The Man Who Erased His Name Review – What’s in a Name?

Like a Dragon Gaiden on PlayStation 5

It’s not fairly often {that a} recreation leaves me annoyed and genuinely entertained in equal measure, however that’s precisely what Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title achieves.

For each spat of gameplay segments that left me feeling exhausted and irritated, there was one thing to convey me again into the narrative. Every repetitive combat was adopted by a unbelievable boss battle, and lackluster aspect tales have been matched by ones which did justice by the collection’ repute.

Suffice to say, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title isn’t an ideal recreation. However it’s one which followers will discover one thing to understand from, and one which holds a couple of moments that really feel just like the Yakuza and Like a Dragon collection at its finest.

Most of that is due to the story. Set simply earlier than and in the course of the occasions of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it supplies a view of what Kiryu did after he faked his personal demise on the finish of Yakuza 6. Aided by a shadowy group referred to as the Diadoji, he efficiently erased most proof of his continued existence from the world in alternate for serving to them proceed their covert actions.

As one would anticipate at this level although, issues don’t go as deliberate and the Dragon of Dojima is drawn again into the world of manly sacrifices, shirtless brawls, and wide-reaching plots; particularly, in Sotenbori. This time although, the plan is that of Daigo and Watase, whereby they want the assistance of probably the most legendary Yakuza to disband the Omi Alliance and Tojo Clan for good. In the long run, Kiryu agrees to assist, signing on for one more “final hurrah” throughout the felony underworld he can by no means let go of.

Whereas a little bit extra constricted because of the truth that it’s a prequel, this narrative is rather more compact and centered than these present in different Yakuza video games. The sport will get proper to setting the stage for its preliminary premise after which hurtles towards a pre-determined final result, doing its finest to weave an fascinating story by way of a couple of new characters and a few wild worldbuilding earlier than wrapping issues up in 5 bulkier chapters in order that the stage is about for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

It undoubtedly leaves the core expertise feeling quick in comparison with the remainder of the collection, however this minimal story runtime additionally made the most important moments from the story extra impactful. I used to be simply as invested within the ultimate combat and some heart-wrenching scenes as I’d have been if I’d spent 60 hours going by means of the plot versus 20 hours, and was grateful for the much less intensive time requirement tied to finishing the sport.

After all, the principle plot isn’t the one factor Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title presents to gamers. There are a bunch of the same old minigames and aspect actions for gamers to search out all through Sotenbori, from playing and combating avenue thugs to competing in a brand new Coliseum. Doing so nets one sources they’ll use to degree up, and in any other case presents some enjoyable and wacky aspect tales to get misplaced in.

The important thing phrase there, nonetheless, is a few. Being a extra compact expertise, there isn’t fairly as a lot selection in what gamers can discover off the overwhelmed path. A lot of the Coliseum challenges blur collectively fairly badly, and the fights with random thugs within the streets turn out to be downright bothersome when you attain a sure potential threshold.

Even the Substories on this one are fairly missing, although they’re technically not even in the identical class as the same old offshoot tales the collection is thought for. Framed as Requests for assist from different residents of Sotenbori, these aspect quests aren’t discovered naturally all through the sport’s world and as a substitute must be unlocked and accepted by way of the brand new data dealer Akame.

This implies gamers must continuously examine in along with her in the event that they wish to participate in additional substantive story content material, breaking apart what’s often a reasonably pure exploration of the atmosphere. It’s fairly tiring, and is made worse by the truth that mentioned aspect missions really feel a little bit half-baked and infrequently stand out as worthwhile distractions for gamers to participate in.

Save for these seeking to full the sport, most will most likely dip their toes into these distractions earlier than shifting onto the meat of the expertise, ignoring the remainder except completely essential.

However then, that is likely to be for the perfect, because the core gameplay mechanics and design components of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title are sound. The fight is about what one would anticipate, providing tight combo-based melee battles. Kiryu’s trademark Brawler fashion returns because the Yakuza Type, and is joined by the brand new Agent Type which makes use of fast hits and devices.

Each are enjoyable sufficient to play, and the latter seems like a worthwhile addition to the rising staple of strategies Kiryu has utilized throughout the collection. Whereas goofy, it’s undeniably enjoyable to name in a swarm of drones or toss enemies off of a bridge utilizing a glowing spy-tech wire, and it saved me within the fight lengthy after I’d dug into the admittedly shallow pool of how to put it to use within the recreation world.

The audio and visible design, in the meantime, is as impeccable as ever. The graphics convey each the characters and setting to life, with small particulars coming out due to the hyper-realistic fashion utilized by developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. The voice appearing is top-notch, and the music both accompanies the motion completely or units the temper with extra mysterious and somber tones.

Whereas it may not be among the many finest entries within the collection, there’s nonetheless sufficient to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title that makes it value taking part in. These prepared to work round some naked bones design and irritating high quality of life points will discover a compact however essential entry within the saga of Kazuma Kiryu, and can be that rather more excited for the subsequent true entry within the franchise.

Concerning the creator

Keenan McCall

Keenan has been a nerd from an early age, watching anime and taking part in video games for so long as I can bear in mind. Since acquiring a bachelor’s diploma in journalism again in 2017, he has written hundreds of articles masking gaming, animation, and leisure subjects galore.