Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
After months of teasers and trailers, Kiryu’s story unravels in Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. The former main protagonist of the Like A Dragon series, Kazuma Kiryu remains an important pillar within the franchise as well as the overarching story. Lately, he’s been playing the whole “missing person” game, though not willingly of course. To understand Kiryu’s involvement in Yakuza Like A Dragon, as well as to sate players who missed the classic Yakuza-style gameplay, Gaiden promises to tie up loose ends as well as cater to the action brawler crowd.
I should get this warning out of the way first but those who are remotely interested in Like A Dragon Gaiden should exercise caution before playing this game. Alongside Like A Dragon Ishin!, Gaiden is also available on Game Pass however unlike the former, it's a Day One release. Due to the length of the game as well as its freshness, I'll avoid major plot spoilers within Gaiden. As mentioned before, Gaiden assumes players know what happened in Yakuza LAD as Kiryu's involvement was the "big surprise."
If you've read this far, then I imagine this is all known information at this point. Gaiden naturally reveals most of Kiryu's plight up to this point, so at the bare minimum knowledge of the first two games as well as Song of Life. I mentioned during my first impressions of Yakuza Like A Dragon that I hadn't played all the games in the series and jumping straight into Gaiden, I was able to fill in the rest of the plot details with context clues.
It's best to think of Gaiden as to Yakuza 7 as the Separate Ways DLC was for Resident Evil 4, with Ada Wong working behind the scenes to assist Leon Kennedy. Here, it's not so much Kazuma Kiryu working behind the scenes to help Ichiban Kasuga, but rather Kazuma owes several people favors which led to their paths crossing. Gaiden begins with Kiryu residing in the Daidoji residence, a group that's not quite "Japan's secret service" but still played a role in "killing" Kiryu back in the Song of Life. In exchange for the guaranteed safety of his children at the Morning Glory Orphanage, Kiryu "died" but is still living his life as a man with no name. I guess you can say, he is The Man Who Erased His Name.
Under the alias "Joryu," Kiryu pledges his life to the Daidoji, an agency shrouded in mystery. One thing that every member of the Daidoji has in common is that they each took on a former identity. While people within the agency call him "Kiryu," they know he's not. It's not the first time that hiding one's identity is used as a vantage point, with Yakuza LAD featuring Nanba who hid his true intentions under the mask of the homeless. A far greater example would be Joon-Gi Han, who had abandoned his former identity to take on the role of the man he failed to protect as a body double.
Kiryu is sent on a mission with the Daidoji, including his handler Hanawa, when the mission goes south. A group of unnamed thugs arrive with the intent to kidnap Hanawa, yet it's revealed this is done to draw out Kiryu and identify his location. Eventually, the group reveals themselves to be Omi and they are searching for Kiryu to enlist his help during the Omi-Tojo dissolution of the yakuza. As this ties into the climax of Yakuza Like A Dragon, the player already knows Kiryu agrees to help. The journey of "faking your death" to "being back in action as the 'Dragon of Dojima' returns" is what Like A Dragon Gaiden sets to accomplish.
Gaiden's gameplay is a return to the beat-em-up brawler that the Like A Dragon series was known for. With Ichiban becoming the new series protagonist and the change to a Japanese RPG style, many like myself were concerned with the future of the game's mechanics. Gaiden does two things. It gives players control of Kiryu for the first time in almost seven years when The Song of Life was released in 2016. It also gave players opportunities to try out unique fighting styles exclusive to Kiryu, proving that the old man does have a few tricks up his sleeve.
In order to become one with the Daidoji, Kiryu had unlearned his traditional "Dragon of Dojima" fighting style in favor of the "Daidoji" military martial art. Despite the games being hundreds of years apart, it's similar to Ryoma bearing the name "Hajime Saito" in Like A Dragon Ishin! and learning the Shinsengumi's fighting style. Dubbed "Agent," this martial art is flashy, incorporating elbow strikes and evasive maneuvers with the classic "Kiryu" touch. On paper, it has elements of "Jailhouse Rock," especially when Kiryu puts up his guard, but it's mainly the "Rush" system from other games.
Of course, the stars of the show are the gadgets Kiryu has access to. Initially, he has spider webs which are electromagnetic wires used to pull and trap enemies. Doing whatever a Spider can isn't the only thing Kiryu can do, as he can summon Hornet drones that lock onto an enemy, distracting them. Rounding out his gadgets are the Spider cigarette bombs and the Serpent jet boots, giving Kiryu a very "high-tech 007 vibe." While he may have unlearned the Dragon of Dojima style, he had not forgotten his roots. The Yakuza fighting style serves as a "Greatest Hits," pun intended, version of Kiryu that offers most of what makes him a dominant force. Charged attacks, super armor, and Heat actions that deal explosive damage when under low-life circumstances and while intoxicated.
Regardless of what style players decide is their favorite, both styles have their pros and cons. I found the Agent style to flourish more in group battles where the abundance of gadgets can overwhelm foes. In Extreme Heat mode, Kiryu literally dances across the screen, attacking anything that moves while acting out his wildest "action movie" dreams. He even has a charged "Spider bomb" where he dramatically lights the cigarette, tosses it behind him, and creates a Michael Bay-esque Hollywood explosion. It's dramatic and over the top. It also fits into Joryu's character perfectly.
Joryu is not Kiryu, as Kiryu says throughout the game. Despite having to play the role of a rich hotshot bodyguard, Kiryu's method of acting is impeccable. Much to the annoyance of those who know him as Kiryu, but also to newcomers who only know him as Joryu. Like A Dragon Gaiden takes place almost exclusively in Sotenbori, with a very brief introduction in a limited section of Ijincho. Unfortunately, players cannot visit Hello Work or the blacksmith, but the game also throws in a tease for those who know the barkeep's true identity at the Survive Bar.
In Sotenbori, he meets Akane, a protector of the homeless within Sotenbori. Much like Hanya in Kamurocho and Seonhee in Ijincho, Akane does this through an intricate security camera system that tips her off whenever there's a crime within the neighborhood. This begs the question of how she was able to acquire such tech, which is never explained in full detail within Gaiden. Hanya made sense because of his connections to Tokyo PD and Seonhee had the backing of a certain politician.
Akane, for the most part, is a very powerful information broker who moonlights as a content creator with dreams of becoming a singer. For such a down-to-earth character to control as much of Sotenbori as she has is nothing short of admirable. She plays a minimal role within Gaiden itself, although her appearance is that of the "key" to get Kiryu into the Sotenbori underworld. Again, parallel to Hanya in the past. Her system, the Akane Network, serves as the game's "achievement system," where accomplishing in-game goals will net the player "Akane Points." These points are used to purchase items in the Akane Shop and rank up the Akane Network system. As you can see, there are ample amounts of vanity from Miss Akane.
However, Akane Points also serve as a main purpose and that's Kiryu's growth. In Yakuza Like A Dragon and Ishin!, the protagonists level up through fights in-game and are able to allocate skill points in various ways. Perhaps due to Gaiden's length, the progression system foregoes battles and uses money in the form of manuals that Kiryu reads to learn new abilities. This is similar to the Yakuza 0 approach where money bought everything in that game, but instead of the "bubble economy" in that game, we have the "gig economy." The more Kiryu contributes to the Akane Network, the more manuals he's able to buy with a combination of Akane Points and Japanese Yen.
The game's substories are also tied to Akane Network, meaning that she's the "jack of all trades" as she self-proclaims. This was a smart decision by the developers as Sotenbori is a small enough city to fulfill a "five-chapter game" and the player needed a "base of operations" that handled everything at once. Rather than go everywhere to encounter substories, the player gets them from Akane herself, eliminating most of the unnecessary run-ins with people and cutting time by a considerable amount. The pace of the game can be controlled by the player's likeliness and despite its length as a "gaiden," there's a lot to do in LAD Gaiden.
Gambling halls, casinos, and the colosseum return with a new team management battle mode. As the player completes sub-stories, they will unlock new fighters for players to fight within large-scale battles. In single-entry modes, the player can even play as any of the fighters, including some special guests. If the player ignores all of the glitz and glam that the Castle provides, the game can be cleared in mere hours. It's a fraction of a full Like A Dragon game for a fraction of the full game price, but with a special Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth trial and rare Sega Model 3 arcade games, it's hard not to recommend this to a Like A Dragon fan.
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is interesting to rate because I absolutely cannot recommend this game to newcomers to the series. A sharp contrast to my review of Yakuza LAD, Gaiden will assume the player knows enough of Kiryu's story to tie loose ends before we see him in Hawaii in a few months. It's charming to see Kiryu in circumstances we normally don't, including living a night of lavishness and luxury while being undeniably cool about it. Kiryu is a complex man with the entire universe on his shoulders and in this game we got to see the inner workings of a man pushed beyond his limit. Gaiden serves as a delicious appetizer to the main course that will be Infinite Wealth.
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is now available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It is also available via Game Pass.