Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name review – Kiryu makes an entertaining but superfluous return

There’s a joke among Yakuza fans that Kazuma Kiryu will never truly be gone. At 90 years old he’ll be hauling himself out of the retirement home to beat some poor sod’s face in, before heading to the nearest pocket circuit club to race miniature cars against children. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name feels like it’s aware of the joke – in part because it’s the force pulling Kiryu out of retirement for yet another bout.

Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name reviewDeveloper: Ryu Ga Gotoku StudioPublisher: SegaPlatform: Played on PS5Availability: Out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam, Windows)

Kiryu, or rather special agent Joryu, now puts the beatdown on foes at the behest of the secretive Daidoji faction – the same group he thwarted in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. Having faked his death at the end of Yakuza 6, Like a Dragon Gaiden largely revolves around Kiryu trying to maintain his covert status so as to protect the children of Morning Glory Orphanage, as various nefarious factions vie to control him for their own ends.

It’s a pretty compelling plot point – protecting the kids we’ve come to know and love over the series so far – but it’s hampered by where Like a Dragon Gaiden takes place. 2020’s Like a Dragon chronologically follows Gaiden, so we already know from the previous game that Kiryu manages to maintain his faked death, and thus protect the children, sadly eliminating a fair amount of dramatic tension from Gaiden. This sort of brings the entire thing back to one painful point: I don’t know why Like a Dragon Gaiden exists.

We’re still beating up folk in real-time with just a few button presses – one for kicking, another for punching – mixed in with super-moves like dunking bicycles on enemies. Accumulating ‘Heat’ with every strike lets you pull off those crushing moves, like throwing someone off the iconic Sotenbori bridge, and dodging a strike at the last second before slamming a fist into a foe’s ribs is still excellent fun.

None of that’s to say Like a Dragon Gaiden isn’t bringing anything new to the table whatsoever. With Kiryu’s new secret identity comes fancy new ‘secret agent’ gadgets, like a fake cigarette that explodes like a grenade, or rocket-powered shoes that leave a blazing trail of fire in their wake, or even a whip-like gadget that sends enemies flying into buildings. They’re all equally bizarre as they are fun to use, seamlessly integrating themselves into a real-time combat system that’s been refined and perfected for nearly two decades.