Table of Contents
Gimme Some of that Infinite Wealth
As I started writing this review, I realized that I still don’t know why this game has “Infinite Wealth” appended to its title. Maybe there is a thematic connection that makes it make sense, if so, please do let me know. I get that the game can’t just called be Like A Dragon but why Infinite Wealth specifically?
Anyways, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth was my most anticipated game coming into 2024, the previous game in the series Yakuza: Like A Dragon was in my 2022 Games of the Year list and got a mention in my Baldur’s Gate 3 review as a RPG that was influential to my understanding of video game RPGs as a genre.
My history with Yakuza/Like A Dragon, goes back to playing through Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami 1 and Yakuza Kiwami 2. At this point having played two of the RPG iterations in the series, I don’t want to play the beat ’em up style games anymore, they are fundamentally less interesting to me from a mechanics point of view.
Mechanics
Mechanically, Infinite Wealth is a strong iterative improvement over the previous game. The basics of the already good combat system remain and additions like limited amounts of movement and the addition of directional attacks made combat encounters even more tactically engaging than it was in the previous game.
I found myself trying to play dominoes with enemies so killing one would knock that enemy into another one killing them as well. I actually engaged with the dungeon crawler modes in this game more because I liked the rhythm to the combat more. I enjoyed messing around with the various jobs/classes as well, the new ones in this game are all interesting in their own way.
Difficulty Spikes
I also found this game to be much improved when it comes to difficulty spikes. The previous game had certain points in the game where you were suddenly expected to have much higher level characters and better at the game than was natural.
Infinite Wealth smoothed out these spikes. It also put up a message before long main story missions saying what the recommended character and equipment level was. This made sure that I never went into a long story mission without knowing the difficulty level of the enemies in it and that I was adequately prepared for them.
Minigames
It wouldn’t be a Yakuza game without minigames. Alas, like with the previous games, I didn’t particularly engage with the minigames. There are two large ones worth talking about as they are new to this game.
The first is Sujimon which is a legally distinct Pokemon minigame. I didn’t engage with this minigame at all. I fundamentally don’t find Pokemon’s core loop interesting at all and having its mechanics be a minigame in this game didn’t catch my interest either.
The second is Dondoko Island which is Yakuza flavoured Animal Crossing. I did engage with this minigame a bit after its tutorial but ultimately I found myself not finishing it. Its fine, just not what I’m playing Infinite Wealth for.
Narrative
The main reason I keep coming back to this series has always been the narrative. Interesting plots with memorable characters; protagonists, antagonists, minor characters in locations that I grew to love.
Speaking of which..
Location
Infinite Wealth is the first game in the series to partially take place in a non Japanese location. Specifically, Ichiban ends up in Honolulu, Hawaii and that is where we spend most of his sections of the game. The other locations in this game are Ijincho which was in the previous game and Kamurocho which is the location of multiple Yakuza games (including the ones I played 0, Kiwami 1/2). The latter two are where most of Kiryu’s narrative takes place.
When I first heard that Infinite Wealth was going to be set in a non Japanese locale I had to admit that I was a bit skeptical that the developers could pull it off. Suffice to say that I think that RGG managed to pull off the change in scenery well. I liked their take on Hawaii and the ways it intersects with the main plot make sense and are well executed.
I definitely found myself gravitating towards the familiarity of Ijincho and Kamurocho but I think that’s just because they are indeed familiar and especially with Kamurocho which has a nostalgic feeling to it.
Plot
The plot of Infinite Wealth is essentially divided up into two main plot lines that interconnect. To avoid major spoilers here, I’ll say they are the Ichiban and Kiryu plot lines. Most of Ichiban’s plot line takes place in Hawaii and most of Kiryu’s plot line happens in Japan (Ijincho and Kamurocho).
I think that overall the Kiryu plot line’s narrative is much more coherent and well thought out than Ichiban’s plot line in this game. Kiryu’s story here deals with themes like dealing with a terminal illness, losing your identity and sense of connection to the world, regrets, asking for help from your friends. I found myself getting really invested in the story the game was telling about this man and I think it was a narrative that held strong till the end.
Little bits of Kiryu’s story were handed out through “Life Links” and “Memoirs of a Dragon” side stories. Some of these referenced characters and events from previous Yakuza games I haven’t played but I’m still glad to have gone through them as it makes Kiryu’s narrative in this game much more coherent and thoughtful They are optional but I strongly recommend you do all of the Life Links and Memoirs of a Dragon.
Ichiban’s story in this game on the other hand seems to be weaker. I think Ichiban’s story suffered from a lack of uhh narrative fulfillment? A lack of narrative strength? It feels like Kiryu’s story got most of the narrative juice for the lack of a better term. There were definitely a few strong moments here and there but overall I enjoyed it less than Kiryu’s story.
Not to say, that it was bad per se, Ichiban is still a lovable idiot whose personality can really carry a lot of the narrative but there was just something missing from his story compared to the previous game and to Kiryu’s story in this game.
An Aside About VTubers
Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that its truly incredible just how much of this game’s plot centres around a certain VTuber personality. Of all the aspects of the plot of this game, I suspect this particular bit won’t age very well as it really is a very contemporary thing to put in the game. That said, I found it very amusing and it was written well and made sense in context of the overarching narrative.
Party Members
Infinite Wealth added three new playable party members – Seonhee, Chitose and Tomizawa. All other playable party members are characters who were also in the previous game.
Of all the new playable party members I’m going to say that Seonhee and Chitose are my most favourites. Seonhee was a supporting character in the previous game and I’m really glad they made her a party member in this one because I really liked her characterization in the previous game.
Of the two fully new party members, I found Chitose’s narrative to be much more interesting than Tomizawa’s. The primary reason for this is: Chitose and her family play a important part of the overarching narrative in a way that Tomizawa’s narrative just doesn’t.
One less than optimal thing was the introduction of Han Joongi as a playable character. I found that pacing wise his introduction back into the narrative was…awkward and felt like a bit of an afterthought compared to the rest of the party members. He makes his entry as a playable character much later than the other members of your party which is the big thing making it awkward.
As was the case in the previous game, each party member gets a special narrative of their own using the Bonds and Drink Links system and I found all of the ones in this game to be compelling and they all made the characterizations of the party members stronger in their own unique way.
Conclusions
Mechanically, the combat systems are a straight up improvement over the previous game. However, larger and more complex minigames like Dondoko Island and Sujimon feel like bloat that does not add anything significant to the experience and are just there to be a time sink for the player.
From a narrative perspective, Infinite Wealth has some of the best writing in video games today and especially looking at the video game RPG world right now, it is holding its own with the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3. However, there is still a lack of narrative fulfillment for one of the main characters and the pacing of certain aspects of the narrative could do with a bit of polish.
Overall, I think that Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a strong yet flawed entry into the series. I am glad that RGG is making these games because there’s nothing quite like them in the video game RPG space. This game is the second entry into my list of 2024 GOTYs after Alan Wake 2.
I hope RGG keep at it and I am looking forward to what’s next in the series.