Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Review (PlayStation 5)

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Review, Two larger-than-life heroes, Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu are brought together by the hand of fate, or perhaps something more sinister… Live it up in Japan and explore all that Hawaii has to offer in an RPG adventure so big it spans the Pacific.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Review Pros:

  • Beautiful graphics.
  • 54.04GB download size.
  • Platinum trophy.
  • You can import your PlayStation 4 save.
  • Three voice languages – Japanese, English, and Chinese.
  • Game settings – battle speed (slow/normal), trigger effects, action prompts, auto camera, subtitle text size, subtitle text color, UI display, swap left and right stick.
  • Controller settings – Invert axis and sensitivity sliders along with camera speed.
  • HDR support.
  • Audio can be tweaked such as the angle of the speakers, and controller speaker on/off.
  • Can remap controls.
  • Action adventure gameplay.
  • During some cutscenes you skip/fat forward conversations and in text-based interactions you can have it auto-scroll.
  • Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
  • Colorblind support.
  • You can save and load when you want.
  • Cases and materials are hidden around the game world and contain random items and health.
  • Turn turn-based combat, you can use items, perform additional attacks, and time your blocks for a perfect guard.
  • Earn exp and level up to increase your stats.
  • The story is as mental, impactful, and memorable as ever.
  • Injects much-needed comedy relief in imaginative ways.
  • You can get a refresher on the story so far.
  • A massive 3D world with full 360-degree camera control.
  • The English Dub is really good.
  • Interactions and conversation choices affect – passion, confidence, charisma, kindness, intellect, and style.
  • Main story mission with many optional side missions and events to trigger.
  • Treasure hunts can be performed around town for random loot.
  • You earn exp and level up your character, your teammates, and your job level.
  • Weapons and gear affect your stats.
  • Thugs that Patrol the street come in different difficulties and change their appearance based on Kasuga’s imagination.
  • Music – you can use your phone to create playlists or listen to the radio. Find new songs around and use steroids to play music loud.
  • If the the story has a significant change then you get warned and can choose when to proceed.
  • Hitting a guy into another guy to kill or damage both is very addictive.
  • Party chats can happen when roaming the streets, in a party chat everyone talks about something.
  • When fighting you can go near objects to use them as weapons.
  • Auto attack lets you watch the computer take over and control your party in combat.
  • Safes can be found and unlocked with any found keys to get loot.
  • Taxis act as fast travel points and you can call a taxi from your phone.
  • The camera is very detailed and if any of your party members are in the shot they start emoting and reacting.
  • Sujidex is an app that catalogs all the Sujimon you defeat and fills in their strengths, weaknesses, etc. (clearly a spin on Pokemon)
  • Click the left stick to play in first person otherwise, it’s a third-person game.
  • ATM lets you deposit and withdraw cash instead of losing it when in battle.
  • Unlock hangouts to play mini-games, chat with friends, etc, and build your friendships.
  • Aloha Links is a social app in that greeting and meeting people makes friends and changes your personality.
  • Play how you want.
  • You see enemies in the street and they have an awareness bar to help you avoid or engage with them.
  • Play how you want.
  • Walk past taxi stops to add them to your map and unlock them to fast travel.
  • Miss Match is a dating app where you spend credits looking for love, you can edit your profile as and when you like and dating is a process rather than a straight match and date type thing.
  • Chatting in the dating app is its a mini-game where you have rhythm action and multiple choice sequences to try and date.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Review Cons:

  • New Game Plus is locked behind a paywall.
  • You have to turn on auto scroll every time.
  • It’s still annoying that the game jumps between voiced and text-only conversations in one sequence.
  • Way too many items/cases to pick up.
  • It is slow in places as you go through lengthy introductions and side stories.
  • The game doesn’t open up with any catchup story instead it’s after the opening Prologue and is text-based.

Related Post: Jett Rider Review (PlayStation 5)

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth:

Official website.

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku

Publisher: SEGA

Store Links –

PlayStation

  • 10/10
    Graphics - 10/10
  • 10/10
    Sound - 10/10
  • 10/10
    Accessibility - 10/10
  • 10/10
    Length - 10/10
  • 10/10
    Fun Factor - 10/10
10/10

Summary

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is an action-adventure game that offers a rich and immersive gaming experience. The game stands out with its beautiful graphics and a massive 3D world with full 360-degree camera control. It requires a 54.04GB download and supports HDR. The game settings are highly customizable, including battle speed, trigger effects, action prompts, auto camera, subtitle text size and color, UI display, and the ability to swap the left and right sticks.

The game offers three voice languages – Japanese, English, and Chinese. The English Dub is particularly good. The audio settings can be tweaked, such as the angle of the speakers, and the controller speaker can be turned on or off. The controls can be remapped according to the player’s preference.

The gameplay involves turn-based combat where you can use items, perform additional attacks, and time your blocks for a perfect guard. You earn experience points and level up to increase your stats. The story is impactful and memorable, with much-needed comedy relief injected in imaginative ways. Interactions and conversation choices affect various attributes – passion, confidence, charisma, kindness, intellect, and style.

There are main story missions with many optional side missions and events to trigger. Treasure hunts can be performed around town for random loot. You earn experience points and level up your character, your teammates, and your job level. Weapons and gear affect your stats. Thugs that patrol the street come in different difficulties and change their appearance based on Kasuga’s imagination.

The game offers a variety of features to enhance the gaming experience. For instance, you can use your phone to create music playlists or listen to the radio. You can also find new songs around and use steroids to play music loudly. If the story has a significant change, you get warned and can choose when to proceed. Party chats can happen when roaming the streets, where everyone talks about something. When fighting, you can go near objects to use them as weapons. Auto attack lets you watch the computer take over and control your party in combat.

However, the game does have some drawbacks. The New Game Plus is locked behind a paywall. You have to turn on auto-scroll every time for the text conversations. It can be annoying that the game jumps between voiced and text-only conversations in one sequence. There are way too many items/cases to pick up. It can be slow in places as you go through lengthy introductions and side stories. The game doesn’t open up with any catchup story; instead, it’s after the opening Prologue and is text-based. Despite these, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth offers a comprehensive and enjoyable gaming experience.

Overall I think this is one of if not the best Yakuza games to date, I have finished every Yakuza game but Like A Dragon as I didn’t think the combat change from free form to turn-based would be good and man am I eating humble pie now! The combat is what opens the game up and when you throw in a character in Ichiban that is the complete opposite of Kiryu you have a true recipe for excellence. I lost tens of hours just exploring the world, finding all the side stories, and laughing my ass off. I always appreciate how well the devs manage to balance serious and insanely funny sequences and here they show off just how much they have nailed it. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the definitive Yakuza experience and a must-play along with being the easiest decision to award the game our first perfect score of 2024.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!