YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON

Developer/publisher Sega (RGG Studio)

Format PS4

Origin Japan

Release Out now (JP), 2020 (EU, US)

Having thoroughly trounced a room full of thugs, we witness a familiar sight as a larger, better-armed group of toughs bundles through the door. Ordinarily, this would be the time for Kazuma Kiryu to crack his neck, loosen his shoulders and raise two clenched fists in preparation for taking them down single-handedly. But Ichiban Kasuga is no Kazuma Kiryu, and this is no ordinary Yakuza game. Kasuga isn’t even alone, in fact – and yet he takes one look at the uneven odds and, perhaps sensibly, decides to get the hell out of there.

Despite their differences, the series’ new lead has plenty in common with his predecessor. Both are orphans, raised by surrogate father figures in high-ranking positions within the yakuza. And both are incarcerated for crimes they didn’t commit: in this case, Kasuga takes the fall for Masumi Arakawa as a way of repaying his debt to the man who took him under his wing as a wayward teen. He emerges after an