So, I decided to buy Yakuza: Like a Dragon. If truth be told if it wasn't for the pandemic and the UK in the midst of Lockdown Part II, which nobody seems to be adhering to, I probably wouldn't have bought this. Not because the game looked bad, but because I would have been able to wait a while. But I'm home all of the damn time and bored for most of that time; so I figured, 'Fuck it'. I could do with a distraction, and I know the Yakuza games are a good time having played through a Yakuza game before and enjoying it.My first Yakuza game was Yakuza 0, which I bought out of sheer desire for a Shenmue sequel. Shenmue III was taking for-fucking-ever, and what I was seeing of it wasn't doing much for me. So I figured I'd give Yakuza a shot, which seemed to be the next best thing that could quite possibly fill the void. Bitch. I was not prepared for it to be anywhere near as good as it ended up being. If you've never played a Yakuza game before, and don't know where to start, you can jump straight into Like a Dragon, as it is a whole new story with a whole new lead character and location. But I would also recommend Yakuza 0. As the number implies, it is the first in the story told across the original Yakuza series, and it doesn't cliffhang in a way that you feel so compelled to play Yakuza 1 through to 6. Or in my case, Yakuza 1 through to 5. Yep. I went straight from 0 to 6.
But anyway. Like a Dragon.
I'm a couple of hours into it, and it's all very familiar and your standard Yakuza fare. But one thing feels completely different (aside from the new turn-based battle system) and that is Ichigo, the main character.
Part of the charm of Yakuza was that main-main Kiryu was so cool, stoic, serious and expressionless, yet he would end up in so many humorous bat-shit crazy situations, and you could take him to go and do some karaoke or dance at a disco. In Like a Dragon, Ichiban is the complete opposite. He's a goofball, he is impulsive, he doesn't take things seriously, and is wildly animated. It doesn't shift the entire tone of the game from what you know. And not that Yakuza needed to justify why so many things in the world of its game are so off the wall - but Ichiban in a way kinda does justify it. And the way they set his character up lends the world of this Yakuza game to be even more ridiculous than we've seen it be in the past. No small feat, given some of the characters that you meet and the shit you end up doing across these games. But Like a Dragon still retains its heart and is able to make sure that the serious story moments land how they should.Yakuza games are a masterclass in tone management. I don't quite know how Sega do it, but the balance between anime style ridiculousness and intense drama never seem disparate or strange. They sit together perfectly. And even with a lead character who is so different from Kiryu, the balance never shifts.
The original games were built around the Yakuza and where Kiryu sat within it all. Like a Dragon is built around Ichiban and the effect that the Yakuza has on his life. Kiryu's story was about honour and maintaining a path of justice whilst in an organised crime syndicate which doesn't always uphold it. Ichiban's story is about finding his own path in life without the Yakuza no longer around to provide it for him. Yakuza games have always centred on the emotions and lives of characters, but this is the first time we feel it first-hand through the main character, and is also one of the first instances where there are a shit tonne of real life parallels.
But before we even meet Ichiban, we're introduced to a young boy acting in kabuki theatre, who we then discover is being physically and emotionally abused by his mother. It's also implied that his father is similarly abused. Years later this boy grows up to be somebody who abuses Ichiban's loyalty and desire to be a part of a family. Then the game just ploughs you through characters who have had their lives changed for the worst by others around them, and find themselves locked into a society where they feel unable to truly belong, and instead sit on its fringes.Like a Dragon casts it's net far and wide. A person who is wheelchair bound and goes to extreme lengths to appear less disabled then he is. Somebody who finds himself so up against the wall that he has to take out loans to care for his hospitalised mother who has lost her business. How the world is set-up to keep the homeless homeless. Gentrification. Unemployment. Prostitution and the ways in which society demonises it without considering the reasons for which women may turn to prostitution; and how more effort is disproportionately put into stopping prostitutes from working, than dismantling the systems that force women to turn to it in the first place.
None of the Yakuza games I've played thus far (all two of them) have made such commentaries and touched on the life scenarios that Like a Dragon has done in the mere couple of hours that I've spent playing it. It's not something I expected, given that the previous Yakuza games had always gone to lengths to feel like this wholly unrelatable world.
Ichiban being thrown into a situation where nothing is as it was feels very relevant for today; in the midst of a pandemic that's completely turned lives upside down - completely redefining what a normal life is in 2020 and will continue to be in 2021. But Ichiban also trying to figure out his path in life also hits hard. Ichiban is 42 years old and is uncertain about what he should do with his life and the path he should take. It's not something he ever had to think about when he was in the Yakuza. So many people feel lost and wonder what they should do with their lives, especially in this age of social media where it's far easier to see the successes of others and compare them to your own. And now whether it's because of the pandemic, the Trump administration or Brexit, many people had their dreams and aspirations upended or put on pause. So many of the stories and situations being told in Like a Dragon aren't distant ones. These bitches are close to home, right on the doorstep to the crib. I sometimes find myself in this flux of feeling lost and wondering what the fuck I am doing, even when I do know what I'm doing. Life is really fucking tough, but even in the depths of despair you can find hope and answers. And this, from my limited time in the game, seems to be the re-occurring theme. And this, in the midst of all of the regular Yakuza shenanigans makes Like a Dragon compelling in new ways I hadn't encountered with any (all two) of the Yakuza games I'd played. I'm keen to see where things go, how the social commentaries blossom, and how Ichiban wrestles with the betrayals of somebody who he looked up to like a father. 'Cos bitch, if there's one thing Yakuza games know how to do, it's tell a story, give you twist and leave you fucked up and in disbelief.