Rya Ga Gotoku

Review: Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Review: Yakuza: Like a Dragon

As a series, Yakuza has been about telling drama-filled stories in the world of Japanese organized crime while pivoting to wacky, offbeat shenanigans on a dime. Along the way, long-time protagonist Kazuma Kiryu would smack some local mobsters over the head with a nearby bicycle in proper action RPG fashion. The fast-paced beat-em-up combat was as much part of the series’ DNA as anything else. That’s why it came as a shock to most when they announced the seventh mainline entry in the series Yakuza: Like a Dragon would switch things up to a more traditional JRPG turn-based combat system. It’s a gamble that mostly pays off. Save for some late-game grinding that felt out of place in a modern game, every moment of Like a Dragon was a pure delight, and it felt good to be back in the underworld of the Tojo clan.