Yakuza: Like a Dragon Reviews
If Yakuza is to truly grow, we need to be the one to call it in.
There's fertile ground in this new direction for Yakuza; Kasuga and Co are worthwhile characters and the new RPG mechanics have potential. Still, this entry feels stuffed with forced mediocre side content, and like a rough draft of what's possible in the future.
Overall, I loved my time with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and while there are imperfections in the game, they are equally a part of its charm.
While I may have criticized Yakuza: Like a Dragon for a decent chunk of this review, there’s still a lot to love about it. Ichiban is the perfect character to usher in this new era of Yakuza, and the amount of things to do outside of the main story is almost overwhelming. However, Yakuza 8 will need a lot of work put into it to make the RPG elements more balanced and engaging.
With a new battle system and new main character, Yakuza: Like A Dragon aims to be a new entry point to Yakuza newcomers even though it is anything but that.
From a studio that's never really ventured into the genre of traditional JRPGs, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is an impressive inaugural effort. It's not perfect by any means, as the turn-based combat still has some growing pains in its current iteration. Coupled with repetitive dungeon design and an unfair endgame grinding requirement, these downsides cast an unfortunate sting on an otherwise very solid JRPG.
The turn-based battles don't fully convince but the new protagonist and bizarre mini-games still feel distinctively and entertainingly Yakuza.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes some bold steps in a new direction for the series but neglects to maintain its balance.
A fun, charming, and occasionally brilliant Yakuza game, let down by an overabundance of repetitive turn-based battles.
As a fan of the Yakuza series, I had a good time with Like a Dragon but it could definitely use a lot of fine-tuning if there's ever another RPG-style sequel. Overall, I'm happy that it exists but I was hoping its combat would have been much better executed.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon understands what players expect from the beloved franchise. There is an engaging story with a troubled, but the not irredeemable protagonist, that sucks players in. The gameplay is a bit on the hollow side, though far from the worst RPG around. At worst it's just an easy and repetitive turn-based game, but nothing too hard. Combine this with stunning graphics and impressive length and it's really hard to find many flaws with Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon's switch to turn-based RPG combat and team-based tactics may bite off more than it can chew thanks to terrible difficulty spikes and ill-defined character progression, but it's still a breath of fresh air for the series. Ichiban Kasuga and his pals are an entertaining lot, the game has plenty of style, and even though the combat devolves into an ungodly grind, it's a flashy new start to one of Sega's best franchises.
This one definitely won’t be for all tastes, but players with a penchant for Japanese culture and a love of tactical combat are bound to find a little slice of criminal soap opera heaven in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Like a Dragon isn't my favorite Yakuza, and its fresh turn-based combat eventually grows stale, but I have a lot of love for it. If it's your first game, it'll quickly initiate you into this wild, one-of-a-kind series.
Yakuza Like A Dragon isn't a sequel so to speak, it serves as a revival for the entire franchise, this entry miraculously changed the essence of the gameplay while retaining the ambiance and originality of the franchise, it is a good move to attract new fans at the same time keeping the original fans satisfied.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Yakuza’s new direction maintains the series signature drama and deckings, while finding rich new comedy in its weirdest beatdowns yet. Hugely entertaining stuff.
Yakuza Like a Dragon is a must-play for fans of the first hour. Side missions complement the main story in a major way thanks to the utter insanity of some of the stories. You'll need to have some patience though for some of the other mechanics in the game, which is disappointing.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
This story of not just Ichiban, but also his allies both former and new, is a tour de force that sucks players in completely. It’s a roller-coaster taking players through the full gamut of emotions and an easy, if slightly caveated, recommendation even to newcomers.
The good news is that Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the same incredible game on PS5, as well as an excellent RPG. This particular release amounts to a light coat of polish that makes some subtle improvements but nothing truly revolutionary as we’ve seen with some other PS5 upgrades. This may largely be owing to the fact that the original release already looked excellent, but it still would have been nice to see the PS5 release support a full 4K60. Also unfortunate is the lack of using much of the DualSense controller’s features, but again, this is the sort of addition that’s hard to shoehorn in after the fact. While the PC is still the best place to play Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the PlayStation 5 can keep pace well enough and it’s a solid way to experience Ichiban’s incredible, can’t-miss story.
While beat ‘em up fans may disagree with this change in direction, there are many who are welcoming the change, and it’s bringing in new fans of the series.