Summary
- Like a Dragon games excel in balancing serious crime plots with wacky substories, showcasing RGG Studio's tonal range and character depth.
- Infinite Wealth's focus on solitary substories could benefit from integrating party members, akin to Rebirth's duo-based side quests for richer storytelling.
- Letting party members join in the wackiness of subplots could deepen their personalities in future Like a Dragon games, enhancing the overall experience.
The heart of the Like a Dragon games is composed of many things: thrilling crime plots, emotional reunions, multi-faceted minigames, and a startlingly effective approach to the wacky and weird world of substories. The ability of the series to operate so well between its sincerity, seriousness, and comedy is due in large part to its side quest design. No matter its protagonists, from the stoic Kiryu to the charismatic Ichiban, the substories seen across the series are a testament to RGG Studio's tonal range, and as Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth ushers in its future with Ichiban at the mantle, so too does it encourage the use of a party-based system going forward, making a core tenet of FF7 Rebirth's design one to consider.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's dual-protagonist approach oscillated between the wacky substories of Ichiban's adventures in Hawaii and the nostalgic memories of Kiryu's Memoirs of a Dragon, drawing from the strengths of its characters and the ridiculous situations they find themselves in. Similar to past Like a Dragon games, however, the substories of Infinite Wealth were mostly a solitary affair. Though this made sense before the series' transition to a party system, the way that substory encounters hone in on their protagonist's perspectives winds up leaving the party absent within the context of their narratives, except for their aid in combat. The exception in Infinite Wealth's case was Saeko's help in Kiryu's Club Four Shine escapade, integrating her into the quest in a way that could set a new precedent.
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How the Next Mainline Like a Dragon Game Could Bring Party Members into its Substories
Branching in Perspective for Like a Dragon's Substories
This more honed-in approach to substories has its merits, as a large part of Like a Dragon's side quest philosophy is in building on its protagonists' characterization outside of their tragic circumstances, demonstrating the underlying compassion that weaves them together, even in the face of the oddest encounters. With Like a Dragon's Ichiban being firmly established in both personality and backstory, however, future mainline games could consider bringing its party members into the substory fray, having them act alongside Ichiban or any alternate protagonists who may crop up, to provide their own commentary. Having to account for a whole team in each substory would be unruly, however, so FF7 Rebirth's approach could be a model to look towards achieving this.
Like Infinite Wealth, FF7 Rebirth includes an affinity system for its party, made tangible through its dialogue choices and side quests. Throughout its semi-open world, the regions of Rebirth offer noticeboards, where requests for help have Cloud and company taking on tasks to better serve the communities they come across. Though Rebirth juggles a large cast, these quests operate on a duo basis; Cloud and one other member of the party take precedence in the side quest's story, building on their banter and the finer details of the respective character's backstory. It is through this design that Rebirth opens up to some fantastic storytelling moments, relishing the same comedic and heartfelt tone that can be seen in the Like a Dragon series.
Letting Party Members Shine in the Wackiness of Subplots
Though Infinite Wealth's use of Drink Links and Walk n' Talks was a fantastic way to build on Ichiban and Kiryu's camaraderie with the team, the former often focused on the more introspective, serious moments of the party. From Tomi grappling with the tragedy of his past relationship to Seonhee facing the outdated values of the Geomijul, Drink Links were a conduit to show the party's current plights. Seeing the party of future Like a Dragon games outside of their own circumstances, allowing them to give advice just as Ichiban and Kiryu did for them, would be interesting if placed in the context of substories. Giving party members the chance to be integrated into the wackiness of Like a Dragon's subplots could be a way to build on their characters while remarking on the absurdity that follows Ichiban.
Having this approach be similar to Rebirth's handling would allow for future Like a Dragon substories to remain compact enough to focus on the NPCs they employ while still shedding light on the party's perspectives. With the sheer number of substories that Like a Dragon games provide, there wouldn't be a need for every quest to involve a party member, though even the sporadic use of Rebirth's formula could be a way to shake things up. Letting party members experience the wackiness of substory plots could be a way to deepen their personalities just as effectively as the other narrative techniques Infinite Wealth utilized, and thus, could be a good consideration for the mainline games going forward.
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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
- Franchise
- Yakuza
