Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
WHERE TO PLAY
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name offers fans memorable characters and an engaging story. What it lacks in innovation it makes up for in tried and true fun.DualShockers was provided a copy of the game for review purposes.
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Nameis, first and foremost, an entertaining experience. Kiryu is a likable, though stiff, protagonist who is guided by an unyielding sense of right and wrong. If Kiryu gave up drinking soda, he would die of thirst before he let a drop of Mountain Dew hit his tongue. Mountain Dew which is, conveniently, available in-game. He grapples with enemies, not decisions.
While the main story is somewhat short, there are plenty of side activities to pad out your playtime. If you enjoy the game, you may really sink into the setting. The combat ranges from mindless comfort-food brawling to thrilling boss fights. For as much fun as you might have with this title, it also wears its flaws on its sleeve. Several points in the main story break immersion in the name of introducing somewhat bizarre side content. Combat can be interesting and engaging, but you can largely get by with shallow investment and a lot of food to regain health. This isn’t a game for everyone, but for fans of the series, it could be an A+ experience.
Playing as Kazuma Kiryu is definitely a power fantasy rivaled only by watching the latest John Wick.
As you might expect by the name of the game, Kiryu is injured and decides to fake his death. He gives up his name and takes on the identity of Joryu. He goes into the service of a shadow organization that works with other organizations in both the criminal underworld and high-ranking government. He’s called up to serve when missions are deemed important, spending the rest of his time at ease in a monastery. In exchange for his services, the protection of Kiryu’s family and continued financial support of an orphanage are guaranteed. From there, Kiryu’s life becomes more and more complicated as people seek out a supposed dead man they believe to be alive.
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The Power Of Presentation
While the game doesn’t have any English voiceover (not yet, anyway, but it’s planned for a patch later on), the subtitles read well. There are plenty of options in the settings menu for people to choose from. You can change the size of the subtitles, place a background behind them, and even choose to attach names to all of the dialogue. While the game may not be in English, it goes out of its way to make the subtitles accessible to its players. As someone who plays games a little further away from the television, I appreciated these customization options immensely.
On the note of voiceovers, the acting is incredible. It’s clear the actors gave full commitment to their roles, with emotions always matching the scene and intensity of the moment. While Kiryu is the protagonist, it’s the other characters who really color in the story. Kiryu is steadfast and stalwart, while other characters bring a lively presence to the game’s more dramatic scenes. Characters like Akame, a woman who runs an underworld information network, bring a sense of playfulness to scenes as she pokes fun at Kiryu and his constant sense of poise. Meanwhile, characters like Tsuruno, a man who intends to bring Kiryu out of hiding, bring the mystery, intrigue, and sense of severity to life.
While the story may not always deliver wild twists and turns (which isn’t to say there aren’t any), the writing delivers an enjoyable narrative that remained engaging the entire time I played the game. Character work is well done, and it’s interesting to see the growth of everyone as the story untangles its web of intrigue. For a dead man who gave up his name, Kiryu leaves an indelible impression on everyone and everything around him.
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Performing To The Task
I was provided a copy of the game for the PS5. During my time with it, I didn’t encounter any major bugs or glitches. In fact, any minor bugs were very few and far between, limiting themselves to little instances of an NPC behaving strangely. At one point, an enemy I had knocked out slid down the street and out of view. It was a small, funny bug that I never saw again.
The visuals of the PS5 are fantastic. While I can’t comment on how the game looks on the previous generation’s consoles, I can assure you that next-gen looks the part. Facial animations are crisp and detailed. Each curve and wrinkle brings the characters to life. Each facial expression is accented by the little features that color in the broad strokes of emotion. In fact, when segments of the game switched to real life footage (which I will comment on later), it felt completely unnecessary. The animations achieved were good enough to stand in for anything they wanted to accomplish.
Brawling With The Best Of ‘Em
Playing as Kazuma Kiryu is definitely a power fantasy rivaled only by watching the latest John Wick. Or would it maybe be The Matrix? Either way, it stars Keanu Reeves and you kick a whole lot of ass. Plenty of people will try to stop Kiryu on his way to do whatever the hell he thinks is right. He’ll make enemies of multiple organizations including (and perhaps especially) the one he works for. The game’s combat has a nice, and perhaps overly familiar, ebb and flow. You truck through goons like a hot knife through butter while occasionally partaking in challenging, thoughtful combat against a boss.
When you’re outnumbered, you feel like a superhero. I recently playedMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, and I’m not sure Peter Parker could face off against as many knife-wielding suits as Kiryu. Whether you’re making your way through a Yakuza-infested hideout or strolling the neon-lit streets, you’ll come across a lot of people who attack Kiryu on sight. I guess he just has a very punchable face.
Bosses are a highlight in the game. I can’t think of two bosses who were carbon copies of one another. That’s saying a lot, because you’ll be tangoing with a good number of dance partners on your way to deliver Kiryu’s fists to as many faces as possible. The game makes good use of boss phases to switch things up and keep them fresh. At one point, I went from fighting a sword-wielding boss, to fighting tigers, and back to fighting this boss in an all-out brawl.
The combat styles are fantastic. The agent fighting style is more subdued and incorporated nifty little gadgets like a grappling cord and small drones. The Yakuza style, my favorite, is more of a power stance. You can pick up improvised weapons like a sledgehammer and go to work on some common street thugs. Kiryu may not kill these thugs, but I’m pretty sure I watched one’s soul leave his body as my sledgehammer took him off his feet.
Regardless of your fighting style, Kiryu’s heat gauge will fill up during combat and unleash a tidal wave of fury once it’s full. With a powerful red or blue glow surrounding your body, you’ll lay into a boss or groups of enemies like you’re taking some kid’s lunch money. You can forgo this brutal onslaught and perform a devastating finisher instead. This may involve breaking someone’s arm or smashing them over the head with a weapon you’ve just picked up. The crunch of metal on bone is one part unsettling and two parts awesome.
If you find yourself struggling with combat, you may end up sent back to a checkpoint a few times. The checkpoints and autosave are extremely forgiving. If you’re consistently having a tough time, the game will even ask if you want to change the difficulty level. It’s a nice little feature that suggests players enjoy themselves instead of throwing themselves at an impenetrable wall. Then again, if you’re determined to beat a boss on your chosen difficulty (like I was), it can come off as a slight taunt.
As you kick and punch your way through an ocean of goons in suits, you’ll want to upgrade your abilities so you can brutalize even more combatants. The upgrade system is surprisingly simple: you spend money to upgrade your abilities. It’s the same money you use to buy gear and consumables. Cash is truly king, and you’ll need to manage your finances if you want to go into fights with proper gear, items, and abilities. It’s pretty different from other games, because money almost stands in for experience points. As you progress further into the game, other types of currency will be introduced. Akame points will become a big one somewhat early on, but cash will always be a factor.
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Strange Things Are Afoot At The Circle K
The Man Who Erased His Name is not without its oddities, and some of them are strangely immersion-breaking. At one point, as part of the main quest, I was sent tocheck out a cabaret club. I didn’t think much of the assignment, as I expected to walk through a club looking for clues. I did not. Instead, I was given the choice between two women to spend time with. I had to do a bit of a double take, because these were real, live women, not video game characters made by a designer. I was suddenly engaged in something that felt off-putting as I dialogue-treed my way through videos talking to a beautiful woman about my drinking habits and skin care routine. I selected drinks for us and offered her a gift that she claimed she would treasure for the rest of her life. The interaction felt like something out ofTelling Lies, but it was happening in the middle of an action-brawler where I regularly brutalized street thugs with my fists. The strange shift in tone was jarring as the sudden appearance of recorded video in the middle of an artistically generated world felt wrong.
Kiryu may not kill these thugs, but I’m pretty sure I watched one’s soul leave his body as my sledgehammer took him off his feet.
To be clear, I don’t have any issue with this as a side activity. I’m sure my inexperience with the series played a role in my surprise. However, shoehorning it into the main story was an odd choice. I would’ve preferred to see this pop up as a side quest I could pursue or let go on my way to accomplish tasks that advance the plot.
The setting is full of little oddities, and many of them are welcome. The streets are absolutely littered with side activities for you to partake in. You can walk into convenience stores, stop at restaurants, go shopping for gifts, valuables, or gear. As you stroll through the streets lit up by neon signs and humming with people, you’ll often come across street thugs or suspicious men who will attack you. It’s your job to firmly place a foot up their… well, you know. Once you’re in chapter 2, you’ll unlock something of a homeless information network that will provide tasks around the city.
Certain choices in The Man Who Erased His Name feel a little bit dated. When you’re in the middle of a fight, you can eat about six tuna & egg sandwiches washed down by three Mountain Dews to regain health. I can only imagine what might come up when Kiryu inevitably takes a kick to the gut. When you’re in the middle of brawling with an opponent, it’s not uncommon to have your camera zoom in too close or spin around in a way that prevents you from seeing crucial combat moments between you and your enemy. These camera issues were particularly common in boss fights.
I played a Yakuza game, or at least part of one, about six years ago. I enjoyed the experience, but was pulled away by life or another game or just a poor attention span. Regardless of the reason, I fell off the train after about ten hours. The game was several years old at that point, and I was surprised at how unchanged The Man Who Erased His Name felt from that experience. The brawling, the shopping, the side activities, and the gameplay loop all felt like déjà vu. I had been here before. I had, to some degree, played this before. While I would say the series has found an engaging, winning formula, the familiarity I felt with that formula after only several hours of play six years ago was shocking. Is the game constantly recapturing the magic of the series, or is Ryu Ga Gotoku repackaging a comfortable experience for its fans? Your opinion may vary depending on the experience you’re looking for, but to me, this felt like a game held back by its past and lack of innovation.
Despite its flaws, I can’t deny that I had a great time walking in the shoes of Kiryu. I enjoyed the story, the exciting combat, and the thrilling action. While I may have finished the main story, I’ll be going back for more side content to see what I may have missed along the way. While the combat may not demand a high investment from its players, there’s no denying that the deeper you dig, the more you get. This is a game that rewards its players for high levels of engagement but doesn’t punish the casual player just along for the ride. Whether you’re a true blue fan or a newcomer to the series, there’s a lot to enjoy about Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
