Note: This review is based on the PC version with all DLC (from the Ultimate Edition). Notes specific to the console versions will be appended where appropriate. I shall endeavor to limit spoilers to only what was shown in trailers where possible when describing moral content. The series was formerly called "Yakuza", but is now known by its original Japanese title in Western territories as well now.

It's said that when you've made something good, always striving for something better is never a bad thing. The Ryu Ga Gotoku studio seems to have taken this advice to heart, as Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth has provided the gaming world with infinite amounts of nigh-perfect fun since its release.

The story is set a few years after the seventh game. Ichiban Kasuga, formerly gainfully employed and helping the city of Yokohama as its hero, is disgraced by a deceitful expose framing him as a criminal and he and his friends find themselves back at rock bottom. In the meantime, he gets word his mother thought dead is still alive. While attempting to find her in Hawaii, he meets the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu. This aging hero is also looking for Ichiban's mother, as she holds the keys to a power struggle that could rock the foundations of both the United States and Japan to their cores. As the Dragon of Dojima and the Dragon of Yokohama join forces, an adventure for the ages promises a new way forward into infinite prosperity while allowing both men to confront old debts from the past as well.

The meat and potatoes of this game is a turn-based RPG with all the conventions of one like fighting Sujimon (monsters), finding treasure, completing dungeons, and beating story bosses. Compared to the last attempt at turn-based, the combat system has been massively expanded upon, with many features from the brawler games like usable scenery weapons, guard breaking, and other elements like increased use of quick time events being worked into the combat loop, providing much more in-depth strategy. The revised Job system also removes many superfluous jobs while introducing many new interesting jobs. Skill inheritance is now reworked, rewarding multiclassing by allowing any skill (up to five regular and one Kiwami skill) to be carried over at player preference. Overall, the RPG element has been made way more fun and in-depth.

Like practically every Like a Dragon game, there are all sorts of weird and wacky sidequests. There are also a ton of minigames, like karaoke, shogi, mahjong, various casino-style games, arcades, and so on. Some new minigames include Crazy Eats, a wacky parody of food delivery and Crazy Taxi. Sicko Snap is a bizarre parody of Pokemon Snap, where you snap pictures of various public miscreants for the police and earn points to exchange for prizes. Can Quest returns from the last game for more collecting cans on a bike while beating a timer. A variation of the dating hookup game from the sixth title allows the player to try to make the right responses in time to prospective dating chats to unlock various bonuses and some goofy endings. Finally, a new feature for some of the games like poker and mahjong is the ability to play against your fellow party members, which adds a nice personal touch.

One sidequest that is so large as to be its own game is Dondoko Island. In this mode, you have to help restore a beach resort, which can be a source of revenue and also serves as a massive simulator-style game. Featuring Gachapin and Mukku, two IRL kids show characters from Japanese TV shows, it's the Like a Dragon version of Nintendo's Animal Crossing. This mode can let the player construct almost every building and asset ever shown in the game engine and allows them to make their own custom island. Without writing a novel, I can safely say this mode is quite addictive if you want to forget about the plot and just have fun. It can also provide a passive yet considerable source of in-game income, which is handy given the prices of some equipment.

Another sidequest that has some tie-in with Dondoko Island is the fleshing out of the Sujimon (from sujimono, Japanese for "suspicious person") concept from the previous game into a full-blown, utterly shameless parody of the monster collector franchise Pokemon. The Sujimon are drawn from the very enemies you fight in-game (and canon playable characters if you have DLC). Like the franchise it parodies, you have battles with Sujimon trainers, gyms, and every other element of the Pokemon series they could conceivably parody. Like Dondoko Island, this mode is pretty fun. If you have the Sujimancer job for Ichiban, you can even summon Sujimon to fight for you in battle, and as the Sujimon gets stronger, so in turn does the utility this class gives Ichiban.

The graphics of this game are stunning. While there is a liberal amount of asset reuse, even these textures have been polished up some from earlier titles. We also get the amazing depiction of Hawaii and it truly does look like a vibrant tropical paradise. That said, there are a few minor hitches with some aliasing depending on your video settings, but that's about it. Of particular note in the impressive department is the extensively enhanced water effects, since you can now swim in some areas.

The soundtrack is one epic soundtrack after another. The styles are wide and varied, ranging from hard rock to electronic synth to gothic choir to ambient horror, and there is bound to be something for everyone in this game. Sounds are crisp, and this is the first game to have a Chinese dub alongside the English and Japanese dubs. All the dubs are competent, though some of the Japanese characters have some odd Engrish in the Japanese dub especially. The English subtitles reveal some differences in translation for the dialogue, but nothing critical is changed, mostly just cultural references and different liberties taken to make certain lines sound more natural in the native tongue of each dub. The voice actors all deliver top-notch performances, with Danny Trejo in the English dub being one of my favorites. Kiryu is voiced by Yong Yea in the English dub, and despite some lingering issues sounds a lot better than the prior released demo and even better than the Gaiden dub.

Game controls will accept either a keyboard and mouse or any supported PC Gamepad. I use an Xbox One gamepad that is recognized and functions well with the game. There are easy-to-follow tutorials for the controls with options for remapping should the need arise as well.

In terms of stability, Infinite Wealth is generally crash-free and runs quite well so long as the player easily clears the minimum requirements. It will run on Linux via Steam Proton and is Verified for the Steam Deck. It's worth mentioning the Deck will NOT run this at max settings, but it can run around medium-level settings with more than acceptable performance (further performance optimization patches by the devs may improve this even more). There may be some brief pauses during times of heavy load due to remaining lingering engine issues (this may affect console and PC users equally), though these tend to be brief and the developers have proven attentive to fixing issues. 

The Dondoko Island feature has some online functions where players can visit other player islands and engage in Sujimon battles. This section is reasonably policed to avoid the spread of profanity and hateful slurs. Performance is also good provided the player has a decent internet connection.

The only thing I truly do not like, and I speak for myself here, is that Sega took the New Game + feature and gated it behind paid DLC content. Given this feature is very basic and free for all games, I consider this a very anti-gamer and anti-consumer position, and I urge Sega to reconsider this in the future, it's galling to be forced to pay for basic game functionality that should ship free or be provided in a patch.

Also, I feel I should note some issues with the plot. While it's a perfectly good game, the later chapters suffer from a bit of padding in places, and given they split the story between Kiryu and Ichiban in the latter half, they made a few decisions here where the writers strung out a few parts they could have written better, at least in my opinion.

Morally, this title, like most Like A Dragon games, covers a LOT of subjects not meant for anyone save mature audiences, and there is a considerable amount to be cautious of.

Violence in the playable gameplay segments is generally no worse than RPG-style "give orders and watch it happen". Outside of this, there are some very graphic and brutal scenes of bloodshed and murder. One rather graphic scene even shows a man's fingers blown off point blank with a pistol, just to give an example of the gore on display.

Language is quite earthy. Every profane word imaginable will be uttered (the English dub has a rather high amount of profanity in particular), and God's name is mentioned in vain a few times (mostly by villains), though there are a few characters who do respectfully refer to God as well. There are some flirty and sexual innuendos as well as some crude scenes with jokes about foul body odors and kicks to the genitals even serve as a viable attack for one female character. For plot reasons, the main male lead is briefly stripped naked and seen from behind in a cutscene, but nothing else is shown save their rear end.

There isn't any explicit sexual content, but being set in Hawaii there is a profusion of bikinis and other revealing outfits, including a pole dancing club one can visit (again, nothing explicit but still quite risque). One female character strongly implies they are bisexual and there is one substory set around a crayfish and a hermit crab falling in love, with it being revealed both are female. Disturbingly, despite the main male lead Ichiban being a monogamous type who wants to wait for marriage,  he is essentially subjected to attempted sexual assault by more than one woman with a sexual interest in him. While nothing confirmably happens in the adult sense, the fact they use rape implications as a form of comedy is offputting.

Being set in a real-world setting, there are not too many fantastical elements. Regardless, thanks to the overactive imagination of the main character, all battles are viewed through the lens of swords and sorcery RPG parody, which is why combat features enemies named after monsters, demons, and the undead. Cutscenes do make clear most of these fantastical elements are nowhere near as real as portrayed. There is some discussion of fortune-telling and the native religion of Hawaii. While the former is not regarded overly seriously, one of the key story players does lead a cult based on a genericized version of worship of the Hawaiian fire goddess Pele. While the fictional version is called Nele and said cult is revealed to largely be based on obvious lies, it does still reference a real-world non-Christian religion extensively. There are also some offhand references to Buddhism. Some characters do make positive reference to the Christian God and the need to atone for sin, however.

Morally and ethically, the cast makes every effort to work with legitimate authority and oppose the corrupt. Both Ichiban and Kiryu at different points in the story are even given options to perform various acts of civil service and charity. There is a fair amount of gambling, drinking, and smoking shown, though the first is generally optional.

This game spends a considerable amount of time, as revealed in the trailers, exploring the themes of contracting cancer and mortality itself. In a world where assisted suicide is often advocated, this game instead takes the position that while giving up is an option it's much better to fight for one's life. The recurring argument is that despite facing death, one's remaining life should be spent atoning for past sins and dealing with past regrets to not face death with a heavy conscience and troubled soul. The director of the game revealed they are a cancer survivor themselves, and I can confirm they cover this subject matter with appropriate gravity and dignity.

Overall, some very minor issues aside, this is otherwise an amazing game. Technically, it has some minor flaws in need of patches and it's still galling they gated New Game + behind paid DLC. Morally, this game covers a lot of mature subjects not fit for anyone who is not an adult. I can guarantee longtime fans of Like a Dragon and anyone who appreciates a stellar RPG game will have a blast playing this title.