Like a Dragon, SEGA's Once Embattled Yakuza Series, Has Never Been Better | Push Square
If you’ve been listening to the clacking of leather shoes in SEGA’s glamorous – but often oddball – Yakuza series since the late PS2 days, you’ll know the franchise hasn’t always been in this position. For years a PlayStation exclusive, there was a point where Sony was reeled in to localise the release of PS3 late-comer Yakuza 5, as its publisher had lost all interest in the series.
Those days are, mercifully, behind us – and two brief Tokyo Game Show demos of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth reveal the franchise in its finest form. With each game adopting a different direction – the latter builds on the turn-based RPG aspect of the excellent Yakuza: Like a Dragon – there’s ample variety on display here, even if long-time players will feel right at home.
Related Articles
That's rad!
Effectively a side-story, designed to bridge the gap between Yakuza 6 and the two RPG Like a Dragon titles, The Man Who Erased His Name stars returning protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, and fills in the gaps in his timeline. While we didn’t get to play any story missions, we were able to try out a demo featuring a slew of minigames, as the hero is transported to a luxury cruise liner populated with casinos and cabaret clubs.
The latter were the focus of our attention, and represent a change in approach from Ryu ga Gotoku Studio: these are filmed entirely using real-life FMV, so it’s like being transported back to the era of SEGA CD and 3DO, where developers were using actors to piece together shoddy visual novels.
The interactions are limited due to the FMV nature, so you’re stuck selecting from various dialogue boxes, and picking different drinks. Your ultimate goal is to win the heart of your
Read more on pushsquare.com
