After almost two decades, with Yakuza: Like A Dragon being the seventh main title, the Yakuza series has finally changed. Instead of a straight-up brawler, this has turn-based RPG combat. The game directly calls out Dragon Quest by name as an influence. It was a pretty crazy move.

A move that may make longtime fans nervous as change can rarely be easy, but rest assured the team at Sega knew exactly what they were doing. Not everything hit its mark with this semi-reboot, but enough did that Yakuza: Like A Dragon should attract new players. From English voices to poor fast travel, let’s rank everything out.

10 Best: Creating A Party

It sounded weird at first at the prospect of Yakuza being turned into a traditional RPG. However, once the party gets forms it all starts to sink in. It sort of has the feeling of another Sega RPG, Persona 5, mixed with the odd mundanity of everyday life with EarthBound. Seeing “magic” play out from Nanba who uses a lighter and alcohol to blow fire is just too good and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a solid RPG system and one that’s funny too.

9 Worst: Slow Start

Unfortunately Yakuza: Like A Dragon has a slow start. It takes about five hours before Ichiban is joined by two others permanently and another five after that before the party fills up to four. Even stranger still players cannot change jobs until a few more hours after that. Yakuza has always been a slow burn, but they could have sped up the process. One could get there faster if side quests were avoided, but who would want to?

8 Best: English Voices

Perhaps the most inviting change to Yakuza: Like A Dragon is the inclusion of English voices. The cast of which is suburb from the big fish to the small fries. This is the first time English voices have been featured since the original Yakuza on PS2. Technically it happened last year with Judgement which does share the seem universe. That said, this is still a big step for the series and hopefully Sega doesn’t back out again.

7 Worst: Not Everything Is Translated

Not everything is translated. For example, voices in combat, besides the hero party, speak Japanese. One could even talk to someone in one scene in English and then have them mutter in Japanese through mostly voiceless text cues after that.

It doesn’t really ruin anything but it is a bit jarring so it was worth jotting down on the negatives. That said given this outcome or no English at all, the former is the better choice.

6 Best: Keeping It Weird

Even though the game has a new protagonist and a new city, Yakuza: Like A Dragon manages to keep the weird factor in check. That is to say the mini games and side quests are just as absurd as one would hope. From keeping a persimmon safe from snipers and witches to escorting a man covered in bubbles, one will never know what will pop out next. It is one of the defining features in this series that is both funny and touching.

5 Worst: Too Many Shops

Even though the city is relatively small it is jam packed with shops. When trying to find something, like for a side quest, it can be tricky to navigate. The map will show shops or cafes and what they vaguely cater to, but that’s just it. Everything is a bit too vague and stretched out. It makes getting equipment a hassle too. The backtracking factor is a big letdown associated with this mess.

4 Best: Amazing Food

Even though there are way too many shops in Yakuza: Like A Dragon, one cannot help but admire just how detailed some of the items are. The food, for example, looks good enough to eat. On top of that the graphics overall are pretty great even on the now older systems like the PS4. The character models in particular outshine the rest of it. There are some noticeable cut corners like with generic NPCs, but again, overall, it looks great.

3 Worst: Limited Dungeon Saves

There are now dungeons in the game that play out like they would in other RPGs. There are no puzzles for the most part though so don’t worry about that.

What’s weird about them is the fact that they limit saves to using a phone. It’s strange because one can literally save anywhere when not in a dungeon. Why limit saves in them? It is beyond anyone’s guess especially since save points can sometimes be far and few between.

2 Best: Ichiban Kasuga

Kazuma Kiryu was, and still is, a total badass. He is kind but knows how to throw down when necessary. Ichiban, the new protagonist, shares similar traits like becoming an ex-Yakuza member, but their personalities couldn’t be any more different. He’s like a fanboy of the Yakuza and way more energetic and in turn funnier than Kazuma. Both characters are great, but Ichiban really has a great debut so hopefully he’s here to stay.

1 Worst: Fast Loads But Too Frequent

The load times on the PS4 aren’t terrible. They’re not lightning fast, but again, nothing will be more than thirty seconds at most. However, this time does start to weigh on the player when they are frequent. Players can watch a cutscene, then get a load into another cutscene in that same room. It’s kind of all over the place. Presumably this won’t be a problem on PS5 and Xbox Series X so take this issue with a grain of salt.

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