Yakuza 7: Like A Dragon Review

Rating: ★★★★☆

After six main instalments, a prequel, two remakes and a zombie-shooter spin-off, Yakuza has taken its biggest - and best - risk yet: Soft-rebooting the franchise by swapping combat genres entirely

Gone is the traditional - and iconic at this point - arcady brawler feel that’s defined the IP for a decade and a half, and in is overblown, cartoonish, turn-based combat, somewhat splitting the fanbase in the process.

Thankfully, it’s a change I can personally embrace, given my own love of old-school Final Fantasy and the snappier likes of Persona 5, and it’s something new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga conceptualises as coming from him being a huge Dragon Quest fan.

At this stage with Yakuza, though, you likely only need to know two things:

Is this a suitable entry point? Is it actually a good game?

The answer to both is a resounding “Yes!”. Firstly because Kasuga’s tale happens “around” the other games, comprising scenes before and after everything former hero Kazuma Kiryu gets up to, and second, because this combat system can be incredibly satisfying over time.

However, do know that there’s a fairly slow burn at the beginning, almost designed to make you yearn for change; to break away from the same Kamurocho cityscape we’ve seen so much of before. By the time the story kicks into gear - ironically coming from Kasuga hitting rock bottom and collecting cans as a homeless person - you’ll be over an hour in.

Thankfully though, all the previous character work done to flesh Ichiban out continues to make him one of the best characters Ryu Ga Gotoku have ever written. A well-meaning lummox with a heart of gold, fists of fury and ludicrously out of place hair, these are all the ingredients to meaningfully differentiate him from longtime series vet, Kazuma Kiryu.

Where “Uncle Kaz” would forever play the straight man in any of the titles’ overblown comedic set-pieces, Kasuga gets to embody the punchline directly. Being the butt of jokes, stumbling through certain scenes - it’s a refreshing change of pace, endearing on a protagonist level, and reminded me somewhat of One Punch Man’s Saitama - able to play in the “super serious/badass combat” mould, just as much as slapstick comedy.

As for combat itself, things start out woefully undercooked, almost as though the devs dialled back your options in the field and placed timers on things you would’ve previously pulled off with a few button presses.

Whilst this is absolutely the case on paper, over time it feels incredibly satisfying, orchestrating mass brawls with multiple characters firing off their specials in quick succession. With you flying from person to person, planning a few moves ahead and keeping on top of stat buffs, weaknesses and charged attacks, think Final Fantasy VII Remake’s turn-based mode, but with chefs summoning lobsters for specials or characters auto-using nearby parts of the environment for a finisher.

Combat encounters load in and out with supreme ease (an essential component of any new-age RPG), and quick enough you’ll be hoovering up XP, various currencies and unlockable moves in quick succession.

The latter ties into various minigames and unlock structures like Pac-Man style can-collecting, go-kart racing, business ownership and more, fleshing out your companion pool alongside tag team attacks and more specials for Ichiban himself.

Once you’re out of Kamurocho, RGG take Ichiban to the all-new map of Yokohama. Though the location has been seen a handful of times over the series, now it’s a fully playable, interact-able map with various restaurants, Sega arcades, pubs, clubs and more to enjoy.

This latter element has always been the bread and butter foundation of Yakuza, as it’s then on each game’s cast of characters, plot twists, narrative swerves and combat to build on top. For newcomers and series vets alike, fighting thugs, completing OTT story missions and recouping with a beef bowl and shot of sake brings a charm unlike anything else.

All in all, there’s a revised pace to Yakuza 7, a confidence in how much RGG Studio are clearly enjoying this “all-new” take on Yakuza, that bursts from every pore. The fundamentals outside combat are largely unchanged, but that’s also what lets such a popular and beloved IP maintain its trajectory.

Yakuza 7: Like A Dragon feels every bit as awkward and left-field as Ichiban trying to impress an old Yakuza leader near the beginning of the story. However, over time and as the story plays a supremely deft hand, filled with commentary on the development of Japan over the years and how someone like Kasuga can find a place in an otherwise “set in stone” set of expectations, it emerges on top as one of the best in the franchise.

For the hardcore Yakuza fans keeping score of where this sits, for me it’s slap-bang in the middle. Above Yakuza 4, 5 and 6, but still below the original trilogy and those Kiwami re-releases.

An incredible injection of much-needed life and variance to an IP that - especially with the “one more story” of Yakuza 6 - desperately needed it.