Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth Adventure Mode Demo preview: Kasuga's excellent Hawaiian adventure

After beating Like a Dragon Gaiden, players are rewarded with the Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth demo. In fact, there are two demos: the Story Demo and Adventure Demo. We’re highlighting the Adventure Demo today, with more on the Story Demo to come after the official launch of Gaiden. However, feelings aside for Like a Dragon Gaiden, Infinite Wealth has me excited in a way that I have a hard time expressing outside of a shout for joy.

Kasuga is a protagonist I’ve really come to appreciate, and the return of turn-based gameplay is something I was looking forward to. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth’s Adventure Demo gives players a really deep look at the type of adventures that await in the upcoming game.

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What can you do in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth’s Adventure Mode demo?

There's so much to do in Honolulu (Image via SEGA)

It’s not really clear when the Adventure Demo starts for Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth; you get to see the entrance into Hawaii cutscene, and then the game jumps ahead to Kasuga, Kiryu, Tomizawa, and Chitose already working together. That means it’s probably a couple of chapters in. The party is also around level 15, with a level 50 bond, so that was probably inflated to give players an idea of what the teamwork will be like in combat in the upcoming title.

• Battle: Learn about the changes to the combat system
• Substories: Several comical adventures await in Honolulu
• Crazy Delivery: Bicycling is back, but this time as a food delivery guy
• Karaoke: Sing your heart out at the bar

Kasuga Ichiban can also befriend the locals by pressing Square to wave at them. This will no doubt come in handy later, but right now, it’s just a cute feature to get to know the tourists and citizens of Honolulu.

The Segway/Street Surfer is a fun new way to get around, too. You cruise around town, looking for trouble/to help the locals. You can still run or use taxis, but the Street Surfer is a neat way to get around in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. Another tip is to talk to Chitose; she will gladly play tour guide and get you to the various activities.

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Changes to combat in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth

It's so satisfying to fight in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth (Image via SEGA)

The turn-based combat is more or less the same, with a few notable exceptions. Now, players have a ring they can move into to reposition when a character’s turn is up. Depending on how you move, it can increase damage or set up combo attacks with your allies.

However, Kiryu is not meant to be a turn-based warrior. While he has access to his three styles (changeable with the D-pad), when the Hype Meter is filled up, he switches to doing real-time damage like he does in the other games in the series. For a limited time, you get to thrash enemies, and it’s amazing.

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Substories are back and just as ridiculous and charming as ever

Whether ridiculous or heartwarming, side stories are back in full force (Image via SEGA)

I only did one or two of the substories since the demo doesn’t save. However, it was just enough to whet my appetite for more of Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. One of them unlocked a feature, and the other was a cute love story. A group of high school students were there on a school trip, and the girl wanted to get up the courage to confess her love.

It involved a local custom that I won’t spoil, but trust me when I say it was an adorable but definitely weird moment. Instead of having a Fixer to give you missions like in Cyberpunk 2077, you still go around town and find them. Thankfully, you can clearly see them on your map - no need for a Trouble Finder.

Substories also unlock odd jobs Kasuga can take on, like being a waiter at a restaurant. This was a fun memory game, where you also had to greet the customer in the right tone of voice. The real winner when it came to mini-games was Sicko Snap.

See? It's just like Pokemon Snap (Image via SEGA)

The way I described Sicko Snap is it’s Pokemon Snap but with perverts. When you unlock this mini-game, you ride on a trolley, taking photos of muscle-bound dudes in masks, generally being creeps.

They aren’t doing anything horrifying; just … loitering, hanging from signs, hiding behind trees, or standing on their hands twerking. You know, usual dude stuff while hanging out downtown.

In this mini-game, you’re taking photos of creeps to send to the authorities. You’ll be rated on the quality of the photo and can trade in points for rewards. It might be the most ridiculous mini-game I’ve ever played in the series. That said, even as someone who didn’t play Pokemon Snap, this was so much fun.

Visually, I'm reminded of Crazy Taxi, only without The Offspring playing in the background (Image via SEGA)

Crazy Delivery was a blast, too. Instead of collecting cans as a homeless man, you drive around on a bike, doing sick stunts and delivering certain amounts of food to people in order to meet a quota. This was way more fun than I thought it was going to be.

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General updates and quality-of-life features

The map is overwhelmingly helpful (Image via SEGA)

There is one feature I want to highlight more than any other in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. I adored the party conversations in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, but they were a pain to find. You had to just kind of figure it out. Now, you can see them on the map, indicated by the pink chat bubbles.

This is the change I wanted to see in Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. You also now have a bingo board where you keep track of all the useful stuff you learn about your friends. It’s just a charming update to the game.

I also noticed that it’s much easier to gain stat points for Kasuga. More things in the game give you stat points, whether it is talking to people or singing karaoke. If the full retail game makes that less of a grind, I will be delighted.

While not so much of an update, karaoke is just as great as it’s ever been. There are some classic songs coming back (Judgment) and more modern tracks (Hell Stew). We also got to hear one of the brand-new tracks. Chitose’s song has a real 1980s/90s Japanese City Pop feel to it. Very akin to “Plastic Love”, “Sparkle”, or perhaps my favorite City Pop song, “Stay With Me” by Miki Matsubara.

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is looking to be amazing

Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth has made a real impression on me so far (Image via SEGA)

I’m going to be 100% honest with you: I cannot wait to get hands-on with the full version of Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. It’s everything I loved about the previous game, only improved. Combat feels better, there’s tons of stuff to do, and none of it feels pointless. We only got to explore what I feel to be a small part of Honolulu, but the next Yakuza tale has really left an impression on me.

It’s been said that Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth is the biggest game in the series, and judging by this section of the game, I can believe it. There are so many little touches to the game that just charmed my socks off.