles in combat. In this sense, Like a Dragon has a leg up on Persona, as Kasuga’s entire party can be customized, whereas in Persona, only Joker can be deeply customized to suit different roles.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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