4.5/5 ★ – Cptn's review of Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

After playing Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, I fell in love with the character of Kazuma Kiryu. And in love with the insane, zany, politically charged adventures he found himself thrust into. The Yakuza series is the single best Japanese crime soap opera you will ever play. But this comes with a caveat. The Yakuza series is, mechanically and environmentally, incredibly repetitive. Yakuza 1-6 largely focus on the same combat and map. Which over the long periods of time the game wants to engage you for (70 hours plus for completionists like me), gets very old. So I thought that I had put the series down for good. Until of course, I saw Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Everything I love about the series is still here. the hilariously absurd sub-stories, to the tedious menial tasks that make Yakuza, Yakuza. The main and biggest differences being three-fold, a new combat system, a new main protagonist, and a new city to call home. All three of these changes were incredibly refreshing and breathed new life into a time honored series. The combat especially toned down the tedium from previous entries. While the combat is still not very deep or difficult, it isn’t mindless button mashing, so its much better in that regard. The new environment while also not incredibly innovative (its still a Japanese townscape) was welcome. As I’ve seen a lifetimes worth of Kamurocho and I didn’t even play 4 other entires in the series. And lastly the new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga. Who is taking over Kiryu’s time honored role as beefcake with a heart of gold. While I will miss the stoicism of the Dragon of Dojima, Ichiban’s fervor and passion are more than welcome. His personality really amped up the combat and I was drawn in by his infectious enthusiasm. All in all I was very happy with the time I spent with Yakuza 7. Being able to play an amazing series with a new take was a lot of fun. Hopefully this trend keeps up for future entries in one of my favorite franchises.