The Yakuza series is renowned for its off-the-wall weirdness, but Yakuza: Like a Dragon dials that up to eleven. It's a massive change for the series with a brand new cast of characters and combat system, but the changes work into the series' strengths exceptionally well, and it feels refreshing because of it.

Like a Dragon stars Ichiban Kasuga, a low-level Yakuza in the Tojo Clan. Kasuga is a bit of a failure as a Yakuza, mostly due to the fact he's far too nice and caring, and this eventually leads to him taking the fall for his family and spending 18 years in prison. Kasuga emerges from prison to a changed world, both in its culture and technology as well as the face of its criminal underworld.

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The bulk of Yakuza: Like a Dragon doesn't take place in the series' trademark location, Kamurocho, but instead heads to the Isezaki Ijincho district in Yokohoma. That being said, players will still get to spend a bit of time roaming the streets of Kamurocho. The larger RPG focus also results in a party of characters accompanying Kasuga, which creates an interesting dynamic. It's an integrally different experience from playing as Kazuma Kiryu, and the game's party members are all fascinating characters. While Kasuga's backstory is explored at length, each party member also has a complex story arc that plays out across the game. Ichiban Kasuga himself is a drastic departure from the stoic Kiryu, as he's a much more happy-go-lucky character that more easily shows emotion. Having a goofy two-bit Yakuza completely changes the tone from the grim stone-faced Kiryu.

Yakuza Like a Dragon Main Character

The big talking point of Like a Dragon, of course, is the shift to a turn-based combat system. The change doesn't just apply to combat, however, as Like a Dragon feels like a full-on JRPG beyond just the trappings of how its battles play out. Combat sees the player's party and enemies taking turns attacking, and players have a variety of options to choose from. Despite being turn-based, combat still has that dynamic Yakuza feeling, in part because of its quick pacing. Most turn-based RPGs see the player's party standing in one line and the enemies in another, but Like a Dragon has characters constantly moving and shifting around the field. The camera pans to each character as they take their turn, giving it a more action-oriented feel even though players are just choosing menu commands. Combat has all the typical trappings of a turn-based RPG with status effects, healing items, the ability to flee, and more.

The basic attack command changes depending on which weapon is equipped, and if characters are near objects in the world they'll pick up and use them as weapons. This adds an element of observation and planning into battles, as players need to pay attention to the environment and where characters are standing. This also applies to the placement of enemies, as an enemy standing in a character's path as they're trying to attack can block the attack completely. Each character has several skills to use in combat as well, which change depending on the job they have equipped. There's still a level of interactivity as skills can have boosted attack power if players hit the right button at the right time, or if they hit the guard button the moment an enemy attacks. Each character levels up and gets stat bonuses, and jobs level up independently and grant more stat bonuses per level.

As much as Like a Dragon is a JRPG, a lot of the game also functions as a parody of the JRPG genre. Early on the game explains that Kasuga is a huge fan of Dragon Quest, and his overactive imagination leads him to see every battle as turn-based and transforms enemies into weird creatures. The game's enemies are consistently hilarious, like the Beerserker, a drunk man that uses a trash can lid as a shield and an umbrella as a sword, or the Imp-Patient that uses an IV pole to attack. There's a ridiculous summon system aptly named Poundmates, letting players call in a variety of allies, including a horde of murderous Crawfish. It's clear that the localization team had a fun time with this one.

Yakuza Like A Dragon

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The job system doesn't get fully introduced until a good way into the game, but it allows for a ton of customization options. Players visit Hello Jobs, essentially Japan's office of unemployment, to change to a variety of different professions. These all match the absurdity of the rest of the game, like a musician that uses songs to reduce enemy stats or an office worker that uses a variety of office supplies to attack. Each job feels incredibly distinct, and the variety certainly adds a bit of replay value to the overall experience.

Outside of the drastically different combat system, Like a Dragon is still a Yakuza game through and through, with all the wacky minigames and sub-stories to match. Yakuza: Like a Dragon has some of the most diverse minigames the series has seen, with a full-blown kart racer that has its own narrative to play through, and a surprisingly complex management simulation. A new system called Part-Time Hero also takes the place of the Completion List of previous games and sprinkles rescue and delivery missions throughout the city. While wandering the city players can also discover small conversations between the party that helps build Kasuga's bonds with them. These bonds also develop through combat and once the gauge is full, players can head to Survive Bar to have a kind of heart-to-heart with the party member and raise their bond level, which provides a variety of bonuses. Kasuga also has six different personal stats that he builds throughout the game, and doing so allows him to talk to more characters, open up new sub-stories, and recruit new people for his business.

Juxtaposed against the extreme wackiness of the game is a dramatic story that deals with the future of the Tojo Clan, Omi Alliance, and criminal organizations in general. Right from the get-go, the story is a gripping drama, and Like a Dragon does a fantastic job of humanizing its main villain before players even meet Kasuga. The crux of the drama revolves around Kasuga's relationship with the game's villains, and him coming to grips with how he's been betrayed. The main characters hit rock bottom in every sense of the term, and it's really a journey of redemption for each party member. The story starts strong, hits a bit of a drag after a few hours, but then quickly picks back up and carries on to the end. Players can certainly go in without any prior knowledge of the Yakuza series, but fans have a lot of surprises and treats in store. Like a Dragon is more accessible than ever with a quality English dub that stays true to the game's spirit, although playing in Japanese still feels more traditional to the series.

Yakuza Like a Dragon Can Quest Minigame

Yakuza: Like a Dragon might be a massive change for the series, but it certainly doesn't suffer for it. It's the most exciting and fresh the franchise has felt since Yakuza 0, and players will quickly fall in love with its quirky cast of characters. Like a Dragon is compelling because of how it plays double-duty as both a love letter and parody of the JRPG genre. Its story and combat system take some time to really come together, but once they do, it's a wild fever dream that's not easily forgotten, and one that can be enjoyed even by those who aren't traditionally interested in JRPG stylings and turn-based gameplay.

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon launches on November 10 for PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The game will release on PS5 March 2, 2021. Screen Rant was provided with a PS4 download code for the purposes of this review.