Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Perhaps the biggest hindrance to writing this review was simply that I wanted to keep on playing. At its best, Yakuza: Like a Dragon has had as much heart and character as any of the strongest games in the franchise. At its worst, it’s still been a game that I can’t get enough of. The team’s writing has continued to improve with each installment since Yakuza 0. Yakuza 7 is well on its way to letting Kasuga rub shoulders with Kiryu’s greatest adventures. Sadly, I still haven’t seen how it ends up, but nearly everything I have seen has been wonderful thus far. It’d take a Final Fantasy 7 Remake level of poorly executed endings to really sour the experience, yet even then, I can say that Yakuza: Like a Dragon would’ve been worth it.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a phenomenal entry into the Yakuza franchise, with an interesting new protagonist, a compelling story, and a combat system that constantly mixes things up.

After over 100 hours of play, I’ve completely fallen in love with this new take on Yakuza. With its robust character relationships, expansive job system, kinetic turn-based combat, and all of the usual Yakuza wackiness and heartbreak, this has rapidly become my current favorite in the series. For traditional RPG fans on the fence about Yakuza, this new JRPG-inspired entry is the perfect place to start! For those who prefer the classic beat-em-up combat, I implore you to give the new gameplay a try. If it doesn’t stick, don’t worry, because I suspect that Judgment will become the new home of this time-tested combat system. For me, Yakuza: Like a Dragon stands as one of the greatest RPGs of 2020 and (hopefully) the beginning of a brand-new era of Yakuza!

Yakuza: Like a Dragon transforms the long-running beat'-em-up series into a Japanese role-playing game—and it's shockingly good. Though it retains some of the past games' clunky character animations, Like a Dragon's action-packed combat and engaging story make it a must-own RPG.

Just like a next gen release title, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the next gen for an aging game series, and I don’t mean it in a bad way, but that is a welcomed change. I will miss Kiryu as a protagonist, but Ichiban Kasuga is wonderful as well, he is relatable and isn’t afraid to say what he feels, and so will I: this game is amazing and I hope you’d like it too.

The first JRPG Yakuza game has some issues in execution, but nothing that amounts to more than a minor annoyance. This is a truly excellent revamp of the long-running series, and a superb starting place for newcomers.

Like all great over-the-top art, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is grounded in humanity. Humanity that is personified in the new and wonderful protagonist Ichiban Kasuga.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a new frontier for the Yakuza series, and the life and crimes of the series feels right at home in this new setting. Ichiban is an instant addition to the pantheon of Yakuza legends, his party an endearing band of ruffians, with the combat doing just enough to make everything familiar feel new again. Where Yakuza goes from here is anyone's guess, but mechanical friction aside, this is a step in a fun and compelling new direction.

An utterly charming yarn about friendship and kindness that breathes gritty modern life into the quaint JRPG format of classic Dragon Quest.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon reminded me why I loved video games to begin with. I cannot think of a game this year that has gripped me this tightly and didn’t let go. Here comes a game brimming with joy and excitement that is earnest with its drama and comedy. It’s the sort of game you can gush about for hours, and I will long after this review is published. Anyone who loves RPGs, open world games, comedies, crime dramas, and games PERIOD should have a lot of fun with the newest Yakuza.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a brave reboot that manages to change the recipe very successfully and you will love it, especially if you have even a slight appeal to JRPGs or turn-based games in general. It is not perfect, mainly thanks to the "childhood" diseases which were inherited from other representatives of the genre (such as grinding), however it remains a highly enjoyable and entertaining game that can offer dozens of hours of enjoyment.

Atmospheric gangster epic with many memorable moments and a wide array of mini-games. It does recycle some ideas from its predecessors.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a successful pivot from traditional Yakuza mainstays. The game goes heavy on style, while still packing in enough substance to keep players satisfied. The party system and new RPG elements give players more ways to play than ever before. The turn-based combat is solid, and never feels too foreign. Longtime fans of the franchise will appreciate what Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and SEGA have to offer in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Yakuza’s new direction maintains the series signature drama and deckings, while finding rich new comedy in its weirdest beatdowns yet. Hugely entertaining stuff.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a bold shift in direction, one that succeeds more than it stumbles in the pursuit of its new design.

When the game is fixated on familial struggles – everything circling patriarch Arakawa, his son Masato, and Ichiban – I'm glued to the screen.

A fun, charming, and occasionally brilliant Yakuza game, let down by an overabundance of repetitive turn-based battles.

From a studio that's never really ventured into the genre of traditional JRPGs, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is an impressive inaugural effort. It's not perfect by any means, as the turn-based combat still has some growing pains in its current iteration. Coupled with repetitive dungeon design and an unfair endgame grinding requirement, these downsides cast an unfortunate sting on an otherwise very solid JRPG.

There is a decent game lurking beneath Yakuza: Like A Dragon. Its experimental, numerous half-baked ideas in the shift to a turn-based RPG drag it down from being an excellent experience, but the core ideas are solid enough on paper that they could be amazing if given a future chance. After all, this is the first time the Ryu ga Gotoku Studio development team has embarked on this wild idea to transform this long-running series into something it has never been before. I do disagree that this title can serve as a newcomer’s first foray into the Yakuza series. Yakuza: Like A Dragon is not outstanding, but its vision of what an RPG would look like set in today’s world is fascinating. I played the entire game with Japanese audio and I must say, Ichiban’s voice performance in the finale of his game is phenomenal.