We are mere days away from the next mainline entry in the Like a Dragon series – and coming after Like a Dragon: Gaiden leaves LAD: Infinite Wealth in an interesting position. With Gaiden, players had an experience that was very much akin to the first six mainline games (and the Yakuza Zero prequel) with fast action and beat-em-up gameplay elements. Infinite Wealth, however, goes for a turn-based RPG approach to keep it feeling similar to those who loved Yakuza: Like A Dragon – the highly-regarded 2020 offering. That was the first entry to mark a full shift from making Kazuya Kiryu the protagonist and make Ichiban Kasuga the protagonist.
With him being a JRPG junkie and in particular, a huge fan of Dragon Quest, RGG Studio has made his starring entries in the series into turn-based RPGs – marking a radical departure in the now seventeen-year-old series and one that allows for more types of players to enjoy its action and storylines. One constant in the series has always been bizarre action and multi-faceted gameplay variety – whether it’s in the form of mini-games like karaoke or classic arcade games being included. The opening movie for Infinite Wealth showcases side activities like shopping alongside some club activity and does with a jazzy song that would be right at home with a Lupin III movie or TV show. It’s evocative of what Yuji Ohno’s work was at his peak for that long-running franchise.
The opening video shows off a lot of Ichiban’s personality - with him goofing around, drinking and exploring a bit of Infinite Wealth’s new setting of Hawaii. This will be the first time the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series has had a major adventure outside of Japan and also marks the first time a mainline entry has had a demo attached to a prior game. Those who beat Gaiden had a chance to play through some of the adventure beforehand and experience both kinds of gameplay the franchise is now known for in a single overall game as a result. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is available in several different variants.
Review: Like A Dragon: Ishin!
Like A Dragon: Ishin! fuses familiar traits with a delightfully-versatile combat system to great effect.
Physical buyers on console can pre-order to get extra job types and extra cosmetics – while those buying digitally have more flexibility in their experience with digital deluxe and ultimate editions available. The base game is $69.99, while the deluxe edition adds more content for $84.99 and the ultimate edition adds even more for $109.99. The extra items included in the deluxe and ultimate editions make the adventure a bit easier thanks to stat boosts and the ultimate edition in particular offers a lot of value for those wanting more music thanks to its inclusion of a Yakuza CD Collection set in-game. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth will be available on January 28 for standard edition owners, while deluxe and ultimate owners can enjoy it on January 26.
