2023 will always be remembered by me as the year that the Yakuza/Like a Dragon games were finally seen as a big release in the West. I say that because, in the course of one year between releases, we have gotten three full-length Like a Dragon games, a remake of a Japanese-only release that no one expected to come to the West, and a side game that ties into the upcoming Like a Dragon 8, which is aiming to release at the end of January. It has been good times for Yakuza fans with all the games being released, and now we have this one. Like a Dragon Gaiden is a smaller-scale journey when compared to the other games in the Yakuza series, but compared to other games, it gives you more content than most AAA games despite being smaller in scope. However, it does have some caveats; as it is story-focused, the traditional bloat of the Like a Dragon games starts to show its head and becomes a bit of an annoyance.
The game picks up months after the events of Yakuza 6; series lead Kazuma Kiryu has faked his death to protect the ones he loves and is now in debt to an underground crime group, that has deep ties in the politics of Japan, after a failed hit on Kiryu’s handler he goes on a quest to find out what is going on and how he is involved in all of this. So, in terms of new ground after finding new life in Yakuza Like a Dragon, this story goes back to basics; you get a lot of people in suits talking, and then something crazy happens, which is the charm of the Yakuza games. Kiryu here is the most emotionally complex we have seen him to date. You get the feeling early on that he doesn’t want to be here, but he has to due to what he knows about the Japanese crime world. I will say this about the story, there was a point near the end, that broke me so hard I ended up ugly crying, mainly because a decade’s worth of games with character development finally came together, and it felt earned.
As for the gameplay, the game goes back to the traditional Like a Dragon beat-em-up style, a mix of old and new. You get a new fighting set with a bunch of gadgets; one involves you shooting wire from your watch and whipping enemies around like you are Wonder Woman. You also have the same move set from Yakuza 6, which involves timing punches, grabbing the environment, and throwing it around at the enemies. Though, like most Yakuza games, once you find a way to break the combat like a twig the game becomes very easy and given the short length, you’ll find that game-breaking combo earlier when compared to the other games. That being said, it nice to fall back into that brawler comfort zone after the franchise made the switch over to turn-based combat, and all the mental timing with the moves fell back into place.
As for the side content, for which Yakuza has become somewhat infamous for, nearly all of them are reused from the old games, which makes sense as the game holds up the “side-game” shield when this issue is brought up. You have the classic karaoke, in which fan-favorite songs from across the series have returned, including one new track that gave me the feels and takes the place as that one song to show people what makes Yakuza such a unique experience. Some of the other casino games have returned, including Mahjong, which I tried to understand this time, and no luck; the same situation with Shogi. You also have the surprising return of Pocket Circuit racing, which I never expected to see again, and just like in previous games, once you get the right build, you can cruise past the competition. But then you have an in-game ranking system which the more you rank up, the more stuff you unlock, which I found to be a good incentive on exploring and experiencing everything the game offers. That is until the halfway point, where it stops you in your tracks just as the story reaches the climax to rank up the ranking; this is where the Yakuza bloat issue I mentioned starts to pop its head out while once again wearing the “side-game” hat. It wasn’t an issue for me because I was already ranking up as the game kept opening stuff up, but I should mention it for people who are going to mainline this game before Yakuza 8 comes out.
Now, is Like a Dragon Gaiden worth it if you aren’t a Yakuza fan? No, it is not; this is a game made for fans who want a bit of that Yakuza taste before the next big installment comes out. I mean, they added a demo of Yakuza 8 on the main menu of this game, which gives you an idea on who this game was made for. On the other side of the coin, if you are a Yakuza fan, should you spend your time with this game? Yes, it was quite a good experience, much more fleshed out than I expected when I heard about the game’s lengths. Going back into the crime underworld as Kiryu for a few hours was quite a delight, but that is coming from a fan’s perspective, and I feel like those are the type of players who will get the most out of this game.
Score: 7 out of 10
Reviewed on Xbox Series X