Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth on PS5
As a long-time Yakuza fan, I’ll admit I might by no means fairly get into the previous Ichiban game. It spun the Yakuza format into one thing shockingly new, and I didn’t fairly mesh with it. It felt too inflexible once I would have most popular simply to hammer the sq. button and decimate no matter enemy Kiryu was dealing with. Happily, Infinite Wealth has made particular enhancements to the turn-based fight from the final recreation, and I discovered myself having fun with it far more this time round.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth takes place 4 years after the occasions of Ichiban’s first journey, with the fallout from the Nice Dissolution nonetheless very recent. Ichiban truly has a job with Howdy Work to assist the displaced Yakuza discover gainful employment and new that means to their lives. Nonetheless, a nasty rumor spreads, which misrepresents what he’s making an attempt to do, and Ichiban finds himself out of a job. Although this implies he can not assist his Yakuza brethren, it frees him as much as tackle a distinct activity.
Summoned by his earlier captain, Sawashiro, Ichiban is tasked with discovering a girl who has a connection to himself and his late household patriarch. This quest takes Ichiban (and the collection) out of Japan for the primary time, into the island paradise of Hawaii. From right here, it’s the standard Yakuza/Like a Dragon story you would possibly count on, filled with betrayal, surprising allies, and loads of fistfights. I’ll say that whereas it hits loads of acquainted notes, I used to be nonetheless glued to the story from starting to finish, like a terrific cleaning soap opera.
Probably the most surprising components of the brand new location is that, clearly, it follows a distinct foreign money, so upon arriving, your earned Yen shifts to USD. I’ve to say, placing cash gained from fights into context completely modified how I spent what I earned. All through the sooner Hawaii sections, I discovered myself money-conscious for the primary time on this collection. It’s additionally fairly humorous to win a battle solely to get round $5, and that had me chuckling for a bit.
Having this angle meant a lot extra once I was holding solely $50, and a well being merchandise I wanted was fairly costly. For that reason, I by no means shied away from a single battle, because it was a superb whereas till I felt like I had a snug wealth, nevertheless it by no means as soon as felt infinite. I used to be grateful to the aspect content material for added methods to make just a little additional dough.
Talking of fights, the most effective change performed to fight is that you just truly get to maneuver and place your social gathering members, lending a little bit of technique to each battle. Between two character combo assaults and particular assaults with a particular assault space, it makes every battle really feel like far more than simply tapping the identical buttons till victory. I’d name this the singularly most vital development from the earlier recreation to this one, and it’s most likely why I used to be capable of dive proper in and luxuriate in myself.
Not that this implies something to anybody however me, however because the setting shifted to America, it meant the names of enemies modified. Attending to defeat an enemy that had my identify in a Yakuza recreation is most actually a spotlight of my life. The screenshot I took of the primary time I noticed my identify is my new trophy.
There may be additionally a brand new slate of Jobs to uncover for Ichiban and the gang. This made it good and simple to search out the groove with the social gathering, and it was simple to modify out. There have been a number of characters that I felt had been much better as their default jobs versus new ones. I used to be completely happy to search out that I by no means felt penalized for this lack of experimentation.
So far as aspect content material goes, there’s little question in my thoughts that that is the most important Yakuza/Like a Dragon recreation but. The sport permits you to totally discover three separate maps, every with the same old arcades, playing, and retailers. I used to be extremely shocked when the latter half of the story launched the third map, as I hadn’t anticipated it to be an possibility.
Ichiban additionally finally ends up as soon as once more being concerned with discovering Sujiimon. The wrinkle this time is that they’re utilized in a Pokemon-esque method the place you’ll be able to add them to your roster and battle them to battle the “Discreet 4.” Because the obtainable Sujimon are simply common enemies, you could have additional causes to have interaction in each battle accessible. There may be additionally a associated gacha to take in any of Ichiban’s hard-earned cash at $100/roll on essentially the most fundamental tier.
For an added journey, Ichiban finally ends up on Dondoko Island, the place a resort is beneath siege by pirates who’re utilizing the island to dump their trash. Restoring the resort means crafting plenty of random objects to enhance the resort’s recognition to satisfy necessities to revive its former glory. This administration sim is extra sturdy than I anticipated and offers you free rein to position all kinds of wacky props in designated areas.
These are simply a number of the Ichiban choices, as effectively, because the story additionally focuses on the collection hero, Kazuma Kiryu. Although it feels just a little unnatural to be controlling Kiryu in turn-based, his place within the recreation is a vital one. Infinite Wealth appears like a love letter to followers who’ve journeyed with Kiryu from the start, as a complete part of the sport has you working by way of areas discovering spots for him to reminisce on reminiscences followers will recall.
The best factor is that these aren’t any reminiscences from the mainline titles both, as there are mentions of spin-offs Ishin, Kenzan, and Lifeless Souls, all of which Kiryu remarks on as desires he had. Whereas I used to be prepared to skip over another content material, I made a beeline for all of those as they had been a welcomed journey down reminiscence lane and reignited my want to revisit the older titles.
My solely slight annoyance with the story was that it took eternally to acknowledge any a part of The Man Who Erased His Name. In that recreation, Kiryu was very strict along with his alias, however everybody in Infinite Wealth simply threw it round. Whereas the argument may very well be made that there was much less danger in Hawaii, it nonetheless felt too disconnected from a recreation that was imagined to bridge the story.
I can’t precisely promote Infinite Wealth as an simply accessible JRPG for anybody to take pleasure in. It’s a dense recreation with at the least a 100-hour journey for gamers to undertake. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re prepared to courageous the time dedication, there’s a tremendous story right here that appears like essentially the most becoming wrap-up for anybody who has beloved Kazuma Kiryu all through the collection. I don’t know the place a potential ninth recreation would possibly take the collection, however getting right here has been an unimaginable expertise.
Execs
Terrific (and anticipated) Yakuza cleaning soap opera-esque story.
The sport appears like a love letter to followers who’ve been taking part in since Yakuza 1.
Extra Kazuma Kiryu than I ever anticipated.
Three open-world maps to discover.
Shift to USD foreign money truly makes the sport really feel just a little financially disturbing (however in a enjoyable method).
Cons
Feels prefer it undermines how vital The Man Who Erased His Title shoud’ve been to the story.
Launch Date
January 26, 2024
Developer
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
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