I do like men

The gameplay changes and QoL additions elevate this above LaD 7, but I wish the story was as hard hitting the whole way through. Still a super strong entry to the LaD series. Ichiban my beloved

THE GOTY

I feel conflicted. I started a playthrough immediately after completing (the incredible) Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which remains my main frame of reference, since this one is a sequel. I wish I could ‘soft recommend’ this game instead, but let’s start with the positives:

• The entire amazing cast of Yakuza: Like a Dragon is back and expanded, and now features appearances from characters from across the entire franchise. Ichiban is his usual bubbly self, and the game features the same brand of grandiose epic adventure main story missions, and quirky and comedic side missions.
  
• It includes all the mechanics that worked for Yakuza: Like a Dragon and mostly improves on them. Combat, for instance is a lot more streamlined and less grindy, and you can completely skip low-level mobs. Direction indicators and slight movement also let you plan attacks much better, and the new job system lets you combine skills from any jobs in an easier way.
  
• Getting around the map is quicker, you now have a vehicle of sorts, and the taxi system is improved.
  
• The environments (mostly) got a visual upgrade. Hair, skin and cloth materials on characters react beautifully to the new lighting, and indoor environments especially look stunning and detailed. There’s a brand new map, set in Hawaii, definitely a setting you don’t get to see too often!

Now on to the criticisms:

• The overall story/narrative seemed… lackluster. The prequel had a single tight main narrative, but Infinite Wealth seems to have a LOT going on. The character motivations are more questionable, and seem overall less deep or charismatic. The ending also felt a little predictable, and the game overall seemed more focused on fan service than being an engaging stand alone product.
  
• The game introduces a whole bunch of overworld items, such as food ingredients and crafting materials. This means that you’ll always be pressing buttons every few steps to interact with items that you can pick up. This ended up becoming way too distracting pretty early on in my playthrough, especially considering how valuable some of the junk you pick up can be.
  
• In a similar vein, the game also dials up fetch quests to a 200; the character bonding mechanic now involves you having to traverse the entirety of the map to unlock all social interactions. At first, this seemed like a good way for the player to explore the massive map, but it can get frustrating; for example, traversing the entire map to complete all of your current fetch quests, and then immediately getting a new party member who adds quests of their own.
  
• The mini games personally felt less exciting. The Pokemon-inspired minigame was really fun at the start, but was so skippable / divorced from the main story that it almost felt weird how much content there is for it. Its actual questline is also kind of forgettable. There’s also an Animal Crossing minigame that I almost completely skipped out on.

This might be the newest game in the franchise at time of review, but I’d strongly recommend for this game to not be your entry into the Yakuza franchise.

It's numbered as the 8th entry in the series but not numbered overseas so wHATS THE POINT OF REMOVING THE NUMBER-

i like it

Amazing Game! In terms of gameplay, this an improvement over Yakuza Like a Dragon in every way possible but the story isn't as focused imo. There's so much to do and see in this game. This is every bit as wacky and over the top as you'd expect a Yakuza game to be but cranked to eleven!

Game runs like a dream. Both on PC and Steam Deck. Definite recommendation from me!

The good: It's a really fun game, looks great, and they've improved all sorts of stuff that fell just short in the last Like A Dragon (but that was to be expected since that was their first attempt).

The bad: DLC for New Game+. NG+ is something every RPG should have by default! Not a £15 DLC!

The ugly: The DLC again, and the main price. £60 for games nowadays is steep as hell, but then the further £15 to get *the full game* (which I bet is still a lie, there's still more DLC I didn't buy) is really just taking the piss. £60 flat or nothing at all. I was so tempted to just pirate this game because of how outrageous the pricing for this game was.

Regardless, it's a good game. I'd recommend.

Also only writing this for the steam awards. I wouldn't have bothered otherwise.

I am not the same person I was one yakuza game ago... Game of the year.

fun

How to cook a great game:
1. Karaoke
2. Mahjong

Repeat until dead