Infinite Wealth stars Ichiban Kasuga, protagonist of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Kazuma Kiryu, the original protagonist of the series, and takes place in the franchise's first-ever overseas locale, Hawaii, in addition to familiar settings in Japan. Together with old and new allies, Kasuga and Kiryu team up to help the former find and reunite with his mother in Hawaii, while the latter struggles to survive with cancer.[2]
In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, players control Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu, and their respective party members, as they explore the Isezaki Ijincho district of Yokohama, and Honolulu City in Hawaii. The Kamurochō district, a primary location from previous Like a Dragon titles, is also featured as a third location. Similar to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the game employs a turn-based combat system for all playable characters.
The combat system, now nicknamed the "Live Command RPG" Battle System,[5] received a major improvement compared to its previous entry. Every playable character now possesses a ring denoting their area of movement, and are now able to move freely during combat. The positioning of characters now heavily determines the flow of combat. For example, moving closer to an object, having another party member within the ring of another playable character, or positioning close or behind an enemy allows party members to do various attacks that deal extra damage; said attacks can also affect the enemy depending on their current position, such as knockback to walls or objects, or even knocking other enemies in combat. Character Skills are now shown its area of effect, range, and direction, with proper positioning of characters will allow the skill to affect more enemies or party members. Hype Meter is a new resource for all party members, except Kasuga, that allows them to unleash special team-up attacks with Kasuga in combat. Kasuga himself can perform a Ultimate Tag Team skill that spends all the available party members' Hype Meters for massive damage. The game also features a Smackdown mode, allowing players to skip fighting against weaker enemies in exchange for reduced rewards. The Poundmates summon system also makes a return, with some summons now acting as a supporting party member during fights, which allows them to directly jump in combat and perform various actions without the player's input. Some Poundmates feature characters returning from previous entries.[6]
Similar to the previous entry, each character can choose from a multitude of "jobs", which act as classes that grant them distinctive perks and play styles. Some jobs are returning from the previous entry, such as Breaker, Idol, or Chef, while new jobs including Aquanaut, Samurai, Pyrodancer, and Housekeeper.[6] Kiryu's default job, "Dragon of Dojima", provides him with the ability to switch between multiple fighting styles, each having different properties and abilities. Using his Hype Meter allows him to temporarily perform real-time combat, similar to the brawler gameplay from previous Like a Dragon titles.[7]
Several minigames from previous entries return, such as Karaoke, Darts, Mahjong, and arcade games, including Virtua Fighter 3tb, Sega Bass Fishing, and SpikeOut.[8] In addition, new minigames are introduced in Infinite Wealth, such as Crazy Delivery, a food delivery game inspired by Sega's Crazy Taxi franchise; Sujimon Battle, a Pokémon parody game; and Miss Match, a dating app for Kasuga.[6] A major side activity, Dondoko Island, tasks Kasuga with managing his own resort island, combining objectives such as resource gathering, crafting, and social interactions.[9] Kiryu also has his own side activities, including the Bucket List, which focuses on Kiryu reminiscing his past, completing unfinished businesses, and reuniting with his old friends and allies from previous Like a Dragon titles.[10]
Synopsis
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Premise
Honolulu, HI, a major setting in Infinite Wealth and the franchise's first-ever overseas setting
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth takes place in 2023, and follows former Tojo Clan yakuza members Ichiban Kasuga (Kazuhiro Nakaya/Kaiji Tang) and Kazuma Kiryu (Takaya Kuroda/Yong Yea) as they embark on a new adventure in Isezaki Ijincho, Yokohama and Honolulu, Hawaii. Following a tip from a former ally, Kasuga travels to Honolulu in search of his biological mother, Akane Kishida (Yoshiko Sakakibara/Patti Yasutake), who he thought had died many years ago. Meanwhile, Kiryu is also present in Honolulu in search of Akane per the Daidoji faction's orders, and teams up with Kasuga to find and protect her from various local criminal organizations, while wrestling against cancer.[2]
Kasuga's party members from Yakuza: Like a Dragon return, including: Yu Nanba (Ken Yasuda/Greg Chun), Koichi Adachi (Akio Otsuka/Andrew Morgado), Saeko Mukoda (Sumire Uesaka/Elizabeth Maxwell), Tianyou Zhao (Nobuhiko Okamoto/Robbie Daymond), and Joongi Han (Yuichi Nakamura/Keong Sim). Joining the playable roster are Seonhee (Hana Takeda/Fiona Rene), leader of the Ijincho-based Geomijul syndicate and Yokohama Liumang gang, and a supporting character from the previous game; Eric Tomizawa (Satoru Iguchi/Matthew Yang King), a local taxi driver in Hawaii; and Chitose Fujinomiya (Anju Inami/Suzie Yeung), the heiress of a wealthy family who works part-time as Akane's personal maid.[3] Other major characters include: Jo Sawashiro (Shinichi Tsutsumi/Ian Anthony Dale), the former captain of the Tojo Clan's Arakawa Family and one of Kasuga's adversaries from the previous game; Eiji Mitamura (Ryo Narita/Aleks Le), a wheelchair-using engineer who Kasuga meets and befriends at Honolulu; Masataka Ebina (Hiroki Hasegawa/Daniel Dae Kim), captain and acting chairman of the Ijincho-based Seiryu Clan; Yutaka Yamai (Takehito Koyasu/Andrew Kishino), a disgraced Tojo Clan yakuza who forms his own group, the Yamai Syndicate, in Hawaii; Dwight Méndez (Shuhei Matsuda/Danny Trejo),[b] leader of the Hawaiian Barracudas gang; Wong Tou (Takuya Matsumoto/Rich Ting), commander of the Chinese Ganzhe Mafia; Kihei Hanawa (Hiroki Tōchi/Jake Eberle), Kiryu's handler in the Daidoji faction; Bryce Fairchild (Tōru Furuya/Chris Parson), the head of Palekana, a Hawaiian religious group;[3]Goro Majima (Hidenari Ugaki/Matthew Mercer), Taiga Saejima (Rikiya Koyama/Ron Yuan), and Daigo Dojima (Satoshi Tokushige/Tim Friedlander), former Tojo Clan leaders who oversaw the dissolution of the clan; and Lani Mililani (Atsumi Tanezaki/Justine Lee), a young Hawaiian girl who is also targeted by the various gangs, and sheltered by Akane. Kasuga's biological father, Masumi Arakawa (Kiichi Nakai/Johnny Yong Bosch), and adoptive brother Masato Arakawa (Kohsuke Toriumi/Will Yun Lee), appear in flashbacks.[3][2]
Infinite Wealth features a multitude of returning characters from previous Like a Dragon games, the majority of whom appear as part of Kiryu's "Bucket List" side story. These include: Osamu Kashiwagi (Shunsuke Sakuya/David Hayter), the proprietor of Survive Bar and a former Tojo Clan senior officer; Andre Richardson (Fred Tatasciore), a former terrorist leader who survived the events of Yakuza 3 and became proprietor of Revolve Bar in Hawaii; Makoto Date (Kazuhiro Yamaji/Bill Farmer), a Kamurocho police detective and one of Kiryu's oldest friends; Shun Akiyama (Koichi Yamadera/Stephen Fu), a Kamurocho moneylender who occasionally allied with Kiryu in the past; Kaoru Sayama (Aya Hisakawa/Minae Noji), a police detective and Kiryu's former love interest; Kazuki (Hiroshi Tsuchida/Christopher Sean) and Yuya (Kenta Miyake/Patrick Seitz), respectively owner and manager of Kamurocho's Stardust host club and two of Kiryu's friends; Yuki (Manami Sugihara/Erica Lindbeck) and Koyuki (Mayu Motoori/Erika Harlacher), a legendary hostess duo who Kiryu met during his time in Sotenbori, Osaka; Naoto Tagashira (Yoshimasa Hosoya/Brent Mukai) and Takaaki Matsunaga (Doronzu Ishimoto/James C. Burns), members of the Hirose Family from Onomichi, Hiroshima; Yotaro Nakajima (Naomi Kusumi/William Salyers), head of a taxi firm in Nagasugai, Fukuoka; and Haruka Sawamura (Rie Kugimiya/Xanthe Huynh) and Taichi (Shunzo Miyasaka/Caleb Yen), Kiryu's adopted children.[2][10]
Plot
In 2022, three years after the joint dissolution of the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance,[c] ex-yakuza Ichiban Kasuga is now an employee at Hello Work employment agency in Isezaki Ijincho, Yokohama, determined to carry on his father Masumi Arakawa's legacy by helping fellow ex-yakuza find legitimate work. After a hangout with his friends Yu Nanba, Koichi Adachi, and Saeko Mukoda, Kasuga asks Saeko out on a date but overdoes it by proposing marriage to her, resulting in the pair becoming estranged.
One year later, VTuber Hisoka Tatara spreads false rumors of Kasuga building his own crime ring from ex-yakuza members, which gets Kasuga and Nanba fired from their jobs, and Adachi unable to take loans from the bank. A month later, the three of them learn that the Seiryu Clan has been recruiting ex-yakuza en masse. They infiltrate the Seiryu Clan HQ and meet their Acting Chairman, Masataka Ebina, who reveals that he is hiring ex-yakuza into a legitimate waste management business and that he is organizing a "Second Great Dissolution" to disband the remaining yakuza clans across Japan. Ebina informs them that he is working with Jo Sawashiro, who has been released from prison after being proven innocent, with the former's help, in the murder of the previous Seiryu Clan Chairman Ryuhei Hoshino.[d] Sawashiro reveals to Kasuga that his biological mother, Akane Kishida, is alive and has been living in Honolulu, Hawaii, and asks Kasuga to meet her.
Upon arriving in Hawaii, Kasuga quickly befriends the wheelchair-bound engineer Eiji Mitamura. Kasuga has run-ins with taxi driver Eric Tomizawa, who attempts to rob him, and later with Akane's maid and exchange student Chitose Fujinomiya, who strips him naked and steals his passport. After escaping the police to evade capture, Kasuga is unexpectedly reunited with Kazuma Kiryu, who is looking for Akane per the Daidoji faction's orders. While investigating Akane's house, Kasuga and Kiryu are confronted by the Yamai Syndicate and their patriarch, Yutaka Yamai, who is also searching for Akane. Tomizawa, who is coerced to work for Yamai, defects to Kasuga's side. Kasuga's group discovers that Chitose used Kasuga's passport to hide within District Five, home of the Barracudas gang. Kiryu reveals that he has cancer, appearently contracted from an accident at a nuclear waste disposal plant in 2020, and he has only six months left to live.
The party infiltrates District Five and finds Chitose, who joins them to confront the Barracudas leader Dwight Méndez. Gaining intel from Chitose, the party discovers that Akane was part of a religious charity group called Palekana and that two of Hawaii's largest gangs, the Barracudas and the Chinese Ganzhe Mafia, along with the smaller-sized Yamai Syndicate, are all after Akane. With the help of Kiryu's handler Kihei Hanawa, Kasuga confronts Wong Tou, the commander of the Ganzhe, and learns that the Barracudas and the Ganzhe are secretly controlled by Bryce Fairchild, the Sage of Palekana and "the Overseer" of Hawaii's underworld. Bryce is hunting down Akane to find Lani, a young girl currently under her protection. Wong is then betrayed by a spy, forcing Kasuga and his party to escort Wong to safety, but not before Kiryu is captured by Yamai. Nanba and Adachi, having arrived in Hawaii, join Kasuga and the group to confront Yamai, who was providing medical care to Kiryu, out of respect as a fellow former Tojo Clan member. Learning of Bryce's true objective, Yamai calls off his pursuit of Akane. Kiryu is then convinced to return to Japan with Nanba for recovery, while Kasuga confronts Bryce, who escapes.
Returning to Kasuga's apartment in Ijincho, Nanba is joined by Geomijul and Yokohama Liumang leader Seonhee, and later Saeko, all of whom help Kiryu recover and manage his condition. Seonhee is later informed that the Seiryu Clan is planning to expand its waste management operations to Hawaii. Kiryu meets Ebina and Sawashiro at the former Tojo Clan Headquarters. Ebina reveals he got the idea for his waste management business from Palekana, who runs a similar business on Nele Island and plans to partner with them. However, they claim they have no knowledge of Palekana hunting Akane. Later, Kiryu and his party are taken by surprise when Tatara publicly exposes Kiryu's survival to the world and claims he plans to resurrect the Tojo Clan, seemingly corroborated by Ebina and Sawashiro.
Back in Hawaii, Kasuga is able to locate Akane and Lani hiding in a yacht offshore. En route to a Daidoji safehouse, Akane reveals that Lani is the last surviving member of the Mililani family, the true successor to the title of Sage of Palekana, and that Bryce usurped the position by murdering the previous Sage. Upon reaching the safehouse, Chitose reveals that Eiji is a Seiryu Clan spy, who faked his disability to gain Kasuga's trust. The Barracudas raid the safehouse, resulting in Hanawa and Wong's deaths, while Eiji escapes with Lani. Chitose then confesses that she is Tatara, having been blackmailed by Eiji to spread online accusations against ex-yakuza across the country and serve as a spy on Kasuga's party. Kasuga focuses on rescuing Lani, while Kiryu focuses on Sawashiro.
Former Liumang leader Tianyou Zhao joins forces with Kiryu's party as they confront Sawashiro, who reveals that he has been secretly working behind Ebina's back to actually carry out the Second Great Dissolution, honoring Arakawa's legacy. He realizes that Ebina's plan is a ruse after sending Kasuga to Hawaii, and that Ebina used Kasuga to lure Akane as a favor for Bryce. Ebina plans to make a deal with Bryce to store all of Japan's accumulated nuclear waste on Nele Island, allowing the government to resume Japan's nuclear industry. Sawashiro and Kiryu, however, share the belief that there's an ulterior motive behind Ebina's plans. Kasuga learns from surviving Daidoji agents that Eiji used to be a reporter who was framed by the Arakawa family for a hit-and-run. Harboring resentment for the yakuza, he joined the non-profit anti-crime organization Bleach Japan prior to its fall following Ryo Aoki's death. Chitose makes amends with the party as they attempt to rescue Lani, but fail as Eiji flees with her.
Sawashiro requests Kiryu to seek out former Tojo Clan leaders Daigo Dojima, Taiga Saejima, and Goro Majima to help with the Second Great Dissolution. Kiryu meets them, where they reveal that a prior Tatara Channel exposé on their ex-yakuza employees caused their security company to go under. Daigo also reveals that Ebina may be Arakawa's illegitimate son and Kasuga's half-brother. Arakawa, who was in an arranged marriage to Ebina's mother, the daughter of the Hikawa Family patriarch, was unaware of her pregnancy before he went on a rampage against the Hikawa Family for hunting down Akane on the day of Kasuga's birth. Fearing another failure, Daigo, Saejima, and Majima refuse to help Sawashiro. Tatara, replaced with a substitute by Eiji, exposes the meeting, causing public backlash and a manhunt for Kiryu. That night, Tatara holds a live stream at the former Tojo HQ with Ebina and Sawashiro, where Ebina announces his deal with Palekana, the dissolution of the Seiryu Clan, the reformation of Bleach Japan, and his plan to pass their yakuza rehabilitation program to the government. Kiryu and his party raid the former Tojo HQ, but find that the live stream was pre-recorded and that it is a trap to further expose Kiryu.
Joongi Han, Seonhee's right-hand man, arrives in Hawaii to help Kasuga find a way to Nele Island. Kasuga's party investigates a secret passage within District Five, which leads to a hidden port heading to Nele Island. Lani is rescued from the Barracudas, and with Yamai's help, the party, Lani and Akane escape to Japan. Having failed Bryce, Dwight attempts to escape but is eaten by a shark. Upon arriving in Japan, the party is greeted by Kiryu's friend, Detective Makoto Date, who reveals that in exchange for a passage back to Japan, Yamai would confess to the murder of Shuji Tabata, Yamai's former patriarch. Yamai flees to visit his former matriarch Yui Tabata, who framed him for the murder, but learns that she is dying from Alzheimer's. Yamai bids her farewell and turns himself in.
With Lani and Akane safe in Japan, Kasuga and Kiryu regroup in Ijincho, where Ebina contacts them, saying that the rehabilitation program has been approved by the government, then reveals that he has Sawashiro hostage at the Millennium Tower in Kamurocho, Tokyo. The group then splits up: Kasuga's group returns to Hawaii to stop Bryce, while Kiryu's group makes their way to Millennium Tower to save Sawashiro. In Hawaii, Kasuga and his party assault Nele Island and discover a natural cave filled with barrels of nuclear waste, revealing Palekana's waste disposal facility as a lie. Kasuga confronts Bryce, who reveals his plan to use the island to store many nations' darkest secrets and gain global influence. Kasuga defeats him, and Chitose livestreams the entire facility's nuclear waste and confesses to being Tatara. Bryce attempts to commit suicide after admitting defeat, but Kasuga stops him.
Shortly after Chitose's confession, Kiryu and his party assault the Millennium Tower with surprise aid from Daigo, Saejima, and Majima. Kiryu and his party confront Ebina and find a battered and barely alive Sawashiro. Having a grudge against Arakawa and the entire yakuza, Ebina reveals his actual plan behind the Palekana deal: to force the yakuza to work on Nele Island's nuclear waste disposal, slowly torturing and killing them with radiation poisoning. Kiryu defeats Ebina, and as he sympathizes with his anger, begs him to give the yakuza a chance to atone. Kiryu then falls unconscious and is evacuated to a hospital. Meanwhile, Kasuga tracks down an injured Eiji hiding in Kamurocho, and convinces him to turn himself in.
A month later, the public has largely forgotten Bryce, Ebina, and Eiji's crimes and moves on to the next controversy. Tomizawa decides to devote more time to helping the homeless in Hawaii, Chitose becomes the chairwoman of her family business, and Lani chooses to embrace her role as Sage to rebuild Palekana with Akane's assistance. Kasuga attempts to properly confess his feelings for Saeko; she reciprocates, but Kasuga messes up again by revealing a T-shirt declaring their relationship, much to their friends' amusement. Meanwhile, Kiryu's adopted daughter Haruka Sawamura and her son Haruto visit Kiryu at the hospital just as he's about to receive treatment. When the doctor asks to confirm his name, Kiryu, no longer needing to fake his death, answers with his real name.
Development and promotion
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was announced in September 2022 during Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Summit livestream, initially named Like a Dragon 8. The first announcement trailer featured voiceover from various characters in the game, followed by the on-screen appearance of both Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu. Kiryu's design was a notable highlight due to the major contrast with his past appearances.[11]
In early 2023, RGG Studio hosted a Cabaret Club Grand Prix competition, in which five models were chosen to appear as live-action hostesses for the cabaret club minigame in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, while the Grand Prix winner is chosen to appear as an in-game character in Infinite Wealth. Among the five finalists, livestreamer and VTuberKson ultimately won the Grand Prix.[12] Her character, Kei, appears in a supporting capacity as a worker at Revolve Bar, which also serves as a hangout spot for the player characters.[13]
A second trailer premiered at Xbox Games Showcase 2023, teasing a new setting outside of Japan, while also confirming the new title.[17] RGG Studio Head Masayoshi Yokoyama explained the Infinite Wealth subtitle as a direct tie to the themes in the story, and also as a differentiation between the international version of the game and the Japanese version, the latter of which is simply titled Ryū ga Gotoku 8.[18]
In September 2023, RGG Studio hosted a second Summit livestream, detailing the story and characters, as well as gameplay features of Infinite Wealth via two new trailers. The studio also revealed Japanese cast members of the game, and announced actors Danny Trejo and Daniel Dae Kim as part of the English voice cast.[3] In addition to the English dub, for the first time in the series, a Chinese dub is also available for Infinite Wealth, with karaoke songs sung in Chinese by the Chinese voice cast, with lyrics shown in Chinese pinyin (on all languages, besides Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, which now displays Traditional Chinese lyrics if the voices are set to Japanese; Simplified Chinese lyrics will be displayed when playing with Japanese, Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese text if the voices are set to Chinese).[citation needed]
In October 2023, RGG Studios unveiled Happy Resort Dondoko Island, a side activity featured in Infinite Wealth, as part of Xbox Partner Preview livestream.[9] In December 2023, the studio released a trailer for the Bucket List story, noting it as a major side activity for Kiryu in Infinite Wealth.[10]
Infinite Wealth features the song "Ariamaru Tomi" (The Invaluable) by Ringo Sheena as its theme song. Yokoyama stated that Sheena's music had a major influence on him during development of the story, leading to him requesting her song for inclusion in the game.[19]
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth received "generally favorable reviews" from critics for the PC and PS5 versions, while the Xbox Series X/S version received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[21]
Eric Van Allen for Destructoid praised the game for the range of activities on offer, and the character-focused story, although felt that while they like much of the game, "some portions feel way more fleshed out, and others feel like they drag the median down."[23] Michael Higham for GameSpot praised the game for handling heavy tones, but felt it lost focus over the course of the narrative.[27]
Writing for IGN, Tristan Ogilvie praised the improvements to the combat system, remarking that it "delivers a riotous level of chaos and carnage that makes its predecessor’s more modest turn-taking seem almost polite by comparison."[29]
Famitsu awarded the game a score of 40/40, making it the thirtieth game to receive a perfect score.[25]
Sales
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has digitally sold and physically shipped one million copies in the first week after launch.[34]
Yakuza is a 2005 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. It was released in December 2005 in Japan and in September 2006 internationally. The story follows Kazuma Kiryu, a yakuza who spent ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After being released, he learns that the criminal underworld is searching for 10 billion yen that has been stolen from the Tojo clan. He comes across an orphan named Haruka who is being targeted by the clan. She is believed to have the key to their lost money and Kiryu resolves to protect her. The game takes place in Kamurochō, a realistic recreation of Tokyo's Kabukicho district.
Yakuza 2 is a 2006 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. The second installment of the Yakuza series and the sequel to Yakuza, it was released on December 7, 2006, in Japan and in September 2008 in North America and Europe. The game focuses on the former yakuza Kazuma Kiryu who receives a request for help from his former group, the Tojo Clan yakuza of eastern Japan, to stabilize relationships with the Omi Alliance group of western Japan. Across Kiryu's journey, he learns of a Korean mafia group linked with both the Omi and his own past, and becomes the rival of the Omi's "Dragon of Kansai", Ryuji Goda.
Kazuma Kiryu is a fictional character and the initial main protagonist of Sega's action-adventure beat 'em up Japanese role-playing game series Yakuza / Like a Dragon. He is popularly known as "the Dragon of Dojima" due to the tattoo of a dragon on his back and him originally being a fearsome member of the yakuza group known as the Dojima Family, a subsidiary of the Tojo Clan. He was introduced in the series' 2005 debut game, where he took the blame for his boss's death to protect his sworn-brother Akira Nishikiyama, resulting in his expulsion from the clan and a ten-year stay in prison. After leaving prison, he fights against the new threats in his life, during which he meets Haruka Sawamura, to whom he eventually becomes an adoptive father. He is voiced by Takaya Kuroda in Japanese and by Darryl Kurylo and Yong Yea (2023–present) in the series’ English-dubbed releases. Besides the main series, Kiryu has also appeared in three live-action “Like a Dragon” projects: two films and a television series, as well as other video games including Project X Zone 2 and as downloadable content in the spin-off game, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon, is a 2007 Japanese crime film directed by Takashi Miike, based on the 2005 PlayStation 2 video game Yakuza. The film stars Kazuki Kitamura, Goro Kishitani, Show Aikawa, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Kenichi Endō and Tomorowo Taguchi.
Haruka Sawamura is a fictional character in Sega's action-adventure game series Like a Dragon. She is introduced in the first Yakuza game as a young child searching for her missing mother, while being mysteriously pursued by multiple yakuza clans, including the Tojo Clan. Kazuma Kiryu, the main playable character throughout most of the series, protects and assists her during her search for her mother and Haruka is later adopted by him at the end of the first game. Over the course of the series, Haruka grows up alongside her adoptive father, debuting as a playable character in Yakuza 5 working as an idol and eventually starting a family of her own in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Haruka is voiced by Rie Kugimiya in Japanese, by Debi Derryberry in the English version of the first game, and by Xanthe Huynh in English releases from Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name onward.
Goro Majima is a major recurring character in Sega's Like a Dragon video game series, previously known as Yakuza outside of Japan. He is the main protagonist of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and one of the main playable protagonists of Yakuza 0 and Yakuza: Dead Souls, as well as the Majima Saga of Yakuza Kiwami 2. Introduced as a member of the Tojo Clan and patriarch of its subsidiary group, the Majima Family as well as second-in-command of the Shimano Family, nicknamed "Mad Dog of Shimano", he develops a sadomasochistic obsession with the protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. He continually seeks to fight him, seeing him as the perfect rival, but eventually bonds with him across the franchise and becomes an important ally of his. He is also the sworn brother of Taiga Saejima who is one of the protagonists of Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5. Majima's character is explored in more detail during the prequel Yakuza 0, in which he is a 24-year-old former Yakuza and a playable protagonist along with Kiryu. In this game, Majima has a much more calm and serious demeanor that develops into his standard sadomasochistic one during a war between a number of families in a fight for a patch of land known as the Empty Lot. Majima also appears in the spin-off Dead Souls as well as the crossover Project X Zone 2.
Akira Nishikiyama, often shortened to Nishiki, is a fictional character from Sega's action-adventure game series Like a Dragon, previously titled Yakuza outside of Japan. He is the sworn brother and childhood best friend of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, who insists on taking the blame for Nishiki after he murdered their boss, which resulted in Kiryu's expulsion from the Tojo Clan, the dominant yakuza organization in Tokyo, and his imprisonment for ten years. Nishiki establishes the Nishikiyama Family as a "subsidiary" of the Tojo Clan, and later triggers an internal power struggle for the clan's leadership shortly after Kiryu's release, leading to the two men becoming mortal enemies. Nishiki also appears as a supporting character in the prequel installment, Yakuza 0, which follows Kiryu's early years as a low-ranking member of the Tojo Clan. For Yakuza Kiwami, the remake of the original Yakuza, Nishiki's role in the narrative is expanded, with his motivations being more clearly explained.
Like a Dragon, formerly known outside of Japan as Yakuza, is a video game franchise created, owned and published by Sega. It incorporates elements of the action-adventure, beat 'em up, and role-playing genres.
Yakuza: Dead Souls is an action-adventure survival horror video game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The game is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series. The game was originally scheduled for release in Japan on March 17, 2011 two days after the release of Yakuza 4 in North America; however, after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the release was indefinitely delayed. A new release date, setting the game's release for June 9, was announced on April 7. The game was also released in North America and Europe by Sega in March 2012. The gameplay and themes are based on another Sega horror-themed rail gun called The House of the Dead series.
Yakuza 5 is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The game is the fifth main entry in the Yakuza series. The game was released in December 2012 in Japan, and localized for North America, Europe and Australia as a PlayStation Network download in December 2015. A remaster with improved resolution and frame rate was released for the PlayStation 4 on June 20, 2019 in Japan, and worldwide on February 11, 2020 as part of The Yakuza Remastered Collection. Versions for Windows and Xbox One were released in January 2021.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a role-playing video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. The eighth mainline entry in the Yakuza series and the first to be developed as a turn-based RPG, it was released in Japan and Asia for PlayStation 4 on January 16, 2020. The western release of the game for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2020 included new costumes, the returning of English audio track for the first time since the first game, and some previously paid DLC. This version was then released in Japan and Asia under the subtitle International on February 25, 2021 for Windows and Xbox platforms. The game was released worldwide for PlayStation 5 on March 2, 2021, and a version for Amazon Luna launched on December 10, 2021.
Yakuza 0 is a 2015 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is the sixth main entry in the Yakuza series and a prequel to the original game. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan in March 2015, and in North America and Europe for PlayStation 4 in January 2017. It was released on Windows on 1 August 2018 and on Xbox One on 26 February 2020. A free accompanying game application for PlayStation Vita, titled Yakuza 0: Free to Play Application for PlayStation Vita, was released in Japan in February 2015.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega for PlayStation 4. The game is the seventh main entry in the Yakuza series and the final main game to feature Kazuma Kiryu as the primary protagonist, and was released in Japan in December 2016. The English version was released in Southeast Asia in March 2018, and worldwide the following month. Versions for Windows and Xbox One were released in March 2021. The game was followed up by Yakuza Kiwami 2, a remake of the second game, and by Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the next chronological installment, released in 2020.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a 2017 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is a remake of the 2006 video game Yakuza 2 for the PlayStation 2, and is the second remake in Yakuza series following 2016's Yakuza Kiwami. It was developed using the Dragon game engine from Yakuza 6. The game was released for PlayStation 4 on December 7, 2017 in Japan, and worldwide on August 28, 2018. It was released for Windows worldwide on Steam on May 9, 2019 and released for Xbox One on July 30, 2020. A version for cloud-based platform Amazon Luna was released on January 19, 2023.
Japanese video game developer Sega's Yakuza media franchise, known as Ryū ga Gotoku in its native Japan and other Asian territories, features an extensive cast of characters. This article describes notable characters who appear in the Yakuza main series video games and associated remasters or remakes, with characters sorted by organizations or groups according to the original works. The English-language adaptation equivalents are mentioned when available.
Ryuji Goda is a fictional character from Sega's action-adventure game Like a Dragon series, previously known as Yakuza outside of Japan, first appearing in 2006's Yakuza 2. Goda also appears as one of the main characters in a spin-off title of the series, Yakuza: Dead Souls, which does not follow the series' canon and is set in an alternate timeline where Goda survives his wounds at the end of Yakuza 2. Goda is voiced by Masami Iwasaki in all media.
Ichiban Kasuga, also nicknamed Ichi (一), is a character from Sega's Ryu ga Gotoku media franchise, formerly known internationally as Yakuza. Ichiban is first introduced in the 2018 mobile game Ryu ga Gotoku ONLINE, a freemium collectible card game spin-off which is exclusively released in Japan. Ichiban is the lead character in the 2020 video game Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the first main series Yakuza title which does not feature recurring series lead Kazuma Kiryu as a playable character. Ichiban is voiced by Kazuhiro Nakaya in Japanese, and by Kaiji Tang in English.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a 2023 action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series. Taking place during the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020), Like a Dragon Gaiden focuses on the series' original protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, as he embarks on a new adventure in Osaka under the guise of a secret agent.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza is a Japanese-language American crime action television series produced by Amazon MGM Studios, Wild Sheep Content, and 1212 Entertainment. It is a live-action adaptation of Sega's Like a Dragon video game series, and the first since the 2007 film Like a Dragon. It follows Kazuma Kiryu, a former yakuza who after years in prison, returns to the underworld during a vast conspiracy involving his best friend Akira Nishikiyama and their former Dojima family.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an upcoming action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series. Taking place after the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (2024), Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii focuses on series mainstay Goro Majima, who, after being stranded on an island and losing his memories, now leads his own pirate crew to discover a hidden treasure.
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