Yakuza: Like A Dragon

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.