The 12 months has gotten off to a roaring begin for followers of sprawling, intricate role-playing video games. And one in every of our agency favorites is Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the ninth mainline installment of Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios’ long-running collection. In it, the sentient meme manufacturing unit Kazuma Kiryu groups up with the relentlessly upbeat Ichiban Kasuga to unravel a globe-spanning conspiracy that unites a Hawaiian cult, Ichiban’s long-lost mom, a vindictive V-Tuber, and the fractured remnants of Japan’s felony underworld.
Now that Infinite Wealth’s been out for a short time, Kotaku checked in with Chief Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto to seek out out extra about some preliminary ideas that didn’t make the ultimate sport, the method of constructing an in-depth sim inside an RPG, and what’s subsequent for the collection as a complete.
Working class heroes
As was the case with 2020’s Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Infinite Wealth’s job system manages to be each hilarious and strategically rewarding. However despite the fact that Ichiban is a hardcore Dragon Quest fanboy, your get together members don’t tackle conventional fantasy archetypes. As a substitute of knights and mages, Infinite Wealth’s jobs are largely pulled from the true world—suppose surfer, chef, or dominatrix. However like Dragon Quest, these lessons have distinctive strengths and weaknesses: pop idols dole out therapeutic and buffs, whereas surfers wield their longboards for crowd management and water-elemental harm. Swapping jobs can fully alter a personality’s fight model, and every has distinctive animations and movesets. Every one of many 27 (!!!) distinctive job varieties ooze character at each second, and it’s abundantly clear that a complete lot of labor went into creating each single one in every of them. Consider it or not, there have been plans for a number of extra jobs that didn’t make the ultimate minimize.
“I’ve to say, there are various! Basketball gamers, couriers, and pest exterminators have been within the preliminary idea, however we’ve got omitted them in gentle of the variability on this work,” Sakamoto tells Kotaku. “The enemies are additionally fairly distinctive characters with many particulars and distinctive ideas, which was a giant problem.”
With three intricate city environments to discover (Honolulu, Yokohama, and Kamurocho), you’ll by no means be wanting choices for issues to do in Infinite Wealth. However one of the compelling actions within the sport is definitely getting away from all of it. It wouldn’t be a Like A Dragon sport with no massive, marquee minigame that you could dump a dozen hours into, like managing a cabaret membership or turning into a real-estate tycoon. Infinite Wealth’s reply to that’s the Animal Crossing-inspired resort builder, Dondoko Island (dondoko means “all-time low” in Japanese). However as an alternative of cutesy-poo dollhouses straight out of Sylvanian Households or Sanrio, you’re constructing karaoke bars, noodle outlets, and soaplands.
For Sakamoto and the remainder of the RGG workforce, there was no room for half-measures or a dumbed-down expertise. The result’s a grippy-yet-chill resort administration sim that permits you to remodel a dump right into a dream vacation spot, and its alluring siren track will name to you even after you’ve rolled credit on the primary story.
“We determined to go all out with Dondoko Island with out making any reductions to the idea of resort island builder and simulator. We really spent a variety of time tuning it throughout its creation reminiscent of including and subtracting parts, adjusting the steadiness, and so forth,” says Sakamoto. “When it comes to the quantity of labor that went into it, I personally suppose it’s the better of the aspect video games in the whole collection.”
Older and wiser
When you’re prepared to go away Dondoko and head again to civilization, you’ll discover a story with extra twists than a bucket of curly fries and loads of poignant moments. On the middle of all of it is Kiryu, the stoic protagonist of Yakuza 0-6, who finds himself at a significant crossroads. Not solely is he combating most cancers, however all his family members suppose he’s useless, because of a Faustian discount he made with a shadowy group often called the Daidoji Faction on the finish of Yakuza 6. Years later, he’s discovering he wants his family and friends simply as a lot as they wanted him. A lot of Infinite Wealth reveals Kiryu studying to simply accept assist—and ultimately, asking for it.
“In Yakuza 6, Kiryu made the momentous resolution to vanish from the general public eye as an agent. Up till now, Kiryu had chosen a lifestyle during which he was prepared to sacrifice himself for the sake of his household and pals. Nevertheless, he keenly realized that despite the fact that he had chosen such a lifestyle, his household and pals had at all times been his emotional help,” Sakamoto elaborates. “Being sick throughout Yakuza: Like a Dragon triggered Kiryu to re-examine his life with out placing others earlier than him for the very first time, which in flip triggered him to vary his angle to actually face his household and pals differently.”
Towards the tip of Infinite Wealth, Kiryu says to one in every of his previous adversaries, “Even when I’m not as sturdy as I as soon as was, I’m nonetheless me. And I’m beginning to suppose that’s not so dangerous.” It’s a turning level for the character and the collection as a complete—he’s embracing a special sort of future, reasonably than working from it. However on the identical time, he’s additionally passing the torch to Ichiban. So what does that imply for the inevitable subsequent installment of Like A Dragon? Sakamoto’s holding that info near the chest for now, however it does appear sure that Ichiban will proceed to be the joyful warrior, it doesn’t matter what comes his manner.
“I imagine that Ichiban has taken the teachings he discovered from his newest quest and continues to assist folks he meets within the ways in which he can,” says Sakamoto. “As for the Like a Dragon collection, we hope to proceed to shock and entertain you, so please keep tuned for what’s in retailer!”
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is out now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.