Like a Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name Preview - Kicking It, Agent Style

If Kazuma Kiryu could stop getting into trouble, I’m pretty sure the world would stop turning, so it makes perfect sense that he’s back as the protagonist of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, the next installment in the Like a Dragon series, taking place between Yakuza 6 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. We sat down with Sega and got to try some hands-on gameplay for this upcoming adventure, so read on for our Like a Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name preview.

Like a Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name Preview - Secret Agent Man

The game’s demo takes place on an “island” known as The Castle. Actually, it’s a whole bunch of shipping containers and enormous boats all lashed together off the coast of Japan, controlled by the Yakuza and home to a variety of unsavory activities. Like many other locations in the Like a Dragon series, the Castle truly feels alive, though given that it's a den of iniquity, that's not the most comforting thought.

After our protagonist Kiryu is informed by his contact, Akame, that she’s signed him up for the underground fight ring at the Coliseum, one of the Castle’s premiere attractions, he is let loose to explore the rest of the town. And, of course, is immediately attacked by some low-rank hooligans who think he doesn’t look tough enough to be there.

Fighting in this game is set up differently than in previous installments, and Kiryu can switch between two different fighting styles. His Yakuza style is his usual fighting style from previous games, rough and dirty and no-frills. The Agent style, on the other hand, utilizes a variety of gadgets when fighting, including a wire that can wrap itself around your opponents and trip them up, or use them to trip each other up. The styles are vastly different but can easily be switched between each other, even mid-battle.

After proving that you can kick some serious ass, Kiryu is given leave to explore the rest of the Castle before moseying on over to the Coliseum. The gambling den is fairly standard, and you can play either high-stakes or low-stakes poker or blackjack, buying as many chips as you like.

Next up we have the Boutique, where you can dress Kiryu in a variety of fashions, both for his regular outfit and his fighting outfit. From cool to casual to downright bizarre, there’s a wide variety of options in both color and style for you to choose from. Additionally, you get to preview outfits through the “Let’s Runway!” feature, where Kiryu does a catwalk and takes himself way too seriously in a comically overdramatic fashion.

Yakuza Cabaret for Days

The main attraction is the island’s Cabaret club. While the concept of having a cabaret club in game is nothing new for the series, Like a Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name decided to do something a little different and use pre-filmed sequences of real live women for you to interact with, instead of animated models.

Is this a new, inventive idea? Yes, it sure is. Is it also creepy as hell and a little exploitative feeling? Also definitely yes. While I can imagine there’s certainly a market for this type of thing, it was definitely not a great experience to go through, being outside of that market.

Thankfully, the cabaret is a completely optional area, so if the thought of real women being paid to cater to your fictional whims for way less money than they deserve doesn’t strike your fancy, you can absolutely walk right past.

While I only got to see a small slice in this Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name preview, it’s great to see Kiryu back in action again. With a host of mini-games and the series’ usual kick-ass fighting opportunities, it’s a welcome return to form, and fans are sure to be captivated by the opulent charm of the Castle.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name was previewed at an in-person event in NYC with SEGA.