ESGS 2023: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Hands-on Preview
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During ESGS 2023 we got to try out a demo of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth which allows you to explore the changes to the turn-based RPG formula and the many absurd activities that are waiting for us in January 2024.
This demo isn’t anything different from the recent footage released from other established outlets as the demo gave us roughly 30 minutes to do whatever we wanted in a small corner of what feels like the beginning sections of Infinite Wealth. Kiryu and company join Ichiban as he explores the area and does hilarious activities such as the crazy taxi-like delivery mini-game, karaoke, or jumping into the ocean for a quick swim, which so happens to inspire Ichiban for a new job called the Aquanaut.
After I was done with the demo, it was pretty clear RGG has a clear idea of how they want the series to be from this point forward — a mix of serious crime drama storytelling surrounded by all of these wacky and not-too-serious activities and combat, all meant to entertain those playing.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth doesn’t take itself seriously, and I’m all for it
2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon is living proof this direction works and has simply embraced what they did, as everything I’ve seen so far is just as entertaining as the last game. Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a surprising shift for the series and it greatly paid off in my eyes as it’s hard to see the series any other way thanks to Ichiban’s first journey as the main protagonist. It’s a light-hearted second act for the franchise that somehow works — the absurd turn-based RPG elements pair nicely with the weird side quests and mini-games the series is already known for. The heavy crime-drama scenes and writing you’d expect from Ryu Ga Gotoku somehow mesh well with these lighthearted elements, giving it a nice balance. In Infinite Wealth, it feels like they are doubling down on this concept as everything feels familiar from a gameplay perspective but now in a fun tropical setting.
I tried out most of the new Tag Team abilities available, moves where two or more characters pair up to do a move. All of them were clearly designed to get a chuckle out of those watching. One in particular was Tag Team: Tango for Two with one of the new characters Chitose Fujinomiya and Ichiban doing the Tango while damaging those in the way.
I’m still not used to Kiryu in turn-based combat
Wacky abilities aside, the turn-based combat was given slight tweaks as this time you can move the character around before making an action, and if you attack within the blue circle, whatever attack you do will deal more damage. This is an intriguing change that hopefully is meant to add more depth to the game as it was difficult to fully grasp the importance of moving characters since I had limited time to really test it.
The other thing that stood out was that Kiryu can build up his hype meter to do Dragon’s Resurgence, a unique move for Kiryu that simply breaks the game as it makes the player control Kiryu to freely attack enemies similar to how you would do combat in his previous games. He then still has multiple fighting styles to complete the Kiryu profile. It’s not clear if he will have more later in the game but at least in the demo, we had access to the common staples Brawler, Rush, and Beast.
If you haven’t played Yakuza: like a Dragon, it’s best to try it out not for the sake of the story but to see if the wacky turn-based RPG combat is something you can get behind, because if you don’t like Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the chances of you enjoying Infinite Wealth are pretty slim.
It took me roughly 10 minutes to try out every possible activity I could find, and after completing each one, I was smiling all throughout and was sold right at the moment. I ended my time with the demo before my 30 minutes was up as it was clear what RGG was delivering next year. I had enough of the demo as I felt like any more exploring would spoil the fun. The game was familiar, and I was excited to explore this new city and interact with all the weird side quests and activities in the full game.
The odd one out during my time with the demo is Kazuma Kiryu, as it’s still crazy to see him being part of the party now, doing crazy tag team moves with the group as we’ve known him to be this one-man wrecking ball that can knock down anything in front of him. I consider him the complete opposite of Ichiban as far as protagonists go, so I’m eager to see how the writers approached Kiryu not only in this game but Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, the action brawler meant to tie everything together in preparation for Infinite Wealth.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on January 26, 2023.
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