Despite the name change, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the latest installment of the long-running Yakuza franchise, and with it comes a lot of narrative baggage. Infinite Wealth is the ninth mainline installment in the series, so new players may potentially be missing out on some important context for the plot. With that in mind, here are the games you’ll need to play in order to best understand Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Which Yakuza Games Do I Need To Play Before Starting Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth?
Set in 2023, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a direct follow-up to the previous mainline entry in the series, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, as it stars that game’s protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga. Ichiban was a new protaginist introduced in that game, taking the spotlight from the series’ previous lead character Kazuma Kiryu. With that in mind, if you’re going to play a single game in the series before Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, then make it Yakuza: Like A Dragon.
However, that’s not the full story, as Kazuma Kiryu is also a prominent character in this game as well. On the surface, that may make you think that you’ll need to play basically every Yakuza game before this one to catch up on everything that’s happening in his world, but thankfully that isn’t the case. Back in November, a spin-off title in the series called Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name released, filling in the blanks of what Kiryu was up to during Ichiban’s antics in Yakuza: Like A Dragon. While the game has been critically praised and is being framed as being important to understanding Kiryu’s arc in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, it’s important to remember that The Man Who Erased His Name is a spin-off and therefore not quite as essential as playing Yakuza: Like A Dragon.
One minor point to be made for longtime fans of the series is that Kiryu has a unique side activity in the game called “Bucket List,” where Kiryu reunites and interacts with previous characters from older Yakuza games. These cameos are meant to be exactly that; little nudges and winks to the series’ long history and fun references for old-time fans. If you played an earlier Yakuza installment, then you’ll get some benefit and personal satisfaction for remembering these faces, but they’re not essential to fully enjoy the game.
So with that in mind, if you want to catch up on the adventures of Ichiban and Kiryu before Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth releases on January 26th, then definitely play Yakuza: Like A Dragon, and then if you have time, also play Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
