Review of the book “Like the Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name”

The Like a Dragon series (formerly known as Yakuza) continues to gain worldwide popularity, with each installment becoming a bigger event than the last – not just in terms of popularity or sales, but also in terms of quality, story and masterfully crafted character tree, their travel and relationships. The latest title, subtitled “Gaiden” (the word means “side story”) further confirms this upward trend of the series as it once again looks and plays a little better, masterfully filling in the missing parts of the story between episodes six, seven and seven. the upcoming eighth installment of the series. Despite this, you can play it like your first Like a Dragon game.

• Platform: PS5 (review) PS4, X1, XSX|S, PC
• Publication date: 09/11/2023
• Manufacturer: Studio Ryu Ga Gotoku (Japan)
• Genre: action role-playing game
• Czech localization: No
• Multiplayer: yes (mini-games for two)
• Download data: 52 GB
• Game time: 15+ hours
• Price: 1220 CZK (pairs)

The treacherous life of an agent

Kiryu, the main character of the original series, faked his own death at the end of his journey in previous episodes in order to cover his tracks and prevent all sorts of enemies from trying to attack him by attacking his loved ones, especially the children from the Morning Glory Orphanage. The Daidoji organization helped him fake his death, but in return reserved the opportunity to use his services from time to time. As their agent, he was given the nickname “Joryu” and vowed never to reveal or expose the secret of his original identity. But when a seemingly routine operation at the port degenerates into a bloody and fiery hell, it becomes clear that someone from the outside has learned the truth. Not only Kiryu is in danger, but also his loved ones, including the children from the orphanage.

I’m not sure how much of this was the writers’ intention, but as the story gets more complex and convoluted, it involves more and more mysterious characters and factions, there are some truly unexpected betrayals or revelations, and so on… the creators really managed to create it feels like you’re playing a spy drama. Your gadgets are more or less built for combat, but the “no one is what they seem, trust no one” theme works perfectly. It helps a lot that the authors are excellent storytellers, so not only is the story as a whole interesting, but the dialogues are very effectively charged with emotions, and the words of the characters will pump adrenaline into your veins, or hit you painfully. when there is a sad or touching twist in a story.

The authors are excellent storytellers.

Thanks to this, they were able to make me feel surprisingly strong emotions from the very first scene in the game, but it was nothing against what awaits you in the subsequent chapters. As I watch the rhythm and quality with which the creators manage to release new installments of their series about organized crime, I wonder what had to happen in order for the creators of the Mafia series, with which Like a Dragon has much in common, to achieving similar performance. Of course, it is worth admitting that the Like a Dragon games improve noticeably in terms of setting, but otherwise they carefully monitor the scope of the game environment (reworking several specific simplified city areas) and, for example, even in this series you will find dialogue consisting only from the text and without dubbing.

Fights and other entertainment

Gaiden is a shorter game (the story will take you about 15 hours if you don’t focus on the side content) that also comes at a lower price. Initially, this was supposed to be one of the chapters of the upcoming eighth part of the main series (Infinite Wealth), which is gradually growing under the hands of the creators. So at first they thought they’d make it its own DLC… and eventually decided it deserved its own game. They reportedly managed to create it in just six months, which seems quite incredible given its complexity. In addition to the story missions, there are a number of side activities and mini-games on offer, some of which are sure to surprise you with their scope and depth.

It offers a variety of extracurricular activities, some of which may surprise you.

Among the most notable activities is a red-haired informant and “broker” named Akame, who develops her business in the alleys of Sotenbori. Among other things, she takes care of the homeless, who also act as her informants. With your help, he will develop his network and activities, leading to the gradual unlocking of a whole constellation of smaller side missions in which you help various civilians in the city. This activity has its own reward system and unlocks additional levels. The wrestling ring in the new location “Palace on the Water” is equally carefully thought out. Here you can also unlock new rewards and even recruit and upgrade teammates, with whom you can then take to the ring for truly epic team battles with great rewards.

The combat system this time is original, that is, a real-time grinder (the seventh and eighth parts turned into a classic turn-based JRPG). The main novelty of this game is the presence of gadgets that you can access as an agent. These include thin wire, attack drones, explosive cigarettes and rocket boots. You can upgrade all these tools and unlock new features or combinations for them. In combat, you can switch between this combat mode as an agent with gadgets (suitable for large groups of enemies) and between the more traditional “Yakuza” fighting style, which is slower but stronger (and therefore more suitable for one-on-one combat). -one fights) by pressing a button. You can set the difficulty of the battles: from very simple to a real challenge. If I had any complaints about the fighting, it was that I was a little annoyed by the unwanted picking up of items in the environment during combat (same button used to open doors), and also the system for “locking” enemies isn’t perfect.

The icing on the cake for many may be the “cabaret” mini-game, where you choose from several seductively dressed hostesses with whom you can then have a drink and get intimate. What makes this activity a little more poignant than one might expect is the fact that for these segments, the creators lifted sequences from female-led live-action films, which also had a fairly strict casting process in Japan. Well, that’s exactly what this series is, and many players enjoy its side content just as much as the main content. I haven’t even mentioned the availability of fully emulated classic Sega games on local slots or racing car activity etc. Of course, the overall experience of the game is helped by the fact that it not only looks great, but also plays great. absolutely smoothly and I didn’t notice a single technical error. Despite the excellent Japanese voice acting, I was disappointed that the creators did not have time to prepare the English voice acting for the game’s release (it will appear later in the form of a patch).