Yakuza returns with a new leading man in Ichiban Kasuga for Yakuza: Like a Dragon. A kind-hearted man who wants to help people and become a hero. Loyal to a fault, Ichiban is shocked to learn that his old Patriarch had joined an enemy Yakuza clan. Ichiban had taken the fall for a crime one of his fellow Yakuza committed on behalf his Patriarch’s request. Years later, following a reunion he searches for answers after his attempted murder by his Patriarch.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a 2020 RPG game, it is developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios and published by SEGA. It is currently available on PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.

Editor’s Note: A Playstation 4/5 review code for Yakuza: Like a Dragon was provided by SEGA in support of this review. Medium spoilers for Yakuza: Like a Dragon may be present within this review. I want to point out that moving forward for titles like Yakuza: Like a Dragon I’ll be using medium spoilers. This is due to me believing that any title with a major shift in direction should be experienced first hand.

Yakuza goes from beat’em up tp turn-based RPG in ‘Like a Dragon’.

Sometime has passed since Kiryu Kazuma left the Yakuza. Opting to disappear into the shadows for the safety of his friends and family his legendary run continues to be told. New lead Ichiban, as the title suggests is a lot like Kiryu. While he may be a member of the Yakuza, his heart is more often than not in the right place. Freshly released from prison Ichiban searches for answers after several changes have taken place in his former clan.

Character leveling and stat increases are important in Yakuza 7.

THE GOOD: Ichiban Kasuga is enjoying his life as a member of the Yakuza apart of the Tojo Clan’s Arakawa Family in 2001 Japan. One day, Ichiban is shocked when he is asked to take the fall for a murder he didn’t commit by his Patriarch Masumi Arakawa. The murder is committed by Jo Sawashiro, Arakawa’s right hand whom Ichiban never really liked. Due to his loyalty and love for the family Ichiban agrees and spends 18 years in prison aspiring to be a hero for Arakawa. Upon release Ichiban is disappointed that no family member is there waiting for him. Only to be greeted by ex-cop Koichi Adachi who begins grilling him on why he took the fall.

Adachi tries to warn Ichiban that things have changed immensely since he was incarcerated, but Ichiban refuses to believe him. Adachi takes him to a funeral which Arakawa & the family are attending. There he gets into a fight with Arakawa members who don’t recognizes him and calls out to his old Patriarch who seemingly ignores him. Adachi tells Ichiban that following the death of Arakawa’s son he betrayed the Tojo Clan and joined & later became the leader of the Omni Alliance. Disheartened by the news, Ichiban again refuses to believe Adachi and he plans to reunite with Arakawa. The two work out a plan to invade an Omni Alliance meeting where Arakawa will be attending.

Ichiban meets Jo after having been separated since his time in prison. Initially Jo is as cold as ever to Ichiban, but following his defeat in a fight he too tries to warn Ichiban over Arakawa’s changes. Arakawa greets Ichiban and the two have a conversation, but Arakawa shoots Ichiban with intent to kill. Three days later Ichiban awakes from being unconscious with his bullet wound being healed in a community of homeless Japanese citizens. There he meets former nurse Yu Nanba who helps him get back on his feet. He makes contact with Adachi again and they along with Yu work together to learn the truth of Omni Alliance & Arakawa.

As Yakuza grows it’s audience it successfully evolves as a franchise.

Ok so let me get this out of the way. People are going to have a love-hate relationship with this game. Doesn’t matter if you’re a Yakuza fan or an RPG fan somethings are going to be off putting. They were for me and it took me months of on and off gameplay to really get into it properly. I’ve been enjoying the Yakuza franchise since the release of 0, so I thought I knew what to expect from the franchise. RGG Studio told me to hold their karaoke mini-game, because Yakuza still has plenty of tricks up it’s sleeve.

There’s a lot to go over in regards to the new mechanics so buckle up. Let’s start with the combat since it’s one of the main draws of the series. It’s good, really good for what it is. You cycle through a menu that has your items, support and damaged based attacks, and special moves. Each party member can have items equipped to them such as weapons which increases their stats like attack and defense attributes. There’s also an option to run, because it’s an RPG so of course there is. After winning each battle you level up which further increases your states and there’s also tag team finishers that have unique purposes.

Here comes the part where people may get lost. Beyond the combat, there’s the rest of the RPG elements that at times can be overwhelming. Keep in mind while ‘Like a Dragon’ isn’t a traditional RPG it very much so is in a sense that newcomers to the genre who are Yakuza fans will get confused (and possibly scared) by it. Like any other RPG you have to use strategy to beat certain enemies like bosses. This means learning how to use support moves to lower attack and defense for example. While it’s not necessarily impossible to get the hang of general fans of Yakuza may not enjoy the extra work needed to make progress from within the game. As I mentioned above you also have to do a run down of the right equipment for proper stat gains from weaponry & gear. Oh yeah, fun fact the combat originally started as an April Fools joke that the team ended up liking as a real concept {yes, really).

Something else to keep in mind with the new mechanics is that enemies also have levels. This is also important because there will be instances where you’ll encounter high level enemy characters with no control of your own. And they will end you very quickly. Bosses also have levels and as expected are far stronger than regular enemies. Meaning they can and will end you in a few hits if you haven’t taken to take care of your party stat wise you won’t have a good time.

Believe it or not this game also has character classes in the form of jobs. While the jobs themselves are mini-games in certain instances the real purpose is to give the party an edge in combat. Jobs in addition to equipment as well as taking time to gain XP can make or break your run early into the game. Yakuza trademarks such as sub-stories and the arcade are also back. And kart racing makes it’s debut in the franchise as well.

In regards to the story it’s more or less what you’d expect from the series. Full of camp with some seriousness in it’s tone as it progresses. I like pretty much all of the main characters. And Ichiban while a more comedic relief version of Kiryu, he differs from him in that he’s willing to get his hands dirty for his goals. Kiryu was more altruistic in contrast with his desires. I wouldn’t mind if Ichiban stuck around as lead protagonist for awhile. But with reports of the next entry being a spinoff rather than a main title it seems we won’t be having a true protagonist for quite a bit.

Like a Dragon takes it’s role as an RPG 100% seriously.

THE BAD: I can see people finding it hard to look past the RPG aesthetic of the game from it’s design and mechanics. If you don’t like RPGs, but recently found yourself loving Yakuza it’s gonna be a rough ride. Even myself who enjoys both found some stopping periods where I had to put the controller down for a bit. The changes can be a bit overwhelming coming from the more simplistic beat up era.

Despite the changes Yakuza 7 never loses it’s trademark spirit.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Yakuza: Like a Dragon took a ton of risks and I really enjoy it when storied franchises go for that. It’s a double-edged sword unfortunately though. For every fan who loves it there’s probably twice as many who think it’s a poor imitation of an RPG. Or fans who think Yakuza is quickly losing it’s way. I think the change compliments the series as it’s never been made to be taken 100% seriously no matter how dark the story gets. Gaming is in this weird place where some publishers are changing things for the worst. But then you have publishers like SEGA and Capcom who are changing franchises, but doing so with genuine interest & heart for the fans put into it.

It’s why I wanted to take my time with Yakuza 7 instead of rushing out the review (about five months of gameplay on and off). Granted you won’t always nail it your first try, but I think the devs for Yakuza 7 should be proud of what they’ve. done. There’s a lot of gimmicky stuff you can do with Yakuza. SEGA actually has done so a bit including a zombie game and a casino like game. The important thing to remember with taking a fan-favorite franchise into some refreshing territory is to not insult the original fans while giving something to newcomers. And I think that Yakuza: Like a Dragon has certainly accomplished that.