Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has given fans a brief look at the upcoming Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name's combat system, with a demonstration of the game's two new combat styles. The upcoming Gaiden spin-off title serves to bridge the gap between the upcoming Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and previous Yakuza games. With Kiryu back in the spotlight, the game also is looking to go back to the arcade-like action brawler style of the franchise before the seventh mainline game's transition to turn-based combat.
While fans first got a teaser trailer and release date of Like a Dragon Gaiden during Summer Game Fest, the developer still had more to show during June's RGG Summit event, which was first announced back in May and promised more news on both Gaiden and Infinite Wealth. The 45-minute-long presentation showed off the aforementioned teaser trailer, but also included some extra footage, such as Kiryu using his two new styles.
Kiryu's new styles in Like a Dragon Gaiden are known as the "Yakuza" and "Agent," with the former focused on his natural strength and martial arts, while the latter is a tool-based crowd control applicable style, hence the "Agent" moniker. In the two gameplay clips shown during the livestream (19:09 and 20:35 for the VOD), Kiryu's "Yakuza" style has familiar techniques that the Dragon of Dojima has used before. This includes attacks and moves that stem from his Brawler and Dragon of Dojima stances from Yakuza 0, along with brutal context-sensitive Heat Actions.
The "Agent" style however is very different from past fighting stances that Kiryu has adopted from games past. With its focus on crowd control, Kiryu's got some new toys at his disposal. These include a wire that shoots out of his wrist a la Spider-Man, which can bind enemies or draw them to the player before tossing them and also pull nearby weapons for Kiryu to use. He can call upon drones to distract his enemies or even light a cigarette before tossing it over his shoulder to cause a huge explosion. These two styles make Kiryu play a lot like the Judgment sub-series' Takayuki Yagami in a way.
The RGG Summer Summit also revealed some of the actors and their characters in Like a Dragon Gaiden, who are all modeled or portrayed by celebrities. Joining Kiryu's time as Joryu are two Omi Alliance family members, Shishido Kosei and Tsuruno Yuki, along with a mysterious woman known as Akame. Another character who was shown off, but whose actor was not available to attend was Homare Nishitani, the third in the lineage of the eccentric villain first introduced in Yakuza 0. The developers also confirmed the game will be taking place in the Omi Alliance's home turf, Sotenbori.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will lauanch November 9, 2023, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
