Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a fresh addition to the series as it mixes up the normal format by introducing RPG gameplay. While Xbox fans are already enjoying this title, PlayStation 5 players have to wait until March to get their hands on it. As a result of the change in genre, even long time Yakuza players found much of the game to be a new experience with additional features to learn.
Whether players were new to the franchise or not, there are a number of mistakes that everyone made during their first playthrough of Like a Dragon. Check out the list below for a compilation of the most common errors to avoid.
Updated October 4, 2022 by Patrick Armstrong: Yakuza: Like a Dragon is as eccentric as it is impressive. The game’s variety of unusual characters, minigames, and storylines means the player will always have something exciting and funny to keep them engaged. This wonderful strangeness makes progressing through the story a pleasure. It also makes it easy to get distracted and make mistakes. Most of these mistakes will only cause the player minor inconveniences, but a few are major issues that can have severe repercussions for one’s playthrough. Knowing what to look out for in advance is the best way to avoid these common mistakes. The better the player does that, the sooner they can return their attention to the important things, like running a business empire alongside Nugget the chicken.
13 They Ignore Taxis
Yakuza: Like a Dragon has a surprisingly big map, and players who try to navigate it on foot will realize how time-consuming and frustrating that can be. With so many great side quests to complete and quirky characters to interact with, having to run around everywhere is an unnecessary waste of time. Fortunately, there’s good news.
Taxis are available for players who want to speed up their travel throughout the city. However, player can only fast-travel to areas they have already visited (by interacting with the taxi itself), so they’ll need to do their initial exploration the old-fashioned way. Once that’s been done, though, there’s nothing stopping the player from catching cabs wherever they need to go. This can save them plenty of time and energy in the process.
12 They Don’t Use Charm Or Shock
Like almost every good RPG, Yakuza: Like a Dragon has a variety of different damage types and status effects that players can deal to their opponents. Every damage type and effect has its own situational usefulness, but some are better than others. At the top of this list are Charm and Shock, both of which the player should be concentrating on.
Charm causes opponents to just stand around instead of attacking or using abilities, which makes it extremely powerful for shutting down otherwise deadly foes. Shock functions similarly, but unlike Charm, Shock also prevents enemies from blocking the player’s attacks. Charm and Shock are incredibly useful for stalling and damage-denial and are all but essential to win certain fights, a fact that new players often overlook.
11 They Don’t Mind Their Business
Business Management is one of the most important parts of being successful in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It’s possible to hold off on the Business Management minigame and its associated questline, but the player is only hampering themselves by doing so. Business is without question the best way to make money in Like a Dragon, and since money is so important for just about everything else, it literally pays to invest in this area right away.
In addition, the Business Management story allows the player to unlock Eri as a new party member. Many games have awful optional party members, but Like a Dragon isn't one of them. If the player doesn’t unlock Eri, they will be stuck with one less party member for a significant portion of the story, putting themselves at a significant and unnecessary disadvantage. Having more help is always good, so take the time to get Eri on board.
10 They Fail to Look Both Ways
Undoubtedly, everyone who has played Yakuza: Like a Dragon got hit by this, literally. Players who don't look both ways before crossing the road in Like a Dragon often find themselves getting hit by a car, which deals a whopping 100 damage each time.
One minute players are looking to the convenience store across the street, the next minute they're getting knocked to the ground. There's even a trophy/achievement related to this called "Fight on the sidewalk!", which is earned by having someone hit by a car during battle.
9 They Don't Save Often
The golden rule of any RPG is to keep more than one save file so that if the player misses something, they can backtrack to an earlier save without having to replay everything again. In fact, even with the earlier Yakuza titles that weren't proper RPGs, this was beneficial too, as there were plenty of missable trophies/achievements and content.
While there don't seem to be any missable accolades for Like a Dragon and sub-stories don't appear to lockout either, saving regularly is still useful to correct any mistakes without losing a lot of progress. For example, players may want to reload after forfeiting a small fortune due to losing a battle when carrying a lot of cash, or wanting a second chance at a test without paying again.
8 They Don't Use ATMs
Speaking of players forfeiting their hard-earned cash when losing in battle, there's another mistake related to this that people make — they don't use ATMs. When players are defeated in battle, they automatically lose half of their money.
This could mean that players are losing millions of yen at a time, and while players can reload an earlier save to recoup their losses, they could also just keep the majority of their money safe in an ATM. There are plenty of ATMs around the map to ensure players have easy access to their funds.
7 They Don't Collect Items
A lot of players can't be bothered to keep stopping to collect items, whether it's interacting with bugs, glowing orbs on the floor for crafting materials, or even treasure hunting in bins and underneath machines. However, players are doing themselves a disservice in the long run by not collecting these.
Not only are these items used in the crafting and upgrading of weapons, but many of them are used in Part-Time Hero requests, which result in some good rewards and are an easy way to earn some yen.
6 They Don't Utilize Romance Workshop
Romance Workshop can be accessed from the beginning of chapter five and is a place where players can craft and upgrade their weapons and equipment. All too many players neglect this place and instead opt to spend their yen on weapons and gear from stores.
However, the gear available from Romance Workshop is so much better than any store-bought item. Additionally, many players forget to upgrade Romance Workshop by investing some cash into the place, which unlocks even more crafting recipes and upgrade options.
5 They Neglect Personality Stats
There are six personality stats in Like a Dragon: Passion, Confidence, Charisma, Kindness, Intellect, and Style. Players can raise their personality stats in various ways, such as by taking tests at Ounabara Vocational School, playing certain mini-games, completing sub-stories, dialogue choices, and more.
Most players don't bother to go out of their way to increase Ichiban's stats, not realizing what they are missing out on. This does more than decide whether Ichiban is cool or not, increased personality stats unlock more jobs, allows players to progress in romances with NPCs, boosts status resistances, and can even unlock certain secret areas.
4 They Don't Raise Bond Levels
Players are able to raise their bond levels with their party members by having a Drink Link conversation with them in Survive Bar each time their bond bars have been maxed out. These meters are filled by completing battles, sharing meals, going to the movie theater together, and other various activities.
It's worth raising each companion's bond level to the max (level 5), as in doing so that particular companion will unlock more job opportunities, as well as gain new special moves that they can use in battle.
3 They Don't Mix Up Their Party
All too often players don't mix up their party set-up, this goes for both party composition in terms of party members, as well as the job role of each companion too. As with any RPG, a more efficient party set-up involves a healer, a tank, and two DPS roles, so this would be a good system to have in place in Like a Dragon too.
Some party members are better at certain roles than others, and having a mix of damage types is also beneficial to be able to maximize the weaknesses of enemies. Players should mix their companions in and out and try different job roles with each one to find a party setup that suits them.
2 They Don't Complete Substories
Substories are the Yakuza franchise's term for sidequests and there are plenty of them dotted all around the city just waiting to be found. While many players might just dismiss these as additional story content, completing substories has a wealth of worthwhile rewards on offer, so they are something that players really shouldn't neglect.
Completing certain substories results in new Poundmates to summon, more employees for the Property Management mini-game, weapons, equipment, money, and of course, hilarious little storylines that could only be found in the crazy world of the Yakuza series.
1 They Use Techincal Books When Low Level
There are various technical books that players can find or purchase throughout their playthrough of Like a Dragon, and these special manuals can increase specific job ranks for one character when used. For example, the Justice Manual item increases the job rank Detective by 1.
However, players often make a real faux pas with these items, as they use them way too soon when their characters are still relatively low in level. As characters level up in job ranks, it requires all the more exp until they can rank up again, so players should be saving these manuals for those higher, harder to reach rank levels.