Yakuza: Like a Dragon brings a major tonal shift to the Yakuza franchise, both in gameplay, and story. Switching to an entirely new protagonist, and a shift to turn-based combat has left some fans a bit disappointed.

At its core, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a turn-based JRPG with combat similar to Pokemon where you target weaknesses for extra damage, the Mario and Luigi series where you perform little quick time events for extra damage, and Persona where you control a cast of colorful characters in battle, each with their own abilities, and personality.

I won't lie and say that the story doesn't get a bit wacky at times, but Yakuza: Like a Dragon builds on the melodramatic crime drama of Yakuza past. While having more lighthearted, and comedic moments sprinkled in. Some of the plot points feel a bit forced, but it still tells its themes of overcoming obstacles in life, and personal growth as a person.

Overall Yakuza: Like a Dragon is another wonderful entry to the franchise, with clean, well-designed combat, an engaging story all the way through, and a cast of characters that will leave you wanting more. While some people may not like the change in genre and protagonist, the game ticked all the right boxes as both a Yakuza game, and a JRPG.

To say the least, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is another smash hit from RGG Studios. It builds on the success of Yakuza: Like a Dragon while also honoring all the past mainline Yakuza games.

Like protagonist Ichiban's last outing, Infinite Wealth is a turn-based JRPG with elemental weaknesses, action prompts for increased damage, and an outstanding cast of characters in your party. One of the biggest improvements to the gameplay is the ability to move around the battlefield in combat. Previously, you had no control over where your party members moved in combat. But now when you take control of a character, you can move them in a circle surrounding them to influence how the battle plays out. RGG designed the combat to reward smart positioning as a core feature. Ranging from how many nearby enemies you can hit, healing nearby party members, and inflicting buffs and debuffs. Normal attacks have also been improved as now everyone can restore MP regardless if they are using a magic-based job or not, and increased damage if you're nearby or behind an enemy.

Much like the previous turn-based Like a Dragon game, where it shines the most is in its character writing and story telling. Brand new party members join the cast with Eric Tomizawa as your realistic cabbie who would much rather avoid risky situations, along with Chitose Fujinomoya the heiress with a hidden past. In addition, the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu joins as a second protagonist to the game alongside Ichiban as a party member, along with Seonhee the Queen of the Geomijul from the previous game is now playable. The entire Ichigang from the previous story also returns, although with less emphasis on their tales now. RGG fills every character with charm, intrigue, and a sprinkle of comedy to create perfect chemistry with the entire cast.

The story tells themes of regret, trust, moving on from one's past, and learning to live for the future. While the overarching story is well made, it stumbles a bit trying to write its two halves of the story with dual protagonists Ichiban and Kiryu. RGG wrote the story as a final send off to Kiryu, while trying to have Ichiban follow the expected plot of a Like a Dragon game; stopping a Yakuza powerscheme, and uncovering some kind of conspiracy.

The biggest critique I have for this game, are the DLC practices. I'm not sure if this was a choice from RGG themselves or from the higher-ups at SEGA. But locking behind New Game+ behind $20, is not the nicest thing to do.

Overall, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is in contention for the best Like a Dragon game yet, and even one of the best modern JPRGs. A strong story, improved gameplay, and the polish expected from an RGG game. Although the game gives you the option to recap the previous entry, I do not recommend starting from this game. Especially if you don't know the general story of Kiryu's games.