Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Review

before we hit the Surfside streets of Honolulu a quick note about spoilers this review won't dive into anything about like a dragon infinite wealth story that hasn't already been discussed in its trailers but it will show a number of amazing gameplay features that you might prefer to discover for yourself there's still a staggering amount to see and do that I haven't covered in this review but if you want to go into casaga and kiru's latest Adventure completely fresh you have been warned now on with the review we made names for ourselves as the heroes of Yokohama once before let's remind this town just what we're all about yeah hell yeah right behind you as a longtime fan of the series 2020s yakers are like a dragon came as a bit of a shock to my system fun as it was the sudden switch to stop start turn-based jrpg attacks was a lot to get my head around after more than a decade of enjoying the series's signature combo based beat him up action a bit like spending over 10 years getting really good at thumb wrestling and then being asked to play chess thankfully its followup like a dragon infinite wealth substantially retools the combat system it's still turn-based but the Tactical decision-making introduced by its predecessor is enhanced with more flexible movement and proximity based attacks that better reflect the Rough and Tumble tactility of the traditional yakaza street fights as a result infite wealth's brawling feels more like The Best of Both Worlds and its stunning new Hawaiian setting provides the perfect playground in which to unleash its Superior stall of SmackDown I'll be showing you all the sights this island has to offer I call it Yakuza Kahuna Hawaiian style main hero ichib ban kasuga returns from Yakuza like a dragon and Remains The Lovable human Labrador that he was before another day another chance to make a difference and this time he's paired up with Siri stalwart Kimmer kiru who we find in a more reflective mood due to his recent cancer diagnosis well here's to our Strange reunion this Odd Couple travels to Hawaii in search of the biological mother that casaga has never known however they soon find themselves caught in a compelling conspiracy involving a local religious sect and multiple crime syndicates we're looking for aane as well if you know her whereabouts I ask that you please tell us the ensuing mystery eventually takes some dramatic twists and turns without ever becoming as Tangled as some of the more convoluted plots of the series is pasted you don't have a single shred of proof to defend you so I can turn you and any criminal I want the core Supporting Cast from Yakaz are like a dragon are also along for the ride Che joined by a couple of likable locals it's so nice to meet you and there are some wonderful scenes stealing villains to encounter as well including a mob boss played by Gruff as ever Danny tro you got guts betraying me like that despite the fact that some of the lengthier conversation cutcenes took longer to wrap up than a phone call from my parents this is getting old by and large I found the writing in infinite wealth to be some of the strongest in the series to date whether it was during the heightened moments of genuine drama tell your men to stand down or the many low brow birst of comic relief so you're ichy balls kasuga nice to meet you ich Bon kasuga marking the first time that a like a dragon story has shifted beyond the shores of Japan infinite wealth's Hawaii doesn't just feel like an invigorating new setting for the series but for games in general typically the only games set in the Exotic us Island state involve operating battleships in World War II or steering sports cars around its Coastline highways so it's nice to play a game that allows you to slip on a pair of flip-flops and and explore this fictionalized slice of paradise on foot I loved roaming around infinite wealth's surprisingly spacious setting grabbing local Delicacies like Shave Ice to replenish my health I like it and throwing a friendly Aloha to everyone I passed Aloha although I quickly learned to not get too friendly with the fire breathers hey the Honolulu map is Comfortably the biggest featured in the series to date but it isn't the only location to explore in infinite wealth for around a quarter of the story's 50 odd hour run time you get to explore both Yokohama and camar Roo complete with a unique set of sub stories and side activities that allow the Gravely ill kiru to reminisce about his many earlier adventures and make amends with some of the survivors he's left in his wake I really relished the opportunity to step away from the Streets of Rage for a Sentimental trip down memory lane this brings back memories Follow My Lead along the way it becomes clear that while you can take a like a dragon game out of Japan you can't take the heaving hordes of weirdo enemy types out of a like a dragon game once again I found myself indulging in regular battles against hundreds of hilariously off-kilter ass salant with pun-based names as though I was locked in an ongoing war with a gang of grown-up garbage pale kids goodbye however this time around each freaky face off feels far more lively and intuitive than the comparatively stilted scraps you get into during Yakaz are like a dragon thanks to the added freedom to reposition each of your four team members within a set movement Arc at the start of each turn this very clever change means you get to inflict bonus damage by moving your character to attack an enemy up close or from the rear and you can also pick up objects and crash them into crowds in order to share the suffering around what's more as the bonds between each member of your party strengthens additional supporting moves are unlocked to create powerful chain reactions that give each of your turn some extra damaging bang for buck controlling kiru offers the closest resemblance to the series is street fighting of old since he's able to switch between three fighting stances and gradually fill his trademark heat gauge which when triggered gives you full control of his movement for a brief period and allows you to unleash a series of simple yet supremely satisfying button-based combos in real time infinite wealth delivers a riotous level of chaos and Carnage that makes its predecessor more modest turn-taking seem almost polite by comparison and what's more it consistently adds interesting wrinkles to each fighting arena that force me to switch up my strategies one boss fighter in a flaming Forest had me scrambling for smoldering logs to pick up and wheel while in another battle aboard a tugboat I was able to intentionally knock enemies into the open m of a great white shark then watch as the Beast shook them around and then hurled them back into battle bleeding from a lattice work of lacerations although there are certainly some repetitive Random Encounters to be found out in the streets the bulk of infinite wealth Story Mission encounters are gripping to play and extremely hard to forget the job system from Yakaz are like a dragon returns in infinite wealth allowing you to alter the class of each character to best suit the makeup of your party I found the new jobs in infinite wealth to be considerably more appealing than those of the previous adventure and I enjoyed shuffling them around the members of my squad whether I was Point breaking noses with a surfboard as the wet Suited aquanut or dual wielding a pair of pistols as a Dusty Desperado some jobs I favored for their practical value but others I chose purely based on how entertaining they were to use I mean what like a dragon fan wouldn't want to see kiru fly kicking in high pitch squealing as the Bruce Le inspired action star with each job class I added into the rotation infinite wealth's colorful clashes started to feel even less like standard turn-based scraps and more like fights that had Bren out at a cosplay competition while there's a greatly expanded list of jobs to take on actually playing infinite wealth never feels like a chore one of my biggest gripes with yaka Al likea dragons campaign was that my progress stalled when frustrating difficulty spikes in its latter half sent me off to repeatedly grind for experience points for hours on end in order to slowly increase the levels of my party members I'm happy to report that I ran into no such roadblocks in this campaign and although the Challenge and intensity in its Marathon Final Chapter ramps up more often than an inner city car park I never encountered any overpowered bosses capable of wiping out my team in a single blow or any other cheap tricks it helps that you're typically given a heads up about the recommended level for your squad members and gear before you head into each major battle sequence so I never found myself getting caught with my pants down all right I just caught plenty of trench coat clad creeps with their pants down [Music] instead bre the it wouldn't be a like a dragon Adventure if there wasn't an enormous amount of side content to enjoy and in that regard infinite wealth doesn't disappoint yeah yakaza like a dragon sujon system returns and has been greatly expanded to include raids training and Stadium battles super crazy delivery is an addictive arcade time attack miname that that's effectively what would happen if a driver from Crazy Taxi hopped onto a door Dash bike super crazy delivery and sicko mode task you with photographing a series of Speedo clad muscle men who are hiding in bushes and startling the local dogs enough for me each of these are fun and extremely slick and I'm not just talking about the baby oil that's dripping off the sickos I'll do better next time one of the most extensive new side activities in infinite wealth is dond Doo Island which could possibly have being called animal double crossing if Nintendo didn't have such expensive lawyers at its disposal this isolated resort island allows you to fish gotcha catch bugs gotcha and craft a staggering number of furniture and structures using collected resources and the best part of all is that there's no Tom Nook to continually bust your balls for bells there's just these two weirdos that seem to have wandered out of an episode of Yo Gaba Gaba oh yeah the kids just love us it's surprisingly deep and although my modest interior and exterior design skills haven't been enough to elevate my Island rating Beyond a one star level thus far I'm Keen to invest more hours into it now that I've finished the main story indeed whether you're posing as a movie stuntman or competing in a televised escape room you're constantly earning experience points and unlocking new combat moves and other useful features so that your party is always evolving both in and out of battles sure you can get regular dopamine hits by hitting dopes and meanies but you can also unlock unique combo attacks to perform with your allies simply by having a beer with them in between brawls at the same time gaining an insight into their back stories and better fleshing out their characters in fact almost everything in infinite wealth seems worthwhile in more ways than one and there's a dizzying amount of enjoyable things to do it seems like developer Ryu Gaga toku Studio has put everything but the kitchen sink in here but for all I know there might a giant sink boss named dra Johnson looking in one of its dungeons flanked by his offsiders tapon America and far a forcet nothing would surprise me especially since at one point I found myself beating the tobacco out of an anthropomorphic cigarette of all things it was certainly one way to kick some [Music] butt like a dragon infinite wealth's overhauled combat system injects some welcome flexibility and Flash into every turn its difficulty curve has been pruned of nasty spikes to remove the need for repetitive grinding that we endured in the last turnbas game and its spectacular Hawaiian setting is crammed with enough enjoyable activities to overload even the most ambitious of holiday itineraries excellent a compelling country hopping Crime Story kept me on the hook for the 50 hours it took to complete and the vibrant new job classes and unique combat Arenas ensured that the fighting continue to feel fresh sprawling enthralling and packed with Dynamic brawling like a dragon infinite wealth isn't just the best turnbas like a dragon game it's one of the greatest games in the entire series let's wrap up this Victory and smile for more IGN reviews check out our verdicts on Prince of Persia the Lost crown and Tekken 8 and for everything else stick with [Music] IGN oh what the [Music] hell we [Music] fish m

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Keywords: Action, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Open-World, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, RPG, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, SEGA, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, ign review, ign game reviews, infinite wealth, infinite wealth review, yakuza infinite wealth, yakuza infinite wealth review, like a dragon gaiden ostinfinite wealth review

Id: XsDCTuhMt68

Length: 13min 53sec (833 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 23 2024