Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is an action beat'em up developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Review Overview
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Smooth and Visually-Pleasing Performance Crazy Amount of Side Content Story Starts Strong, Continues Strong |
Story May Be Hard to Understand Repetitive Combat Upgrading Skills is a Grind |
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Overall - 84/100
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a short and sweet experience. Fans of the franchise will finally know why Kiryu came back and what he’s been doing so far. While the game is great, it is more of a fan service title and a justification for why they brought him back for Yakuza: Like a Dragon when his story has seemingly finished already. While fans expect to pass the torch in the upcoming game, the developers seem to want to give Kiryu the Fast-and-Furious treatment by giving him one last ride.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Story - 8/10
The story picks up three years after the events of Yakuza 6: Song of Life and in parallel to the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. This is definitely not the best starting point for newer players as it panders more to the series’ fans with their excessive use of story jargon, lengthy dialogues, and numerous returning characters. Although most Yakuza games start slow, this one in particular starts off strong and doesn’t slow down. The only thing holding it back is the length of the game, as the story is really just a setup and side story to Kiryu’s side during the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Gameplay - 9/10
Like the classic Yakuza games, it plays like an arcade-style beat’em up with a simple ability progression and simulation. The game has many side content with minigames such as retro SEGA arcade games, Billiards, Darts, and many more. The franchise is known for its many side quests and minigames; this entry is no exception. However, although having two distinct fighting styles may add more nuance to how you play, the combat isn’t necessarily a great experience because mobs are damage sponges, and bosses don’t flinch.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Visuals - 9/10
Since the Dragon Engine’s introduction in Yakuza Kiwami 2, the series has always looked visually stunning. With enhancements and improvements from their past iterations of the Judgment and Yakuza franchises, the game looks amazing and runs surprisingly well. Character designs are distinct and eye-catching, as the characters in the story are as colorful as their personalities.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Audio - 8/10
The audio design in the game is serviceable, from the voice acting down to the sound effects. Hit effects are weighty and have always been a reliable way to bring an impact in all the fighting. Voice acting is impressive, as always, thanks to the great voice actors the developers always get. While there are certified banger tracks in the game, these are mostly reserved for big boss fights. In the end, I wasn’t able to get any memorable tracks to stick in my head.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Value for Money - 8/10
With the multitude of things that you can do in the game, it’s a shame that the story is so short. It brings mostly every minigame the series has had to the table, but if you’re new to the series, I would recommend a different title to start with. This game is worth it to long-time fans of the series as it not only gives you closure but also gets you more excited as it actually includes a demo for the upcoming Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth coming out in January.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Review: Kazuma Kiryu’s Last Ride
Like the famous Fast-and-Furious franchise, Kazuma Kiryu refuses to go down. Kazuma Kiryu was the long-time protagonist of the Yakuza series being portrayed as an individual with a strict code of honor and strong sense of justice despite being in the dark world of the Yakuza. Even with the apparent passing of the torch that already happened back in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Kasuga Ichiban, the new protagonist of the series, is similar to Kiryu where they are both extremely loyal and have a strong sense of justice. This was already remarked by Kiryu as Ichiban reminds him of his younger self. With all of that already happening, they still wanted to give him not one but two more games. As a long-time fan of the series, I appreciate providing Kiryu his godlike status and flowers for carrying the franchise and being the stoic man of few words everyone needed. But it may be time to stop giving him the spotlight. Personally, I think his appearance in Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a welcome surprise. Still, I always thought it made the great ending and setup that Yakuza 6: Song of Life had, which made him embrace anonymity and leave his loved ones behind, feel cheap.
Like Yakuza Kiwami 2 with Goro Majima’s DLC, the story and gameplay are pretty short. The game was originally planned to be downloadable content for Yakuza: Like a Dragon, but it was made into a separate title instead. The game offers you numerous things to do to keep you busy, such as minigames, sidequests, and the like. But these things were already present in the past games and lacked innovation.
Combat flows well with the improvements they’ve made to the Dragon Engine compared to its past iterations going back to Yakuza 6: Song of Life. The game definitely takes the good parts of the spinoff, Lost Judgment, and integrated Kiryu’s moveset as a whole with the inclusion of classic "Yakuza" fighting style. With a new fighting style called "Agent," a unique combat experience using tools and gadgets could be enjoyed. However, you might find yourself using the classic style most of the time instead. That’s because it will take a while to obtain all of your tools and gadgets to fill your arsenal.
Meanwhile, plain old fisticuffs continue to be reliable in any situation. They even mention in the story that even if Kiryu is pulling off these martial arts integrated with gadgets called the Daidoji style, the best way to subdue his stronger opponents is to just let loose his actual style. Along with all of this, combat will feel repetitive after a while. Upgrading your abilities and attacks may take a while since you will need to grind for the money and points.
On the other hand, Kiryu trying to pull off a Clark Kent disguise is hilarious. Everyone he encounters immediately recognizes him simply because he doesn’t take hiding his identity seriously. It becomes a sort of running gag, even when his codename "Joryu" sounds so close to his real name. When people bring up his identity, he would simply brush them off and repeat that he is not who they say he is as they continue to test how strong the Dragon of Dojima really is.
Let’s get this out of the way: the game is great. There’s no doubt about it. Kiryu once again carries the narrative as a man who has endured so much pain and yet has always found a way to get through with his morals. While it's hard to believe that he might actually be gone in the future, I personally think it’s time to let him rest and ride off into the sunset. He will always be known as one of gaming’s greatest badasses, and it’s only right to end his story with a happy ending.
Pros of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
| Things Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Got Right |
|---|
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Smooth Performance and Visually Pleasing Crazy Amount of Side Content Story Starts Strong, Continues Strong |
Smooth and Visually-Pleasing Performance
Ever since the usage of the Dragon Engine in 2016 for Yakuza 6, I always thought the game looked great. However, that game was painfully slow, and the performance was spotty under certain conditions. With the improvements to the Dragon Engine with their recent releases, the game runs smoothly like butter without dropping any frames and looks great in my experience. With the game being very text-heavy and time-consuming on the cutscenes, it’s important to not halt the player’s progress due to poor performance, as it may sour the experience.
Crazy Amount of Side Content
The series is known for its wacky side quests and mini-games, even to those who aren’t long-time fans. It was always one of the strong suits of the franchise to showcase Japan in a gaming light and make it more appealing to potential tourists. This game, in particular, has retro SEGA games, its own Karaoke song collection, and even live-action scenes for their models in the Cabaret Club. In addition, there’s all sorts of gambling activities like Mahjong, Blackjack, Poker, and more to scratch that itch if you’re feeling lucky. You won’t run out of things to do quickly as they’re all just there for you to be finished.
Story Starts Strong, Continues Strong
The Yakuza series has always been a slow burn; this game, however, is not one of them. It immediately thrusts you into conflict, sets up Kiryu’s story, and keeps you interested in how it all lines up with the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. If you played Yakuza: Like a Dragon, you will notice that the timing of the events is parallel to each other, as well as the locations visited. It all intersects with Ichiban’s story with the big showdown in one of the climactic moments of that game, and you’re given the reason why Kiryu makes his big return.
Cons of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
| Things That Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Can Improve |
|---|
|
Story May Be Hard to Understand Repetitive Combat Upgrading Skills is a Grind |
Story May Be Hard to Understand
The story will confuse you haven’t played any of the Yakuza games before, especially Yakuza 6: Song of Life and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Being a direct sequel of the former and coinciding with the latter, you may find it overwhelming with its excessive use of jargon. Not only that, but they also call back to moments from previous games like the Ryuji Goda parallel in the coliseum fight, which might throw you off due to the lack of context. While the game does give you multiple recaps, it doesn’t really help, as the amount of story jargon they throw out with the added lack of context is staggering.
Repetitive Combat
Beat’em Ups are fun and simple. However, they are often repetitive. The series never shied away from having more difficult bosses, even at lower difficulty levels. Despite the introduction of a completely new fighting style, I found myself mindlessly using the old style by default simply because it finishes combat encounters faster. Getting new Heat Actions or cinematic moves that use a bar of resource will give you that hit of dopamine as they are always a spectacle to watch. But after a while, even these will become tiring. The addition of Ultimate Counters, which are timed counters to an enemy’s powerful attacks, adds a little more nuance to the combat besides button mashing. Still, it doesn’t really add much to the game.
Upgrading Skills Is a Grind
Skills and abilities are unlocked through money and points earned from doing side missions. While this is not completely necessary to finish the game since you can make things work with only the base kit, the additional skills can make your "life easier" as noted on the tooltips. These abilities will upgrade your combos, enhance your gadgets and abilities, and add new Heat Actions. The need to upgrade will force you to do the side missions, which are mostly fetch quests and combat encounters. And since some of these upgrades progressively become more expensive, it will take some time before you max them out.
Is Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Worth It?
Yes, If You've Played Other Yakuza Titles.
As mentioned earlier, the game ties up loose ends as to why Kiryu returns. While there are numerous recaps of past events, if you’re unfamiliar with the franchise’s characters or its events, chances are, you will still be at a loss. This game is for the fans and those who want to play the demo for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. It’s a great game filled with familiar side content and homages to past events. It truly is a game dedicated to Kiryu’s last ride, at least for the time being.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Overview & Premise
Follow Kiryu, hiding behind the alias Joryu, as he follows a mysterious plot to drive him out of hiding. Beat enemies up with two different fighting styles featuring new tools and old tricks. Enjoy the different nightlife activities in Sotenbori, like karaoke, gambling, cabaret clubs, and more.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name FAQ
Is Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Available on Xbox Game Pass?
Yes. The game is available on Xbox Game Pass on its release date.
In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, who is the voice actor for Akane?
The voice actor for Akame is First Summer Uika. She is a solo singer under UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN and was a former member of groups BILLIE IDLE and BiS. She is also a well-known actress starring in multiple movies and dramas such as Unknown, Nami yo Kiite Kure, and Nanba MG5.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Product Information
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| Title | LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN: THE MAN WHO ERASED HIS NAME |
|---|---|
| Release Date | November 9, 2023 |
| Developer | Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio |
| Publisher | SEGA |
| Supported Platforms | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, Steam |
| Genre | Action, Beat’em Up |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | M 17+ |
| Official Website | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Website |
