10 Video Game Entries That Drastically Changed The Formula

4. Yakuza: Like A Dragon

After many entries telling the epic story of Kazuma Kiryu, Yakuza: Life A Dragon took a completely different approach with a new protagonist, a set of new combat mechanics, and perhaps most surprisingly, it all totally worked.

Yakuza remained as good after the changes as it was before them.

While the combat is usually of the beat-em-up variety, Like A Dragon switched things up to a turn-based system. Similarly, it took on an even lighter tone than its predecessors with loveable young protagonist Ichiban Kasuga and his wild imagination setting the stage for the larger-than-life fights and set pieces. Like A Dragon could easily have been a tricky sell to fans of the original game but the new entry retained the earnest soul of the earlier entries as well as its epic crime narratives, stellar sense of humour, and deeply human stories.

Some epic cameos certainly didn’t hurt, either.