Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Developer(s)Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Ryosuke Horii[1]
Producer(s)Hiroyuki Sakamoto
Programmer(s)Yutaka Ito
Artist(s)Nobuaki Mitake
Writer(s)Masayoshi Yokoyama
Kazunobu Takeuchi
Tsuyoshi Furuta
Composer(s)Chihiro Aoki
SeriesLike a Dragon
Platform(s)
ReleaseJanuary 26, 2024
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth[lower-alpha 1] is an upcoming role-playing video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It is the ninth mainline entry of the Like a Dragon series, and a direct sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020) and the spin-off title Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (2023).

Infinite Wealth stars Ichiban Kasuga, protagonist of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Kazuma Kiryu, the original protagonist of the series, and takes place in the franchise's first-ever overseas locale, Hawaii, in addition to familiar settings in Japan. Together with old and new allies, Kasuga and Kiryu team up to help the former find and reunite with his mother in Hawaii, while the latter struggles to survive with cancer.[2]

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is set to release worldwide on January 26, 2024.[3]

Gameplay

In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, players control Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu, and their respective party members, as they explore the Isezaki Ijincho district of Yokohama, as well as Honolulu City in Hawaii. Similar to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the game employs a turn-based combat system for all playable characters. Each character can choose from a multitude of "jobs", which act as classes that grant them distinctive perks and playstyles.[4] Kiryu's unique job, "Dragon of Dojima", provides him with the ability to switch between multiple fighting styles, while also allowing him to temporarily perform real-time combat, similar to the brawler gameplay from previous Like a Dragon titles.[5] The Poundmates summon system returns, featuring a variety of new and returning franchise characters, such as Shun Akiyama and Kaoru Sayama.[4]

Several minigames from previous entries return, such as Karaoke, Darts, Mahjong, and arcade games, including Virtua Fighter 3tb, Sega Bass Fishing, and SpikeOut.[6] In addition, new minigames are introduced in Infinite Wealth, such as Crazy Delivery, a food delivery game inspired by Sega's Crazy Taxi franchise; Sujimon Battle, a Pokémon parody game; and Miss Match, a dating app for Kasuga.[4] A major side activity, Happy Resort Dondoko Island, tasks Kasuga with managing his own resort island, combining objectives such as resource gathering, crafting, and social interactions.[7] Kiryu also has his own side activity, Bucket List, which focuses on Kiryu reuniting with his old friends and allies from previous Like a Dragon titles.[8]

Premise

Honolulu, HI, a major setting in Infinite Wealth and the franchise's first-ever overseas setting

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth takes place in 2023, and follows former Tojo Clan yakuza members Ichiban Kasuga (Kazuhiro Nakaya/Kaiji Tang) and Kazuma Kiryu (Takaya Kuroda/Yong Yea) as they embark on a new adventure in Isezaki Ijincho, Yokohama and Honolulu, Hawaii. Following a tip from a former ally, Kasuga travels to Honolulu in search of his biological mother, Akane Kishida (Yoshiko Sakakibara), who he thought had died many years ago. Meanwhile, Kiryu is also present in Honolulu in search of Akane per the Daidoji faction's orders, and teams up with Kasuga to find and protect her from various local criminal organizations. In the process, Kasuga also learns that Kiryu has contracted cancer, and has an undetermined amount of time to live.[2]

Kasuga's party members from Yakuza: Like a Dragon return, including: Yu Nanba (Ken Yasuda/Greg Chun), Koichi Adachi (Akio Otsuka/Andrew Morgado), Saeko Mukoda (Sumire Uesaka/Elizabeth Maxwell), Tianyou Zhao (Nobuhiko Okamoto/Robbie Daymond), and Joongi Han (Yuichi Nakamura/Keong Sim). Joining the playable roster are Seonhee (Hana Takeda/Fiona Rene), leader of the Ijincho-based Geomijul syndicate and Yokohama Liumang gang, and a supporting character from the previous title; Eric Tomizawa (Satoru Iguchi/Matthew Yang King), a local taxi driver in Hawaii; and Chitose Fujinomiya (Anju Inami/Suzie Yeung), Akane's personal maid.[3] Also returning from the previous game is Jo Sawashiro (Shinichi Tsutsumi), the former captain of the Tojo Clan's Arakawa Family and one of Kasuga's adversaries. Other major characters include: Eiji Mitamura (Ryo Narita/Aleks Le), a disabled individual who Kasuga meets and befriends at Honolulu; Masataka Ebina (Hiroki Hasegawa/Daniel Dae Kim), captain and acting chairman of the Ijincho-based Seiryu Clan; Yutaka Yamai (Takehito Koyasu), patriarch of the Hawaiian Yamai Syndicate; Dwight Méndez (Shuhei Matsuda/Danny Trejo), leader of the Hawaiian Barracudas gang; Wong Tou (Takuya Matsumoto), commander of the Chinese Ganzhe Mafia; Kihei Hanawa (Hiroki Tōchi/Jake Eberle), Kiryu's handler in the Daidoji faction; and Bryce Fairchild (Tōru Furuya), the head of Palekana, a Hawaiian religious group.[3] Kasuga's biological father, Masumi Arakawa (Kiichi Nakai), appears in flashbacks. Also appearing in the game is Tatara Hisoka, a VTuber who uses her platform to defame Kasuga and expose Kiryu's status to the world.[3][2]

Infinite Wealth features a multitude of returning characters from previous Like a Dragon games, including: Goro Majima (Hidenari Ugaki/Matthew Mercer), Taiga Saejima (Rikiya Koyama/Ron Yuan), and Daigo Dojima (Satoshi Tokushige/Tim Friedlander), former Tojo Clan officers and Kiryu's long-time allies; Osamu Kashiwagi (Shunsuke Sakuya/David Hayter), the proprietor of Survive Bar and a former Tojo Clan senior officer; Makoto Date (Kazuhiro Yamaji/Bill Farmer), a Kamurocho police detective; Shun Akiyama (Koichi Yamadera), a Kamurocho loan shark; Kaoru Sayama (Aya Hisakawa), an Osakan police detective and Kiryu's former love interest; and Haruka Sawamura (Rie Kugimiya/Xanthe Huynh), Kiryu's adopted daughter.[2][8]

Development and promotion

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was announced in September 2022 during Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Summit livestream, initially named Like a Dragon 8. The first announcement trailer featured voiceover from various characters in the game, followed by the on-screen appearance of both Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu. Kiryu's design was a notable highlight due to the major contrast with his past appearances.[9]

In early 2023, RGG Studio hosted a Cabaret Club Grand Prix competition, in which five models were chosen to appear as live-action hostesses for the cabaret club minigame in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, while the Grand Prix winner is chosen to appear as an in-game character in Infinite Wealth. Among the five finalists, VTuber Kson ultimately won the Grand Prix.[10] Her character, Kei, appears in a supporting capacity as a worker at Revolve Bar, which also serves as a hangout spot for the player characters.[11]

A second trailer premiered at Xbox Games Showcase 2023, teasing a new setting outside of Japan, while also confirming the new title.[12] RGG Studio Director Masayoshi Yokoyama explained the Infinite Wealth subtitle as a direct tie to the themes in the story, and also as a differentiation between the international version of the game and the Japanese version, the latter of which is simply titled Ryū ga Gotoku 8.[13]

In September 2023, RGG Studio hosted a second Summit livestream, detailing the story and characters, as well as gameplay features of Infinite Wealth via two new trailers. The studio also revealed Japanese cast members of the game, and announced actors Danny Trejo and Daniel Dae Kim as part of the English voice cast.[3] In addition to the English dub, for the first time in the series, a Chinese dub will also be available for Infinite Wealth, with karaoke songs sung in Chinese by the Chinese voice cast, with lyrics shown in Chinese pinyin (on all languages, besides Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, which now displays Traditional Chinese lyrics if the voices are set to Japanese; Simplified Chinese lyrics will be displayed when playing with Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese text if the voices are set to Chinese).

In October 2023, RGG Studios unveiled Happy Resort Dondoko Island, a side activity featured in Infinite Wealth, as part of Xbox's Partner Preview livestream.[7] In December 2023, the studio released a trailer for the Bucket List story, noting it as a major side activity for Kiryu in Infinite Wealth.[8]

Release

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is set to release worldwide on January 26, 2024 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.[12][3] A special trial version for the game is included with the spin-off title Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, released on November 9, 2023, available after beating the game's main story for the first time.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Ryū ga Gotoku 8 (Japanese: 龍が如く8, lit. "Like a Dragon 8")

References

  1. ↑ "Announcement from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio". Ryu Ga Gotoku Official Website. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Parker, Jason (September 20, 2023). "Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth story breakdown: What was learned during LAD Direct". Sportskeeda. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Romano, Sal (September 20, 2023). "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches January 26, 2024". Gematsu. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Sinha, Ravi (September 20, 2023). "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Gameplay Showcases Combat, New Jobs, Summons and More". GamingBolt. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  5. ↑ Gerblick, Jordan (September 21, 2023). "Don't like Yakuza's new turn-based combat? Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth lets Kiryu switch to real-time brawling". GamesRadar+. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  6. ↑ Romano, Sal (December 11, 2023). "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth details minigames". Gematsu. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  7. 1 2 Jarvis, Matt (October 25, 2023). "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth puts its own Yakuza-style twist on Animal Crossing in new minigame Dondoko Island". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 Ren (December 8, 2023). "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's New Trailer – 'Bucket List' Now Available!". SakuraIndex.jp. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ Ngan, Liv (September 14, 2022). "Like a Dragon 8 officially announced". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ Lada, Jenni (May 28, 2023). "VShojo's Kson Wins Yakuza Grand Prix To Be in 2 Like a Dragon Games". Siliconera. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  11. ↑ Nelva, Giuseppe (September 22, 2023). "Popular VTuber Kson's Character in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Revealed". TechRaptor.net. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  12. 1 2 Marks, Tom (June 12, 2023). "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Revealed, Coming 2024". IGN. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  13. ↑ Price, Leighs (June 15, 2023). "RGG Studio Director Explains Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's Name". Siliconera. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  14. ↑ Ramsey, Robert (August 18, 2023). "Like a Dragon Gaiden Looks Awesome, Includes Trial Version of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth". Push Square. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
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