Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Has A Confusing Message
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- Опубликовано: 27 июн 2024
- It's not an April Fool's Joke! It's time to take a look at Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth in our ongoing Like A Dragon video series! Will GC Vazquez finally enjoy his time in RGG Studio's clutches once again? Or will he lament the ongoing spiral of mediocrity this series is spinning in? Did Tsuyoshi Furuta get his grubby hands on this one, or is Kazunobu Takeuchi's fresh contributions curbing the Furuta's stings? Will GC ever get over himself?! WHO KNOWS?! YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH THE VIDEO ANYWAY!
#likeadragoninfinitewealth #likeadragon #infinitewealth #sega #rggstudio
0:00 - SPOILER WARNING
4:00 - Improving the RPG
9:29 - Harming the RPG
15:23 - Hawaii and New Playspots
18:42 - The Issue with Playspots
22:22 - Yutaka Yamai, My Sweetheart
24:14 - Tsuyoshi Furuta and a Clarification
30:40 - The Women of Infinite Wealth
33:19 - A Repetitive Series
37:01 - General Writing Complaints
38:08 - Intro to The Serious Discussion
39:13 - On Hawaii, Tourism, and Imperialism
42:31 - Confusing Cult Conversations
48:47 - On Cancel Culture
53:41 - Overall Impressions
54:34 - Get Destroyed
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► / gc__vazquez
► / gcvazquez
► / gcvazquez
► ruclips.net/user/GCVazquez?su...
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![Yakuza Kiwami - All Bosses [Legend][No Damage] | Cutscenes+ Ending](/img/1.gif)
They should just let the guy who wrote all the party chats direct the next game, cuz those were the absolute highlight
so true
Real
As much as I liked the improvements to the gameplay, the writing gave me whiplash with how all over the place it is.
I will be honest, I don't think a woman literally having Alzheimer's is a callback to the theme of Judgment. I think it just adds to the character of Yamai, like sure, maybe we can think back on how maybe if AD-9 had just worked, she wouldn't be like that. But the matriarch could've been in a vegetative state regardless. Didn't matter how, Alzheimer's just makes for a sad coincidence for Yamai.
In relation to the ichi-saeko proposal, I find it weird that seemingly Saeko's *only* problem with the proposal was that Ichi didnt say "I love you" and not, y'know, the fact they weren't even dating at that point. Also, why do so many characters react to the proposal like Ichiban had malicious intent when he did it?
Also I know it's too early in his saga to say this, but the Ichi arc games all having some element of "X antagonist is somehow related (biologically or adoption) to Arakawa and therefore Ichiban" twist somewhere is something I'm really hoping they have end with Ebina. It made me think "Really? Is this the best you can do?" and it kind of contributed to me to not care as much about Ebina as a villian at all.
Repeat twists, especially one after another personally do not work for me and just makes me feel like they really had nothing better to come up with. And I'm aware Ebina is vastly different vs Aoki's deal, but I still struggled to care even after that reveal.
I think RGG genuinely needs to get better at executing stuff. The dual Kiryu/Ichiban story also gave less room to give Ebina the same development they gave to Aoki.
Side note, but holy shit. Kaito Files in S tier is probably one of the boldest opinions you've given on this series, and I'm with it all the way. Peak Yakuza, right there
Kaito Files is probably objectively one of the best stories. It's tight, focused, clear, and overall great.
RGG studios seemingly need restrictions for engaging plots. Gaiden & Kaito Files have like 6 chars so everyone major has to be significant and 0's razor focus on the bubble period grounds the story.
@DrMasterAlex I see where you're coming from with that, but I think it was that it was the most original story they've told in years. Ever since somewhere around 0, I feel like every story that's come from these people can be summarized as "previous game, but different." Judgment and 7 follow the general structure and high points of Yakuza 1, Lost Judgment basically iterates on Judgment's story but with a different topic, and IW to me has felt like a rehash of 7 and 6, which basically adds up to just being Yakuza 1 again but completely unfocused. This isn't even counting the actual remakes that come every so often, but those don't really count.
I can't tell you which story Kaito Files is most like. Judgment, I guess, but even then that's only because there's a mystery and the "final boss" is a serial killer who's disguised as an upstanding member of society. I can't name a previous character quite like Igarashi, Nishio, Kenmochi, or Shirakaba. Even with Mikiko being a mix of Yumi and Lily, and Jun being Haruka but more of an asshole, I can name more unique characteristics and details about them than reused. The actual reused cast from Judgment really shines too, getting a plot that doesn't make them play second fiddle to Yagami at every moment. The Kaito Files at its core feels like a Yakuza story, not like a rehashed version of a previous Yakuza story. Moreover, the lack of constant callbacks and references makes it feel like Kaito's story, which it should be and is. I don't know what miracle happened to make a story like that, but I hope lightning strikes twice, because with each passing game, it feels more and more like a fluke.
@@maxwellpaynewell5305excellent point! I never put consideration on how original it was. But looking back, it definitely made it that much more engaging. The lack of established series tropes keeps you on your toes the first time around and is a refreshing change.
Especially compared to base game LJ where Yagami has no answers to Kuwana besides 'killing is bad 🤓' for a dozen hours lmao
Y'know it's not surprising RGG Studio made big narrative missteps in their "maybe parts of the cult are good and you just have to find the good people in it", given they've made an entire series around that exact same attitude towards the yakuza.
28:57 - Yo I made a joke to some friends before going down there about it being a "counterfeit jeans ring". I DIDN'T EXPECT TO BE RIGHT.
39:38 - Nope! That was it! Basically as soon as Palekana gets established as "the bad guy", the vast majority of social commentary in Hawaii is sidelined, because we've got Villains To Thwart!
I kinda wish I'd taken time to talk about the rehabilitation of the Yakuza as a criminal organization in this game a little more. I feel like they've completely forgotten that part of the appeal of Kiryu is that...he's BAD at being a Yakuza. Showing an individual caught in a way of life out of circumstance or upbringing is VERY different from trying to paint an entire syndicate as downtrodden citizens just trying to make a better life for themselves.
@@GCVazquez Another plot element they kinda forgot about at the end since Ebina's motivational twist was revealed. Also all those yakuza that were going to be sent to Nele Island went... where?
Why they're going to be our adversaries in Like a Dragon 9 of course!
I...kinda figured you'd end up feeling this way.
Infinite Wealth gave me quite a bit. I find Yamai, Choose, and Tomizawa to be some of the best characters in the series; Hawaii is the most radical setting the series has ever had; the gameplay has massive improvements; and I really appreciate the sheer ambition it had.
However, I do understand your criticisms and agree with quite a few of them. I do hope Like a Dragon will strive to take harder stances, because will give more merit to the social commentary it always has.
To answer your question, I enjoy watching the retrospective to get a different perspective on these games, even if don't always agree with your interpretations or opinions. Heck, I thought you might be off base with some of the things you said in this video, but that does not devalue your stances nor delish my enjoyment of it.
All-in-all, I hope both you and Like a Dragon continue to grow to be better than before.
Ah yes, my favorite party member, C H O O S E
@@camocamel8217 Blame autocorrect. 😔
I loved the first 90% of the game but those final few chapters are such a wet fart
Gotta agree, chapter 8 an onward is where the story just falls apart for me
@@Goro_Akechi_Crow Christ, I'm on chapter 7 and dreading every moment of this meandering hypocritical plot. You're telling me it actually gets *worse* somehow!?
@@tomoaries Yeah unfortunately, you'd probably be able to tell that Kiryu and all his stuff was a late in game development addition, and that Infinite Wealth for the most part was developed with only Ichi being playable in mind.
@@Goro_Akechi_Crow 1000% agree. I really hate how they tried to shoehorn him back into the plot when 6 and 7 make it so clear that his story is up and we don’t really need to hear more about how he’s doing. That was kind of…the entire point of 6, was pure resolution to his story.
Infinite Wealth for me was like getting a big bag of my favorite candy but realizing by the end I hadn't gained any real nutrients worth the consumption. I liked it, but it left me unsatisfied, and in some scenes, kinda sick.
dont spoil (on ch 12) but if he lives i'm happy? sorta happy? still not sure what i am? honestly idk wtf they're doing. Was charming at first but now it's getting annoying.
I wish Yakuza games were more like 0 - a heavily Yakuza focused crime drama with a completely serious story. That's what made karaoke, disco and all those silly minigames in 0 so good because the story was so serious it was a nice break to remember "oh its just a game". But - over time Yakuza series has become more goofy, sterile, and soft. They are trying so hard to be something they're not.....
I get it, the series has to move on and expand but it makes me sad the direction they went.
The cult's depiction and the way it vacillates between its moral framings felt SO fucking weird the entire time. Almost gaslit myself into the reading that this was just clumsy story structuring, as opposed to a wilful subtext that justifies cults (or, in the very least, facist hierarchal structures that a cult favors).
But, like, I almost gave it a pass at first out of a combination of my emotional investment in the series, and not taking their incredibly bad ideas seriously. Y'know, like I was in a cult. 😬
(Absolutely top shelf work, by the way. Your work is inspiring. We need more media and story analysis that is this unapologetically earnest. Thank you.)
The final bosses were backwards. Why set up a secret brother Ichiban hardly talks to? Why make Kiryu motivated by Lani but have Ichiban resolve that plotline?
I think the intent was to make Kiryu and Kasuga trust one another to help the other guys problems because the power of teamwork and friendship 😂
To answer your question: I'm here for the karaoke.
OK, now to the rest of the video.
Great critique, i think you hit on a lot of the things I was feeling when I got to the end, especially how the characters are thrown away when they're no longer actively needed, this happens even when they're not killed. Tomi goes through all this growth in the first chapters, even quickly forgiving Chitose as a reflection of Kasuga's effect on him, then... completely freezes. He's still doing the same surface level doubt on Yamai even after they've fought and worked together positively.
It makes me worried what this studio is going to do when it's creating multiple, popular characters a game and seemingly can't evolve or get rid of most of them.
Re: cults, I actually have a sinking suspicion that I've shared with others that the story had to be slightly rewritten because of...The Doohickey, and how the cult known as the Unification Church was a driving force in that incident. I think it's really plausible.
I find it interesting that your approach to dissecting a story's messaging relies primarily with societal commentary. It's an avenue that I don't really consider, because I tend to focus on more interpersonal theming since that's what directly affects the characters that I'm so invested in. While I don't agree with many of the points you put out, it is always interesting to see opposing viewpoints and different perspectives on things you love because a lot of the time, it only deepens that love.
First 2 thirds of this game felt amazing
You have really interesting points about Hawaii, and the ways in which Infinite Wealth props up the settler-colonialist society there. But I think there's more to the cult's story than simply "trying to defend the workings of a cult." And maybe related to the broader topics of capitalism, colonialism, and the Yakuza, as well.
During the US occupation of Japan after 1945, Japanese people were helpless under the forced establishment of a conservative, constitutional government with a bias towards laissez-faire economic policies. They were also the victims of abuse from US colonialsts, including the mass sexual assault of Japanese women. From the very beginning of this new society, violence and capital entertwined (as is often the case).
A series of films beginning in 1973, called Battles Without Honor and Humanity, portray (with excellent characters and drama based on real events) the rise of Yakuza culture. Beginning in 1945, it shows the protagonist Shozo Hirono witness an American soldier force himself on a woman, and the chaos when Hirono and a couple of his buddies start a brawl with several soldiers as a result. This is the origin of the Yakuza, from the film's perspective. It was a force that was by Japanese people, for Japanese people, organized against an external one: in this case, the US. With this in mind, it makes sense why the Yakuza hold Japanese nationalism, and other similar values like loyalty, ruthlesness, and stoicism, in such high regard to justify their violence. They were a crucial piece of the battle for Japanese national autonomy, historically.
As the Japanese government's authority became established, and then the police became powerful enough to offset the dominance of the Yakuza, the role of the Yakuza in society shifted, with different priorities becoming emphasized as the need to blend in became more essential. Gambling, drugs, sex trafficking, and other crimes could no longer be as public. Instead, Yakuza families became incorporated. The new front was to conduct public trading as a business to enable illegal activites to continue beneath the surface. The evolution of the Yakuza from a Japanese nationalist criminal group to a corporate one embedded in the machine of Japan's economy is the narrative conveyed over the course of Battles Without Honor and Humanity's five films, which span the course of 1945-1970.
Cults also embed themselves into the economic systems they arise in, and, as you mentioned, will take advantage of humanitarian needs, or a spiritual sense of directionlessness, to draw people in. The crucial thing a cult needs to function is uncritical acceptance in the face of its followers. This is what allows those in power to shift the resources and goals of the organization without challenge, enabling something like the transformation of a well-established religious or political group into a dangerous cult.
The Yakuza are by no means a humanitarian group, but they draw people in with the promise of what it means to be Yakuza, to be a part of this historic lineage, and they demand uncritical acceptance of authority. The Yakuza is like a cult, and cults work like Yakuza, I think that's the point of the cult in Infinite Wealth.
Of course the Yakuza themselves are central antagonists throughout the original games, but there's a lot in those games that admires and praises aspects of the Yakuza as well. Take Yakuza 0: despite the plot of the game being about Kiryu getting kicked out of the Yakuza, Kiryu himself is never actively disloyal, and goes to extreme efforts to prove his loyalty to Dojima at the very beginning of the game, for instance. Majima emphasizes loyalty in a different way, by portraying its darker side (keeping him attached to his boss who has nothing but malevolent intentions for him), but also through Majima's own intense violence because of it when he's protecting Makimura. But one of the best examples I think is Daisaku Kuze, who is Kiryu's most stubborn, most violent, and most righteous pursuer in the game. He has been slighted, and he is out for blood. But he's also the most human antagonist in the game, especially in the moment of Nishitani's death, when the underlying justice of Kuze's righteous violence becomes clear to the player in his swift punishment of the perpetrator.
The series never really moved away from centering the Yakuza when you consider the core role wealth, violence, and power plays in capitalist society. It's always had an ambiguous relationship to the nature of authority and power, and whether or not it's considered just. The contradiction in how Infinite Wealth uses social media in its story is another perfect example of this. The games haven't changed their core values as they walk the line between being about compassion, and about violence and power, at the same time. They just center these things in different ways, changing up how they depict the consolidation of power in a contemporary, capitalist society, whether as a gang or as a cult.
Basically, where the hell is Lost Paradise 2?!
The series is starting to feel more and more like Ubisoft open world titles that in their marketing pose BIG CONCURRENT SOCIAL ISSUES but refuse to take a stand. Looking at you watch dogs.
The bad thing is, it worked really well for a while. 7 and Judgment have some of the best stories I've ever seen. It handles themes of conspiracy, family, slander and reality in comparison to belief so fucking well. So why is it that now with Lost Judgment and Infinite Wealth, they fail to actually use their intended themes well?
"Ubisoft open world" no it's not far from it plus you guys always use the Ubisoft card as a cop out when you have no valid arguments
thank you for this !! im a big fan of the series and played every game prior, but i was on the fence about buying this one. I love your analysis style, and this video helped me make up my mind!! thank you!! keep up the great work.
36:24 Ironically this was the moment I did the Leonardo di Caprio pointing at the screen meme. I'd been worried about this game for most of its development because 1. Furuta and 2. Kiryu. The franchise's inability to move on and seek a true fresh start (and also Furuta) has been becoming increasingly poisonous to the series. Worse, I feel it was this game that was the best chance they had to make the clean break they desperately need.
Well I guess I am the only one who really enjoyed Infinite Wealth both story and gameplaywise
not really
Me: ALRIGHT!!! I’ve been waiting FOREVER for this rev-
“Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Has a Confusing Message”
“It’s Just… Okay…”
Me: …Uh-Oh…
35:00 ill play devil's advocate here and suggest it might just be that he has some personal experience with alzheimer's rather than a call back
Also, on around 44:00 I just took the cult stuff to less be talking about cults and just the devs talking about Christianity and how entrentched it is into american culture in a way that wouldn't get rgg in trouble since its the america game
Me: Man, what was it I was focusing on while listening to GC edit this the other day? One particular phrase GC said.
GC: aNd TwO!
Me: Oh yea
The difference in writing in this game can sometimes be felt from chapter to chapter, and the only way I can describe it is that the vibes are just different.
I get where you're coming from about the handling of the cancel culture narrative, but I will kind of defend them using the Tatara Channel as both a good and bad thing, as I don't necessarily think they're wrong there. Ruining a guy's life via cancel culture is one thing, but informing the public about powerful people who would otherwise not be stopped by the law looking the other way is a force for good too (Date dropping those newspapers from the helicopter in Y4, for example). And the ending scene with Eiji - his revealed crimes were real, but the game says he's not deserving of harassment either. So I think IW tries to differentiate between hatemobs and whistleblowing, rather than saying that cancel culture is bad when info is false and good when it's true, or that we should distrust victims speaking about abuse online. It's not as egregious to me as the wishy-washy stance they take on the Hawaiian colonization stuff, at least (if Dwight was a more well-rounded character, that would have been a great opportunity to dig into it more, but from his second encounter on this angle seems to be pretty much dropped from his character).
I had to really sit with Infinite Wealth's plot for a while, but while some of the writing definitely felt weak in the moment it was presented to me, a lot of it felt like it made more sense in the context of the rest of the narrative/the game's themes. Ex. the source of Kiryu's cancer (or a contributing factor, at least) not just being "chain smoker since he was 20" but instead a nuclear waste plant at first felt like a contrived way for RGG to dodge saying anything critical of smoking, but then as that empahsis on "ex-yakuza have no education/the laws are meant to punish rather than rehabilitate so they're stuck doing dangerous jobs nobody else will take on which will likely get them killed" come full-circle in the plot, I understood the choice better. Now, I certainly have some Thoughts about how tha yakuza franchise wants to have its themes of redemption and "punishing the repentant isn't true justice" while also saying "anyway jail is fine, going to jail actually makes criminals better people," but I realized back in Y5 that RGG's views on the criminal justice system and my own differ WILDLY, so at this point I've just accepted it.
Despite some weaker parts in the middle, I really enjoyed IW's finale for its theming, though I definitely found Kiryu's parts to be far more compelling than Ichiban's. That's a shame given that ichi is presumably going to be the head of the franchise moving forward, but if IW truly is a sendoff to Kiryu (playable Kiryu at least, I've got no doubt he'll get a cameo role in the next game though I hope they keep it short and he's not fighting anymore - wouldn't hate seeing him giving Ichi advice or something tho since I really enjoyed their dynamic in IW) I can see why they did it, though obvs balancing both protags better would have been ideal. This has been a problem since Y4/Y5 though, and was definitely noticeable in Y0 where Majima's half of the finale got its proper buildup and Kiryu got "uhhh he hasn't fought Shibusawa yet right? Yeah let's go with him."
Finally, I absolutely picked up on a lot of repetition in the dialog this time around. Bryce's entire pre-battle speech was info we already knew except for his mafia background, which didn't really reveal anything meaningful (and imo he SORELY needed that "one more thing" to make him more compelling as a major antagonist, as his was probably the character I cared least about even as someone who overall enjoyed the plot. He does enough hateable stuff and obvs needs to be stopped, but you don't really care about him like you do Ebina, who gets a far more personal story). Characters would constantly recap the current state of events. This actually made me tune out sometimes and then snap to attention and go "wait what was that last line."
Ultimately a mixed bag, but I don't know, I came out of it loving the bulk of it while also having my gripes
Anyway sorry for writing an essay in response to your essay lol. I do genuinely enjoy your vids, even if our opinions on the more recent entries have differed a lot - and I like the different perspective
I mean Majima also randomly gets to fight Awano cuz they had a stareoff one time before that when he was flying away in a helicopter.
RGG use real smoking brands so they can't risk using it as an explanation
i think the way they talked about palekana is actually not the issue but a sympton of a concurrent issue with the way like a dragon titles are written in wich the team seemingly believes that any and all systemic problems can be fixed by good people taking reins of the system
so when it comes to palekana they can understand that the way things are handled right now is incredibly bad, manipulative, destructive and controlling
but they cant fully dismiss that it can be good if people like the volunteer workers that ichiban hangs out with or his mother are allowed to reshape it back into its "good" self
The plot can't dismiss Palekana as not deserving to exist anymore, because it can't even meaningfully dismiss the Tojo Clan, with Kiryu still saying every ex-yakuza needs to look to Daigo for what to do next. Like...at some point you're just *still* in the yakuza but you stopped calling it that. In my mind, its literally the exact same problem of "its still basically the same criminal organization but we got rid of the bad parts don't worry." Especially because we never even see Daigo actually be...a good leader? iirc I don't think he makes a single decision in any game that pans out well, almost everything he tries to do (including disbanding the yakuza) turns out as a catastrophic "kiryu please help" level failure.
I also don't think the *intent* was ever to have a message about cancel culture? Though I waited the whole game for them to say something meaningful about it, I ultimately have concluded that using a vtuber is just their modernized way of doing the "protagonist is framed for something/takes the fall for something they didn't do" plot beat for the millionth time. I don't feel like the writers actually considered the grander societal repercussions of doing it this way because why else would they say literally nothing in any direction about it? Even when the conclusions are questionable, I feel like the writers often try to say *something*. I also couldn't take it seriously as a plot point at all. Like, imagine gawr gura starts a stream and you see she's at a fucking nuclear dumping ground, its just inherently funny.
That's actually another kind of personal issue I have with infinite wealth, I feel like the balance of serious vs silly has gone too far off the rails (fighting a tiger is one thing, but I draw the line at mythical giant squid).
... Why did Kiryu pick him?
Because Daigo's dad was a yakuza clan leader, the same one who attempted to sexually assault Kiryu's childhood love interest and bring the entire criminal force of his clan on another women in the 80s, so obviously, Daigo would be just as good.
Agreed with what you said about this series rehashing itself. Yakuzas been doing this more often than not, but gaiden and IW were the first times that it felt actively detrimental, like RGG is just scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point. It especially takes away from the good parts of kiryu's arc, with him accepting life. I really hope they give the next game a longer development time, and hopefully not make it another kiryu-focused game that shafts ichiban again.
I was loving Infinite Wealth all the way up until the finale and then it just kinda felt underwhelming? So much stuff went nowhere, felt inconsistent, or just got very lack luster closure. Then there's other things like the weird forced Ichiban/Saeko romance, padding, etc. Like idk...It's definitely a good game overall with a lot of great stuff in it but the more I think about it, the more obvious its issues are. It also burnt me out by the end of it lol Not sure how to feel about it overall tbh
I'm in the same exact boat now that I've finished it. This plot is way too bloated
It's time for peak.
Loved the video! I personally really loved Infinite Wealth but I remember after I reached the end, apart of me still felt a bit dissatisfied with it but I wasn't sure what. I had my problems with some of the characters (Ebina mainly), but after watching this video I think the biggest factor of that dissatisfied feeling was that it felt like the game didn't tell me much at all. It felt like for every topic they were building up and discussing, they either dialled back on it later or didn't really say anything meaningful anyways.
I still love the game, its among one of my favourite RGG games currently, but despite all the gameplay improvements a huge part of me would probably rather play Yakuza 7 again as I just felt more satisfied with that game and quickly grown a nostalgic feeling for the game not long after beating it, I haven't had this for Infinite Wealth at all. Even in the gameplay area, I still miss the mini-games from Yakuza 7 far more than I do the ones for Infinite Wealth.
Also side note: screw SEGA for the scummy DLC of Infinite Wealth.
Infinite Wealth was a wild ride from the developer to fans, both new and old
Considering that Infinite Wealth is hopefully Kiryu's final game, I'm hoping that Ichiban is the series protagonist for future Like a Dragon games. Kiryu deserves a happy ending after decades of adversity.
I'm unironically convinced they'll never shelve Kiryu. Never. 6 was advertised as his final final game and what do they do? Bring him back in literally every game to varying capacities bar the spin-offs.
@@Synthpopper Rumor has it, Kiryu's last game was actually meant to be Yakuza 3 and they've been pushing off shelving him every game since then.
Also my main issue with the job system is that I i felt no need to mix up my jobs. I never felt pressured or put in a corner to go and train up other skills. Hell, the only boss battle I struggled with was the last one...and all I had to do was level up a bit and try again. It needs more of theat need to get around situations
You should have a discussion with other Yakuza/Like A Dragon content creators, like Devilleon7's Spoiler Cast from a while back, it would be interesting to see a discussion at large about this franchise, not just about Infinite Wealth
all hands on deck mateys and prepare for any misinterpretation attacks from the reddit ship
I've been scared of the series going somewhere like this for a while now. Ever since 5, it's started to feel like there's an emphasis on content over all else, and I think this game has it the worst it's been since 5. The act of playing the game tires me, literally. Walking around Hawaii, discouraged from using any form of fast travel so I can pick up little doodads littered all over the place, constantly getting into meaningless fights because I decided to grind jobs early meaning I'm now too strong to be challenged for half the game, doing substories for the stat gains instead of the scenarios or gameplay, constantly doing content to unlock more content so I could play more content...
I realized at around Chapter 6 that I was playing the game to play it instead of playing it to enjoy it. And I realized then that I also just plain wasn't enjoying it. The story sucked, the minigames were lame rehashes of previous minigames and actual real games, things were brought back at random for no reason, I was watching the series I love shrivel up and die right in front of my eyes, grasping desperately to the previous games in an attempt to legitimize itself by making them into nothing but cheap references.
So I dropped it at Chapter 8, after I saw that Kiryu wasn't in the game to be a character, but to be a walking callback. I'm convinced that Yokoyama has no respect for this series, and now that Nagoshi is gone for good, I can only see this series continuing downward. The man will say in one breath that video games cause violence, and then in the next give the okay to keep portraying Kiryu as a literal god while refusing to let the yakuza die.
I'm glad that I can count on you for a consistent and educated opinion. While we may disagree on many things (I love Y6 and Lost Judgment, and nothing can change that), I know that you'll recognize when these games go too far in any regard, and work to explain why you feel the way you do. Plus, I enjoyed the commiseration from your Judgment video, so we've got that much in common if nothing else
Hey man, very refreshing review. Upon this game’s release it was worshipped across the board. I thought I was going crazy when it was only me noticing all these questionable narrative decisions! I wasn’t alone all along. XD
Have a good day.
The story starts so strong and it gets weaker after a few chapters. And completely goes down in the end
I haven't played Infinite Wealth yet, so I'm gonna have to wait to watch this video. Still, really looking forward to eventually seeing your thoughts on this game
Aw shit, it's here. Time to eat, Furuta gang 😋
LaD Infinite Wealth was a blast to play, newely crafted turn-based system was great addition and giving player more control over characters, new jobs to mess around with, and new setting, Hawaii, was fun to explore, shown that this franchise can go outside of Japan.
Story on the other hand felt, atleast for me, disappointing, it started greatly but at the halfway point it went downhill.
Dispite that adding Kiryu to be second playeable character was a nice addition, it sadly slowed the story progression, I mostly just rushed through the Kiryu sections so that I could go back to play as Ichiban.
I feel partly what the main problem is, is that the game doesn’t know what it wants to be.
It feels like a cross between a sequel to LAD and a fan-service game full of everything that came from the games before it. Kiryu and Ichibans parts feel very disconnected even if they know each other in the story. Their parts feel like completely separate games themselves even in terms of the new content in the games. Ichiban has like 7 chapters to himself, then from then on shares chapters with Kiryu intermittently as the game ends. This separation between the two is forced too, and doesn’t feel natural in the slightest.
The story is also just very very incompetent towards the end. It just doesn’t make any sense. Because the game starts off pretty solid story-wise, and the characters are pretty well done all things considered. But from Chapter 9 onwards, it just falls apart and I don’t understand how you can drop the ball so badly. Like it honestly feels like they had a story they wanted to tell, and then ran out of money and suddenly fired all the writers and got a group of 7 year olds to write the rest.
Like, Isn’t this the same team that wrote Yakuza 0? And judgement? Even Gaiden had a really good story. From like Chapter 9 onwards, the story becomes a literal train wreck. With idiotic plot points constantly worming their way into the story. The part where they found the Daidoji headquarters, and the guy in the wheelchair turned out to be betraying you, and chitose is the VTuber, and you find this all out in the span of like 5 minutes? Like it really feels like a comedy sketch, bollywood action movie level plot. Like I thought we abandoned these plots from Yakuza 4? Also the developers completely lied about the games length. If you just do story, it’s barely longer than Yakuza 0. The director made it sound like the game would be the biggest Yakuza yet, and it would be over 100 hours long. Yet the story itself is only 14 chapters long and around 25-30 hours max, the same length as most other games.
ITS HERE
RGG plots seemingly can't work without a restriction. The best game plots seemingly focus on a particular setting or small cast.
IW had some of my favorite combat but the replayability seems super low. It's gonna be a slog going through all those minigames and NG+, besides being paid DLC, is just bad. Absolutely 0 consideration. Like it was a completely mindless implementation. It's insane how awful it is.
It seriously feels like they had an oh shit moment when Yakuza blew up in the west right after they sent Kiryu off. Now I can't help but feel like they overcomplicated his story and left him on a cliffhanger that inevitably can't have a satisfying payoff for me
0:39 Actually yes, ever since 6 I feel like I've been disagreeing more and more with your takes. HOWEVER, considering how most of the essays on the series are always so positive , it's nice to see someone with a different opinion. I wrote this before watching, lets see how it goes.
You did a great job explaining how this game stumbles in its attempts to do social commentary, but there's one other aspect of it that bothered me: its depiction of poverty.
"Yakuza : Like a Dragon" did its best to show how stressful poverty can be and how people can fall into it due to factors outside their control. Infinite Wealth's big representation of poor people is the Barracudas.
In the words of Mark Vicente, former member of NXIVM (Keith Raniere's cult from HBO's The Vow): "Nobody joins a cult. People join what they think are good organizations that turn out to be cults."
You got some of your facts wrong. Palekanna was not a cult under Brice before the murder at the beginning of the game. Which was not that far in the past. Which is understandably confusing since they imply he is some kind of immortal for no real reason
Yeah I mentioned Palekana wasn't a cult before Bryce, but that fact seems so irrelevant considering he's been in charge of Palekana since he murdered those people in the 1950s. It's been a cult for 70 years, which is how he has all those agents everywhere!
@@GCVazquez maybe it is clearer in the sub, but it seems like the old couple left it to Lani in their will? Meaning it could not be that far in the past? And didn't Bryce have a whole lifetime as a mobster?
@clockstomper the old couple leave the pendant to Lani's family, not specifically her. They get murdered in the 1950s, which is why they're dressed in older fashion
i actually have a perhaps evidence free theory about aspects of the story here especially regarding ichibans seemingly out of nowhere proposal that everyone hated watching, including me lol. which is that i feel its clear that the yakuza series and in particular the like a dragon entries are very literary.
what i would point to is that you have a kind of "faces of the same man" thing going with ichiban vs masato and arakawa vs sawashiro and the kinds of anxieties that fathers and sons have about each other, which is popular to depict in an abstracted way. the movie "the color of money" paul newman and tom cruise are not literally father and son, but anyone who has an emotionally distant perhaps even workaholic father understands the movie "the color of money" very well. you dont need to go to school to understand what star wars is doing when it shows you lukes face in darth vaders helmet. so arakawa and sawashiro are two kinds of ways that fathers react to fear etc.
regarding the proposal of course in the literal text of the game, outside of the calamitous "first date" the level of comfort and familiarity between saeko and ichiban seems to suggest that they have been at least de-facto dating for quite some time (which is something that happens to people with some issues sometimes) since we last saw them. but my theory about this is that we are meant to react to this proposal as being *so misguided* that he might as well have been on a first date with saeko. i think its supposed to be shocking.
i also have similar thoughts about akane and yamai and who they represent but im not trying to get into everything about infinite wealth that makes me actually appreciate the ways it disappointed me. which i dont expect anyone to relate to.
as always toward anyone that provides this canvas to me to go off in, along with a nice video to prompt some thoughts, thank you
Tbh when I first played the game, I think I was just so hyped for it that I let my emotions cloud my judgement. I admit, I proudly proclaimed it was the best game in the series like many others. And even though I have noticed some story flaws over time, the game is still overall really fun. Maybe if I ever swallow my pride and buy the DLC my opinion will change more for the worst, but maybe I’m just not good at critically analyzing media for themes and plot holes and whatnot. I’ll leave that to RUclipsrs with over 50 subscribers.
I do agree with some points people bring up though, like can we please unlock job switching sooner in the plot next time.
It's ok if you play most of the yakuza game, it's crap if this is your first yakuza game.
Great script here!
Man, I hate having to skip a GC video but I can't watch this yet, I haven't finished it. Don't want to get anything spoiled, though I am near the end. In chapter 12 and I'm...mostly bored with the non-Kasuga stuff. Kasuga is one of my favorite protagonists of all time. His super power being Charisma is just the best. When the game moves away from him - and I fully understand the why - I just also don't care as much. That story ended for me, I want my lovable doofus now.
No worries, it'll be here when you're ready. ^_^
Tatara/Chitose revealed plenty of information, about her own family, even, before Eiji got to her. That is presented as a honorable and good act by Chitose. It is presented as bad when a specific political group tries to twist it to manufacture consent for certain policies to happen. I wouldn't say it is a complete parallel to internet outrage we usually see
I think the game is good, the plot does have issues (the party banter is fucking PEAK tho), overall I rank it... middle of the line overall. It's better than 4, 5, and 6 at the minimum, but tbh, that's fine. A little refinement would have made it very good. TBH, I'd enjoy 7 story with 8 gameplay and then everything would be wonderful. I do have hope for 9 though, because I think they'd finally be able to throw off the shackles of Kiryu (though I'd like a few tiny scenes, or maybe a minigame where it's just orphanage management/retire games)
I am not sure I agree with your point about Kiryu having the only unique job and all of the cool stuff is frontloaded with him. Ichiban for one has 3 unique jobs, granted one of them is freelancer, but Sujimancer is one of if not the most unique job in the game. Im not sure if you bring up Sujimancer at all later in the video as I am still only about 20 minutes in, but I wanted to comment on your point about DoD being really the only super interesting job in the game as I think that Sujimancer fits the bill perfectly.
Meh. Sujimancer's only cool thing is that you can attach your Sujimon to the abilities. But other than that, it still behaves just like any other job in fights. When I say I want mechanical uniqueness in more jobs, I mean I want them to have interesting mechanics like DoD had, or even just one decent mechanic outside of their skill lists- like Musicians in 7.
@@GCVazquez I feel as though that’s a bit disingenuous to say about Sujimancer but we can just agree to disagree
@@alexcoolrocket8350 Am I missing something about Sujimancer?
Peak time
So in terms of YLAD vs YLADIW. I like the story of Like a Dragon more and I like the Gameplay of Infinite Wealth more, it's a pretty even split with this one. Infinite Wealth Improves a lot of the mechanics and gameplay the first one started. However when it comes to the side content like Dondoko island or Sujimon i don't enjoy them AS MUCH but they were a fun distraction, however i only completed Dondoko island for the Dondoko Beam, I pretty much ignored Sujimon. Now in terms of story YLAD is better in terms of Overall appeal in story to me. Infinite Wealth had a few problems for me to totally love it.
First the Ichiban Saeko love plot... WOW THAT BAD. Talk about forcing two people together, don't get me wrong I think they'd make a cute couple HAD THEY DONE THIS BETTER. BUT WOW that first chapter had to be one of the most PAINFUL experiences i have seen in this franchise and I've seen people die, be tortured or straight up brutalized but nothing could have prepared me for Ichiban's one date proposal.
The villain Ebina though on paper sounds like a great idea for a villain I feel like was implemented poorly into the plot. Especially when it came to his origin in general, good ideas but poor execution.
Bryce as a villain was probably the better of the two, a cult leader, indoctrinate, corrupt religious faith bad guy was done well enough. However i feel like Bryce's boss battle should have been the final battle.
Where does Yakuza go from here then I wonder? Considering the franchise has always been about the underworld I'm sure there are more areas they can cover with Like a Dragon going forward but considering the Tojo and Omi Alliance are now gone whats next I wonder?.... DATE-SAN DETECTIVE GAME PLEASE!
Loved LAD.. But IW is exhausting to play, I think I'll watch this video once I decide I'm definitely not going to beat the game
I haven’t finished the game but I really really disliked the main story so far as chapter 7. The side content and new gameplay elements are what is keeping me going.
great
Like a dragon has always been about the goofy story and with real world themes tying it together to give a story drive and reasoning. The cult and "cancel culture" are nothing more than driving forces and without them being there the story would feel half baked. At the end of the day IW is about Ichiban finding his mom and Kiryu coming to terms and accepting what is truly the end of his life. It to me is the best story LaD has had to offer since 0-3 and is leauges above 7 in every way possible.
I think its absolutely crazy to say its leagues above 7, especially when it draws from characteristics from 7 only to do them worse. Ebina and Eiji are literally Ryo Aoki split into two persons. Ebina being Ichiban's half brother is played out to mean absolutely nothing in Infinite Wealth whereas Ryo Aoki's story is far more emotionally connected to Ichiban and finished in an extremely satisfying way by the fact he is the final boss for Ichiban. Eiji is just forgiven by virtue of the fact its ichiban, when we had to have a FIGHT with Ryo Aoki and then a heart to heart discussion at the coin lockers, which held huge narrative significance. Not to mention the story makes connections with the Palekana girl and Haruka, but means very little as Kiryu fights Ebina as the final boss as doesn't interact with Bryce that much. Even the gangs in 7 were way more developed and had individual motives than they were in IW, Barracuda and the Chinese mafia existed but never became their own entities as they were puppets for palekana. This isn't all my thoughts but I think Yakuza 7 is far superior in terms of story telling than infinite wealth, I would dare to say objectively better.
sorry, i think you lost me a bit. Yes the story of IW isnt the best in the series, it brought Kiryu back again, brought the Yakuza back and wasted Hanawa and Wong, and its dissapointing seeing Saeko being reduced to Ichiban's love interest. But it feels like you got a bit lost in your criticism.
Associating the woman with alzheimer back to Judgement feels like associating something to Kingdom Hearts just because it has the number 13 in it.
Watching the last part of your video (from "intro to the serious discuss"), couldn't stop thinking about Yakuza 5 and how that game is so confusing about it's ulterior message that people ended thinking that you must abandone your most beloved ones in order to fight for a stupid dream that isnt even yours from the begining. Nothing new here
Hello GC Vazquez my name is Isaiah and I have something important to say to you. God loves you and like any father he wants to help you and keep you safe especially from the evil one. But I am not just speaking to you about this I am also talking to your fans about this. God loves all his children and especially in the times we our living in we are in need of him more than ever. But I am not going to force to believe. The choice is ultimately yours have a nice day Shalom Shalom.
Pinning this for after I beat it
I like this game, I i really do. Theres a lot to enjoy and love in this one, but man it just felt like they needed to let this stoyry cook for maybe another year, or even at the end of 2024. It just feels a good bit unorganized. It's good, its fine, but hmmm something is a bit sloppy. 7 is still my favorite in the series, so lets hope 9 can take the improvements of infinite wealth, but have a tighter narrative. 7s story had so many moments that made me tear up, and I feel infinite wealth tried it but it didn't quite hit. Again, not bad, but wanted more, so we'll see with 9.
Nice video, though the beginning felt a bit strange, overly defensive.
I watch your videos because I like to hear critical analysis of a series I love, not for some satisfaction of hearing someone sing praises of it.
Disagreeing on some stuff is part of the experience I think
You say bad game
I say no True milenium tower 😢
Im a long time fan of the series. Mostly the Nagoshi era of games, but I still like Judgment. RGG 7 was disappointing to me because I didn't like the characters, and Lost Judgments plot was very thick with literature convulsions. This might be the nail in the coffin in the series for me. Mostly because of the story and character writing. I cried like a baby at the end of RGG 6 because I believed Kazuma was really gone. And now to see him in three other games in ridiculous.
broadly agree with all your points on the writing itself, LaD is not good at actually holding opinions as opposed to acknowledging that they are in fact held
but that TIER LIST though? Dead Souls' placement is bananas!
Yamai need to comeback and be ichiban's majina
Did this game top the bread animation of y7: LAD?
That doorknob animation was pretty good
My only gripe with the game.... is that they paywalled the ng+
@@Kyddosuperstar yeah its really gross
Honestly before I am too far into the video my thoughts on the game are as followed. I feel the game is fun but too easy and the story when compared to 7 is predictable and lame outside most of the beginning and Kiryu's section.
Thank God. Someone else agrees that Infinite Wealth isn’t the best Yakuza game. This game hit so many high points: better gameplay than LAD, better character interactions, and a cool open world. But damn, that story is VERY lacking. Missed thematic opportunity to have Kiryu get cancer from smoking, not a random radioactive event. The Three-jima boss fight felt entirely unnecessary and forced, even with Kiryu’s “maybe I just wanted one last fight” excuse. The game desperately wants you to like Akame and Lani despite barely giving them anything to do other than hide from bad guys (and one scene with Ichiban isn’t enough to endear her to the player). And Ichiban’s never ending kindness for Eiji is stupid. Eiji literally threatens a child, but oh no, Ichiban thinks he’s a good person deep down. The conspiracy also kinda sucks. The Second Great Dissolution feels like the writers ran out of ideas, and Bryce’s plot doesn’t make much sense. I’m also sick and tired of RGG blue-balling us with Kiryu. They won’t give you the Kiryu-Haruka interaction, they won’t kill Kiryu.
As someone who has fallen in love with the like a dragon series, I’m just so disappointed in this game. It is the only game in this franchise that made me actively want the story to end as quickly as possible because of how much I did not enjoy the story. The few cool moments are actually are massively overshadowed by chapters and chapters of meandering and absolutely abysmal writing. And all throughout this game I never felt like there was a moment where it hits that stride that all rgg games do. Every rgg game has a moment, wether it be a chapter or boss fight ect, where all cylinders are firing and it feels like this game is going as hard as it can and knows exactly what it wants to do. This game never had a moment like that for me and it really sucks cause it was one of my most anticipated releases
The whole game was just meh. I wish they could bring back the old director and make the game live action again, instead of stupid turn based and endless farming.
Funny how you give yakuza so much shit for percived queerphobia and then gas up persona as if that series isn't infinitely worse about that on multiple levels
What are you talking about? Of course Persona is queerphobic too. What were you hoping to achieve with this? LMAO
This is the best Yakuza video game yet
As much as I love the Yakuza series games, I think, it might be time to say goodbye...
Wrap it up in a bow, give it a proper send off.
Keep the good memories, don't let it turn sour.
Three mid Yakuza games released in the span of 11 months...RGG needs to take a loooooooong break.