It's a little too early to call my Game of the Year race run, and while I don't think 2024 will quite measure up to 2023, there are still a lot of games I'm eagerly anticipating set to launch, plus probably lots more I don't even know about yet. Still, right now at least, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is my favourite game of the year. The only thing is, it's also my second favourite game of the year. And third favourite. And it might even be my fourth favourite.

I don't mean that I love it so much it will take up all four spots on my Game of the Year list. I mean Infinite Wealth is at least four games in one, and they're all worthy of the list. First off, the main game. You follow the story, you complete the side quests, it's a whole thing. I've already written about some of my favourite things in the game, and we gave it five stars, so I think the point is made on that one. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is good. You heard it here first.

Of course, it also has Liko

An Ode To Liko, My Darts Playing Love In Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

The darts minigame with Liko keeps pulling me back in Infinite Wealth, even with so many other stories on offer.

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But there's another game inside Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, one that currently takes second place on my list: Dondoko Island. This is an Animal Crossing game, complete with trees to chop, rocks to smash, and picturesque outdoor furnishings to build. You can catch bugs, fish for rare sea life, and, in true Yakuza style, beat people to a bloody pulp with a baseball bat. You level up your island as you go, unlocking new areas to build more exciting buildings on, making the whole thing in your image.

While everything is borrowed extremely liberally from Animal Crossing (right down to recipe bottles on the beach), it's so Like a Dragon in its ridiculousness that it always feels more like a loving homage than a Palworld-style rip off. It also features some weird mascots, who I assumed were the stand ins for the titular Animals of Animal Crossing, but no. While the visitors to the island are humans you meet around Hawaii (including beloved series characters past and present), the island also features a farm for you to unlock. What do you raise on this farm, you ask? Sujimon, of course.

This brings us to the third game inside of Infinite Wealth: Sujimon. If you played Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the now extra confusingly named previous entry in the series that saw the Western name finally updated to match the Japanese one, you will remember the Sujimon. This obvious Pokemon parody saw you hunt for Sujimon (the weirdos you fight) then collect them in a Sujidex to please your Sujimon Sensei. Back then, all you had to do was fight them, with the dex just a simple checklist. For Gen 2 (as the game itself refers to Sujimon), things have heated up.

This time around, after fighting Sujimon, you'll get a chance to 'catch' them by giving them a present, and the classic Pokemon button mashing is a vital mechanic here. After catching them, you can train them with wild trainer battles, Pokemon Go-style Raids, or at Dondoko Farm. The reason you're training them? To become the ultimate Sujimon champion, of course. As well as fighting random trainers, you can complete a series of Sujimon Gyms for the right to challenge the Discreet Four, all of whom lie in the way on your road to victory.

While the original Sujimon just used classic Pokemon framing, this is a fully fledged Pokemon title with variety and exciting challenges at every corner. So that's now two things Infinite Wealth is better at stealing than Palworld. Infinite Wealth has taken something else from Pokemon too - Pokemon Snap. Renamed Sicko Snap, this sees you riding a trolley around town taking pictures of sickos (oiled up men in leotards and butterfly masks) to get a high score. This, obviously, is my fourth favourite game of the year.

I could go further, too. I've spent way too much time in the arcades playing Virtua Fighter, although at this point, Tekken 8 has to step in and tell me I'm taking the Mishima a bit. Fine. Tekken is my fifth favourite game of the year. And Virtua Fighter inside Infinite Wealth is my sixth.

This goes beyond mere variety, as Infinite Wealth already has that with its range of substories, its dungeons, and its darts playing. While Sicko Snap is just an elaborate minigame (much like its Crazy Taxi parody Crazy Delivery), Sujimon and Dondoko are fully fledged games in their own right, and when explored in depth will push Infinite Wealth's runtime into triple figures. There's a staggering amount to do in this game (or these three games), and since I'll end up counting them all as one when I consider my final GOTY list, other titles need to bring not just their A game to beat Infinite Wealth, but their B game and C game too.

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Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

RPG Systems 5.0/5 8.0/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 90/100 Critics Rec: 97% Released January 26, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Simulated Gambling, Strong Language Developer(s) Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Publisher(s) Sega Engine Dragon Engine
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Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth continues the story of Ichiban Kasuga, in the ninth mainline entry in the series formerly known as Yakuza. It will once again feature turn-based combat, and takes our protagonist outside of Japan for the first time.

Platform(s) PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC Powered by Expand Collapse