Like a Dragon Gaiden

In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, players control Kazuma Kiryu as they explore the Sotenbori district of Osaka and Isezaki Ijincho district of Yokohama. A third location, known as the Castle, is a hub area where players can participate in side activities. Minigames such as karaoke, Pocket Circuit racing, cabaret club, and fighting arena also return. A new character named Akame acts as an informant, providing Kiryu with sub-missions.[1]

Kiryu has access to two fighting styles, Yakuza and Agent. The Yakuza style features aggressive brawler combat movement similar to Kiryu's classic fighting style from previous games, while the Agent style is described as having "absolute speed and precision", relying on high-tech gadgets.[1]

Similar to Lost Judgment, Like a Dragon Gaiden features several Master System games which Kiryu can play: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alien Syndrome, Enduro Racer, Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, Galaxy Force, Global Defense, Maze Hunter 3-D, Quartet and Secret Command, as well the SG-1000 version of Flicky,[2] among other arcade titles, such as Daytona USA 2 and Fighting Vipers 2.[3]

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name takes place after Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and between the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Following the ending of Yakuza 6, Kazuma Kiryu (Takaya Kuroda/Yong Yea) has faked his death and gone into hiding, in order to protect his foster children. Having signed a pact with the Daidoji faction to become their disciple, Kiryu now operates as one of their secret agents, codenamed "Joryu". However, after one of his missions go awry, Kiryu would soon be drawn into a new conflict as he is forced out of hiding by a mysterious figure.[1]

New characters introduced in Like a Dragon Gaiden include: Kihei Hanawa (Hiroki Tōchi), a handler of the Daidoji faction; Homare Nishitani III (Kim Jae-wook), patriarch of the Kijin Clan who inherited the name from the first Nishitani, who originally appeared in Yakuza 0; Kosei Shishido (Yasukaze Motomiya) and Yuki Tsuruno (Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi), respectively lieutenant and captain of the Osaka-based yakuza organization Omi Alliance's Watase Family; Akame (First Summer Uika), an informant residing in Sotenbori;[4] Yoshimura (Mitsuaki Kanuka), a ruthless Daidoji faction manager who has contempt for Kiryu; the head priest of the Daidoji Temple (Ikkyu Juku), one of the few people Kiryu confides in; and the Boss (Hiroshi Naka), a mysterious high-ranking Daidoji officer operating the faction from the shadow.[5]

Several characters from previous Like a Dragon titles also return, including: Masaru Watase (Rintarō Nishi), the patriarch of the Watase Family and captain of the Omi Alliance; Daigo Dojima (Satoshi Tokushige), sixth chairman of the Tojo Clan; Goro Majima (Hidenari Ugaki) and Taiga Saejima (Rikiya Koyama), senior Tojo Clan members who accompany Daigo; and Ichiban Kasuga (Kazuhiro Nakaya/Kaiji Tang), a former Tojo Clan yakuza who would eventually become acquainted with Kiryu.[2]

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name was announced in September 2022 during Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Summit livestream, alongside a debut cinematic trailer.[6] RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama explained that the game would be shorter in length compared to usual mainline entries.[7]

In early 2023, RGG Studio hosted a Cabaret Club Grand Prix competition, in which five models were chosen to appear as live-action hostesses in the cabaret club minigame in Like a Dragon Gaiden, while the Grand Prix winner is given an in-game role in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Among the five finalists, VTuber Kson ultimately won the Grand Prix.[8]

The first story trailer premiered at Summer Game Fest 2023, showcasing new characters as well as gameplay footage of the new Agent fighting style, in addition to confirming the release date.[1] Additional gameplay was shown at RGG Summit Summer 2023, alongside an introduction of the main cast members.[4] In June 2023, RGG Studio revealed that Yong Yea would voice Kiryu in the English dub, replacing Darryl Kurylo who previously voiced Kiryu in Yakuza (2005) and Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020).[9]

The second story trailer premiered in August 2023, showcasing more characters in the story, including returning characters from previous Like a Dragon titles, in addition to a first-look at the various minigames.[2] In September 2023, RGG Studio revealed the opening theme song for the game, "Katatoki", performed by singer Yojiro Noda and rapper JID.[10]

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is set to release worldwide on November 9, 2023 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.[1] A pre-order bonus downloadable content pack includes recurring Like a Dragon characters Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, and Daigo Dojima as additional characters for the Arena minigame.[1] The game will also include a special demo for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.[2] Like a Dragon Gaiden is currently only planned for a digital release, with a limited physical edition in select Asian territories.[11]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official website (in English)