There are, at this point, several ways to get into the Like A Dragon/Yakuza series. Many, including myself, would probably scream at you to pick up Yakuza 0, a prequel to the entire series that sets up two of its major characters in extraordinary fashion, but that’s assuming that you will then play all of the rest of the games, which is a lot. A few years ago though, the series phased out its longtime protagonist Kazuma Kiryu for a fresh face and entirely different gameplay system, and the game that came from it has now served as a new entry point into the series. Yakuza: Like A Dragon follows Ichiban Kasuga, Japan’s foremost himbo, who sees the world through the lens of his favorite video game, the original Dragon Quest. That means that instead of brawling with dudes on the street in gruesome melee combat, he instead sees himself as the hero of a party of characters with jobs and classes who fight in turn-based combat.
Kasuga is such an effortlessly charming lead, and carries the game with aplomb, but he is aided by an equally lovable cast of allies, including a homeless doctor named Nanba, an ex-cop named Adachi, and a hostess manager named Saeko, among so many other wonderful faces. Most importantly, you don’t really need to understand much of the previous games to know about any of them or their motivations, which are all spelled out over the course of the lengthy RPG. There are characters from the larger series whose actions echo throughout the game, but this installment mostly kicks off its own story while carrying forward the tenets of Like A Dragon that have made the series such a smashing success over the last decade. Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a wonderful starting point for anyone curious about the franchise, and it’s only $10 right now.