Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth feels indulgent in a way few games get to be. Enough drama to fill two normal Yakuza games, a Hawaiian city sparkling in the sun and an absurd lineup of minigames including resort management and creature taming. It’s impossible to go five minutes without it excitedly thrusting another glossy distraction in your face, even as stakes escalate. Honestly, it’s better than most vacations I’ve been on.
Most of Infinite Wealth's issues come and go in the first 15 hours of its sprawling narrative as it tries to introduce a cast of dozens, the city of Yokohama, and give a crash course on current protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, former Yakuza grunt turned 40-something hero with a heart of gold.
As a longtime Yakuza player I felt more than a little bit of déjà vu while Infinite Wealth crawled its way through old gameplay mechanics, characters and locations. Despite some strong narrative beats early on, it does take a while for Infinite Wealth to 'get good', but I swear it's worth the wait.
TROPICAL PUNCH
Like A Dragon's metamorphosis into an RPG series feels complete here, shedding its Shenmue-esque brawler roots in favor of a fast-and-loose turn-based battle system with some timed hits, mashing on some rapid combos for extra damage, or in sync with a big impact for extra damage. Similarly, incoming attacks can be weakened if you tap the block button just before it lands, although enemy animations are often unpredictable enough to make this tricky.
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
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