Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

It would be difficult to mention a video game series that has shown the culture, values and idiosyncrasies of Japan with such precision and care as the work of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. The Yakuza series, as we know it in the West, has always been characterised by its enormous attention to detail, the number of activities you can do and the complexity of its stories. For while these are action titles that revolve around the power struggles of the Japanese criminal underworld, there are also moments to remember that revolve around friendship, family, honour and love. Like a Dragon (as the series is now definitively known) has evolved its story as Yakuza itself has evolved in Japan. And the whole process has always revolved around one name: Kazuma Kiryu.

The Dragon of Dojima, fourth former head of the Tojo Clan. The legendary Yakuza. His story should have ended in Yakuza 6: Song of Life, when he had earned his more than just retirement after dealing with literally everyone to escape his former life and give up everything to protect his loved ones. Now that the weight of the series rests on Ichiban Kasuga's shoulders, the definitive relay between the past and the future will come in a few months with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. But to weave that story together and say goodbye to the action series to make way for the turn-based RPG, RGG started thinking about making an "old-fashioned" DLC with Kiryu, but whose story was stretched like chewing gum to create a complete title like this Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.

Like a Dragon Gaiden is hamstrung by the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, as Kiryu's story as an agent of the Daidoji Faction runs concurrently with Ichiban's story in Yokohama. Needless to say, if you've never played a game in the Yakuza series, the story can be a bit confusing. To cut a long story short, Kiryu escapes the Yakuza world by faking his death and agreeing to work as an undercover agent for a mysterious organisation called the Daidoji Faction, until during the course of an operation one of the major Yakuza clans blows his cover, and begins to weave their extortion threads towards him to get him involved in the affairs of the criminal underworld again.

Let's be fair at the outset. When news broke last week that this title had taken six months to develop, it suddenly all made a lot more sense to me, as this is an atypical Like a Dragon. It focuses much more on errands, side quests and mini-games than any of the previous titles, and while it has a main story with the classic elements of the series, it lacks the "oomph" and pacing that an original adventure would have.

Of course, it also brings back the traditional style of gameplay in real-time combat, leaving turn-based combat for Ichiban Kasuga and the new mainline series. This is Kiryu's farewell game, and we're going to enjoy every punch, kick and motorbike throw in real time as if it were our last. We now have two different fighting styles to choose from at any time from the start of a fight. The Yakuza style (beastly blows and quite bloody finishes) and the Agent style, a much more elegant combat discipline in which we use focused strikes on a single enemy and the use of gadgets that could well be part of James Bond's arsenal. Both styles work well together and each has its own skill tree in which to unlock new combos, power-ups and uses of techniques. And by harnessing the power of next-gen consoles to transition between exploration and combat, you'll find yourself looking more for encounters with gang members and yakuza just for the sheer enjoyment of fighting.

And even after you've kicked half the Sotembori neighbourhood's ass (where most of the plot takes place), you can still go to The Castle if you want an extra point of difficulty. The Castle is like a huge adult amusement park filled with casinos, gambling dens, cabaret and a Colosseum where you can indulge in a frenzy of baton-bashing, alone or in the company of allies in Gladiator-style pitched battles. I admit that if it wasn't for this series of games I wouldn't have known many of the traditional oriental games like Oicho-Kabu or Koi Koi, but the arcades with Sega classics include the complete games, and there is an option from the main menu to go directly to play them with a friend with two controllers. I've spent literally thousands of virtual yen on getting back to form in Virtua Fighter 2 and playing Sonic the Hedgehog in-game, playing the hook in the SEGA arcades.

If Yakuza has always had a nostalgic flavour, here it is accentuated to the extreme. The entire game constantly seeks the complicity of the veteran player of the series, whether it be with combat and reenactments of the best moments of the series, or with secondary characters that reappear to have a side mission or a joke together.

All in all, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a title that serves as a bridge between the two main series by filling in those plot holes left over from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, while also offering a complete new epilogue to Kazuma Kiryu as the protagonist, before ceding his throne as Like a Dragon's protagonist to Ichiban Kasuga. Needless to say, if you're planning to play Infinite Wealth in a few months, this is the best possible starting point.