Like a Dragon fans have been spoiled by Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio recently. We hadLike a Dragon: Ishinearlier this year, then we’ve gotLike a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Namecoming up in November, and early next year, we’ll haveLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Not only are we spoiled by so much content in such a short time frame, but the introduction of Gaiden, a smaller game between mainline titles, sets a dangerous precedent for fan expectations. Is this going to be the new norm? I’d love more Like a Dragon, so I’m certainly not going to complain if this becomes the new format. But is it feasible for the studio to keep up this work rate without burning out?
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I played Gaiden atGamescom, and I knew I’d be happy with whatever was on offer. However, I wasn’t prepared for how much I was blown away by it. As a shorter game being squeezed in before Infinite Wealth—and one that’s not even getting a physical launch in the West—I didn’t expect it to break the mould as much as it does. The mould was overflowing with Like a Dragon essence. It’s as though the team took everything that makes the series what it is and dialled it up to eleven.
We were thrown into a secret adult theme park called the Castle on a giant container ship far out to sea. It offered familiar minigames, various gambling games in the casino, and the Cabaret Club. There was also the Boutique, a new addition. Curiosity got the better of me, and so this was where I went first.
A good secret agent needs a really swish suit. The Boutique lets you dress Kiryu to the nines, picking what sort of outfit to wear, which fabric to use, which colours, and then accessorising with hats, makeup, nail polish, gloves, and jewellery. You can even dress Kiryu in the style of Takaya Kuroda, his voice actor.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Like a Dragon without a decent helping of quirkiness. you’re able to wear a bodysuit (read, ‘gimp suit’), a Majima Construction helmet, and choose flashy suits in leopard print or ostentatious gold. You can also forgo shoes entirely and go around barefoot if you want to.
I could spend hours playing dress up in the Boutique, just like I did with my Barbies as a child. Swapping out clothes, accessories, and patterns to create multiple slick or silly outfits as the feeling takes me. I know that I’ll want more and more customisation here, so I hope we can unlock additional options in the game, or even a DLC pack or two to fill out our virtual wardrobes.
Once I was suited and booted (I opted against barefoot Kiryu), my next stop was the Cabaret Club. Interestingly, the hostess scenes are all FMV now, so you are in first-person mode and don’t see Kiryu on screen. While this is not the first time the series has used FMV sequences, it was impressive to see such a drastic switch. At first, I thought maybe it would just be the opening scene of the hostess, and it would then change to in-game graphics, but Kaname was very real until the very end when she accepted my gift.
This is the kind of thing I worry we’ll become far too attached to. I’ll want to be able to dress the characters in such detail in every game going forward, and I’ll want my hostesses to be FMV too. Gaiden is setting a high bar for the series, and I hope future titles are able to clear it.
The Coliseum has been amped up too, and I was glad to see my boy Majima still included and kicking ass in the fighting ring. It’s never been my favourite minigame, but taking on swarms of enemies with your own cast of well-known characters at your back is equally hilarious and entertaining.
I’ve always preferred the action combat over the series' more recent turn-based style, too, so it felt great going back to this. Especially with the new Agent Style Kiryu can use, which has him using various gadgets and gizmos in battle. I have to admit, it was enjoyable dragging enemies forward with wire, throwing a cigarette-shaped bomb, using a drone, and zooming forward on jet propulsion shoes. It’s hard to tell in such a short snippet whether this is a novelty that will get old fast, and then I’ll just return to the more classic fighting style, but it felt satisfyingly fresh and fun in the short time I played.
Gaiden is billed as a shorter title, but don’t mistake it for something that’s not worthwhile. It appears to be brimming with everything we know and love from the series and goes out of its way to break new ground. While we didn’t touch upon the storyline much in the preview, I have no doubt it will live up to expectations, and I can’t wait to play it properly and start playing Yakuza Barbie dress up even more.
