Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a 2023 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series. Taking place during the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Like a Dragon Gaiden focuses on the series' original protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, as he embarks on a new adventure in Osaka under the guise of a secret agent.
The game was conceived to expand further on Kiryu's backstory between the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon and its 2024 sequel, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. As such, the story of the game follows from Yakuza 6: The Song of Life then merges with the storyline of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. While the game introduces new characters, various characters from other Like a Dragon games and spin-offs appear as side characters. The spin-off also incorporates allusions to other Like a Dragon Games, such as Yakuza and Yakuza 5.
Like a Dragon Gaiden was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 9, 2023 and received generally positive reviews from critics.
Gameplay
In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, players control Kazuma Kiryu as they explore the Sotenbori district of Osaka. The Isezaki Ijincho district of Yokohama, a location prominently featured in Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Lost Judgment, is also partially available during the first chapter of the story. A third location, known as the Castle, is a hub area where players can participate in side activities. Minigames such as karaoke, Pocket Circuit racing, cabaret club, and fighting arena also return. A new character named Akame acts as an informant, providing Kiryu with sub-missions.Kiryu has access to two fighting styles, Yakuza and Agent. The Yakuza style features aggressive brawler combat movement similar to Kiryu's classic fighting style from previous games, while the Agent style is described as having "absolute speed and precision", relying on high-tech gadgets.
Similar to Lost Judgment, Like a Dragon Gaiden features several Master System games which Kiryu can play: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alien Syndrome, Enduro Racer, Fantasy Zone, Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, Galaxy Force, Global Defense, Maze Hunter 3-D, Penguin Land, Quartet and Secret Command, as well the SG-1000 version of Flicky, among other arcade titles, such as Virtua Fighter 2, Sonic the Fighters, Motor Raid, Daytona USA 2 and Fighting Vipers 2. Like a Dragon Gaiden was the first time Sega Model 3 games have been emulated in an official Sega game.
Like a Dragon Gaiden features a special trial version of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which is unlockable after beating Gaidens main story for the first time. The trial includes two demos: a "Story Demo", which continues from the end of Gaiden and features exclusive scenes not included in Infinite Wealth; and a "Hawaii Demo", which features a limited free-roam map of a fictionalized version of Honolulu, Hawaii for the players to explore and engage in side activities.
Plot
Characters and settings
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name takes place after Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and before, during, and after the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon leading into Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Following the ending of Yakuza 6, Kazuma Kiryu has faked his death and gone into hiding, in order to protect his foster children. Having signed a pact with the Daidoji faction to become their disciple, Kiryu now operates as one of their secret agents, codenamed "Joryu". However, after one of his missions go awry, Kiryu would soon be drawn into a new conflict as he is forced out of hiding by a mysterious figure.New characters introduced in Like a Dragon Gaiden include: Kihei Hanawa, a handler of the Daidoji faction; Homare Nishitani III, patriarch of the Kijin Clan, a subsidiary of the Osaka-based yakuza organization Omi Alliance; Kosei Shishido and Yuki Tsuruno, respectively lieutenant and captain of the Omi Alliance's Watase Family; Akame, an informant residing in Sotenbori; Yoshimura, a ruthless Daidoji faction manager who has contempt for Kiryu; the head priest of the Daidoji Temple, one of the few people Kiryu confides in within the Daidoji faction; and the Boss, a mysterious high-ranking Daidoji officer operating the faction from the shadows.
Several characters from previous Like a Dragon titles return in Like a Dragon Gaiden, including: Masaru Watase, patriarch of the Watase Family and captain of the Omi Alliance; Daigo Dojima, sixth chairman of the Tojo Clan; Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima, senior Tojo Clan members who accompany Daigo; Ichiban Kasuga, a former Tojo Clan yakuza who would eventually become acquainted with Kiryu; and Haruka Sawamura, Taichi, and Ayako, Kiryu's adopted children. Like a Dragon Gaiden also features minor appearances of characters from the spin-off title Judgment and its sequel Lost Judgment: Masaharu Kaito, Toru Higashi, and Fumiya Sugiura.
Synopsis
After faking his death in late 2016, Kazuma Kiryu continues to live in secrecy, operating as an agent for the Daidoji faction under the codename "Joryu". He undertakes various tasks for the Daidoji via orders from his handler Kihei Hanawa, in exchange for anonymous funding to the Morning Glory Orphanage. Outside of his job, he spends time meditating in a Buddhist temple with the help of its head priest, it being a Daidoji front.In 2019, Kiryu is tasked with providing security for a smuggling operation in Yokohama. The operation turns out to be a trap, as an unidentified yakuza group ambushes the agents and attempts to kidnap Hanawa. Kiryu manages to drive the yakuza away, though one of them recognizes him. The next day, Kiryu investigates the local Seiryu Clan in Isezaki Ijincho, but soon discovers that it was the Omi Alliance's Watase Family who ambushed the Daidoji agents. A group of Watase Family members, led by their captain Yuki Tsuruno and lieutenant Kosei Shishido, corners Kiryu, then kidnaps Hanawa when he refuses to comply. Kiryu is reprimanded by Daidoji manager Yoshimura, who suggests that they abandon Hanawa to maintain the Daidoji's secrecy. Kiryu refuses and, with the help of the head priest, escapes after defeating Yoshimura and the other agents.
Kiryu meets with Tsuruno in a bar in Ijincho, where the latter reveals that his patriarch, Masaru Watase, has requested his men to investigate Kiryu's supposed death since 2016, believing it to be fabricated. Tsuruno asks Kiryu to cooperate with the Watase Family in exchange for freeing him from the Daidoji and allowing him to re-fake his death and reunite with his foster children in Okinawa. Tsuruno sends Kiryu to Sotenbori, Osaka to meet with local fixer Akame. After helping Akame with a few of her jobs, she takes Kiryu to the Castle, a secret adult entertainment hub located on a ship outside of Sotenbori governed by the Omi Alliance's Kijin Clan. At the Castle, Kiryu signs up to fight in the Coliseum arena to prove his worth to Shishido, who then reveals Hanawa's location to Kiryu. Kiryu returns to Sotenbori, confronts Tsuruno and other Watase Family members, and frees Hanawa after defeating them.
Tsuruno reveals Watase's true intentions for requesting Kiryu's help: to oversee the dissolution of the Omi Alliance and the Tojo Clan, alongside the Tojo's Sixth Chairman Daigo Dojima. In spite of this revelation, Kiryu refuses to help them and leaves Tsuruno to the Daidoji. Kiryu later visits a Daidoji hideout in Sotenbori, where he is ordered by the Boss, a high-ranking Daidoji officer, to kill Tsuruno, Watase, and the rest of the Watase Family to maintain his cover. Kiryu holds Hanawa at gunpoint, allowing Tsuruno to escape. Hanawa threatens to harm the children at Okinawa, forcing Kiryu to surrender. Three days later, after a lengthy trial to test Kiryu and Hanawa's bond, the Boss lets go of Kiryu, with Tsuruno revealing to have made a deal with the Daidoji to lend Kiryu's services to the Watase Family.
Tsuruno later calls Kiryu to come to the Castle, where he reveals his intention: to lure out the Kijin Clan Patriarch, Homare Nishitani III, from the Castle and kill him in time before Watase is released from prison, to ensure no high-ranking officers of the Omi Alliance rally the members to rebel against the dissolution. Kiryu, rejecting the proposal, strikes a deal to incapacitate him instead. Nishitani, having an interest in Kiryu, puts the Castle on lockdown. Kiryu is forced to punch Tsuruno to maintain the latter's cover and escape, knocking down Nishitani in the process. Later, Nishitani sends the Kijin Clan to find Kiryu in Sotenbori. Under Hanawa's advice, Kiryu and Tsuruno decide to mobilize the Watase Family to take over the Castle by force and leak its existence to the media. Having angered Nishitani enough, the two agree to a showdown in Nishitani's hideout on a shipyard outside Sotenbori. Kiryu and Shishido battle Nishitani and his goons while Tsuruno sets the hideout on fire. Nishitani is incapacitated, but Shishido, under orders from Tsuruno, stabs Nishitani to death before they can escape the building.
Several days later, Kiryu and the Watase Family arrive at a construction site outside Sotenbori to greet the recently released Watase. Shishido betrays the crew, having planned all along to stop the dissolution and take over the Omi Alliance. He rallies the Watase Family against Kiryu, Tsuruno, and Watase, and reveals that he faked Nishitani's stabbing. The three manage to fend off the attack, albeit Tsuruno and Watase are injured in the process. Hanawa, having been tipped off by Akame about Nishitani's survival, runs over Nishitani with a limo, leaving him unconscious. Hanawa escorts Kiryu, Tsuruno, and Watase to the meeting at the Omi Alliance HQ, where the latter announces the joint dissolution of the Omi Alliance and the Tojo Clan alongside Daigo. A riot breaks out in the process, and Tsuruno and Kiryu team up with Ichiban Kasuga and his friends, as well as Tojo Clan officers Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima, to protect Watase and Daigo. As Watase is escorted outside, Shishido, having survived the earlier battle, arrives, rallying the remaining Omi Alliance members. Daigo, Majima and Saejima fend off against the last of the Omi Alliance, while Kiryu confronts Shishido alone and defeats him. The latter is ultimately subdued by Yoshimura, who decides to keep him alive as a potential Daidoji agent, alongside Nishitani.
In 2020, Hanawa reveals that the Daidoji wants to reward Kiryu for his efforts in helping Watase, as well as aiding Kasuga in stopping the Tokyo Governor Ryo Aoki. The former shares a recording of a hidden camera overlooking Kiryu's grave, where two of his adopted children, Taichi and Ayako, update Kiryu on everyone at the Morning Glory Orphanage. Hanawa also shows a picture of a drawing by Haruka Sawamura's son, Haruto, causing Kiryu to break down in tears. Kiryu is then told by the head priest that he's allowed to go on a vacation, provided he maintains his cover. Hanawa informs Kiryu of his new alias, Taichi Suzuki, then bids him farewell.
In a post-credits scene, three years later, Kiryu enters Nanala Hill Church in Honolulu, Hawaii, and leaves a ring on the altar as a parting gift to his late girlfriend, Yumi Sawamura.