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Sega debuted two lengthy trailers for the new Yakuza game, Infinite Wealth, complete with release date, story details, and more. The new Yakuza game, officially called Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, launches Jan. 26, 2024, for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, and there’s a whole lot going on in it.
The broad setup is this: Ichiban Kasuga, hero of Like A Dragon, finds himself in Hawaii to meet his mother at the prompting of a supposed friend. This is Yakuza, though, so that friend is a traitor, someone tries to kill Ichiban, Ichi’s naked on the beach, and then he’s beating up some police officers in Hawaiian jail. The mafia gets involved, some Chinese yakuza get involved – again, it’s a Yakuza game after all – Ichi’s old friends come back, there’s spy stuff, neon-lit clubs, and drama that runs the gamut from ridiculous to heart-wrenching.
The latter seems to center on longtime series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. He returns once more, following the events of Like A Dragon Gaiden – which releases in November – though he apparently has just a short time left to live.
On the gameplay side, Infinite Wealth builds on the systems from Ichiban’s previous adventure. The job-based class system is back, with new jobs you unlock by taking Hawaiian tours, including Action Star, Geodancer, and Pyrodancer. Turn-based battles have a tactical element to them, where positioning and setting up combos matter.
There’s also a broad range of mini-games you can take a break with – fishing, karaoke, Sujimon battles, attending Hawaiian strip clubs (apparently), playing arcade games, and taking on Crazy Delivery jobs in a nod to Sega’s classic game of yesteryear.
Infinite Wealth has more moving parts than usual, though how they all fit together and whether it’s a farewell to the series or the start of something new remains to be seen.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF