Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is even more bonkers than you can imagine, and I want more, now

The next game in RGG Studio’s Yakuza/Like A Dragon series, Infinite Wealth, is a melting pot of old and new. As the bare buttocks of returning Yakuza: Like A Dragon hero Ichiban Kasuga indicated in the reveal trailer for Infinite Wealth, we’re not in Yokohama anymore, but Honolulu, Hawaii. He’s not alone on his journey either. As well as his mates from the first LAD, plus lots more newcomers, mainline Yakuza stablemate Kazuma Kiryu, now extra frosty with his silver hairdo, is also coming along for the ride as well.

Alas, the circumstances in which the two join forces wasn’t covered in my 30-minute demo at this year’s EGX. Rather, we pick up Ichiban, Kiryu and fresh faces Chitose and Tomizawa as they land in Honolulu, in search of a dodgy cop named Roman who's managed to wrong almost everyone in the group at some point in the past. 30 minutes isn’t long in a game like Yakuza, but hey, I still got to screech at restaurant goers in one of its sidequest stories, as well as terrorise the general public on Ichiban’s always-deployable segway, which I’d still call a pretty strong introduction to this latest LAD.

As Ichiban and co get their bearings in the sunny seaside region of Honolulu, they only had to whisper the word ‘Roman’ before they got accosted by “Unpleasant Thug” no.1 out of the probable thousands you’ll be biffing in the game’s turn-based battles. Returning LAD players will feel right at home here, with each party member once again adopting a rough RPG class that’s themed around their job. Ichiban still has his razor-wire-adorned baseball bat from the previous game in the series, for example, though how he got that through airport security god only knows. Tomizawa, meanwhile, was a taxi driver in a former life, and some of his special attacks will see him lob wrenches and four-way cross wheels at his foes. Chitose, on the other hand, is a maid, but also a former ballet dancer, and she can restore your party’s health with a flourishing tea service while also pirouetting and swan diving into enemies with her lethal pointed toes.

Old timer Kiryu also fits right into the pack as a traditional brawler – as you’d probably expect given his real-time brawls in the mainline Yakuza series. It’s a little strange not immediately reaching for nearby bicycles to hoist into thug flesh, but you can press left, right and up on the d-pad to make him adopt different stances, just like the good old days. His Yakuza stance, for example, lets him perform Heat Actions, while Rush increases his range of movement but only lets him squeeze in two basic attacks as a result. Finally, there’s Beast, which sacrifices movement to beef up his attack and defence. It’s a neat melding of the two different fighting styles from the Yakuza and LAD strands of the series, and seeing Kiryu execute follow-up punches alongside the rest of the LAD cast can’t help but wrestle a gleeful smile out of you as a player.

RGG’s eye for daft, over the top nonsense hasn’t diminished either, as one of Tomizawa’s finishing attacks I performed literally saw him “driving” his prey to despair by bundling them into the back of his grey, people carrier taxi and knocking their brain sideways with lethal, rubber-burning handbrake turns, climaxing in a slow-mo, spin launch off a pile of rubble. Tomizawa then launches himself out of the driver seat, just in time to dramatically walk away and prop up his glasses as the car erupts in a glorious explosion. It’s stupid, brilliant fun, and I look forward to discovering what other mad finishers the rest of the new cast have up their sleeve, too.

But first, the important stuff: riding around Honolulu on Ichiban’s excellent new segway. Dubbed the “Street Surfer”, you can whip this out at any point when you’re running around the streets with a tap of the d-pad, allowing you to whizz round roads and pedestrian areas in double quick time. Naturally, given you’re on two wheels, it’s quite easy to bypass a lot of the roaming hooligans the series is known for, and part of me wonders how this will affect the levelling grind as the game goes on. They’re certainly easier to avoid if you just want to get from A to B, but whether you’ll have to spend that saved time just mopping up fodder fights to keep pace with the game’s story remains to be seen. For the purposes of my demo at least, it made it a lot easier to zip round and see the sights in my limited time with it, and I was very heartened to see your mates all parading round on their own Street Surfers as well when I doubled back down one of its roads. Truly, an incredible sight to behold.

Alas, your Street Surfer disappears if you drive into a gang of punks (boo), but nearby sidequest characters will pull you into their various sub story endeavours if you ride close by (handy). This is how I got roped into helping a guy called Obispo run his Hawaiian restaurant after his new worker failed to show up for his shift. In classic Yakuza/LAD fashion, Ichiban must engage in all sorts of antics during his side jaunts, and here I first had to decide whether to greet customers in a “friendly” or “refined” manner, but also at what volume – a cheery customer will appreciate a loud ALL CAPS bellow, for example, while a posh, older gentleman will prefer a more muted, respectable whisper.

Then came the ordering of their food, and I had to really pay attention to this one, as each and every customer simply couldn’t make up their mind, using all sorts of smoke and mirrors tricks to make it as difficult to remember their order as possible. I got two right, but disappointed my elder cardigan chap by bringing out a fruit bowl instead of a loco moco. I also had to identify some dishes Obispo had left out on the side just by sight. The result was I levelled up my Passion (and got more experience in Style, thanks granddad), which made me more resistant to sleep – a small, but no doubt helpful boost when it comes to cracking skulls in its turn-based battles.

Like previous Yakuza/LAD games, then, the side stuff will no doubt with well worth seeking out, if not for the stat boosts then certainly just for the daft nonsense Ichiban will inevitably get pulled into. I certainly had a fun time barking out WELCOMEs and delivering dishes to hungry gobs with the kind of pride and self-worth that only Ichiban, man-sized school kid in chief, is capable of delivering, and I’m pumped to see what else lies in store for him in the final game. Karaoke is back, for example, as is the Crazy Taxi-inspired bike courier mini-game Crazy Delivery, and I’m sure there will be many other copious mini-games to indulge in if you need some respite from the main story. Ichiban and Kiryu’s joint Hawaii adventure can’t come soon enough in my books – which is handy, as it’s launching on PC on January 26th 2024.