Highlights

  • Kiryu's bucket list side quest in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth gives the Dragon of Dojima a deserving swan song through memories.
  • Including non-canon spin-off games as memories in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth blurs the series' canon and can confuse players.
  • Retconning these spin-off games into the main series could lead to a slippery slope of conflicting stories and interpretations for characters.

Kiryu's bucket list side quest in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth allows players to reminisce along with the Dragon of Dojima about his adventures throughout the series up to this point, giving this longtime protagonist the swan song he deserves. While players would expect the Memoirs of a Dragon that they uncover during this activity to include the highlights of Kiryu's adventures during the main series of games, some might be surprised to see references to games that were thought to be non-canon spin-off titles. The inclusion of these titles as references in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a nice nod, but it muddies the waters surrounding the series' canon.

The Yakuza and Like a Dragon series has historically been pretty clear about which games are canon and which are not, with the mainline titles being numbered in the order they take place. However, the franchise's universe has expanded in recent years to include spin-offs like the Judgment series, as well as games like Yakuza: Dead Souls and Like a Dragon: Ishin, which was released to Western audiences for the first time last year. While developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has done a good job defining which games are canon to the Like a Dragon universe, like Judgment, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth starts to make this canon a bit confusing.

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One Missing Localization Makes a Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Reference Fall Flat

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth details Kiryu's past via its side activities, but one reference among these quests lacks context for Western audiences.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Makes Non-Canon Games Canon via Kiryu’s Dreams

As players explore Ijincho and Kamurocho to uncover Kiryu's Memoirs of a Dragon, they are likely to come across certain memories called Dreams of a Past Life and Dreams of Another Life. Unlike the other memories included in this quest, which focus on a person or event important to Kiryu's life, these memories depict certain non-canon spin-off games as vivid dreams that Kiryu had which left an impact on him. While these games were thought to be non-canon and take place in a universe outside the main series, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth seems to retcon these games into the main canon as Kiryu's dreams.

In the Dreams of a Past Life: The Swordsmaster episode, Kiryu recalls the events of Like a Dragon: Kenzan where he played the role of Miyamoto Mushasi in a post-war Edo era Kyoto, and in Dream of a Past Life: The Revolutionary episode, Kiryu recalls the events of Like a Dragon: Ishin where he played the role of Sakamoto Ryoma during the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Dreams of Another Life: The Apocalypse memory details the events of the zombie survival game Yakuza: Dead Souls, where Kiryu has to fend off a zombie invasion of Kamurocho in a game that received mixed reactions from fans.

Why Retconning Like a Dragon Games into the Canon Sets a Dangerous Precedent

Although some players might be glad to see a main series Like a Dragon game acknowledge these spin-off games, the inclusion of these games as dreams in Kiryu's memory might be a slippery slope towards creating an even more confusing canon. The Like a Dragon series already has several Japan-only spin-off games aside from Like a Dragon: Kenzan, including a few mobile titles like Ryu Ga Gotoku Online. With games like these providing alternate versions of events in the main series, the line between what is a dream and what exists in a separate universe gets blurred.

For example, there has already been some speculation among fans about whether a major character like Ryuji Goda is still alive after supposedly having died at the end of Yakuza 2. A game like Yakuza: Dead Souls features a scenario where Goda survives the events of Yakuza 2 and aids Kiryu in his fight against the zombies, while Ryu Ga Gotoku Online includes a chapter dedicated to a canon backstory for Goda. The fact that these two games contain two different takes on the character with differing canon statuses creates a confusing situation of conflicting stories and leaves the character's status open to interpretation under this new canon.