Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name review – For your eyes Omi

Whenever a Yakuza game–now known as Like a Dragon–rolls around, you can usually expect a game that blends episodic storytelling with bone-crunching action. For the last two decades, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku’s melodramatic crime saga has kept that formula intact, enhancing and iterating on its design. Sure, 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon may have taken the series from the streets of beat-’em-up rage to the world of turn-based RPG combat, but at its core, Like a Dragon games are all about telling you a story that’s punctuated by brutal haymakers and wonderfully over-the-top quick-time events.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name feels like the last hurrah for the Yakuza games of old, a fitting segue into the next era of the series that cleans up loose ends with a compact tale that brings back Kazuma Kiryu, the legendary Dragon of Dojima, for one more round of action. Armed with fists that have survived a thousand brawls and an arsenal of gadgets that would make James Bond blush, Kiryu’s penultimate adventure is pure fan service for anyone who has become invested in the character over the years. The storyline will likely be incomprehensible to anyone who hasn’t played through the last game, but at least it’s backed up by LAD’s tried-and-tested gameplay.

For a quick recap, LAD Gaiden is set in the aftermath of Yakuza 6, a game that saw Kiryu fake his death so that he could protect his loved ones from powerful underworld forces. Now immersed in the world of the Daodoji, a black ops group with its own agendas, Kiryu has been forced to erase his identity from the world and carry out missions for the syndicate. Things quickly go pear-shaped after a mission, and from that point, Kiryu is thrust back into the spotlight of the Yakuza as he weaves between events that occurred in Yakuza 7.

By Yakuza and LAD standards, Gaiden is an incredibly short game. At around 10-12 hours in length, depending on how much faffing around you do in Kiryu’s downtime, Gaiden is around half or even a third of the length of previous Yakuza games. That’s not a bad thing, though, and in Gaiden’s case, it’s a key strength for this game. Make no mistake, Yakuza and LAD games are something that you have to invest in, as they generally take their time in setting up their plot before they start firing on all cylinders and throw you into gauntlets full of cannon fodder goons before you race to the end.

But with Gaiden, you have a game that doesn’t need to spin its wheels. Instead, the brisk pacing and quick dumps of exposition are a refreshing change of pace, allowing the game to focus on Kiryu as he deals with ghosts from his past, and his role in bringing the era of the Yakuza to a close. All the hallmarks of the series are still here, and across five chapters of action-packed storytelling, the game is essentially a greatest hits mini-series that captures the spirit of the franchise.

That’s not to say that there aren’t a few new tricks up Kiryu’s sleeve, as Gaiden mixes well-worn assets with some interesting twists on its formula. For the most part, Gaiden takes place in Kiryu’s old haunt in Sotenbori, where he makes use of his perfected fighting style to curb-stomp the enthusiasm out of any ruffians who pick a fight with him. But this time, Kiryu also has a secret agent fighting style that allows him to mix fast strikes with gadgets. Sure, landing a few jabs to the skull feels as satisfying as ever, but mixing up that combat with explosive cigarettes, jet boots, drones, and filament wires to throw enemies around like an angry Spider-Man? Classic.

Beyond the pool of gizmos, LAD Gaiden doesn’t expand more on Kiryu’s undercover status, a job that he’s hilariously terrible at. Attempting to disguise himself with a simple pair of shades, it’s laughable just how ineffective Kiryu’s disguise is, as absolutely nobody is buying it in the game. It’s a shame that this secret part of Kiryu’s life isn’t elaborated on more, but at least the game makes up for it with a new area that mixes the glitz of Las Vegas with the cage matches of Fight Club.

Known as The Castle, this small region is a microcosm of the cities that you’d typically explore in Yakuza games. A few shops on either side of you, an arena right ahead, and a chance to make some big cash in all-out brawls that can be used to purchase new skills, outfits, and stock up your inventory with life-saving snacks. You’ll need more than just cash to level up Kiryu’s talent for rearranging teeth with his fist-based dental skills  – which is where one of Gaiden’s best changes to the Yakuza formula comes in.

Beyond the main campaign, you’ll normally find plenty of side stories in these games, and they provide brief respites from the drama-heavy narrative. These are normally weird diversions that you’ll stumble upon, but Gaiden streamlines that process through the introduction of one of its new characters, the resourceful Akame. An information broker that you’ll meet early in the game, Akame offers intel and missions that reward you with points that can be used for upgrades and purchasing new gear.

It’s a more convenient system overall, one that gets to the point of these side stories and tosses out the random factor entirely. And yes, these stories range from heartwarming to “WTF” as you experience them, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Be on the lookout for one tale in particular, that’ll make fans of the Judgment series very happy.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a victory lap for one of the best protagonists in video game history. It’s a fond encapsulation of everything that makes the LAD series so memorable, from bruising back-alley fights to tender moments of self-reflection and cathartic mini-games that have incredibly dramatic camera angles. Kiryu’s saga will come to a close in next year’s Infinite Wealth, but Gaiden provides a satisfying lead into that game with a story that celebrates the legendary dragon and gives players an absurdly fun set of toys to play with in this entertaining adventure.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. You can also play the game from day one with Xbox and PC Game Pass.