Kiryu might've lost his name and all, but you know what he won't lose until he's gone for good? His virginity.

Ahem.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (I'll refer this to LAD: Gaiden onwards) is a continuation of Yakuza 6, the game that marks the end of Kiryu's emotional saga. This game is a "side-game" which furtherly explains what happened behind the scene of (Spoiler Y:LAD if you haven't played) how Kiryu re-appeared in one point of the game.

The gameplay is similar to those of Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 6, but with a bit refinement from Judgment series. It does the usual substories, although in a different way, it has the many kinds of minigame you can play, and so much more.


The combat, while a bit off when it comes to the original moveset, it shines when you're using it alongside the new Agent style, which is more or less mix of both Kiryu's Rush style and Yagami's Crane style, with further gimmicks that adds more into his playstyle, notably the Gadgets.

But first, Agent style. A new style for Kiryu that emphasizes on crowd control, and it does not disappoint. A more "methodical" style compared to his Dragon of Dojima moveset, Agent style allows Kiryu to deal with crowds of enemies, while allowing more survivability. The attacks are quite fast, however doesn't deal that much damage. Still, despite of its low damage, it does add A LOT to offer with its extra things in his pocket, which are Gadgets.

Gadgets, are extra tools that Kiryu that can use in his Agent style, which mostly helps with crowd controlling the enemies. You can pull enemies towards each other or you, explode them with a cigarette, and more. It does, in fact feels great to use. Although, at first you might not find them that useful, since it takes a while to upgrade to make them really powerful as it is. As the game progresses, though... It can deal as much power as his original moveset, which is Yakuza (Dragon of Dojima) style.

Yakuza style is his bread and butter. The usual one, but a bit different compared to those of Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 6. It does retain some of his ability, however even less complicated... at least for me. Compared to Agent style, it does offer lots of single-target damage, which is great for bosses or you really want to get personal towards someone, which I always do.

With all of that, let's explain the entire combat flow. This game gives you many kinds of crowded enemies, which is where Agent style really shines. It does have some quality of life Judgment does, and of course you can do juggling, which feels quite great in this game. There is only one part that I don't like, which is the heat action regeneration rate. It does take quite a while to regenerate, however I found that it's easier for me to play on low health and use one of the game's item, where you can regenerate heat passively once you're at low health. All and all, it's an alright combat, but could've been better when it comes to heat regeneration.


It continues exactly where we left at Yakuza 6, and it takes place around the time Yakuza 7 happened. as this is a side game, it only has a few amount of story... but this is exactly where it shines as well. The storytelling is really solid, which adds into the emotional value. If anything, this is the reason why you should buy the game, especially if you're into Yakuza Like a Dragon's whole story, as this is one of the most important point in Kiryu's life.

With that being said, the point is... The story is impactful towards Kiryu.


There are lots of returning contents from the previous Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, mainly Karaoke and Pocket Circuit. These returning side contents allows me to be sidetracked a lot... Especially Pocket Circuit, which is around ~15% of time I've spent in this entire game. I've found these side contents are still as fresh as it was, especially with the new Akame Network which I'll talk about later.

Another side contents that are in this game, and the most time you'll spend into is Coliseum, there are lots, I mean LOTS of rewards that you can't get away from this content. Since this is the main way for you to get money, and the upgrades cost money like the way it is in Yakuza 0... Yup, of course you can't just ignore this part at all.

Akame Network! Substories and mini subquests. Basically, this is the place where you do substories, which are your usual, fun substories. I like the way they handled this one. Although, I wish there are some substories that took place without going to Akame Network itself. There isn't just your usual substories, though. There are some kind of requests from many kinds of NPC where they ask you to do some small things, like getting an item with your Agent style, do a minigame with a specific score, and such. I also like the way they implemented this, as well, adds more into the game.


There are almost none... The only part I only don't like is just the heat regeneration rate, and maybe the fact Ijincho feels so empty. They could add something more in Ijincho.


LAD: Gaiden is a side game, the real conclusion of Kiryu's saga. It has a quite solid gameplay where it does handle the combat pretty well with its two styles that can handle one-in-one and crowded combat equally. The game also delivers the story with a major impact, especially for Kiryu. Of course, like in every Yakuza/Like a Dragon games, it has fun side contents. The only problem that I had with this game, is just heat regeneration issue, which I ended up fixing by staying at low health.

All in all, this game is just like a steak; It isn't that much honestly, but juicy and really solid. Solid 9 out of 10 for me.

Why did john yakuza change his name?

I'm gonna refer to this game as Gaiden. This is hands down the best Brawler Yakuza game since zero. The main story in its own is very short, 5 chapters, which probably would take 10 hours to complete if that was the only thing you did. You're a Yakuza fan though, so I know you're not doing that. Doing the main side content and story is roughy 50 hours of gameplay.

The main draw of this game is that the combat has finally been refined to near perfection. Joryu (Definitely not Kiryu) has a new fighting style in addition to the one from Yakuza 6 (and Kiwami 1 + 2). This new style, "Agent" addresses all the complaints people had with Yakuza 6's combat; primarily with group fights. Y6 basically had two options for fighting groups of enemies, and they both were boring. Now we have an entire combat style dedicated to group fights. The Agent style makes you James Bond or Batman. Your punches are quick, light damage, you have high evasion and have access to 4 gadgets. I won't spoil what they are, but each has a focus on crowd control, positioning, or movement. Playing with the systems is an absolute JOY. Every single fight with this combat system is fun. Upgrading it is fun, and the resources tied to upgrading your moves are earned from doing side content. Gear makes a return, but is streamlined, but still has enough complexity to allow for player expression in builds.

The game being shorter has resulted in the dev team being able to put a lot more effort and focus into every part of the game, and it shows. Every single area, even the set piece arenas, are so finely detailed and filled with hidden items. Every mini game has prizes, and a side quest dedicated to it. Substories are more complex, and far less brain dead. Even the "busy work" fetch quests are engaging. We may have gotten less content, but everything that's here is so much higher quality.