Yakuza: Like a Dragon

1. theworld1313

   Jul 5, 2021

   10

   I think the game is greatness! I love the mini games and the story, also the music is greatness. Its a game with a fresh take on the series!

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. Jamejarrs

   Nov 30, 2020

   10

   Whether you're a newcomer to the series (This is probably the second best jumping on point aside from 0) or a veteran, this game has a lot toWhether you're a newcomer to the series (This is probably the second best jumping on point aside from 0) or a veteran, this game has a lot to love. Ichiban's party give both the combat and the story a lot of depth, and as someone who has spent years with the Japanese actors, the English dub absolutely knocks it out of the park. There wasn't a moment that I'd thought I would rather be playing in Japanese.
   
   Personally I'm a huge fan of the switch to turn-based combat. The ways they portray real-world fights as fantastical RPG battles is constantly inventive and it's a blast to see new moves from both your party and the fighters you come across throughout the city.
   
   Everything to love about Yakuza is still here. The story is an incredibly gripping crime drama, it still has that same zany sense of humor, the side stories always get you invested, and there's hours upon hours of mini games to get yourself lost in.
   
   I have veeery minor nitpicks about the story but nothing big enough for me to consider this as anything other than my 2020 Game of the Year, no contest.… Expand

   • 2 of 7 users found this helpful
4. Zapp_Brannigan

   Nov 12, 2020

   10

   If you like turn base RPJ combat this is your game, the phenomenal combat system plus, a really god and interesting history and cool graphicsIf you like turn base RPJ combat this is your game, the phenomenal combat system plus, a really god and interesting history and cool graphics makes this game a 10/10 for me, you at least need to try it ask for it to a friend our something.… Expand

   • 11 of 21 users found this helpful
5. lalahand

   Sep 20, 2021

   9

   Best jrpg that I have played in years. A very good story. An exciting combat mode. I’m unhappy with only the underground map which forces theBest jrpg that I have played in years. A very good story. An exciting combat mode. I’m unhappy with only the underground map which forces the player to repeat too many boring battles… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. AllNewSuperfake

   Jun 2, 2021

   7

   +10 because every game could be a 10
   
   -1 The presentation does the job, but by now the "new" engine feels dated. Too many clones, too many+10 because every game could be a 10
   
   -1 The presentation does the job, but by now the "new" engine feels dated. Too many clones, too many reused assets, and the facial animations make everyone look like they just burst through a door with an axe shouting "Here's Johnny!". Especially "dungeons" are dull, repetitive affairs, the architecture has no recognition value in most places. In the questionable tradition of older JRPGs items and treasure are never physically present in the world and only exist as boxes or sparkling points with added arrows so that you never feel like you found something, but it found you, and it won't leave you alone until you take it...
   -0.5 ... the loot. Into your inventory. Given your relatively short experience as a homeless person it makes sense that you collect trash, but you will already carry the equivalent of a hardware store in the pockets of your flashy suit when you finally get to use it in a convoluted and tacked-on crafting system. A lot of the stuff you find doesn't make sense.
   
   To find what you are looking for in excel-style menus with microscopic icons, navigating through the dungeon in your pockets and party is a burdensome and complicated affair. Obviously in the spirit of nostalgia, so...
   
   +0.5 for translating the yakuza series into something that resembles the old Dragon Quest series, because even though I've never played it I still recognize music and sound samples from those games, but....
   -0.5 ... it really doesn't do anything for you if you haven't played them except making the more emotional moments in the story come across like memes. Which is a real problem when it comes to
   
   -2 the story. I won't say it's not interesting. Seriously, this game left me terrified that I might not understand what the word "writing" means that everyone was praising here. It's a little bit like reading something a 13 year old boy comes up with when he is writing his first epic novel. There is a lack of basic understanding of the themes and subjects the story is dealing with that left me speechless on a regular basis.
   
   This is, of course, not a franchise where you would expect Shakespeare or serious life lessons or deep philosophy. But it's unfortunately not presented like the filler text it should be instead. I have spent roughly 90 % of the first 6 hours watching TV - meaning cutscenes - and clicking dialogue box after dialogue box without any actual interactivity or choices. It's a superstorm of dramatic tropes with everything from corruption to child abuse, wild conspiracies and power struggles. Tragedies and misery pile up and collide with honor codes and ancient morales, poverty, prison, prostitution, death. And all of that from the perspective of a 13 year old, with all the insight and deep reflection you would expect.
   
   You can basically witness in real time how the writers try to explain to themselves how they got to the point where they needed to be after they got there on a regular basis, and during that process they stumble upon all the plot holes and contradictions they created on their way. So you click away text window after text window and listen to hours of professional voiceacting that, once again, seems like a meme most of the time because it is so f*ing ridiculous. And yet, at the same time, it's like you are watching the main characters standing around, no one knows what is going on and how they got there, so everybody has to improvise while the director is whispering "Just act natural!" from the sideline.
   
   All of this could actually be fun or even well-made satire. But I'm afraid they were serious about this.
   
   -0.5 ... when they are not fighting. Which they will do a lot. You won't be able to walk down any given street without having at least one random encounter, and while I enjoyed the round-based combat because I feel more in control than with the typical button mashing throughout the series, it's just too drawn out, and with the added RPG-nostalgia full of flashy effects and ridiculous power moves it is like constant comical relief. I actually love the idea to have the classic RPG formula translated to a modern day scenario, but given the actual story it's like watching a really sad movie with a constant laugh track playing over it. Even that could work, but it just doesn't.
   
   +0.5 still, even though I felt like I was part of an elaborate joke that I didn't really get - great writing? great scores? Deep characters? Are you f*ing kidding me - I never really got bored. The never-ending storytelling clears up after a few hours and releases you fully into an absurd sandbox that never makes sense, but always comes up with a new ridiculous idea. The actual gameplay has a satisfying flow and sense of progression. I love to hate this series, but I also hate to love it.… Expand

   • 4 of 4 users found this helpful
7. hertzian68

   Jun 7, 2021

   2

   This game is a mixed bag but overall it's a banal excuse of a yakuza game when taken into account the other 7 games in the series. We go fromThis game is a mixed bag but overall it's a banal excuse of a yakuza game when taken into account the other 7 games in the series. We go from the legends and high level yakuza glory and drama with a Kiryu of dignified tragic grandeur and the other legends and their stories to childlike retards and bums with endless UI and dialogue that just crawls along. GAG. The writers LOVE orphans, they love surrogate paternal relationships, they love all types of perversions and all sorts of videogame culture, we get it this is just over the top and does NOT fit in very well with the series as a whole. I don't play turn based combat games, it's too automatic and too UI heavy I prefer control over the experience as much as possible with the least UI in the way. One aspect of why I've played and replayed 0-6 is that it's NOT TURN BASED. This is serviceable but I did NOT play Dragon Quest so the references mean nothing to me. Ichiban seems to SHOUT his lines rather than speak and it sounds like he's on drugs lol. The larger maps are pretty empty and generic, even reworked from Y4/Y5 to my eye. I think Y6 was about 40gb, this monster is 60gb and for what? so they can shout MA MORE! BLOATED. The back stories are just not believable, although that's true for most yakuza games to be fair. This game would have benefit by being shorter and more personal and detailed AND being more Yakuza focused rather than all the other characters etc that have absolutely no YA-KU-ZA whatsoever. Over-Rated. GARRISH. PERVERTED. BANAL.… Expand

   • 1 of 5 users found this helpful
8. Seyta

   Jan 30, 2022

   0

   What a disappointment, I love yakuza games, especially Yakuza 0. But yakuza dragon is just bad and boring, it's sad to says. I love RPG & turnWhat a disappointment, I love yakuza games, especially Yakuza 0. But yakuza dragon is just bad and boring, it's sad to says. I love RPG & turn based games but it's just really bad on this game. And all the crazy outfits, weapons etc just sucks, we are not in saints row.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful

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