Like A Dragon Gaiden Made Me Tear Up

Tears flowing down the congested rivers

8 min readNov 17, 2023

It has been a long time since a video game has gotten a tear out of me. Interestingly enough, the last time I teared up playing a game was Yakuza: Like A Dragon. With Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name releasing on November 9, 2023, I spent the last few days beating the main story and a few of the side quests. If this is the first time you’re reading a review from me, here is how I judge them:

Story (if applicable)
Gameplay
Music (if applicable)
Multiplayer (if applicable)
Side Content (if applicable)

I also give two scores: a score out of 10 and another dubbed the Lamp of Approval.

Red Lamp of Disapproval

I don’t recommend it.

Yellow Lamp of Approval

I recommend it, but wait for a sale or rent.

Azure Lamp of Approval

I highly recommend you to play.

Of course, the out of 10 score will bleed into the Lamps of Approval and vice versa. But the goal of the two different scores is to give a rating out of 10 that seems fair for what I like and what I think others might like. With that in mind, let’s get into it.

Story

Like A Dragon Gaiden’s story sees the return of old series protagonist, Kiryu Kazuma, in one of the shortest mainline Yakuza games to date. Going under the alias Joryu, he completes assignments given to him by a mysterious group, named the Daidoji Faction, as a secret agent. The spin-off takes place between the ending events of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and Yakuza: Like A Dragon. If you have played Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the climax of the story is in a familiar setting with the return of iconic characters both old and new to the series. The main story is around 10 hours long, spanning five chapters. Here in lies the problem I have with Gaiden: the pacing.

The pacing in Like A Dragon Gaiden is a little off. It begins with a bang. Joryu and his fellow Daidoji agents are ambushed after rolling out the red carpet for an important job. Here, he has his first encounter with the hannya masked man. Bombastic fights and explosions; it really leaves an impression of that old Yakuza brawler feel. After this, Joryu is tasked with finding someone named Akame; a person who controls the Akame Network in one of my favorite cities in the franchise, Sotenbori. The Akame Network is a system built on information collected from the homeless on the streets of Sotenbori. They help Akame in exchange for protection. Under Akame, Joryu is made to do tasks for her ranging from getting food for the homeless to dressing up for women who miss their loved ones.

“..even someone who can mow down countless enemies with a hard-boiled look can still have an emotional attachment to the world.”

For a good chunk of the game, it feels like you are doing an extended substory that involves helping the homeless and gaining points in order to progress the main story. During this section, you are introduced to this place called the Castle; a ship at sea where people of a certain status can live out their darkest fantasies. This is where the story slows down quite a bit. At this point, you have to do missions for the Akame Network and rank up to level 10 to progress any further. I didn’t mind this personally as I like to take my time with games, but I can acknowledge that this slowdown won’t be for everyone. Once you’ve done that, the story drags on with little to no progress in the plot.

With all of that being said; when the story grinds its gears, it kicks it into overdrive. In typical Yakuza fashion, you fight through waves of henchmen and bosses to a conclusion that makes a grown man shed a few tears. Due to spoiler reasons, I won’t reveal why Kiryu was bawling his eyes out. I will say that the reason is justified and makes sympathy for the former series protagonist grow to heights unbeknownst to fans. It shows that even someone who can mow down countless enemies with a hard-boiled look can still have an emotional attachment to the world.

Gameplay

Like most games; the one thing that should stand above everything is gameplay. Gaiden does this well with the most refined combat for Kiryu. Kiryu has two fighting stances to choose from: Yakuza Style and Agent Style.

Yakuza Style is the refined version of the Dragon Style in past games. Charged moves feel more satisfying to hit while still feeling smooth. RGG Studios has taken the juggle system from the Judgment series and implemented it in Kiryu’s move set with great success. Old moves from past games bounce the opponent higher; allowing cooler combos and more freedom of expression from the player. Similar can be said of the Agent Style.

Agent Style is a new stance for Kiryu. Learning it to pass the time at the Daidoji Temple; Agent Style introduces new mechanics to the series. Kiryu has access to a Spider-Mantool that allows him to grapple enemies distanced from himself and pull them towards him. He can swing them into each other or stun them in place. It all depends on the player. Kiryu also gets ahold of drones that can swarm the enemy, a bomb in the shape of a cigarette, and jet-fueled shoes to zoom around the battlefield.

Due to the way the game handles juggles, switching between styles mid-combo gives a satisfying feel similar to those of Lost Judgment. That, along with the new agent style, makes for the best combat in the series save Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

Music

“…music really embodies the tone..”

When people heard the opening theme by J.I.D. and Yojiro Noda, they were skeptical of the hip-hop vibe the game was giving. With a series rooted in hard-hitting guitar licks, who wouldn’t be? After playing the game, it fits like a glove. The somber lyrics mixed with the lo-fi beat make a concoction that fits the overall tone of the game. This applies to the other songs in the game. The battle music gives an up-tempo beat that still sounds like an old man fighting alone in the world. Like past games, the theme slightly changes when switching between fighting styles. The last boss fight music really embodies the tone RGG was going for. A fast-paced tempo with an undertone of sadness really shows where Kiryu is as a character and where they want him to go in the story heading forward. Naturally, we can’t talk about music in the Yakuza Franchise without a staple game mode: karaoke.

Side Content

The Yakuza franchise is known for its gut-wrenching main story paired with the most outlandish side stories and mini-games seen in video games. Like A Dragon Gaiden is no different from the rest in the series. The staple karaoke mode returns with Baka Mitai, Hands, TONIGHT, Like a Butterfly, and Sayonara, Silent Night as the songs of choice. It’s always fun to hit up the karaoke bar after doing a little racing in the returning Pocket Circuit. Pocket Circuit is similar to how it is in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami. If you haven’t played those versions of the mini-game; you ‌ upgrade a little RC car to race around a track to win tournaments. Pocket Racing is the only tournament you enter in the game.

Coliseum makes its grand return after missing several titles. You do an all-out brawl with teammates you acquire doing Akame Network missions. Take it solo and battle it out one-on-one or one versus many. This version is the best, as playing as Kiryu isn’t the only option. You have options within the game, but in typical modern game fashion, you can purchase old series protagonists such as Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima to play as.

“Gaiden stays in line with the rest of the series….”

Hostess clubs make the jump to Gaiden with a shocking reality twist. This year’s hosts are prerecorded live-action cut-scenes instead of the in-game models of the previous entries. I don’t mind them, but they also feel a bit off. It takes me out of the immersion of the game as opposed to keeping me locked in the world of Gaiden.

Other mini-games return such as blackjack and poker. They don’t do anything special, they’re just the run-of-the-mill Yakuza mini-games. With all of this tied into one game, Gaiden stays in line with the rest of the series being packed with side content.

Conclusion

Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a great conclusion to the solo Kiryu story. Even with its shorter story, it still stands tall as its own game compared to others in the franchise. The price of $49.99 is justified because of its packed content and new additions to the mini-games. However, the slow parts in the middle of the story drag the experience down. For that, I have to give it a score of:

As a newcomer to the Yakuza franchise, my attachment to these games might not be as strong as some people reading this who have played these games for over a decade. I only got into them a few years ago. I even love the ones people didn’t adore as much like Yakuza 3. Seeing Kiryu going through pain hurts me as well. I rarely cry for anything, let alone video games. When that happens, a studio should have more confidence in their storytelling, like RGG Studios with their story with Kiryu Kazuma. Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name gets the: