I went through all that life has to offer, just like you. I know how hard that shit is.
When Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (LADIW) first trailer came out, I was really looking forward to coming back to the turn-based JRPG gameplay that the game was going for. I was really excited to what the game improved on with Y7 and what new features that the game had in store for it. With that said, this review will also be a bit hard for me to cover in certain aspects, as I don’t want to spoil anything on the game.
Pros and Cons
Pros
A very interestingly crafted story with fun characters
Fun turn-based gameplay
Unique jobs that can give you a variety of moves
Lots of side content to do in the game
Fantastic soundtrack that is nice to listen to
Beautiful graphics that make the areas feel alive
Cons
The story loses some of its charm near the end
New Game+ and other difficulties locked behind a DLC
Story
Ichiban Kasuga was working at an average job until he one day gets let go from his and cancled by a Vtuber on in one day. This is due to a callout video made by a Vtuber named Hisoka Tatara and because of this Kasuga, with his two friends, Nanba and Adachi, decide to go to the Seiryu clan, to find answers. Along their way, they meet ex-yakuza members and meet Jo Sawashiro, who then tells Kasuga to go to Hawill and find his mother. Although there is a lot more going on then one may seem.
The story for LADIW is pretty good, I really loved the new characters and the returning ones were also nice. I honesty think even telling one of my favorite characters is spoiling the story too much, besides Tomizawa, who is a cab driver and was just a cool character. The story has that classic crime drama that the series is known for.
However, the story does lose some of its charm near the end of the game, as it falls off a tad bit although this is only a minor issue that I noticed. Everything else with the story is great but near the end, it kind of just goes away, although they do leave off with an interesting note for it’s next game.
Gameplay
LADIW’s gameplay mainly remains the same from the previous entry but there are some changes that I really loved that the game added. Besides Kasuga, everyone will now pick up objects to attack people if they are near them. So if you ever wanted to see Nanba throw a bike at someone, well now you can. You can also use MP to cast special moves to deal more damage, buff/debuff someone, or heal. Overall, the gameplay is very fun and your characters can learn lots of moves to help them in combat.
During combat, you can also time the enemy's attacks so you can block them to do less damage. One of the newest things to combat for enemies is that they can be in a guard state, when they are in this, they will take reduced damage. To get them out of the guard state mainly, you have to use a grab attack, in which they will be taken out of that state. Your teammates also have a radius on their attacks, they can attack any enemy at any range but if they stay in the radius, they will do extra damage on that attack.
Jobs are back as well and there are some unique ones that are with each party member. This time around, all the jobs in this game are very good and there isn’t one that is bad necessarily. However, there are some jobs that are ok for the most part but aren’t bad, it is up to personal preference but I never really came across a bad job in this game for any character. Especially Joongi Han or Seonhee where their main jobs were just straight up broken.
If you want to switch jobs but keep a certain move, you can do it with a move transfer feature that the game has. Which is very useful to create the ultimate character with the best job with some of the best moves in another job. Although you can only do up to five moves in total completely. So make sure you have the moves that you want to use and keep note of them so you can make the most of them.
There is a ton of side content that the game has in it and some very interesting ones at that. The first one I would like to bring up is Sujimon, which is this game's version of Pokemon, where you battle Sujimon trainers and challenge gym leaders. Then there is Dondoko Island, where you manage a hotel resort, it’s like Animal Crossing to an extent. So as you can see, You have three games in one, Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing. There is a lot to the gameplay that I have not explained but I can’t fit it all into this review, I do talk a little more about this game in my video on it (will be out soon ran into some problems}. I also rated all the Yakuza games that I have played so if you are interested in that, keep an eye out for it.
Although despite having all of this great stuff in this game, Infinite Wealth has one glaring issue with its gameplay or the game as a whole. New Game+, is locked behind a DLC and so is hard mode, in other words, you only have access to one difficulty for the game. The game isn’t that hard either but the fact that a basic game feature is locked behind a DLC just proves Sega’s greed.
Graphics, Performace and Soundtrack
The graphics for this game are beautiful and I loved how the world that you are in is detailed, each area felt real and it’s like I was in its world. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I had no issues while I was playing and I was able to play it just fine, on medium settings.
The soundtrack for this game is just fantastic and it even rivals Y0’s soundtrack, my favorite songs in the game are Camoflague, Barracuda, and Giftiger Füllhalter. These songs just sound so damn nice to listen to and I highly recommend you check them out when given the chance.
Final Verdict
Infinite Wealth is one of the best games that I have played this year, and I am glad I was able to experience it in all its glory. I recommend this game to all Yakuza fans, especially for those who enjoyed Y7. You will have a great time with this game and the side content will make sure you are hooked and are playing the game for hours on end.
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