Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth hands-on report: a vacation worth taking

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is already a franchise highlight, receiving the highest metascores the series has ever received.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the highest-scoring game in the Like a Dragon / Yakuza series.

As soon as the trailer dropped showing Ichiban rolling through Hawaii on a segway in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, we knew we had to experience that for ourselves. While the real things are not all that exciting anymore, they are actually extremely useful within the game. If you expect to be given one as part of the story, you’ll end up with sore feet from hoofing it across the island. If you want to explore Hawaii in style, you’ll want to grab a Street Surfer as soon as possible. Here’s how you can snag one and get rolling!

There’s a new way to travel in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. While you can still pay taxis to get around Hawaii faster, you can also use a Segway-like device called the Street Surfer. This battery-powered standing travel device lets you zip around the streets, and you can mount it at any time. There’s just one downside. The battery life is limited and gets used up, so you’ll need to recharge at stations located all over the city. Using the Street Surfer is very simple and it can be summoned (or put away) at any time. You can even purchase higher capacity batteries from Hawaii Pawn Shops. The Street Surfer isn’t just limited to Hawaii either, you can use it when you travel back to Yokohama.

The best healing items in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth can be acquired right at the start of the game — the tricky part is just farming all the materials you’re going to need to make them. As soon as you arrive in Revolve bar in Little Japan, you’ll be able to bring ingredients to the owner to mix drinks and other healing items. These are by far the best healing items in the game, able to heal your entire party or heal both HP and MP at the same time.

Jobs are back in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and they’re even more ridiculous. Instead of dressing up like Hosts and Idols your party can become fire dancers, hula girls or gun-wielding desperados. Some of the jobs are truly ridiculous, including a surfer that swings his board around like a club.

To craft the best gear in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, you’ll need rare materials called Geodes and Crystals. Geodes become easier to find in the very late portions of the story, but Crystals are always hard-to-find. If you’re looking for an easier and earlier way to get Fragments, Geodes, or Crystals — there’s a hidden vendor you need to check out. Here’s what you need to know about crafting late-game weapons and getting infinite crafting materials.

There are two major side-stories in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth — and the first you’ll find is the Sujimon League. In this extended parody of Pokemon you’ll catch various criminals, creeps and perverts and pit them against each other in pit fights. Battles are relatively simple, but the league gets harder the further you progress up the ranks. If you’re looking for a few tips to help you become Sujimon Champion, we’ve got the info you need. After completing the league, here are five details we wish we knew way earlier.

Few phrases in video games send chills down one’s spine like, “It gets good after eight hours.” With that much time, you could beat Bowser in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, watch most of The Bear, or read The Great Gatsby — twice. It should be no surprise, then, that those six cruel words hang like an albatross around the necks of countless role-playing games collecting dust in my backlog.

In Chapter 9 of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the Tattoo Parlor lady will demand $10,000 USD before she gives you any information you need about your missing person. That’s a lot of cash, but it isn’t impossible. Returning to Hawaii in Chapter 9, the enemies are much tougher and cash is easier to come by. There are multiple ways to earn the money you need, but there are a few ways that are extremely easy.

Prior to launch, Masayoshi Yokoyama, the head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, made bold claims about just how much time players would spend in Like a Dragon: InfiniteWealth.Yokoyama claimed that “if you attempt to clear everything, it may never end.” Obviously, that was hyperbole, but just how much content really is in the game? The series is known for its lengthy, narratively rich main campaigns, dozens of substories, and deep mini-games such as Dondoko Island. Now that we’ve had a chance to see the conclusion to Ichiban and friends’ latest adventures through the tropical island of Hawaii, we can fill you in on how many hours you can expect to put into this title.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio reset its flagship series with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, an aptly named title that saw newcomer Ichiban Kasuga take the lead in RPG hero fashion. With Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, RGG returns to the role-playing formula, with one foot in the future and the other in the past.