Grab some tanning lotion and a bathing suit, and put all that stress behind you because you’re about to embark on a tropical paradise in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. It’s a perfect getaway from the life of a Yakuza, but as you’ll soon find out, that isn’t an easy life to leave behind. Is Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth the dream vacation you’d hoped for? Let’s find out in our in-depth review!

Minor Spoiler Warning- This review contains minor spoilers discussing the set-up of Infinite Wealth. While the trailers have featured some major plot points, I’ll avoid discussing anything about the story beyond some vague points lea

The Hero of Yokohama Returns, With More Friends (and Foes) Than Ever Before

Three years ago, Japan saw the great dissolution, a disbanding of two of the most prominent Yakuza clans that left hundreds of thousands of members stranded and without purpose. As the years passed, ex-members struggled to make ends meet, no longer able to function in a society that didn’t want them, given their extensive criminal record.

However, a rumor quickly began spreading, one of an ex-Yakuza that was aiding ex-members, offering them a real chance at life. That person? Non other than the Hero of Yokohama, Ichiban Kusaga. Working in an unemployment center, Ichiban uses his new position to fulfill his boss’s dream, giving every member of the Yakuza a real chance at life.

Despite members being hardened criminals, Ichiban ensures everyone who visits him has their skill set put to good use, helping them find a true meaning to life. It’s a tough and long road for everyone, but it’s one that Ichiban vows to see through, even if it is an impossible task.

However, not everyone shares in his noble cause, and it’s not long before his secret is ousted, leaving him in the same position as those he helped. Soon after, he discovers one of the ex-Yakuza he helped is suddenly back to the life of crime, this time under a new clan name. Wanting answers, Ichiban sets out with company to confront this organization. Little does he know, this mystery will see him venture off to the paradise island of Hawaii, where he’ll face his greatest threats yet.

Like any Yakuza game before, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth offers a story that dives deep into a tangled web of conspiracies. Everything happens for a reason, even if it’s unclear at first.

At the center of that conspiracy is Ichiban Kusaga, the series’ newly appointed Dragon, who, despite having several misfortunes, manages to keep his head held high through it all. He’s a man who always sees the good in the bad, even during the worst of it. His friends would probably describe him as insufferable, and yet it’s that personality that draws them, making them want to be the best version of themselves whenever Ichiban is around. Even the bad guys can’t help but get swayed by such positive outlook on life.

Of course, for those who played 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, you’d know just how infectious Ichiban’s personality can be, as he quickly became a fan favorite and even a worthy successor to the previous long-time protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu.

Speaking of, despite the series’ attempts to pass the reins over to Ichiban, Kiryu can’t seem to stay out of trouble, as he goes wherever a dragon may be needed. As fate would have it, that means reuniting with Ichiban once again, though this time, he’ll be joining the party as a playable character.

But with the game shifting its focus to Hawaii from the densely populated cities of Japan, it means a whole new cast of characters, perhaps the most extensive and diverse seen in the series thus far.

Hawaii is a character of its own, brimming with various cultural differences, some clashing while others blending. That, of course, leaks into the story, with characters coming from around the globe to experience this slice of paradise.

The contrast is clear when walking the streets of Honolulu when compared to the mean and gritty streets of Kamurocho, but that’s not to say that there aren’t bad sides of Honolulu with bad guys roaming around to beat up. There are several factions to be on the lookout for in Infinite Wealth, and like any crime organization, you can expect to see plenty of bosses throughout, both from the story and side missions.

What stands out the most, and undoubtedly why so many love the series, is the story and the performances delivered by the voice cast. Infinite Wealth offers Japanese, English, and Chinese dubs, and though I played through the entire game using the original Japanese dub, I did re-watch all the cutscenes in English. I will say that the English cast can deliver great when the scene calls for it, but there are a lot of moments that come off flat or just awkward. It’s alright for the most part, and unsurprisingly, Danny Trejo does give it his all as Dwight since it is just him.

But if you’re looking for the most immersive experience, stick with the Japanese dub. Not because it’s the native tongue of many of these characters but because of how much context some of the scene calls for that character to speak Japanese. It surprised me, as I was expecting every said line to be in Japanese with this dub selected, but seeing that Hawaii is filled with tons of characters from different places, there was a mix between English, Chinese, and Spanish in the Japanese dub.

You lose that in the English dub since all the characters speak English. Some scenes also lose context because everyone is speaking the same language. One example is a very early one when Ichiban is approached by English-only speaking characters (in all dubs), and a character he’s with begins speaking English. With the Japanese dub, the Japanese voice actor/actress begins speaking in English. As you’d expect, it’s not perfect, but it adds to the scene, as Ichiban is stuck talking in Japanese, not knowing if those other characters know what he’s saying. There’s added tension to said scene because of it.

The English dub will, for whatever reason, see the English VO suddenly switch to using broken English, with Ichiban also speaking English to those characters. It’s a small scene, but there are plenty of others like that, and it feels it loses a bit of impact in those moments. How come a character that is already speaking English, suddenly decides to speak with a broken English accent? If this were your first time playing, you’d never know it was meant to portray the character actually speaking English at that moment. It sounds bad in both instances, but at least it makes sense in the Japanese (and assuming Chinese) dub.

This is just something to consider when deciding which dub to go for, but at the end of the day, the story RGG Studios tells is what’s important, and what they’ve crafted with Infinite Wealth is nothing short of a masterpiece, regardless of which dub you pick.

Emotions will run rampant, something long-time fans are no strangers to. Those closely following Infinite Wealth will not be disappointed once the credit rolls, as the game is a 60-hour-plus story filled with the twists and turns of an emotional rollercoaster.

But not everything is perfect in paradise, as it goes without saying that the campaign can be heavily padded. I love going through everything these games offer and getting sidetracked into some random adventure that feels like its own story. At the same time, I’m not a fan of having said side content forced, and Infinite Wealth does that at every chance it can get.

I remember wanting to charge my Segway, as I like strolling through the city rather than using fast travel. When I went to one of these charging stations, a cutscene began for a side activity that ran for almost 20 minutes before getting the prompt asking if I wanted to do it or not. There are multiple moments like these throughout Infinite Wealth.

You can skip the dialogue and cutscene, but I’ll never see that unless I play through it again. So I’ll sit there and watch them, even if all I wanted to do at that moment was continue the story.

I get it; there’s a lot to do in the world, but that’s what quest markers are for. It spoils a bit of the mood, especially when doing something that could mean life and death for a character, only to be stopped by someone who wants you to join a dating app or be a server at their restaurant. I know it’s been a thing in past games, but I think Infinite Wealth does it the most. It throws the pacing off with lengthy, unrelated cutscenes and chatter that muddies the narrative.

I’m not saying I didn’t have fun with them; I only wish I could have returned to those things later on with an introduction when I was ready because they offer some of the most fun moments I’ve ever had in a game. I’d say they’re some of the best in the series.

You Can Take the Dragon Out of Japan, But You Can’t Take The Dragon Out of the Man

Beyond the story, Infinite Wealth offers a massive amount of side quests and activities that you can take on across Honolulu City. And when I say massive, I mean it, as the naming of “Infinite Wealth” for this iteration fits nicely, offering what feels like an “infinite” amount of things you can do.

For size comparison, Honolulu City is three times larger than Yokohama, the location of the previous mainline Like a Dragon game, which was already ten times larger than Kamurocho. I know map size isn’t everything, but fans of RGG Studios are well verse of just how much the studio can cram into its world. One hundred hours plus into the game at the time of publishing this review, and there’s still loads of content for me to explore and partake in.

There are numerous side stories that you can start, many offering tens and maybe even hundreds of hours alone of gameplay and story. One example is the return of Sujimon, the Pokemon clone introduced in the last main game. It’s back and bigger and better than ever.

Around the city, there are different types of Sujimon that you can capture, with each being registered to the Sujidex. Similar to how it was when it was first introduced.

However, there are now trainers around the city that you can battle with your captured Sujimons. Your Sujimon gains experience with every battle, eventually leveling up and becoming stronger. You can even feed your Sujimon other Sujimons of the same type, which is a bit twisted considering these aren’t fictional monsters but humans. I suppose that all plays into the canonical reason why Like a Dragon is even an RPG now, something that gets brought up in Infinite Wealth again.

Sujimon isn’t just a battle mini-game either, as there’s a whole story around that comes with it and even a league you can compete in. It’s even more of a Pokemon clone this time than just a collection, and it has a full-fledged story to go along with it.

There are plenty of other side activities, like DonDoko Island, an Animal Crossing-like mode that sees Ichiban retreat to a resort island. The goal here is to return the island to its former glory, and you do this by crafting buildings, gathering resources, and inviting and satisfying guests’ needs when they come to the island. A whole story comes with it, too, that’ll reward you pretty well for playing through it.

Dungeons, or as the game calls them, Labyrinths, offer you endless battles with rewards.

There are the everyday people problem quests that the series has always had, and though they’re short, they’re some of the most memorable.

Character bonds also return, giving you more character-building opportunities with party members.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg of content; there is loads of it, flourishing out of every corner of the map, a lot more that I won’t mention, as it may be entering spoiler territory. But by far, this may be the most-content pack game you’ll ever play in the series.

The move to Hawaii was a brilliant one. It’s a refreshing take that doesn’t feel like a reality of either Yokohama or Kamurocho. Expect to see a side very rich in culture, though one that doesn’t lose the essence of the series.

Honolulu is the perfect getaway vacation. Even if the Yakuza life may eventually catch up, at least you’ll spend it fighting on the calm ocean beaches with a cool breeze blowing through your hair.

A Turn-Based Dragon That Packs Quite the Fire

The one thing I love about RGG Studios is that no matter the iteration, they always try to improve on the gameplay they built from the previous entry. Not that I’ve ever found the gameplay in their games to be an issue, even after it switched to turn-based with Yakuza: Like A Dragon. It was a massive shakeup that I felt paid off.

For me, it called back to that golden era of RPGs, and if there was ever a game that disproved the concept of turn-based combat is dead, then it was Yakuza: Like A Dragon. I really enjoyed the turn-based combat the game had, which is part of why I’ve been so excited for Infinite Wealth.

But going back to how RGG tackles each following game, Infinite Wealth sees plenty of improvements to the gameplay, further refining what many already consider great.

The most significant change most will notice is the ability to move around within a certain radius during combat. This is massive as it allows you to strategize better instead of being stationary and attacking an enemy to move around. That means knockback and AoE attacks become more valuable combat components since you can get into a better position and line enemies up. Proximity and back damage play into it, too, and being able to move around helps exploit such features.

There’s plenty in the environment that you can take advantage of, like pick-ups and hazardous items like explosive barrels. Enemies can be knocked back into the environment and even into each other and teammates.

If you’ve developed your bond enough with another party member, you’ll eventually unlock combos you can perform with them if you’re close enough to them. Being able to move around the battlefield is a small addition, but it introduces several game-changing improvements.

One thing I wasn’t too big of a fan of in the last game was the job system. It was alright, but I had hoped for more skills to be interchangeable between classes than just two. That’s been fixed in Infinite Wealth, with many, if not most, of the job-exclusive skills being inheritable by other jobs. That opens up to a lot of different build types. Maybe I want to play the Hero job while mixing some skills from the Beatboxer job or the many other returning and new jobs. There was a character in my party that had a job that I really liked, but it had no healing abilities and it was the character I designated as the healer. Not a problem; I just needed to level the character job enough to equip them with the healing skill I wanted. Mixing skills lets me build my dream fighter. Plus, it adds so much fun, especially when you really think about which skills you want and how they you can follow them up with other character skills.

There are character-exclusive jobs, but the one I want to talk about the most is Kiryu’s. His exclusive job, Dragon of Dojima, grants him three fighting styles. We’ve seen them in the past Yakuza games, with each style giving different bonuses and unique attacks. But that’s not the only special thing about the job as it also has a special state called Dragon’s Resurgence, where it literally breaks the turn-based combat, allowing Kiryu to be his old self. He can walk around freely without restriction, and the combat goes from being turn-based to an all-out classic Yakuza brawler. It’s one of the most craziest things I’ve seen.

Another new feature is the Smackdown. Smackdown lets you automatically defeat enemies if they’re low enough levels. You can choose to fight and go through the battle, but for those looking to cut back on the grinding, Smackdown will help you immensely as you can easily defeat a bunch of enemies quickly.

There are lots of improvements, both big and small, but the end result is a more refined system that, dare I say, is perfect. I’m sure others may pick some flaws from it, but I loved the improvements made to the system. It’s addictive and loads of fun.

Plus, the in-canon reason why Like A Dragon is turn-based is great since it allows the studio to get creative with the types of enemies they can have. They can turn your everyday human baddy into a group of Pokemon-like characters and introduce different kinds of bosses that would otherwise not have worked in past games. Mind you, even the old games can be over-the-top, but nothing like how far the Like A Dragon turn-based games are allowed to go.

The one thing I do wish the game would allow is cosmetics based on the gear. I’m not talking about individual pieces showing on characters, but more so the sets and character-exclusive ones. There are some really awesome exclusive character gear that you can unlock, but they don’t show on the character at all. It’s possible the specific gear may have an unlockable cosmetic, and I haven’t found it yet, but if not, I hope that’s something RGG considers adding. I do know that jobs have exclusive character outfits, something I also wish we could mix and match between other jobs.

Put This On Your Bucket List

Like a Dragon’s Infinite Wealth delivers a captivating RPG experience that surpasses its predecessor in every way. With refined mechanics and an expansive world bursting with content, players are treated to a gaming experience of remarkable depth. The emotionally charged narrative, filled with unexpected turns, adds a layer of poignancy, making the journey in Infinite Wealth a memorable exploration of both gameplay and storytelling excellence.

It may not be on everyone’s list of games to play, but it definitely should be. As for this reviewer, it makes a strong early claim of being my personal Game of the Year.

Score: 9.5/10

Pros:

• Incredible cast of characters, with a plot that will keep you invested from start to finish.
• Gameplay improves over its predecessor in nearly every way. It’s addictive and fun.
• RGG knows how to strike the perfect balance of humor, between all the serious and drama filled moments.
• An “Infinite wealth” of content brims throughout the world. 100 plus hours, and I feel I haven’t hit the midpoint of what’s out there.

Cons:

• Heavy padding between the story can throw pacing off if you solely want to focus on the story.
• It has some awesome armor designs that, sadly, don’t provide any visual changes.
• The English dub could have used more work.
• New Game Plus locked behind a paywall.