Summary

• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth takes players to the Hawaiian open world, filled with side missions, minigames, and exploration.
• The turn-based combat system has been expanded upon, with characters able to move freely within a designated circle.
• Dondoko Island is a secondary game within the main title, where players work to raise its popularity and tourist satisfaction through various activities and crafting.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the latest mainline entry in the long-running Like a Dragon franchise, taking players to the new locale of Hawaii. Developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by SEGA, Infinite Wealth serves as a sequel to 2020's Yakuza: Like a Dragon, bringing back its turn-based combat and protagonist Ichiban Kasuga. Screen Rant attended a special hands-on preview of the game to find out more about what players can expect when it releases later this month.

The hands-on time with the title was split into four different portions that showcased a wide array of features. It began with free exploration of the Hawaiian open world with Ichiban, followed by a trip to the Animal Crossing-esque Dondoko Island, a story-heavy segment showcasing many other returning characters in Infinite Wealth like Kiryu and his friends, and concluded with an utterly over-the-top boss battle. Though the limited play time barely scratched the surface of the title's massive amount of content, it gave a significant amount of insight into its combat, various minigames and side quests, and overarching narrative.

Exploring Hawaii With Ichiban

There's such an endless list of things to do across the Hawaiian world of Infinite Wealth that it almost feels overwhelming - the area is filled with side missions, random combat encounters, minigames, and much more, all contained in an environment that's also beautiful to explore in its own right. Ichiban Kasuga has come to the island in an attempt to find his mother, Akane Kishida, but finds himself meeting what seems to be a series of dead ends. An exploration of the fictionalized Honolulu during this time led to multiple substories, fights, and introductions of various mechanics.

A trip to the beach first led me to a substory involving two teenage lovebirds, tasking Ichiban with finding a young girl's crush buried in the sand through a logic puzzle to identify him. Next was a trip to the Ounabara Vocational School, which has returned from the first Like a Dragon, once again allowing Kasuga to improve personality traits through quizzes. Throughout the preview, Ichiban also improved his relationships with his party through Walk and Talks, each of which taught him new things and began to fill out Bond Bingo cards for each one; there will be rewards for getting a bingo, though the specifics were not revealed.

The streets are not only dotted with regular random encounters, but Sujimon as well, which are special groups of fighters that can be recruited post-victory if players have the right sort of Suji gift on their person. One of the highlights of the exploration was the introduction of the Street Surfer Segway, which allows Ichiban to get around the city much quicker. With a destination set on the map, it can be set on autopilot to travel there independently - though it doesn't always for obstacles - which is incredibly useful, and its appearance can also be customized.

Combat In Infinite Wealth

The turn-based combat foundations established in Like a Dragon have been expanded upon, with one of the biggest changes being that characters can now move freely within a designated circle. Each character has their own special moves, and players can learn new Jobs through participating in Alo-Happy Tours - for example, during my playthrough Ichiban learned the Aquanaut class from a surfing tour, which allowed for some water-inspired moves. Teamwork is of the utmost importance during fights, with a wide array of special Tag Team moves for two fighters, and even more powerful Ultimate Tag Team Moves that utilize the whole group; these can be earned through earning Hype via combos.

Just as in the first entry, each turn players can have characters attack, guard, utilize their skills with MP, or choose from miscellaneous options like using items. Both attacks and blocking can be improved through properly-timed button presses, and battles flow smoothly and quickly despite the turn-based nature. After fights, the group will earn Experience, Job Experience, cash, a few resources, and increase their bonds with one another.

Rebuilding Dondoko Island

Dondoko Island and its associated activities is nearly a second game in itself, drawing inspiration from the cozy crafting genre while giving it signature Like a Dragon twists. When Ichiban arrives the island is in great disrepair, barren and covered in trash, and the overall gameplay premise is very similar to getting a five-star island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons - players will work to secure more funding from the Resorts and Tourism Association by raising Dondoko's popularity and tourist satisfaction. Ichiban will have three main tools at his disposal that will help improve the island and collect necessary materials: a bat, a net, and a harpoon.

The bat destroys trash and allows for the collection of wood and stone, while the net and harpoon are for bug catching and fishing. Caught creatures can be sold for Doko Bucks which in turn can be used to purchase furniture and decor for the island, helping raise its scores. Items can be crafted from materials as well, with a mechanic nearly identical to ACNH's DIY recipe system, even down to finding recipe bottles washed up on the beach. Ichiban can also furnish his own home, and raising its Livability score through doing so will raise his health.

Kiryu & His Bucket List

The third preview segment following Kiryu was much more narrative-heavy, setting up the general storyline of his Bucket List, which he's prompted to make by friends Seonhee and Nanba after discussing his cancer diagnosis with them. This list gives Kiryu and friends some fun minigames to embark on, like a trip to the batting cages, as well as a new main mechanic called Kiryu's Awakening, which stems from him reflecting on his life. Players can level up the three areas of his Awakening - Soul, Tech, and Body - by checking off Bucket List items and finding Nostalgic Sights, which are glowing spots on the map that unlock memories.

Raising each of these corresponds to improving different fighting styles - Brawler, Rush, and Beast respectively. However, Kiryu grappling with his past and present won't be the only focus of this section of the game, with this part of the preview also showing the return of Saeko Mukodo. ing the party after a visit to a cabaret club, she brings word that, following the Second Great Dissolution, the Seiryu Clan has taken wayward former Yakuza under their wing, which the group just began investigating as my time with the section ended.

A Giant Shark Attack

The final section of the Infinite Wealth preview was by far the silliest and most over-the-top portion of the entire event, featuring a short boss battle with a giant shark. Called the Tyrant of the Tides, the context for the monster's presence was never explained, but the ocean predator slings devastating AOE attacks while also serving as a great way to showcase some of the fun ways enemy weaknesses can be exploited; in this case, the watery nature of the fight made electric moves particularly powerful. This segment was extremely entertaining, and is slated to be one of many ridiculous boss battles scattered throughout the game.

Final Thoughts On Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Neither this fight nor any of the previous encounters throughout the preview proved exceedingly difficult, but that's not necessarily an indicator of the title's overall difficulty. The hands-on time spent with the game gave an impressively expansive overview of activities, from the classic assortment of Like a Dragon minigames and the new Dondoko Island to in-depth combat and multiple emotional stories. The several hours spent with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth during the event barely dipped into everything it has to offer, and it's clear that there's a nearly boundless amount of content for players to explore.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will release January 26 for PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, and PC. Screen Rant attended a special hands-on event for the purpose of this preview.