Brasil Game Show 2023 is in full swing and for the first time ever, Sega is having a booth at the event, for my particular delight, thanks to a large array of playable demos. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is particularly noteworthy due to how it steers away from the new direction laid down by Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and for that, I was curious to see how it turned out.
Kazuma and company arrive by helicopter in a very shady and humongous boat in the middle of the ocean. As his handler explains, this transatlantic liner from the outside looks nothing out of the ordinary, but in the middle of its stacks of gigantic crates lies a pleasure town that houses a colosseum.
As soon as our hero touches down, he’s quick to notice the castle at the distance, an exact replica of Osaka’s, which gives the name of the place that they’re now in: The Castle. The demo is quick to point us towards looming structure’s entrance, but not before engaging in a fight with the local thugs, who waste no time hassling our former Yakuza friend now turned federal agent.
The brawl took place right smack in the middle of the so-called streets, and right from the get-go felt especially different, thanks to the new fighting style in the form of the agent skill deck, that offers numerous gadgets, such as bombs and a rocket boot. As you can probably surmise, these come in handy as Kiryu is surrounded by enemies, both as crowd-control measures and getting him in a much more nimble state than his usual slow-moving self.
For the purposes of the demo, these gimmicks were set to unlimited and could be used to my heart’s content, and I certainly put them to the test repeatedly. It’s stupid, yes, but oh so fun. While nothing else of the story was divulged in the demo, after getting through this tutorial fight, I decided to head to the castle before my time would be coming to the end.
Upon registering for the fights in the arena, I was given the option to choose who I would play with, something that’s particularly new to the franchise. Among the many random choices was the Mad Dog of the Shimano, Majima, who is part of the pre-order bonus pack for the game.
His fighting style had me quickly slashing enemies with his knife, and was particularly fun when it came to thinning out the ranks of the many fodder enemies that joined the fight with the main opponent. It was no surprise that everything quickly turned to my favor, but I’m curious to see how the full game will handle this arena mode, and for once in my life, I’m actually looking forward to partaking in these then.
Much like the rest of the demos at Sega’s booth, it won’t be long before Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is finally out. In less than a month from now, on the 6th of November, the world who get to know just who is that man and you’d be wise to keep an eye out here for our full review of the game!
