Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name / YMMV

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/LikeADragonGaidenTheManWhoErasedHisName

Best Boss Ever: The Final Boss in this game is a marked improvement over the previous final boss that Kiryu faced in the last mainline entry from a gameplay and story standpoint. Per memetic mutation, take everything about Aizawa that worked well, make his involvement in the plot make some actual sense and give it some proper build-up, and you get Kosei Shishido, far and away considered by many to be one of the best antagonists/final boss encounters in the series since the likes of Shibusawa, Nishiki, Goda, and Mine.
Best Level Ever:
- The penultimate brawl with the Omi Alliance before facing off against Shishido in the game's finale. Notable in that it's the first time in the entire series where the Tojo's main figureheads - Kiryu, Majima, Daigo, and Saejima - are all fighting together, for the last time. Pair the Last Dance of the Tojo and Omi with a hard-hitting banger and you have what is easily one of the best fights in the franchise to date.
- "End the Destruction" is this for Judgment fans, boasting two fun encounters with none other than Kaito himself, as well as fighting alongside him and Ensemble Dark Horse Higashi in the substory's end. Being able to play as them in the coliseum afterward is icing on a very sweet cake.
Continuity Lock-Out: In case the Late-Arrival Spoiler didn't give it away, you should probably play Yakuza 6 to get the full context of why Kiryu is Faking the Dead in this game to begin with. To a lesser extent, since this game runs in parallel with the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon from Kiryu's point of view, it's also to your benefit to play that game as well. If you want the full impact of the ending, you need to play nearly all the previous games, but especially Yakuza 3.
Crazy Is Cool: In grand Homare Nishitani tradition. And Nishitani III is no exception, being just as insane and depraved as his predecessor while also putting up some of the toughest fights in Gaiden. At least he got his own (amazing) leitmotif this time, unlike the original Nishitani, who only got the regular boss encounter theme of 0 (Climax Battles aside).
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- The granddaughter of Yutaka Ogikubo (dubbed Reijo by fans) who only appears in the game's prologue. Despite having less than a few minutes of screentime, she'd be popular enough that she has several mods that have her Promoted to Playable in Joryu's place, if not Akame herself.
- Akame, despite being limited to a recurring Mission Control character, quickly proved to be one of the most popular characters introduced in the game for her quirkiness, sense of justice, and her excellent rendition of Like a Butterfly.
Evil Is Cool:
- Kosei Shishido is considered by many a definite step-up from the previous mainline final boss. A bonafide Determinator with an intense and climactic boss fight, many feel he's THE final boss to Kiryu's saga, despite the game being a interquel. Having an understandable motivation helps a lot.
- While not quite evil since he becomes a steadfast ally by the end, Tsuruno is seen by many as a welcome addition owing to his amazing screen presence and memorable second boss fight (complete with dynamic intro), as well as his loyalty to his boss, Watase. He's not Watase Family Captain for nothing, that's for sure.
Game-Breaker:
- A fully-upgraded Serpent can basically trivialize most encounters simply by running around and holding the Sprint button to bash through them until their health bars run empty. Even more absurdly, simply crashing into random objects generates lots of Heat (in a game where Heat generation is nerfed across the board), making the Serpent all-around versatile for what it is.
- The Spider is just as ridiculous when fully upgraded, launching five threads that always entangle regular enemies without fail, flinging them across the map like ragdolls, knocking down other enemies they hit as well. Combined with the Serpent, it's the best way to thin the crowd during large-scale battles. As if that wasn't enough, it lets you easily beat nearly all encounters near Sotenbori River (which are rather frequent) by standing next to the edge and pulling enemies in your direction, the Spider's sheer force flinging them above Kiryu and straight into the water for a One-Hit Kill.
- At this point, wouldn't be Like a Dragon if the Tiger Drop wasn't broken. And as per usual, once you get your hands on it (only for a measly ¥3 million plus some Akame Points), feel free to drop mooks like flies. The damage output varies depending on whether or not you're in Extreme Heat, but it's still as effective as ever otherwise.
- Amusingly enough, the Yakuza style's forward Quickstep attack (done by pressing the Heavy attack/Finishing Blow button during a forward Quickstep) is still as absurd as it was back in 6. Only now even moreso since it inflicts Agony, meaning enemies can't dodge incoming attacks, thus keeping them in place for... another forward Quickstep attack.
- "Essence of the Dragon God", a Heat Action that can only be used when you're in low health. However, it deals massive damage, and unlike other Heat Actions, has no cooldown, which means you can spam it to your heart's content as long as you have enough Heat. Unlike previous games, while it still deals reduced damage for each consecutive uses, the damage reduction is negligible. All you need to do is generate enough Heat, get your health low enough, enter Extreme Heat, spam the Heat Action onto bosses, and watch the bosses' health bars melt.
- The Coliseum might as well be Gaiden's version of the Business Management minigame from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, for good reason. If you know what fighters to pick for the Coliseum, you can easily rake in massive amounts of cash every battle, negating the money issues needed to buy some upgrades, including the aforementioned Serpent and Tiger Drop, leaving Akame Points the only issue to be with. Problem is, unlocking the higher ranks which reward more money is tied to the level of Akame Network... Unless you've been grinding Akame Points before entering the Coliseum, in which case, by the time you revisit it, you'll gain access to Platinum Rank, allowing more access to areas in the Castle and a wider variety of fighters. Of course, these fighters deserve special mention:
  - Yasuo Sodachi, last seen in 6, is one of the best fighters you can get without ever spending a yen, as he's readily available at the Fighters' Lounge once you beat the final match of the Gold Tournament. He uses Daisaku Kuze's moveset and while his special ability is unremarkable at worst (being a simple damage increase on his attacks), his ferocious barrage of attacks makes him a damage machine up close, being able to floor most enemies in seconds.
  - Keita Kuroyanagi is very powerful even by Gold fighter standards. For starters, he has Joon-Gi Han's moveset from Yakuza 6, and he surprisingly juggle opponents very well, keeping them in the air for a long time while also dealing decent damage. Thought that wasn't good enough? He also has a Job Action that has him pull a submachine gun and fires it a la Daejin Kim, but it averts Guns Are Worthless and deals bonkers amount of damage, guaranteeing a victory for him if he can land the bullets. The only drawback is that you have to complete a lengthy chain of Substories to get him, but once obtained, he can easily clean house. Chicken Man is an even better version of him, trading defense for better offensive potential, but requires both Platinum Rank and a hefty fee to unlock. For a downplayed but more easily accessible version, there's Renji the host who's merely a Silver-Ranked fighter with lower stats than either of the two but otherwise fights identically and can be unlocked by simply completing his substory.
  - Sheep Man is a lot more threatening than he looks. For starters, he has Andre Richardson's moveset, meaning that with enough knowledge and dexterity, he can easily juggle opponents. Oh, and he has a rocket launcher, if used correctly, can one-shot the majority of fighters. Much like Chicken Man, the drawback is that he has a hefty fee.
  - Remember Komaki's absurd dodge back in Yakuza 3? Do you by any chance enjoy Fumiya Sugiura? Well, as it stands, he just so happens to be the most absurdly agile fighter you can recruit owing to his massive and ridiculously spammable quickstep, letting you dart across the arena as you so please. He's also a Moveset Clone of Kan Ogita from 5 and has above-average health, making him an effective Lightning Bruiser in group fights. Like Sheep Man and Chicken Man above, he costs a very pretty penny to recruit and is in fact, the final fighter you can recruit via referral, making him an Infinity +1 Fighter.
Improved Second Attempt: If there is one thing the community agrees upon with Final Boss Kosei Shishido, it's that he's Yakuza 5's Masato Aizawa done right. On one hand, they also have an absolutely beefy health pool that you chip through across multiple phases that take you all across their headquarters (along with aiming for their dream the whole way through and fighting the hero prior to the final battle). On the other hand, Shishido and his plan/dream of exposing and stopping the dissolution of the Omi Alliance to become its head honcho is much better built up (as the entire game is focused on Kiryu's secret-ish work making sure the dissolution goes through as planned) and makes much more sense (it was established in Like A Dragon that a lot of people weren't happy with the dissolution in the first place), compared to Aizawa, who is unanimously agreed upon to come out of nowhere and make no sense. Shishido's more badass design and actually unique irezumi (whereas Aizawa's was a very distinct fish that's borderline aping fan-favorite Nishiki) also help.
Just Here for Godzilla: Daytona USA 2 is seeing its first-ever re-release in this game, which has gotten some players who have never played Like A Dragon interested in getting the game just to finally have a way to play it outside the arcade.
Nightmare Fuel: One of the first substories you can get through the Akame Network, "Film Assistant Needed", has Kiryu assist a young streamer with filming a video in a "murder house" - that is, an apartment where a murder took place and is supposedly haunted by the victim - looking for paranormal activity. At first, it's funny because the young man is annoyed by Kiryu being the guy Akame sent, stating that he specifically asked Akame to send a young woman. Kiryu assists with filming, and three separate instances occur that initially seem like manifestations of a haunting ... but the streamer provides completely mundane explanations for each. At first, it seems like a simple failed attempt at creating a "ghost video"... but the real twist occurs when Akame calls Kiryu and reveals that the streamer is the murderer. He reveals that he killed his first victim for the sake of creating interesting streaming content by causing a haunting, and specifically requested that Akame send a woman so that it would be easier to murder them too for the sake of drumming up more hype by having a video on a double-murder house, before attempting to murder Kiryu with a knife. Kiryu resolves the issue in his usual fashion, and it seems like that's that... but then the substory ends with a message suddenly appearing on the bathroom window, seemingly written in blood: "Thank you.". It's remarkably chilling for a story that initially seems like a pastiche of niche streamers.
Older Than They Think: Is it somewhat unexpected for the game's intro theme, "Katatoki" by Yojiro Noda and J.I.D., to be a rap song, of all things? A little bit. Is there precedence in the series, though? Yes. The series has sampled the genre on numerous occasions - just look at "Ideal for Violence", "My Own Style", or the original "Pray Me" as prime examples. Hell, Ishin's remake even has a trap remix of Akiyama's leitmotif from Yakuza 5. Going a little further, Kenzan! and the Japanese version of Y4 also have rap songs as their intros, too.
Play-Along Meme: In this game, Kiryu goes under the alias of Joryu after faking his death following the events of Yakuza 6. Many players have decided to treat Joryu as a completely separate character from Kiryu, even going as far as to propose theories of who Joryu might be, "disregarding" any idea that it could be Kiryu, since he is obviously dead.
Polished Port: The PC port of the game is among the better ones in the series so far. The game runs very smoothly on most builds and still looks good even on medium settings, and is especially great if you're on handheld computers like the Steam Deck or the Lenovo Legion Go.
Salvaged Story:
- One of the biggest grievances fans had with the plot - among other things - was that in spite of being billed as the Grand Finale to Kiryu's story to eventually make way for Ichiban, the lack of a presence from Kiryu's closest allies (notably Majima, Saejima, and especially Daigo) was felt if not sorely missed. Here, that is rectified tenfold not only by actually having Kiryu present in the Tojo/Omi dissolution, but he also gets to fight alongside the boys one last time. Being able to play the events of the Omi Alliance Feast from 7 through Joryu's POV beforehand certainly doesn't hurt.
- The Final Boss of 6, Tsuneo Iwami, while doing his job well as a pathetic slime bag not even worth being in the same room as Kiryu, was considered by many to be an underwhelming fight regardless of being an invoked example. Especially for being the supposed final opponent Kiryu faced in the entire storyline. Not Shishido. This guy single-handedly gave Kiryu one hell of a last stand by comparison, and is just all-around a much better executed Aizawa from 5 as mentioned above in Improved Second Attempt. Having a more compelling reason to fight Kiryu on top of being the True Final Boss of Kiryu's 30-year journey is but a bonus.
- One grievance that many players had back in 5 was the fact that Yuu Morinaga, a character who was a major opposing force in that game, went underutilized and was supposedly killed off-screen by his partner Masato Aizawa. RGG Studio would remedy this (in a way) by bringing Morinaga back as Hanawa. Who, while not exactly squeaky clean himself given his involvement with the Daidoji Faction, ends up being a steadfast ally for Kiryu through to the end, alongside Tsuruno. And to sweeten the deal further, Word of God confirmed that Morinaga and Hanawa are one in the same.
Sequel Difficulty Spike: Despite the main campaign being significantly shorter than average, it's noticeably tougher and more challenging than the previous entry in the Kiryu saga. Bosses hit harder, have relentless combos and are good at dodging, not to mention that even insignificant-looking minibosses have utterly devastating desperation attacks. Even the regular mooks are nastier, most of them packing firearms, knives, sledgehammers and even flamethrowers. Additionally, Kiryu is far more susceptible to status ailments, especially bleed. Lastly, Heat generation has been significantly nerfed, forcing reliance on basic attacks or Kiryu's gadgets.
Signature Scene: Kiryu's breakdown as he watches the recording of Taichi and Ayako and the realization that he can never see them grow up is considered to be the best-remembered scene, due to it being regarded as the most tearjerking moment in the game, if not the whole franchise.
Suspiciously Similar Song: "Bring It On", the main encounter theme for the Yakuza style, sounds an awful lot like "Subhuman", Dante's encounter theme from Devil May Cry 5.
That One Attack: King JUSTICE's laser. It's long-lasting and can it hit you from the other side of the arena, which is bad enough. But no matter how long you're in contact with it, it will absolutely melt your health bar. Even on easy and with plenty of health upgrades, players will find themselves going from full to critical in mere moments. For those without many health upgrades... well...
That One Boss:
- Nishitani, full stop. Like his namesake, he is an incredibly erratic Lightning Bruiser with unblockable knife attacks that'll shred through your health like butter unless you're equipped with the right armor, are fully loaded in healing items, or a combination thereof.
- Kunimitsu Samejima, the second of the Colisseum's Four Kings. His gimmick is the use of the game-breaking Serpent rocket shoes, which are nowhere near as fun to be on the receiving end of. Adding on the fact that he's a coward who constantly keeps his distance from you while taking potshots with his two pistols, you'll be grateful that he doesn't have any backup to deal with.
- King JUSTICE is a pain in his team battle, not only because his laser attack and grapple can be dangerous but because his health bar is so huge even a fully maxed attack Kiryu can pound on him for three minutes and still not beat him. He has both a team action heal and a special ability heal to boot just to make the fight drag on even more. It will require investing on a lot on the team you built.
That One Level:
- The penultimate bout with the entire Watase Family in the final chapter. Remember the Tojo Clan fight back in Yakuza 5? Well, pair that with Goddamned Bats in the form of gun-wielding enemies, and a Dual Boss encounter with Nishitani and Shishido, and you'll be burning through healing items or worse, dying pretty often.
- The battle against King JUSTICE in the Coliseum. While the titular King is bad enough by himself, what really makes the fight hellish is the two minute time limit, and the fact that you have to take down the previous two Kings and several Elite Mooks as well as JUSTICE. The three Kings all have insanely high health, and Samejima is as cowardly and evasive as ever. This, combined with every remaining enemy receiving a huge heal every so often, is a recipe for frequent time outs. The cherry on top is that running out of time doesn't result in a "minigame failed" moment. It straight up results in a Game Over (somehow). Compared to the battles against Dan Brody and Samejima previously, and the battle with Ugajin that follows, this level is a major Difficulty Spike.
Visual Effects of Awesome:
- Once again, RGG Studio flex the Dragon Engine on us with what might just be one of the prettiest beat-'em-up entries in the series and possibly the genre as a whole. Coming hot off the heels of Lost Judgment, the effects that emanate from Kiryu's limbs whenever he attacks are just stunning to look at, and he himself animates quite nicely, be it with the ferocity and power of his iconic Yakuza style, or the precision and pragmatism of the newly-introduced Agent style.
- The opening cinematic deserves special mention. Transitioning seamlessly from live-action footage of an average night in Japan to Kiryu walking down the street at night and brooding alone in a bar (the shot of his phone sitting in a very detailed wooden table is a shining example)... it's almost uncanny how far along the series has come since its humble beginnings.

YMMV / Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

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