Infinite Wealth meets series standards for complex, twist-filled drama, magnetic characters, hype-laden music, excellent direction, visceral choreography, ridiculous substories and superlative asset reuse - rather than spend time gushing over those, I’ll discuss what's new.

Ichiban’s life collapses again after a couple of disasters which his infinite charisma somehow can't solve. Luckily, he gets to take his mind off it with a trip to Hawaii. He makes new friends while reconnecting with characters from the previous game - the tenth party member arriving about an hour before the finale - and this giant gang split up to defeat a two-pronged threat in Hawaii and Japan. I’m happy to say the story is easier to follow than the other Yakuza plots I’ve played, but needed polish. I don't normally notice plot holes, but I did here, and some threads resolve too easily, almost as afterthoughts. A decent portion of the game serves as an extended tribute to Kiryu, who spends a lot of time reminiscing about (and spoiling) all the games he starred in, and meeting people from his past. This must alienate players who jumped in at Like A Dragon - like going to a house party, but you don't know anyone there and the guy who invited you is in Hawaii. I enjoyed the Kiryu content I played, knowing what little I do, but skipped a lot of it.

The main location is a slice of Waikiki recreated with as much loving detail as any other locale; the biggest yet but just as dense with content. Beyond the usual diversions, Ichiban can enjoy modern pursuits like seeking love online or underpaid food delivery (barbs about the gig economy don’t sit right in a game that advertises Uber Eats, but hey). There's also a hilarious mini-RPG to play and a wonderful management game which blows the prequel’s out of the water. Exploitation is a common theme - of land, natural resources, labour and so on - against the backdrop of an apparent paradise. Maybe Ichiban should head to Dubai for the sequel!

Combat detaches even further from reality, with most previous jobs carried over, as many new jobs to play around with, and a large list of increasingly barmy new enemy types. Party members can now reposition themselves within a small area to set up moves, so you usually aren't screwed over by randomness as before (but you can be screwed over by having to waste time selecting skills from the full list). However, most group buffs and healing now have a small range. Combat improvement is really nicely tied in with minigames and social interaction with the party. Opportunities for bonus damage are everywhere, and allies often join in when you attack, particularly as you grow your bond with them. I love the increased focus on positioning, especially when area hazards are involved. There's some disappointing dabbling in real-time combat - RGG have spent 18 years refining their combat; here it’s like they've thrown it out and started from scratch. Some old frustrations are avoided: clear warnings about recommended levels help you avoid getting in over your head, and if you're dragged into a low-level random encounter, you can auto-win it.

RGG could afford to make players sweat a bit more, though. By borrowing skills from your characters’ other jobs, it's easy to build a party that covers all major bases, and items are available in ABUNDANCE to find, buy or craft to cover everything else. There's an involved weapon crafting and upgrade system but I felt no need to interact with it until the end because better weapons are bought or found so easily. Just by playing normally you will end up hugely overlevelled for substory battles, making them mostly anticlimactic. The harder modes might address all this - until the New Game+ DLC they're part of goes on sale I can't comment.

Infinite Wealth hasn't defeated Yakuza jank. Jittery animations, rough lighting handling and NPCs spawning and despawning on camera during cutscenes were acceptable in the low-budget era. As SEGA dial up the budgets, and tighten the screws on players with paywalled New Game+ and whatever else they're planning, my patience for things like that decreases. However, the game ran extremely stably for very nearly my entire playthrough. My biggest technical gripe is with voice lines - some lines are too damn quiet even with the music volume regrettably turned down. Come to think of it, at least in the English dub, many lines are in need of another take generally.

I get the sense that Infinite Wealth struggles with how much content it has. English dubbing and text get less consistent over time; various potential interesting scenes are glossed over; many old characters and enemies are crammed back in, which can't be sustainable as the series goes on. The dungeon crawling and real-time combat seem to suffer for it; I wouldn't have minded if they weren't there at all. Nonetheless, for what it gets right, Infinite Wealth is a brilliant new instalment that you won't want to miss.

Infinite Wealth meets series standards for complex, twist-filled drama, magnetic characters, hype-laden music, excellent direction, visceral choreography, ridiculous substories and superlative asset reuse - rather than spend time gushing over those, I’ll discuss what's new. Ichiban’s life collapses again after a couple of disasters which his infinite charisma somehow can't solve. Luckily, he gets to take his mind off it with a trip to Hawaii. He makes new friends while reconnecting with characters from the previous game - the tenth party member arriving about an hour before the finale - and this giant gang split up to defeat a two-pronged threat in Hawaii and Japan. I’m happy to say the story is easier to follow than the other Yakuza plots I’ve played, but needed polish. I don't normally notice plot holes, but I did here, and some threads resolve too easily, almost as afterthoughts. A decent portion of the game serves as an extended tribute to Kiryu, who spends a lot of time reminiscing about (and spoiling) all the games he starred in, and meeting people from his past. This must alienate players who jumped in at Like A Dragon - like going to a house party, but you don't know anyone there and the guy who invited you is in Hawaii. I enjoyed the Kiryu content I played, knowing what little I do, but skipped a lot of it. The main location is a slice of Waikiki recreated with as much loving detail as any other locale; the biggest yet but just as dense with content. Beyond the usual diversions, Ichiban can enjoy modern pursuits like seeking love online or underpaid food delivery (barbs about the gig economy don’t sit right in a game that advertises Uber Eats, but hey). There's also a hilarious mini-RPG to play and a wonderful management game which blows the prequel’s out of the water. Exploitation is a common theme - of land, natural resources, labour and so on - against the backdrop of an apparent paradise. Maybe Ichiban should head to Dubai for the sequel! Combat detaches even further from reality, with most previous jobs carried over, as many new jobs to play around with, and a large list of increasingly barmy new enemy types. Party members can now reposition themselves within a small area to set up moves, so you usually aren't screwed over by randomness as before (but you can be screwed over by having to waste time selecting skills from the full list). However, most group buffs and healing now have a small range. Combat improvement is really nicely tied in with minigames and social interaction with the party. Opportunities for bonus damage are everywhere, and allies often join in when you attack, particularly as you grow your bond with them. I love the increased focus on positioning, especially when area hazards are involved. There's some disappointing dabbling in real-time combat - RGG have spent 18 years refining their combat; here it’s like they've thrown it out and started from scratch. Some old frustrations are avoided: clear warnings about recommended levels help you avoid getting in over your head, and if you're dragged into a low-level random encounter, you can auto-win it. RGG could afford to make players sweat a bit more, though. By borrowing skills from your characters’ other jobs, it's easy to build a party that covers all major bases, and items are available in ABUNDANCE to find, buy or craft to cover everything else. There's an involved weapon crafting and upgrade system but I felt no need to interact with it until the end because better weapons are bought or found so easily. Just by playing normally you will end up hugely overlevelled for substory battles, making them mostly anticlimactic. The harder modes might address all this - until the New Game+ DLC they're part of goes on sale I can't comment. Infinite Wealth hasn't defeated Yakuza jank. Jittery animations, rough lighting handling and NPCs spawning and despawning on camera during cutscenes were acceptable in the low-budget era. As SEGA dial up the budgets, and tighten the screws on players with paywalled New Game+ and whatever else they're planning, my patience for things like that decreases. However, the game ran extremely stably for very nearly my entire playthrough. My biggest technical gripe is with voice lines - some lines are too damn quiet even with the music volume regrettably turned down. Come to think of it, at least in the English dub, many lines are in need of another take generally. I get the sense that Infinite Wealth struggles with how much content it has. English dubbing and text get less consistent over time; various potential interesting scenes are glossed over; many old characters and enemies are crammed back in, which can't be sustainable as the series goes on. The dungeon crawling and real-time combat seem to suffer for it; I wouldn't have minded if they weren't there at all. Nonetheless, for what it gets right, Infinite Wealth is a brilliant new instalment that you won't want to miss.