Like A Dragon Gaiden’s Newest Gimmick Is Also Its Creepiest

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• The new Daidoji Agent fighting style and group battles in Like A Dragon Gaiden are well-received by players.
• The use of live-action video footage of real models for the cabaret segments in the game is divisive and may make some players uncomfortable.
• The immersive cabaret segments, while awkward, are ultimately harmless and not out of character for the game’s protagonist, Kiryu.

The side story presented in the recently released Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name includes some welcome new gameplay elements, but the live-action cabaret is a gimmick that feels a bit creepy for many players. The new Daidoji Agent fighting style and the group battles available at The Castle seem to be universally well-received. Unlike these additions, the use of live-action video footage of real models for Club Heavenly in Sotenbori and Castle Cabaret within the Kijin Clan’s opulent offshore pleasure palace is more divisive. Some players may be uncomfortable playing the game in front of family and friends, thanks to these voyeuristic experiences.

The Like A Dragon game series was called Yakuza in its Western releases until recently but has adopted the original Japanese title for all games going forward.

Longtime Yakuza series fans awaited Like A Dragon Gaiden’s timeline clarification, which provides answers for what Kazuma Kiryu did between Yakuza 6 and Yakuza 7. Few would have guessed that Kiryu spent that time with real-world actresses, pinup models, and VTuber stars like Kokoro Nakayama, Ai Sayama, and Kson. The cabaret segments of the Yakuza franchise, viewed optimistically, at least provide a window into an element of Japanese nightlife that has no direct analog in the Western world. Hostess Clubs, where patrons pay a fee to drink and indulge in conversation with well-dressed, attractive women (or men, for Host Clubs), do not employ sex workers, per se.

Related: How New Like A Dragon Games & Yakuza Are Connected

Cabaret Hostess Clubs Were Featured In Earlier Yakuza Series Games & Judgment

Engaging in simulated flirtation with a polygonal approximation of a woman could be just as off-putting for some, and prior entries in the Yakuza series have already included this in their storylines on multiple occasions. Yakuza 0 featured co-protagonist Goro Majima managing a cabaret club, and Yakuza 4 included an uncomfortable storyline where Shun Akiyama essentially forces a woman to become a successful hostess prior to lending her money. Kiryu has managed cabaret clubs as a minigame in prior games, and both Judgment and Lost Judgment feature segments where the attorney Saori Shirosaki goes undercover as a hostess to obtain information.

The Like A Dragon Gaiden preview foreshadowed Kiryu’s strange outfit options and the high-stakes gambling available at The Castle, but it also provided a look at the live-action cabaret segments, which players can now experience in their totality in the full game release. In truth, these “immersive cabaret” minigames are not functionally any different from the dating sim elements present in many mainstream games, like the Persona series. Players engage in multiple choice questions and offer gifts to win the affection of a hostess, and if they are successful, that hostess might elect to go on a date with Kiryu outside of the cabaret.

Gifts for cabaret hostesses can be found throughout the story, or purchased at pawnshops.

Two factors make the immersive cabaret an awkward addition for Like A Dragon. Firstly, the interactions are the result of a monetary exchange in-fiction, rather than two people who simply want to spend time together, as with the Persona series. That is true of hostess clubs in general, and it was the case in earlier Yakuza games with cabaret interactions, but using real-world models with live-action video adds another uncomfortable layer. The undeniable objectification and the venal nature of the interactions, in which the attention of a beautiful woman can be purchased, causes some players to cringe more than ever now that live-action footage is added.

Like A Dragon Gaiden’s Immersive Cabaret Segments Are Harmless, But Still A Bit Creepy

Ultimately, Like A Dragon Gaiden is brilliant in its ability to bridge the complex storylines of roughly ten games, including the two Judgment spinoffs, and provides an excellent setup for the return of Ichiban Kasuga in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The immersive cabaret segments are a questionable addition but essentially harmless, as they are far from explicit and not at all out of character for an ex-convict and former gangster. The actresses who portrayed the hostesses competed in a Grand Prix voting competition, and VTuber Kson (the hostess Kei in Like A Dragon Gaiden) won the prize of appearing in Like A Dragon 8.

Related: Every Returning Character For Yakuza: Like A Dragon 8 (So Far)

While they do not ruin the game by any means, the immersive cabaret videos do make some players understandably uncomfortable since they make Like A Dragon Gaiden feel too close to reality for some. A bit of awkward interaction does not distract from Kiryu’s time in the clandestine service of the Daidoji, but it certainly does make Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name feel creepier than it needed to for many.

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  Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

  Franchise:

  Yakuza

  Platform(s):

  PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, Steam

  Released:

  2023-11-09

  Developer(s):

  Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

  Publisher(s):

  Sega

  Genre(s):

  Action, Beat-Em-Up, RPG

  ESRB:

  M

  Prequel(s):

  Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Yakuza 5, Yakuza 4, Yakuza 3, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza 0

  Sequel(s):

  Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth