The opening movie for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a highly stylised look at a day in the life of protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, as he roams around Yokohama meeting various people, all accompanied by a jazz soundtrack.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is set to be the eighth mainline entry in the franchise formerly titled the Yakuza series. The game will follow-up on the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and will see Ichiban Kasuga returning as the protagonist alongside returning series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu.

More recently, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announced that Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth‘s PC release has been Steam Deck Verified, which is essentially certification that means that the game is optimised to run and be perfectly playable on Valve’s handheld gaming PC.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC on January 26. The PC version of the game will also feature DLSS 3 support.

The official Game Pass Twitter recently tweeted an image with the names of 280 characters. In a follow-up image, it had Takayuki Yagami’s name crossed out with the words “Oopsie woopsie.” Yagami, of course, is the protagonist of Judgment and this image could have been indicating characters from all of the games available on Game Pass. Crossing out the name could mean that his game isn’t actually on the service…for now, at least.

This is all just conjecture but this isn’t the first time that the Xbox Game Pass Twitter has done these kinds of teases (see DOOM Eternal and Control). If Judgment does come to the service, it would have to be the “remastered” port which recently released for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Stadia. Check out our review for it here.

In the meantime, Ryu ga Gotoku Studio is working on Lost Judgment which releases on September 24th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5.

280 characters in a tweet pic.twitter.com/uLiT9djj1v

— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) June 21, 2021

Made a slight error in the original but it's ok we fixed it with some help from our friends at @GroundedTheGame (great handwriting btw) pic.twitter.com/lRKtLdrQIB

— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) June 21, 2021

Ryu ga Gotoku Studio announced that its next Yakuza title, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, would be a turn-based RPG has created some skepticism. To help players understand the gameplay more, a demo for the game will be released. Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama confirmed the same in Famitsu though he didn’t say when it would be released.

What we do know is that the battle system will be upgraded over the Tokyo Game Show 2019 demo. There will also be an “Office Worker” job for Eri Kamataki’s character. You probably remember the actress as winning the audition for the main female co-star role back in July. She utilizes thumb tacks, cutters and other tools in battle.

The demo’s combat will be fairly close to the final game so either way, it’s a good indication for what to expect. Yakuza: Like A Dragon is out on January 16th 2020 for the PS4 in Japan. It will be releasing worldwide in the West later next year. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Sega’s Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a follow-up to Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s excellent series, even if it strays away from the normal gameplay loop with its turn-based combat. However, much like previous games, you can develop and customize protagonist Ichiban Kasuga in different ways. This time around, you have Life Experience which is divided into six parameters – Enthusiasm, Intelligence, Cheerfulness, Kindness, Mentality and Stylishness.

According to Sega in a recent press release (translation via Gematsu), here’s what each parameter represents:

• Enthusiasm – The source of “willingness” and “romance.” Develops through enthusiastic conduct and doing things with utmost effort.
• Mentality – The source of “mental strength” and “concentration.” Develops through situations that test your courage and emotional strength.
• Cheerfulness – The source of “sociability” and “brightness.” Develops through actions that lighten the mood.
• Kindness – The source of “broad-mindedness” and “empathy.” Develops through kind interaction with people, animals, and nature.
• Intelligence – The source of “education” and “memory.” Develops through logical suggestion and studying.
• Stylishness – The source of “charm” and “character.” Develops through clever exchange and dignified behavior.

So obviously you can do a variety of things to build up Life Experience. Partaking in different sub-stories, interacting with different characters, Play Spots and so on are a few ways. The Ocean Qualification School is a good example of a Play Spot – it sees Kasuga taking qualifying exams and can lead to great Life Experience (weird as that sounds).

Don’t worry – you still have Golf, Dragon Kart, PachiSlot and so on to build up Life Experience. Yakuza: Like A Dragon is out on January 16th 2020 for PS4 in Japan. A Western release is planned for later next year.