Like a Dragon 8

Overview

A new mainline title in the Yakuza/Like A Dragon (Ryu ga Gotoku) franchise, featuring a large story interspersed with turn-based action, rendered in the latest version of Studio RGG's Dragon Engine, that spans two countries with Yokohama and Kamurocho in Japan, and Hawaii, USA.

Plot

Three years after the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Ichiban Kasuga quits the criminal life to become a contractor at the Hello Work office in Yokohama, helping ex-Yakuza find gainful employment in the face of a society that makes it nearly impossible to let them rebuild their lives for five years after quitting. In addition, his friends Koichi Adachi, Yu Nanba, and Saeko Mukoda all get a fresh start to their respective lives.

However, about a year after this prologue, Ichiban's contract is suddenly terminated when a VTuber known as Hisoka Tatara publishes false rumors that he was using his position at Hello Work to run his own crime ring with ex-Yakuza. In addition, Koichi is unable to get a loan for his security consultant office, Yu is fired from his own position as a medical investigator, and Saeko has stopped talking to him. Many of the ex-Yakuza in Yokohama who relied on Ichiban's help fall back into bad habits, joining up with the Seiryu Clan again.

After trying to investigate what the Seiryu are up to, Ichiban is delighted when he is informed that his birth-mother, Akane, is somewhere in Honolulu, Hawaii. With the help of his former Yakuza colleagues, Ichiban books a plane ride to Honolulu, but shortly after arriving, finds himself embroiled in another conflict with the criminal underworld: The Daidouji clan, the Yamai Syndicate, the Chinese Ganzhe, and a local mafia group known as the Barracudas are all trying to hunt down Akane for their own reasons. But this time, Ichiban will have the help of an old Yakuza legend with him: Kazuma Kiryu, who was sent to Honolulu by the Daidouji to find Akane as well.

Ichiban and Kiryu soon fight their way through the Barracudas with the help of Eric Tomizawa, a taxi driver and low-level soldier for Yamai who is convinced to join Ichiban instead, and Chitose Fujinomiya, an heiress trying to escape her overbearing rich parents. Ichiban later meets with members of Palekana, a local religious organization that Akane worked with before she disappeared. However, running out of leads to find Akane, Ichiban instead shoots a viral video in Honolulu in hopes of dragging out Akane's pursuers, hoping they might have more information. His video gets the attention of Yamai and the Barracudas again, along with a Chinese gang known as the Ganzhe.

Haniwa, Kiryu's handler, helps Ichiban and his party infiltrate the Ganzhe casino in Honolulu and meet with its owner, Wong Tou. After beating him in a tough battle, Wong Tou reveals that there is an Overseer ("Ruler" in the Japanese dub) who secretly owns all of Hawaii, and gave him the task of hunting down Akane. However, one of Wong Tou's grunts turns out to be a spy for the Overseer, who signals the other sleeper agents in the Ganzhe that Wong Tou has betrayed them, which results in them kidnapping his son and trying to kill him while the local police ignore the fight. Wong Tou gets stabbed in the leg as Ichiban and the others manage to fight their way into a nearby forest area and escape from the Ganzhe.

Wong Tou then reveals that the Overseer is actually Bryce Fairchild, the seemingly benign Sage of Palekana, and that his search for Akane is really to find the girl with her named Lani. Lani apparently holds something in her possession that could lead to Bryce losing his position and power over Palekana and all of Hawaii too. Yamai then burns down the forest where Kiryu is hiding, trying to smoke him out. Kiryu buys the rest of his friends time to escape, but becomes violently ill and collapses. Ichiban wants to save Kiryu, and Haniwa reveals that he called in two of his friends as backup: Adachi and Nanba.

The group fights their way into an abandoned theater where Yamai and his Syndicate are holed up, and after a huge fight, Yamai reveals that he found a doctor for Kiryu, as he didn't want to finish him in his weakened state. He lets the group take Kiryu back to Haniwa, who then demands that Kiryu and Yu go back to Japan, as the cancer is progressing too fast for him to be useful in Hawaii. Kiryu reluctantly accepts the offer, as Adachi stays behind to help Kiryu, Eric, and Chitose deal with Palekana and Bryce. However, Bryce refuses to admit to his scheme, and attempts to have them killed.

Back in Japan, Kiryu is resting in Ichiban's home when he is visited by both Yu and Seonhee, who offer to help him fulfill his "bucket list" around Yokohama, soon followed Saeko who works at a nearby club. Kiryu and his party then get an invitation from Ebina and Sawashiro to visit the new Seiryu Clan headquarters, which happen to be in the old Tojo Clan HQ. Ebina denies knowing any problems with Bryce, Palekana, or the search for Akane, but after leaving, Kiryu discovers that he was the subject of the latest Tatara Channel video, painting him as a villain trying to resurrect the Tojo Clan.

Back in Hawaii, Ichiban finds a woman in Yamai's turf who takes his group to the location at sea where Akane and Lani are hiding. Yamai escorts them back to the safehouse, where Haniwa is preparing a private plane to take them to Japan. However, Chitose reveals that Eiji was a spy for Bryce the whole time, playing off Ichiban's fears to lead the Barracudas and Ganzhe to Akane. They storm the safehouse and kidnap Lani, while murdering Haniwa and Wong Tou in the process.

The two story paths in Yokohama and Honolulu start to merge together closely, as Kiryu and Ichiban find themselves fighting the same alliance. In Japan, Ebina turns out to be a former cop who took over the Seiryu Clan to destroy the Yakuza from the inside, including the use of the Tatara Channel to ruin the original attempt by Daigo Dojima, Taega Saejima, and Goro Majima to create a legitimate security company with ex-Yakuza members. And with the tacit approval of crooked Japanese politicians, Ebina has absorbed the ex-Yakuza into the Seiryu Clan to make them into virtual slaves who would dispose of nuclear waste, combined with the announcement that Ebina wishes to turn the Seiryu Clan into an NPO called "Bleach Japan."

Meanwhile, in Honolulu, Chitose admits that she fell for Eiji using her to make the Tatara Channel a popular source of scoops for Yakuza and other criminals as part of his crusade to destroy them, including the work that "Tatara" did to paint Kiryu and Ichiban as criminals. Meanwhile, Bryce has used his influence to build a nuclear waste disposal facility on a supposedly sacred, hidden island of Hawaii, and is working with Ebina to facilitate the expansion of his group that will make him rich and powerful. The existence of Lani and her family's last will and testament calling Bryce a fraud threatens his power and reputation, and thus he is using Palekana and the grown children he brainwashed to try and silence her before the plot can be revealed.

Ichiban and his party rescue Yamai's HQ from being destroyed by the Barracudas, and then rescue Lani before she is taken off the island to Bryce. Yamai himself then finds a way to escort Akane and Lani back to Japan, where they will be safe, before running away to meet his estranged lover in a local hospital. Meanwhile, Ichiban and Kiryu find themselves on the run from social media onlookers and Seiryu alike. Running out of time to stop Ebina and Bryce from completing their overall plan, Ichiban's party decide to head back to Honolulu to confront Bryce directly, while Kiryu's group plan to attack Ebina in Kamurocho and rescue Sawashiro.

In Honolulu, Ichiban's party fight their way past Nele Island's guardians and various Haka Warriors, to fight Bryce himself. After defeating him, Chitose livestreams the nuclear dump site to the world through her Tatara Channel, and reveals herself as the person behind Hisoka Tatara, hoping to lend enough credibility to the report to shut down Nele Island and Bryce's plans for good. In Kamurocho, Kiryu and his party fight to the top of the Millennium Tower, where they meet Ebina. He tells the group that he didn't really care about the money and power like Bryce, but wanted to take revenge on the Yakuza that spurned him and led his mother to die several years ago. But because Arakawa, his father, was killed before he could take revenge on him, he decided instead to lure as many Yakuza as he could find into the Seiryu Clan and send them to Nele Island to work until they die, while handling nuclear waste. After a final battle, Ebina tells Kiryu to kill him, or he will return to get his revenge. Kiryu still refuses to kill, and instead collapses from his injuries and the cancer running through him.

Some time later, Ichiban convinces Eiji to turn himself in to the police, shoving his way through the crowd of onlookers and social media sharks until they reach the Kamurocho station. After that, Ichiban makes another attempt to confess his feelings to Saeko, and Kiryu finally checks himself into the hospital, under his real name.

Gameplay

As in the previous mainline title, battles in Infinite Wealth follow a turn-based system with a party of up to 4 characters on the field at a time. The main character must be either Ichiban or Kazuma, but beyond that, players can mix and match party members as needed.

Exploration

Ichiban can ride a customizable "Street Surfer" segway across Honolulu, or ride a public trolley to reach his destination faster than simply walking or running. The trolley protects Ichiban from random encounters on the street, but they run on a fixed path.

Crazy Eats

As one of his odd jobs to earn money, Ichiban takes on the job of delivering food on a bicycle for "Crazy Eats," an mix of both UberEats and Crazy Taxi. Ichiban can speed across town, picking up food orders, do insane tricks off of buildings, and take shortcuts to get food to hungry customers super-fast.

Sujimon Battles

After collecting enough data on various Sujimon in his Sujidex by beating them up over the course of the game, Ichiban can raise and train his own Sujimon for use in a local coliseum. By balancing the strengths and weaknesses of his Sujimon in 3v3 battles, Ichiban can climb the ranks, battle against other Sujimon Trainers, and become a Sujimon Master.

Minigames

Several minigames from previous Yakuza/RGG titles return here. Classics like blackjack and poker tables, mahjong, shogi, and batting cages on top of newer games like Sega Bass Fishing, SpikeOut, and Virtua Fighter 3tb appearing in a local Sega Arcade.

Dondoko Island

After Ichiban helps save a sea turtle from some belligerents, he is kidnapped by strange mascot characters Gachapin and Mukku and taken an island that used to host a sprawling resort, until the Washbucklers ("Cream Pirates" in the Japanese dub) used it as a dumping ground for their trash collection business. While helping fight off the evil trash-dumping pirates, Ichiban can restore the island by clearing up trash with his bat and gathering materials to DIY anything from wooden signs to familiar buildings, making Dondoko Island into a prime destination for tourists again. After returning from the island, Ichiban can invite various characters to come to Dondoko and spend time (and money) there, either through sidequests or talking to them on the streets of Honolulu.

Jobs

As Ichiban takes different themed tours around Hawaii through Alo-Happy Tours, he and his party can gain inspiration for different types of jobs.

Unique Jobs

• Freelancer - Kasuga's starting class, a basic fistfighter and grappling class that cannot equip weapons.
• Hero - Kasuga's unique class (after Chapter 1), a Paladin-type job that wields a bat with plenty of powerful blunt and AoE attacks, as well as Party-wide buffs that get stronger the higher Kasuga's social stats are.
• Sujimancer - Kasuga's unique class after he becomes a Sujimon Trainer, able to summon the strongest Sujimon from his Sujidex to magically attack his enemies.
• Dragon of Dojima - Kiryu's unique class. Similar to Freelancer in that he cannot equip weapons, but he is able to switch between his three fighting styles from Yakuza 0: Rush which allows him to attack twice in one turn, Brawler which allows him to perform powerful Heat Actions, or Beast which can Guard Break shielded enemies without spending mana.
• Detective - Adachi's unique class, with plenty of single-target attacks that can enrage or stun enemies. Equips a police baton,
• Homeless Guy - Nanba's unique class, a mage-type job useful for casting magic and debuffing skills, with some minor healing techniques. Equipment includes umbrellas or staves.
• Cabbie - Eric's unique class, making use of his auto-mechanic skills to deal elemental damage of all kinds. Equips different wrenches as clubs.
• Heiress - Chitose's unique class, her high-class background gives her skills to heal her allies and debuff enemies. Equips chokers.
• Assassin - Seonhee's unique class, wields long knives in her hands capable of stabbing enemies, and skills that allow her to deal extra damage from behind, or an electric whip that can hit multiple enemies in a wide area.
• Hitman - Joon-gi's unique class, an assassin-style class that uses a mix of powerful blunt-force strikes mixed with a deadly karambit that can cause Bleeding or a pair of pistols. Equips gloves or brass knuckles in combat.
• Gangster - Zhao's unique class, a very agile job that makes use of blunt and blade attacks and can debuff in different ways. Zhao equips a Chinese saber in combat.

Male Job titles

• Aquanaut - A surfer dude able to create waves with his board anywhere, dealing water damage or healing his allies with his skills.
• Samurai - Class that specializes in wielding a katana to make enemies bleed, while having some resistance against enemy blade attacks.
• Desparado - A wild western gunslinger with a pistol who can debuff enemies in multiple ways.
• Pyrodancer - With a pair of short scythes, the Pyrodancer is able to heal his allies while cursing his enemies.
• Action Star - Wielding a pair of nunchaku, the Action Star uses several Bruce Lee-inspired moves to deal damage directly to opponents.
• Breaker - A class that wears magical anklets, using their extreme dance skills to buff themselves and deliver multiple hits to the enemy.
• Chef - Wielding dual spatulas or spoons, this class makes use of a wide assortment of tools to leave enemies bleeding or burning.
• Host - Carries a custom wine bottle with them, can steal items or debuff enemies with their skills.
• Linebacker [DLC] - American football player, heavily padded to provide defense for his team, and skills that send enemies into rage against them.

Female Job Titles

• Kunoichi - A female ninja with a short sword and a very high Agility stat, able to boost it even further to dodge enemy attacks while increasing their own effectiveness.
• Geodancer - Inspired by the hula dancers of Hawaii, the Geodancer wields a pair of maracas and heals their allies.
• Housekeeper - Using a mop as her tool of choice, the Housekeeper debuffs enemies and has skills that inflict elemental damage.
• Idol - A support class that mostly focuses on healing allies with some skills that can charm enemies. Wields a large microphone.
• Night Queen - A dominatrix with several abilities that can brainwash enemies while damaging them, or even a chance to instantly KO weaker enemies. Wields a whip.
• Tennis Ace [DLC] - Uses the force of their tennis racket to deal powerful long-range strikes to enemies.

Main Characters

Ichiban Kasuga

[VA: Kazuhiro Nakaya (JP) | Kaiji Tang (EN)]

The new protagonist of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series. A former bagman for the Tojo Clan who later became instrumental in dismantling the old Yakuza clans to stop his former friend from controlling Japan's underworld, earning the admiration of various criminal figures in Yokohama along the way. He travels to Honolulu to find Akane, the only woman who his late boss loved and his biological mother.

Kazuma Kiryu

[VA: Takaya Kuroda (JP) | Yong Yea (EN)]

The legendary Dragon of Dojima, the Fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, and the longtime protagonist of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon franchise. Kazuma was called out of retirement by his benefactors in the Daidouji clan to track down Akane in Honolulu.

Koichi Adachi

[VA: Akio Otsuka (JP) | Andrew Morgado (EN)]

A former police officer and driving instructor with the Kanagawa police, he joined up with Ichiban and got the chance to expose the police chief who ruined his life.

Yu Nanba

[VA: Ken Yasuda (JP) | Greg Chun (EN)]

A black-market nurse who was fired from his hospital job after allegedly stealing drugs, living out of a homeless camp in Yokohama. After saving Ichiban's life, he became a close friend.

Saeko Mukoda

[VA: Sumire Uesaka (JP) | Elizabeth Maxwell (EN)]

A former hostess who currently manages Club Silky Queen after its previous owner died. Also a close friend of Ichiban.

Seonhee

[VA: Hana Takeda (JP) | Fiona Rene (EN)]

Leader of the Korean Geomijul and now the Chinese Liumang gangs of Yokohama, After hearing that Kiryu is in town, she decides to spend some time with him.

Joon-gi Han

[VA: Yuichi Nakamura (JP) | Keong Sim (EN)]

Seonhee's lieutenant in the Geomijul, a body double for the real Joon-gi Han who decided to continue with his identity after the original perished during the events of Yakuza 6.

Tianyou Zhou

[VA: Nobuhiko Okamoto (JP) | Robbie Daymond (EN)]

Former leader of the Chinese Liumang in Yokohama and a great cook.

Eric Tomizawa

[VA: Satoru Iguchi (JP) | Matthew Yang King (EN)]

A taxi driver and mechanic in Hawaii working as a low-level soldier for the Yamai Syndicate. After failing to mug Ichiban or locate Akane for Yamai, Ichiban convinces him to switch sides and join him instead.

Chitose Fujinomiya

[VA: Anju Inami (JP) | Suzie Yeung (EN)]

The heiress to the Fujinomiya fortune who fled to Hawaii for unknown reasons, posing as Akane's maid when Ichiban first meets her. Later reveals herself to be a spy for Eiji Mitamura and the original voice behind the VTuber model Hisoka Tatara, but regrets her actions after seeing how Eiji uses her to betray Akane and Ichiban.