Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name takes us on a new adventure through Osaka as the beloved Yakuza protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. It is a spin-off to the Yakuza series and it takes place simultaneously during the events of the 2020-released Yakuza: Like a Dragon. After faking his death, Kiryu became a secret agent under the alias “Joryu” for the Daidoji faction.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Gameplay
Most of the game takes place in the Sotenbori district of Osaka, but the first chapter of the story features the Isezaki Ijincho district of Yokohama from the Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Lost Judgment. Like a Dragon Gaiden also features a third location called the Castle where the players can participate in various side activities.
As for the game’s combat system, Kiryu has two fighting styles: Yakuza and Agent. The Yakuza style let Kiryu fight in his classic combat style of an aggressive brawler. However, the Agent style would have the Yakuza-turned-secret agent rely on high-tech gadgets to take down enemies with absolute speed and precision.
Like a Dragon Gaiden features various minigames like karaoke, pocket circuit racing, cabaret club, and fighting arena. It also lets Kiryu play Sega Master System classics like Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alien Syndrome, and Daytona USA 2 in this game. After finishing the main story, players can play a trial version of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which features some exclusive scenes. Then there is a “Hawaii Demo” for players to explore an in-game Hawaii and complete various side activities.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Characters
Like a Dragon Gaiden sees the series’ classic protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, return. The game also introduces many new faces like the handler Kihei Hanawa, Kijin Clan’s patriarch Homare Nishitani III, Omi Alliance's Watase Family’s lieutenant Kosei Shishido and captain Yuki Tsuruno, informant Akame, Daidoji’s ruthless manager Yoshimura, the mysterious high-ranking officer of Daidoji called the Boss.
Kiryu isn’t the only known face returning to this game. It also features the Watase Family’s patriarch and Omi Alliance's captain Masaru Watase, Tojo Clan’s sixth chairman Daigo Dojima, senior Tojo Clan members like Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima, and former Tojo Clan yakuza Ichiban Kasuga. The game also features Kiryu’s adopted children: Haruka Sawamura, Taichi, and Ayako. Aside from characters from other Yakuza games, those from spin-off series like Masaharu Kaito, Toru Higashi, and Fumiya Sugiura of the Judgement games also featured in it.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Platform
This action-adventure game is available on every latest gaming console like PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC. However, it is also playable on older-generation platforms like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Downloadable Content
Like a Dragon Gaiden features characters Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, and Daigo Dojima as bonus downloadable content for the minigames. Aside from these, there are no other DLCs for the game. However, this game was originally planned as a DLC but became a full game.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Release Date
This action-adventure game was released by Sega on November 9, 2023, across all the platforms it is playable on.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Trophies and Achievements
Like a Dragon Gaiden has 61 achievements, which rewards players with trophies upon completion. However, the PlayStation version of the game features an additional trophy, “The Dragon of Dojima,” which is only given upon acquiring all the trophies.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Voice Casts and Special Appearance
Like a Dragon Gaiden features many renowned Japanese voice actors like Hiroki Tochi as Kihei Hanawa, Kim Jaw Wook as Homare Nishitani III, Yasukaze Motomiya as Kosei Shishido, Hiroshi Naka as the Boss. The game also saw Hidenari Ugaki, Rintarō Nishi, Rikiya Koyama, and Rie Kugimiya reprise their roles. Even Takaya Kuroda returned to lend his voice to Kiryu.
This 2023-released game also featured some renowned voice actors for English voices like Kirk Thornton for the Daidoji Temple’s head priest, Matthew Mercer as Goro Majima, Ron Yuan as Taiga Saejima, Kaiji Tang as Ichiban Kasuga, Xanthe Huynh as Haruka Sawamura, Cassandra Lee Morris as Ayako, Crispin Freeman as Masaharu Kaito, and Steve Blum as Toru Higashi. The game also saw the renowned YouTuber SungWon “ProZD” Cho voice the Boss in English. Moreover, the protagonist Kiryu also had a new English voice, Yong Yea, who voiced him in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
FAQs on Like a Dragon Gaiden
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio began developing Like a Dragon Gaiden as a DLC but eventually decided to create it as a full game.
Like a Dragon Gaiden is not a turn-based game. It instead follows a more classic brawler-style combat, which fans are familiar with from old Yakuza games.
Gaiden means side story in Japanese. Since, this game is a spin-off to the main Yakuza or Like a Dragon series, the developers named this game Like a Dragon Gaiden.
Like a Dragon Gaiden is not a sequel but a spin-off taking place after the events of Yakuza 6 and simultaneously with Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Like a Dragon Gaiden features the Sotenbori district of Osaka and the Isezaki Ijincho district of Yokohama. The game’s “Hawaii Demo” also features a fictionalized version of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sega released this Yakuza spin-off game as a digital-only, so there are no physical copies available for it.
