Kazuma Kiryu’s new mission, should he choose to accept it
Perhaps, like his death at the end of Yakuza 6, Kazuma Kiryu’s retirement was just a ruse. Maybe disappointing sales figures for a Like A Dragon in Japan, the first series entry under a new protagonist, along with more players discovering Kiryu’s adventures overseas, encouraged Sega to bring him back. We may never know. Either way, the quiet life is not for Kiryu: in this grandiosely titled spin-off, he’s trying his hand at being a spy.
Set between Yakuza: Like A Dragon and the forthcoming Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (he’s due to appear in the latter), Kiryu’s new adventure sees him working for the Daidoji Faction. The Daidoji provided a pivotal plot point in Yakuza 6, and appears to be the reason Kiryu returns to that game’s primary setting, Onomichi. Not that Gaiden’s story is the focus in our hands-on time with a demo build, which focuses on two of the series’ most enduring pillars: fighting thugs and playing minigames.
In addition to Onomichi and Sotenbori in Osaka, Kiryu visits a place called The Castle, which is where we join him. A giant adult amusement park built inside a ship, the Castle is named after the life-sized replica of Osaka Castle it contains. Here Kiryu, having adopted the nom de guerre Joryu, demonstrates an agile new fighting style called Agent: a sharp contrast to his standard Brawler style, now simply called Yakuza. More significantly, Agent affords him the use of a string of gadgets that would make 007 envious. A set of Spider-Man-style webshooters that can restrain several opponents while letting Joryu fling them dramatically across the room are early favourites, but he can also skate around on rocket-propelled shoes for a spot of crowd control, throw cigarette-shaped bombs, and call in a squadron of attack drones.
If deploying these gadgets is no more involved than holding a button, finding the time and room to do so can be difficult: in what seems like an effort to justify the use of these powerful tools, a typical encounter features more thugs than usual. Joryu can still use Heat actions, such as kicking a downed enemy across the screen or mashing them into a wall; switch to Yakuza style, and you still get to bash enemies over the head with bicycles or lift them bodily. But these wonderful new toys are the highlight: it’s hard not to delight at the sight of Joryu, in full Clark Kent getup, skating through a group of enemies. The series’ blend of whimsy and martial arts means these additions feel fresh, and no more outlandish than Like A Dragon’s fantastical flourishes.
He can also skate around on rocket-propelled shoes, and throw cigarette-shaped bombs
At the Castle Coliseum, you fight 100 bad guys ag
