Review of Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020)
“To a new age of heroes!”
Reader,
Let me take your mind back if you’ll allow me, to the distant past of the year 2022.
This is a tale that I’ve mentioned before on my travels but at one point over the summer, long and boring as it was relaxing, I decided to renew my PS Plus subscription, after coming back from a disastrous holiday in New York.
The service had undergone a major change in plan at that point, and with my new birthday money, I was determined to try out a game that was always on my rader.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s about Time.
Yeah I know it’s not the subject for today but hear me out:
In all honesty, I subscribed to the membership because I knew I could keep the game in my collection even after my subscription ended. And it just happened that soon after, a new game was joining the base tier of PS Plus in July.
That was Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
I always heard crazily fun stories about the series beforehand. It’s had a very thriving fanbase for the past few years and one that I was always eager to try out, but whenever the likes of Yakuza 0 was selling for €10 on PSN, it was conveniently around the time I was doing savings plans.
But eventually, I took the plunge into the series once Like a Dragon dropped on PS Plus.
One year later, and after playing 6 of the main line games in all that time, it’s a universe I’ve yet to fully escape.
At the time of writing right now I’ve finished most of the main line series games at this point, with Like a Dragon (aka Yakuza 7), 0 and eventually 1 through 6 under my belt, as well as the most recent titles Ishin and Gaiden.
And because of my recent struggles with writing publications and a desire to do something new, I decided to go back to the game that got me started on this roadmap in the first place. See where I developed my affection for the franchise and give newcomers such as yourself, a convincing way to jump into the series properly.
I don’t know exactly if I’ll be talking about the entire series at this point, in the same vein as my Ratchet and Clank essays two years ago, but needless to say, similar to how I wrote those reviews, my goal isn’t to give a lengthy, comprehensive breakdown of every aspect of this particular game.
This is just a fun project for me to work on, giving some of my own details about what I like about the series and what I think could be improved upon with each game.
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and not much time to get started so let’s hop into the discussion with a brief history of how the legend of the Yakuza was reborn.
Production: Blazing a new trail
Let’s start off with a general recap of the series so far.
In 2005, Ryu ga Gotoku Studios (aka Like a Dragon, I’ll explain more in a little bit) was first released on the PlayStation 2 by SEGA in Japan, before being localised outside Asian territories as simply “Yakuza”.
For more than 10 years spread across 3 different consoles and various handhelds, the series up until Like a Dragon revolved around the exploits of Kazuma Kiryu. A member of the fictionalised Dojima family of Yakuza and the embodiment of positive masculinity.
Playing as Kiryu, gamers got to explore fictionalised versions of various cities and towns, specifically based on Japan’s infamous red light district. And with the help of advanced 3D brawling mechanics not too dissimilar to a fighting game, players were shown a completely new side of the seedy underbelly of the various islands as a result.
But by the time Yakuza 6: The Song of Life released in 2016, the series was ready to move on to a new story beyond Kiryu. And that’s when a new decision was made.
Roughly around the same time, a Like a Dragon convention was held in Japan, to promote the upcoming release for Song of Life and various other titles. Where in a teaser trailer was dropped revealing a new face for the franchise, Ichiban Kasuga, alongside the working title of Shin Ryu ga Gotoku (aka “New Like a Dragon”).
Then on April Fool’s Day of 2019, another trailer dropped showcasing something very unusual for the series. A more typical JRPG battle system, featuring different party members, enemies with a level cap above their heads and skills the player could use while in combat to make their battles more easier.
And then later on, it was officially revealed that the series would be focusing on the JRPG elements featured in said trailer.
Now I don’t exactly know whose idea at SEGA it was to drastically alter the series. My research couldn’t pinpoint a particular source that said so but that the new gameplay shift was meant to be reflected on the new protagonist and his obsession with a particular type of video game series.
It is a bit disappointing if that’s the case, but it also makes my life ten times easier when I know I’ve run into a dead end. I can focus on more stuff later.
Eventually though it led up to more news with the announcement of an english dub for what would eventually be released in Western territories as Yakuza: Like a Dragon in December 2020.
A new legion of heroes for the new line of PlayStation 5’s and Xbox Series consoles, despite the fact that the next gen version of Like a Dragon would be first released as a launch game for the Series consoles and the PS5 version in March 2021. Even though you could play the PS4 version on day one with a PS5.
Weird console delays aside, the name Like a Dragon is a bit confusing now to be honest. As of February 2023, the entire series internationally will now be called Like a Dragon instead of Yakuza, most likely as a bit of brand synergy across all regions.
But despite that, a part of me really likes the subtitle Like a Dragon outside of Japan.
First off, the use of it (instead of it simply being called Yakuza 7) gives you an idea that this isn’t another title in the same gameplay style seen before. It’s also a homage to the original name in eastern titles, the main character has the tattoo of a Dragonfish on his back and, probably the most obvious, it’s one of the many references to the popular Dragon Quest series that’s made in the game. We’ll touch up on that soon.
I’ll be honest though, I am surprised at just how sparse the amount of information is behind 7’s development. I would have half expected some more details given the different mentalities a JRPG would require versus a 3D Brawler.
It could have something to do with the lack of developer interviews and diaries outside of the Asian continent, but I’m grateful I don’t have to look into too much of the background to the series.
But with all that established, a new cast to lead the series and a new gameplay system to boot, what exactly does Yakuza 7 do in terms of story and narrative?
Well, if we’re going by first impressions, quite a lot.
Story: Enter the Dragonfish
Okay, before I begin, I need to mention one thing.
This plot summary is a very very trimmed down version of what happens in Yakuza 7.
I know that’s to be expected with a lot of reviews of games like this but for this game series in particular, speaking as someone who’s played through all of the mainline titles, there’s a lot that’s often at play in these stories.
Between cutscenes, the dumpster truck list of characters involved and the excessive use of the Chekhov’s Gun approach to storytelling, the series is going to be lengthy in terms of details.
That said, for the sake of time, I’ll only be focusing on details that I believe are absolutely relevant to the overarching story and then briefly touch up on the minute stuff once the summary is over. Just thought I’d begin with that.
So with that established, let’s talk about the new protagonist introduced in Yakuza 7;. Ichiban Kasuga.
Ichi is a Yakuza. Having been raised in Shangri-La, a private soapland in Kaumorcho Tokyo (basically a fancy brothel/hotel fusion) by the club’s owner Jiro Kasuga and his staff, supposedly because one of their workers left the day he was born..
When Jiro passed away when Ichi was a teenager, he found himself quickly wandering the streets endlessly by himself, skipping school and getting into fights.
But during one of those beat ups, he was able to rob a very wealthy man in a black suit. Not realising he was a yakuza.
Ichi was captured by the victim’s friends and worn down to a bloody mess. Until Ichi had the idea to make up a story. That he was a member of the local and feared Arakawa crime family.
Not knowing this, the men take his word, ringing up the Arakawa office and despite knowing the bluff, the head of the Arakawa’s, Masumi Arakawa, personally visits Ichi’s captors and gets him out by cutting off his pinky finger in front of the thugs.
Despite never meeting Masumi beforehand, Ichi is greatly in debt to him and after years of begging, is welcomed into the Arakawa family, primarily to look after the boss’ wheelchair bound son, Masato.
Still keeping track? That’s just the setup for Ichiban’s backstory. Here’s where it really starts.
On New Year’s Day 2001, Ichi is hastily called to the Arakawa office for a private meeting with Masumi. There he’s told that the second in command of the family, Captain Jo Sawarashiro, shot a member of a rival yakuza family by accident.
Knowing that war between the two families will be inevitable if the truth gets out, Masumi personally asks Ichi to take the fall for the incident. Ichi does so without hesitation, seeing it as a way to pay his mentor back for everything he gave him.
After some preparation, Ichi eventually turns himself into the police, knowing that he will also be expelled should he take the fall. Something that doesn’t bother him in the slightest.
18 years later however, Ichiban is finally let out into the outside world on January 1st 2019. And things have been drastically different in the time since.
Not only with the advent of smartphones and vaping being a substitute for cigarettes, but most of the people he knew before his arrest have either moved on or in the case of his old home at Shangri-La, completely destroyed. A result of an unnamed Mad Dog driving a lorry through the front entrance, leaving it abandoned ever since.
That said, there is one person who seems to remember Ichi. A former police detective from Yokohama, Koichi Adachi.
He’s been doing research on Ichi on the side primarily for one task. The current police chief of Tokyo, who Adachi believes is taking bribe money from the Arakawa’s.
It’s also been revealed that Ichi’s heads at the Tojo Clan, a large collection of Yakuza families predominantly from Kamurcho including the Arakawa’s, has been disbanded, thanks in part to Masumi leaking documents to the police.
With the Tojo now more or less disbanded, Ichi’s old boss soon jumped ship to the rival Osaka Yakuza collective, the Omi Alliance, who is now their acting captain. Something that Ichi has a very hard time trying to believe.
Despite not trusting the former pig, Ichi agrees to team up with him, only so he can be reunited with the Arakawa’s who’ve seemingly forgotten him and get to the truth of why his mentor would betray his superiors.
The pair infiltrate a meeting between the Arakawa’s and their allies but Adachi has to hang back to stop a police chopper from slowing them down.
Ichi goes down to the meeting alone and when met with his old boss, the old man actually recognizes him. It’s a very touching moment for Ichi. Until Arakwa pulls a gun out and shoots him near the heart.
A few days later, Ichiban wakes up miles away in a homeless camp based in Ichijo Yokohama, with just his suit, a bloodied counterfeit bill (more on that later) and loose fish net used to stitch together his still healing bullet wound.
The only person who seems remotely concerned about him is his grumpy saviour. A former nurse turned homeless man, Yu Nanba. But he only looked after Ichi because dead bodies tend to bring the press, something Nanba and the other homeless guys don’t want.
As Ichi is recovering and does some side jobs for change, Nanba gives him the lay of the land.
Ichijo is partly controlled by three organised gangs that all hold sectors of the city. The traditional yakuza based Seiryu Clan, the Chinese mafia inspired Liuman and the Koren mafia known as the Geomojil.
They’ve been at war for decades and they also help keep the likes of the Tojo and Omi from settling any roots in Ijincho. Which also means Ichi is stranded in Yokohama for the time being because of the gangs and his poor health.
With the help of a somewhat uncertain Nanba, the two take up odd jobs all across the city and run into different members of all three gangs.
These include the Seryu’s leader Hoshino and eventually the returning Adachi, who lost his pension after helping Ichi get into the Yakuza meeting. He agrees to join with the others if only to continue proving the crimes of TPD’S head officer.
And in the midst of it all, they also have to deal with a protest group known as Bleach Japan, whose members are hell bent on removing organised brothels, criminal activity and illegal immigrants to “bleach the grey zones” that make up most of Ichijo.
Soon enough however, one of the trio’s clients, a soapland owner named Nonomiya, turns up dead in his business, noose hanging from the ceiling fan. Only one person claims that it wasn’t suicide, a barmaid named Saeko Munada.
She joins up with the team because she owes Nonomiya for getting a job and claims to have heard the Liumang break into the soapland the night of her boss’ death.
Together, Ichi, Nanba, Adachi and Saeko all take up jobs working at a small warehouse owned by the Liumang but when trying to acquire more information, the crew end up getting captured and tortured by one Akira Mabuchi.
He’s one of the head leaders of the Liumang who not only killed Nonomiya but also started a war with the Seiryu Clan by shooting two of its members in broad daylight.
But thanks to some help by an unnamed Korean man with a face mask, the group are able to escape and stop one of the Seiryu’s lieutenants from bringing the war directly to Liumang’s boss, Tianyou Zhao.
Zhao is very sceptical about one of his top enforcers starting a war with the other factions and insists that he needs proof of Mabuchi’s deeds.
This then leads the four to meet directly with the Korean based Geomijil, whose leader, Seong-Hui, has an entire surveillance system of Ichijo, a counterfeit money printer right in their main office and greets the group with some news about Nanba.
Nanba’s brother, a renowned but for some reason unnamed journalist, got wind of the Geomijil’s printer and wanted to expose their crimes.
The Geomijil abducted Nanba’s brother and he chose to pose as a homeless man in Ichijo in the hopes of finding out if he’s still alive. Part of the reason why he helped Ichi in the first place, especially with the counterfeit bill found in Ichi’s pocket.
Despite the news, Ichi and others fight off the Geomijil and help Nanba escape who flees to Bleach Japan’s head office for protection.
It’s there at the main office that the crew spot that not only is Mabuchi under direct payroll from Bleach Japan and tasked with eradicating all three of the major gang factions in Ichijo; but that the group’s co-founder is actually Masato Arawkawa, the son of Ichi’s mentor.
In the years since Ichi was in jail, Masato, now going by Ryo Aoki, became governor of Tokyo, got an illegal lung transplant in order to walk and also set up Bleach Japan to completely eradicate Kamurocho of the Tojo Clan, with the Omi stepping in to fill their influence.
With the help of his understudy, Bleach Japan’s current lead organiser Sota Kume, Aoki plans on becoming prime minister of Japan by whatever means necessary.
Which includes having Nanba work with Bleach Japan and members of the Omi Alliance invade the Geomijil HQ, forcing the group to destroy their money printer and CCTV network.
Despite Nanba’s betrayal, both Ichi’s crew and the Liumang and Geomijil forgive his past transactions as they now have to contend with Mabuchi once again trying to start a war between the three gangs, which all parties involved stop for good.
Around the same time, Arakwawa is expected to have a meeting with the rest of the Omi Alliance in the riverside town of Sotenbori, Osaka.
Ichi’s crew alongside newcomers Joon Gi Han (the second in command of the Geomijil who broke Ichi and the others out when they were interrogated by Mabuchi) and the now retired leader of the Liumang, Zhao as backup.
After breaking into the Omi HQ, fighting two of the big heads of the former Tojo Clan, Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima, it’s there that Ichi learns from the still alive and well Masumi Arkawa as well as the former head of the Tojo Clan, Daigo Dojima are waiting just for them.
Diago explains to Ichi that Arkawa was deliberately chosen by him to leak information about the Tojo to the police. Pretend to be a traitor to the Tojo while Diago alongside Majima and Saejima organise something else.
As they grow fearful of the influence that Aoki has accumulated, the plan is to officially dissolve both the Tojo and Omi parties in an official press statement with the help of Masumi Watase, the actual head of the Omi who is due to be released from prison in a few days.
Ichi and the crew are then asked to stay in the Omi Alliance HQ for Watase’s return, and to act as bodyguards for him, Diago and Arakawa. Because once they announce the dissolution of both the Omi and Tojo, almost everyone of the Yakuza members they helped raise will be after their heads.
And despite harsh resistance by the other members of the Omi Alliance, the plan is a success. Watase and Dojima make joint statements on their clan’s dissolution and no one dies. Most of which is because the previous protagonist of the series, Kazuma Kiryu, was hired by Watase as backup.
And then Hoshino and Arkawa turn up dead. By the returning Jo Sawashiro who turns himself in to the police shortly after he and Arakawa’s deceitful bodyguard, Yosuke Tendo killed him.
I’m telling you, I’m running out of breath when I’m describing all of this.
Ichi is obviously very upset by the sudden news but they can’t stop now that Aoki is scrambling to get at them as much as they are trying to best Bleach Japan. But with some motivation from Kiryu, the plan is eventually set.
Finally, the battle is moved back to Kamurocho at Aoki’s head office in the Millennium Tower.
Ichi and team fight and eventually beat Tendo and Aoki in two different encounters and eventually broadcast a recording of all the evil deeds the future governor of Tokyo has done. With Aoki fleeing his office, the message is sent on every billboard and social media page in Kamurocho.
Alone, blooded and with a gun in hand, Aoki is eventually confronted by Ichi to turn himself into the police. Aoki agrees, placing his gun away, only for a heartbroke Kume to stab him and then run off. Aoki dies of his wounds in hospital.
Sometime later in Yokohama, the crew hold a small service for both Arakwa’s and Ichi is asked by the Dojima if he wants to return. Ichi declines, saying he found a new family in Ichijo. Thus ending Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
I mean… goddamn. I’m surprised I even have working fingers at this point.
To say the least, there is quite a lot that goes on within just this game alone, enough that I’m sure that if you asked multiple Yakuza fans how to summarise the game, they’d all come back with their own different takes on the narrative.
However, despite having a summary that’s about as long as taking an entire journey to and from the whole of the New York subway, I think in terms of small details, Like a Dragon benefits from how it fits other events around its narrative.
Basically while the main story is definitely interesting, finding out what happened to the Arakawa’s and hoping to stop Ryo Aoki on his plans for supremacy, the game’s story takes its time building up smaller, more sectioned off interactions in the main adventure.
Stuff like two entire chapters of the game’s narrative focused on Ichi, Nanba and later Adachi all doing small favours for smaller enterprises.
The previously mentioned Soapland Nonomiya owns that’s under fire from Bleach Japan and their rapid protests, to later stopping a scam at a retirement home by one of the Seiryu lieutenants being the two biggest scenes during that section of the narrative.
I don’t think the Arakwa’s are touched up directly once Ichi and crew go looking for jobs, which probably tells you that if you’re interested in the main plot, you won’t find much there. But that doesn’t leave the main events any less undercooked.
Most of the praise you’ll see for 7’s story is mainly pointed at a couple of key areas, with how it handles characters and themes of the story. Predominantly Ichi as the protagonist and the idea of failure.
It’s no secret in the story that Yokohama is treated as a last resort for most of the people living there. A place where many burn after they crash and very few even recover from it, with most instead trying to scrape by as best as they can.
These include illegal immigrants working at girls clubs to make some form of money without needing proper documentation, to the likes of the Geomijil using their vast networks to house dozens of Korean residents underground.
And then there’s Ichiban. While he isn’t the only person in the main cast who received a swell of bad luck, he’s the one who’s affected by it the most. Spending eighteen years in prison and getting shot by your own father figure once you get out will do that to you.
But despite that, Ichi is optimistic to a fault.
When Nanba and Aoki try to kill him and the crew, he pleads with them because of their past connections. There’s even an entire side plot about Ichi running for election against BJ’s Kume and nearly swaying the vote because of the trust he gained working with the people of Ichijo.
That said, despite the layering on top of layering of information and details that Yakuza 7 has on offer, there’s quite a few that don’t necessarily work but in the grand scheme of the plot is a little… unnecessary.
For example, after taking care of Sawashiro, the now defeated captain of the Awkrawa family reveals that Masato (Aoki) is his birth son and Ichi is the actual son of Awkrawa.
Again, not a bad revelation but still… was it necessary? Wouldn’t it have been more impressive that Ichi literally came from nowhere, further adding to the idea that he’s been at the bottom from the very beginning?
Then there’s the previously mentioned Tokyo police chief Juro Horinouchi, Adachi’s primary target for revenge and Yutaka Ogikukbo, the man who set up the counterfeit operation the Geomjili take advantage of.
These two are almost complete no shows for the entire story, to the point that I completely forgot about during my plot summary.
Both characters are fairly important to the main story as their desires/schemes have unintentional effects on the main cast and end up becoming pawns in some way to Aoki.
Aoki basically taking over Ogikukbo’s political party to undo his years of work for the disadvantaged in Yokohama and Horinouchi’s bribes from the Arakwa’s getting him arrested by Adachi later on.
It’s not really that all of these details, big and small, don’t work in the grand scheme of things, it’s that choosing what to focus on for a literary review and what to leave out can often be very challenging. Especially when there are so many different characters, orgainstations and decades upon decades of history linking them together.
But if you roll along with the big twist in each chapter as I did, you’ll still have a lot of fun with how the story is told overall.
So with the story thankfully done, what about how the game dresses up its world? And more importantly can I do it in half the time it took to relay the story?
Presentation: Essence of Excellence
As mentioned, Like a Dragon was a next gen launch game for the Xbox Series X and S consoles with a PlayStation 5 version coming four months later, the version that I’m reviewing right now.
And while all there’s no real graphical differences from what I’ve seen at least, Like a Dragon is a very great looking game.
Since the series has regularly dealt with the more taboo and run down aspects of Japanese culture, it’s most prominent here when you compare Ichinjo to a location like Kamurcho.
Kamurcho still has its unique traits, such an emphasis on bright neon lit signs that contrast really well with the more corporate locations featured near the Millenium Tower in the city centre, but Ichijo fits well into how it represents the disadvantaged living there.
In just the starting area alone near the homeless camp, there’s an entire canal system that’s blocked up with sewage and trash, to architectural choices like one of the bar’s featured near the start of the game being just a single home in a snake list of thousands.
Compare that with the more modern roads and train stations near the centre of it’s map and the returning brightly light and shining tourist landmarks near the top and it does a lot to convey just how run down Ichijo is.
Not bleak to the point that it becomes depressing, but still tense that taking visits to the Yokohama underground and the increased difficulty near the opposite end of the town is enough to deter you from going there in a rush. And a great means to relay the type of world Ichi and crew find themselves in.
Voice acting is also very good in that respect as well and as alluded to earlier, comes with an interesting quirk.
See, Yakuza Like a Dragon is the first game since the PS2 original from 2005 to feature an English dub. The original Japanese audio with English subtitles is also included but I went with the dub out of curiosity.
And man oh man was it a blast.
While I can’t find out if there are any points in the direction that make either the original or redone audio the superior version, the casting and performances in general were very strong overall.
My favourite had to be Reiji Ishioda, one of the Omi Alliance officers that works closely with Bleach Japan but I chose not to mention earlier because he doesn’t have that much of a role in the main story.
He’s primarily a roadblock to Ichi and crew, constantly trying to get in their way by hiring assassins that can perfectly copy another person’s look and voice, to bringing a freaking wrecking ball up near the Geomijil when he and Nanba were working together.
And it helps that in the English dub his VA, Rino Romano (according to the Yakuza Fan Wiki) has this incredibly thick Boston Mafia type voice, the stereotypical tough guy uses every tactic he can get to see things through.
The other people I think was captured best out of the main cast had to be Ichiban and Adachi’s lead voice, played by Kechi Tang and Andrew Morgado respectively.
They both elicit such range in their deliveries, with Kechi in particular being able to play a genuinely emotional character to later come across as silly and clumsy while he talks about his obsession with Dragon Quest.
And Andrew’s performance has a similar scale as well but with an emphasis on him being a wash up past his prime detective who still thinks that women fawn over guys like him.
I would go on and on about it even more, like with Nanba’s disgruntled voice that makes it sound like he has a head cold 24/7, Zhao’s casual but threatening demeanour or Joon Gi-Han’s reserved yet deadly personality but we’d be here all day.
I do however want to highlight some of the more established voice actors in minor roles, such as Roger Craig Smith voicing Daigo Dojima and David Hayter as an unnamed bartender that offers the team his business as a hideout.
Neither one of the pair outstays their welcome and just hearing their voices in the same game gives a warm fuzzy feeling to me.
Again, I can’t say for certain if the original Japanese VA’s are better by comparison but the fact that you can choose between the English or original voice acting before a new game makes it a matter of simply picking your preference. Nice.
Then lastly was the music, a factor that I was somewhat uninterested in overall.
This is a JRPG after all and it could be because I was too focused on my strategies to really care but generally speaking, dubstep/electronic music is something I do like from time to time, just not one of my favourite genres overall.
There are a wide variety of battle tracks on offer, such as the main battle theme “Yokohama Crackhouse” but generally speaking they just never really spoke to me or grabbed my interest in a certain way.
I do think some of the more unique battle themes reserved for boss battles and faction encounters were cool, primarily thanks to their uniqueness.
Mabuchi’s theme “War Maker” is appropriately titled and features one of the more intense uses of dubstep in the game, with what sounds like an emphasis placed on syncopation.
While on the other spectrum, “Answer From Geomijil” has a very quick melody near the start that eventually zeroes in on a new melody with its change to full on dubstep. Helping create a very organised theme that could showcase how secretive and quick the group is with dealing with outsiders.
But aside from that, the only other songs that really caught my interest were when the game was paying homage to other games in the series.
“Lullaby of Outlaws” for example, the main battle theme used in Yakuza 2 and it’s remake Kiwami 2 is a thrilling and jazz filled ballad when put alongside the heavy and intense remixed character themes for Majima and Sajema (with “Receive you the Hyperactive”) and Kiryu (“Rolling Eyes Fall Down the Dragon Wall”).
Hyperactive in particular is such a great boss theme with how well it uses its voice sample and repurposes it so many times against a blindly fast electric guitar riff.
Meanwhile Dragon Wall features an intimating, violin focused centrepiece that takes the edge off a little when an acoustic guitar plays the melody. Actually giving me room to breathe in that fight and appreciate it a bit more.
Just a reminder, not a bad soundtrack overall just not really to my tastes specifically. And trust me when I say that if I eventually look at the other Yakuza games like 0 or 4, I’ll have loads more to say about the soundtrack there.
Lastly however, there’s the gameplay for Like a Dragon. And this is where things get very interesting in my opinion.
Gameplay: Grinding the Gears
As mentioned earlier, Like a Dragon is an open world JRPG which means if you’ve played either genre before you’ll likely know what to expect. If not, I’ll give a brief rundown of what to expect in most encounters.
When the player is not in the middle of a story mission, you control Ichi as he explores through Ichijo, Kamurcho and Sotenbori.
At a certain point, characters with red markers above their heads will appear and you’ll be quickly brought into a street battle, which is where the RPG part comes in.
Every character operates via turns, usually based on agility (one of the many stats in game).
When it’s your turn to play, you have four options on offer.
Attacking with your base weapon, blocking to reduce damage, use a character specific ability that works offensively or defensively (done by using select MP) or consuming a one use item that works in much the same way.
You win one of these random encounters by defeating all enemies on the opposing team but you’ll lose instantly if Ichi is knocked out regardless of the other party members, so be careful.
I do think that’s somewhat of a beginners trap but it does make sense as the party leader why Ichi would cause a gameover if he’s beaten.
If a battle is successful, you’ll gain some experience points and cash which you can then use to upgrade your traits with special gear or new abilities against foes such as a higher damage output or increased health.
For the more specific traits that 7 has on offer, there’s the inclusion of a job system that’s unlocked once you have a full party of four.
Each of the cast get’s one job that’s unique to them, usually based on their past experience. But from that, you can then change your job to fit a particular class type and gain different abilities as a result.
In my case, I had the entire party as their default jobs except for Nanba and Saeko whom I gave the musician and hostess jobs respectfully.
These jobs are all obviously based on real life professions but have some exaggerated twist to how they turn day to day stuff into actions.
Stuff like Joon Gi’s Hitman job allows him to use guns, knives and lethal weapons to slowly eat at the enemy’s health bar, all the way to Nanba with the help of his default Homeless Guy profession allowing him to skip a turn but recover health with his power nap ability.
However, one cool thing about the jobs system that I mentioned in my 2022 montage post is the fact that certain abilities you unlock with one cast member can be brought over to other jobs regardless of how much you swap them out.
For example, going back to Nanba’s Homeless Guy job, he has a dedicated flame belch ability that has him down a bottle of booze then spurt back in front of a lit match. And once you unlock it through experience points, it can be used by any other job in the game.
I wouldn’t recommend switching jobs frequently however as you’ll still need to re unlock everything for that job once you’ve swapped, as each character has their own level and job level rank. You can regain abilities if a character returns to a previous job but I’d still recommend sticking with one job to give yourself the best options.
Alongside that is the Poundmates system, a mechanic introduced in the main story when Adachi gets a leaflet that he thinks is like a dating service.
Instead of calling hot milfs in your area though, Poundmates are basically paid “get out of jail” cards, based on various characters you meet in the game.
They work in the same way as items and abilities but as mentioned, require a fee to use outside of a free use once you gain a new Poundmate, either through the main story or via the different side content.
These characters can then do things like deal a large amount of damage to opponents or give buffs/healing to you and your allies, with the prices of each being adjusted depending on if its a offensive or defensive summon.
Speaking of, let’s talk about some of the side content which takes on different flavours within 7’s open world. Because of the sheer density in activities available I won’t be able to talk about all of the activities on display so let’s focus on some of the main one’s.
In most cases, Yokohama is littered with mini narratives called “Sub Stories”, 52 in total, the vast majority of which you’ll encounter by chance while walking between destinations.
This is probably where most of the best humour lies within the story as they often feature characters with very strange predicaments, twists on old tales or heartbreaking revelations that eventually give some drama to the sequence.
Stuff like a pawn shop whose front is completely filled with trash in the middle of a busy road, to the point that people who want to go inside have to physically dig their way to the front. Or a crayfish that belongs to a homeless man that Ichi brings back to him only to attempt to eat the little thing raw until Ichi offers to buy it off him.
Almost all of them give some form of reward in the end as well, such as cash for your journey or in some cases new summons for the poundmates service.
Some substories however often act as preludes to more developed minigames once you’ve finished them.
Probably the most useful of them is the Oounabara Vocational School, a mini trivia contest that’s essentially a glorified pub quiz mode, asking you questions about the lore around Yakuza or general trivia. And if you pass, certain stats such as your intellect or style will improve.
I won’t go into these too much but basically if you have a high enough passion, intellect, style, confidence, charisma or kindness will improve. These do unlock some useful traits that Ichi can use but are mostly there as keys for more side content.
For the other big game modes there’s the Seagull Cinema (yes that’s what it’s actually called) and Dragon Kart.
I didn’t find the Dragon Kart minigame during my playthrough so I won’t comment on it even with it being a small-scale Mario Kart mode. Seagull is fine enough though, basically a reflex mini game as you try to whack REM sheep trying to make Ichi fall asleep while watching a horrible b-movie. Still good fun at least.
The biggest of all these modes however is the Ichiban Confections mode, a dedicated business manager simulator where Ichi as the company chairhead can buy out other business properties around Yokohama, deal with shareholders in annual conferences and reap the vast rewards that come from being a company head.
I sort of wish I invested (no pun intended) more time into this because it’s easily the mode you’ll get the most amount of money out of, but I was a little daunted by the idea of falling into debt and out of the top 100 businesses in the area.
You do get some great rewards for your time at least, including the best ability in the whole game, a freaking orbital strike, as well as a new party member if you keep playing so maybe I’ll do that if I ever replay 7 soon.
There are also a bunch of simulation type games that you can see around the various maps, stuff like an indoor batting centre to practise your baseball swings or a dart board that you can play with one of your party members but they’re nothing special or different compared to the real thing. Still nice time killers at least.
I do however like the inclusion of SEGA arcade classics thanks to the main stations in all three maps, allowing you to play emulated versions of Space Harrier, Outrun, standard crane games or even cooler, Virtua Fighter 2 and 5: Last Showdown.
Fun Fact: a year after release, RGG Studios remade VF 5 as a standalone game using the same engine that powered Yakuza 7 and featuring DLC based on the series cast. Cool how things like that work out.
If you want the story focus turned to the rest of the Ichi’s crew however then that’s where the relationship mechanic comes in.
Each of the six characters Ichi has as party members starts at level 0 in terms of trust and respect to Ichiban but if you bring them into battles more frequently, eat together at restaurants or the like, your relationship will grow with them.
From there, you can visit the Survive Bar and get a chance to learn more about their backstories. Stuff like the last case Adachi worked on before his expulsion from the police force or Zhao’s connection with Mabuchi.
Every time your connection improves, that character will gain new abilities such as increased XP when not in use, follow up on downed enemies and most importantly increase the amount of jobs that party member can pick from.
Personally though, I was slightly disappointed by how bare this system felt.
If we’re talking strictly from a narrative perspective, the relationship cutscenes are really good all around, usually serving as companion pieces or continuations to a party member’s backstory.
Their not bad by any word but a case where if you wanted something more gameplay wise out of the system you’re out of luck. And compared to the relationship mechanic in something like Persona 4 for example, it’s not even close to being as good.
In that game, while it generally worked the same, party members will gain new skills that can be applicable for combat. Such as shoving you out of the way and taking a critical hit from an opponent or being more resistant to status effects. Maybe something to consider next time.
But one thing Survive Bar also has is a fan favourite mode, Karaoke!
Depending on who you have on offer to pick from, almost every character (barring Joon-Gi for whatever reason) has their own dedicated song, all of which are original creations.
These range from Adachi singing a fast, edge of your seat love song, Zhao summoning cooking demons for the best meal or Nanba singing the best meme song to come from that corner of the internet.
They aren’t particularly mechanically deep but it serves as a nice breakaway from the action, and getting to hear the main cast belt their heart out is very endearing all around.
I may be forgetting to mention a couple of other things in the background but much like with its story, Yakuza 7 is fit to burst with so much content.
If you’re looking to or have already bought 7 for being able to play a fun JRPG to put dozens of hours into, you just might find it tough to get away from how rich this game is with optional content, one of the many traits of the series as a whole.
But I must bring this essay to a proper end at some point so let’s focus on the last section.
Conclusion: The Journey Begins Anew
Overall, Yakuza: Like a Dragon aka Yakuza 7 is a fantastic JRPG to play through.
If you can look past the sometimes lengthy story tidbits and occasional moments of grinding, you’ll find a greatly written and gameplay varied story that grabs you by the tip of your neck and refuses to let go.
Once again, I have played through the other mainline games in the Yakuza series up until 5 and a part of me is looking forward to doing reviews on all of them in the near future. But I’d rather pace myself out before trying something as risky as that.
Either way, Yakuza 7 is a definite recommendation from me.
Give it a shot and don’t be surprised if you’re not the same person after that.
First drafted 5 April 2023
Last edited 14 January 2024
If you want to read more, click here for my follow-up review on Yakuza 0: https://cplisken.medium.com/review-of-yakuza-0-e54c7f16782d
