Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

 

Ichiban Kasuga, the goofy eternally optimistic ex-yakuza, has taken to helping other former criminals find legitimate work while his formerly down-and-out comrades Adachi and Nanba also seem to be thriving. But when a viral video threatens their fortunes and Kasuga’s dating life implodes, he receives a surprising mission from his former clan captain: go to Hawaii and track down his presumed-dead mother, Akane. Upon arrival, Kasuga finds several dangerous factions hunting are hunting for Akane as well. Fortunately, he acquires unexpected allies, including legendary former yakuza Kazuma Kiryu, who is on a mission of his own and whose days may be numbered. Will the group find Akane and discover why she is wanted before it is too late?

The newest entry in Sega’s long-running Yakuza series is the follow-up to 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, a game that controversially moved the series from action brawler to turn-based RPG. In its own way, however, Infinite Wealth is no less revolutionary. It’s the first game in the series with an American setting, and, the first that really shows longtime protagonist Kiryu’s age (55) and health catching up with him. He’s still quite a formidable fighter, but we get to see him as more of a team player and less of a one-man army this go-around, and the bonds he forms with Kasuga and other party members help flesh him out.

Kiryu is but one of several surprisingly well-developed and well-written characters here. From inane plot contrivances to completely detestable megamaniacal villains, subtlety and complexity are not always Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios’ strengths. Infinite Wealth still has plenty of zaniness – Kasuga imagines street punks as monsters, presumed-dead characters pop up as bartenders who troll their patrons, and you fight malicious construction equipment on more than one occasion – but it's tempered by a more mature approach to characterization. Newcomers Tomizawa and Chitose are introduced as a petty criminal cab driver and a spoiled heiress, respectively, yet both have sympathetic motivations and grow to take responsibility and control of their lives. Returning character Seonhee, the seemingly stern queen of Yokohama’s Korean underworld, lightens up around Kiryu and displays a sisterly affection for underling Joongi Han. Club owner Saeko rebuffs attempts to woo or control her and asserts her independence. While one of the main antagonists fits the all-conquering mold, the others have more understandable rationales for the extremes that they go to.

Much of the voice cast returns from the previous game, and among the English-language performers, Kaiji Tang (Kasuga), Greg Chun (Nanba), and Elizabeth Maxwell (Saeko) continue to impress. Here, we’re also treated to Danny Trejo voicing a character modeled after himself, machetes and all. That said, vtuber Yong Yea is both too young and too inexperienced to really do Kiryu justice. The performance grows on you after a while, but it’s almost worth switching the language to Japanese for Takaya Kuroda’s familiar baritone alone.

While the turn-based combat in Like a Dragon was serviceable, it’s both deeper and more fluid in Infinite Wealth. Positioning plays a bigger role as you can move around to set up back attacks and environmental attacks. New job classes (each with unique abilities) open up possibilities to suit different playing styles that emphasize attack or magic or healing. Kasuga can perform tag-team attacks with party members once their hype meters fill. Kiryu, thankfully, retains his ability from older games to switch between fighting styles, and when his meter fills, he can step out of turn-based combat entirely and simply start punching and kicking opponents at will (similar to the old Extreme Heat mechanic).

There is much in Infinite Wealth that manages to be both fun and utterly shameless. The Pokemon-ripoff Sujimon collection side activity is back, and it is joined this time by an Animal Crossing ripoff: Dokondo Island. I’m not a fan of either franchise, but the former eventually grew on me – the latter continues to feel tedious. Another string of side activities can best be described as a Kiryu nostalgia tour as he triggers memories of characters from past games and even gets to observe some from afar (he’s been declared legally dead, and the shadowy faction that arranged it tries to distance him from his past life). Add to that everything from dungeon crawl battles to fishing to baseball and more, and there is no shortage of things to do in this game.

Well-designed, well-written, engaging, and eminently playable, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has, if not, infinite potential, then at least a reasonable approximation of something for everybody.