This article contains spoilers for Chapter Four of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Summary
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealthsees Ichiban team up with both new allies and previous friends fromLAD 7, and the plot focus of chapter four places emphasis on its two additions: Tomizawa and Chitose. AsInfinite Wealthintroduces its new Hawaiian setting, the threats lurking within this location make themselves known. Tasking players with venturing into dangerous territory to find Chitose and help Tomizawa get back at the man who was responsible for his false imprisonment, the District Five sequence acts as the title’s first dungeon of sorts, where certain effects play a part in how theInfinite Wealthteamtraverses.
Chapter four ofLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthsees Ichi and the team head into the formidable District Five, a homeless encampment occupied by Hawaii’s fearsome Barracuda gang. District Five is much more than makeshift tents and dilapidated structures, however. Complete with an underground shopping center used to auction off counterfeit fashion goods for the rich to become richer, the environment opens up to even more dangerous terrain. OnceInfinite Wealth’s Chitose joins the crew and security gets tighter, the Barracudas will stop at nothing to see the demise of Ichiban and his allies, and it’s here that the game incorporates some clever obstacles into its environment.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s District Five Incorporates Some Interesting Gimmicks Into its Traversal
The Threat of the Barracudas
The Barracuda gang are formidable opponents both in and outside battle, setting a horrifying precedent with the murder of Roman. Still, Ichiban and the team move forward to get Chitose out andconfront the Barracudas' leader for Tomizawa’s sake, committed to seeing things through. Once security heightens,Infinite Wealthups the ante with not only more combat encounters, but the introduction of lasers to maneuver around in the environment. As a small but interesting gimmick to help diversify traversal, these lasers rely on precise timing, and incorporate some unique rewards should players choose to venture off the beaten path.
While the lasers only damage Ichiban outside of battle, a similar gimmick employed by the Barracudas has repercussions both in and outside of combat. Once locked in a room filled with poison, the team has to navigate hordes of enemies while gradually losing health as they attempt to escape. The obstacle ties cleverly intoInfinite Wealth’s status ailment system, inflicting poison on the team during each enemy encounter. The room upends the typically slow conventions of turn-based combat, however, as the team’s health diminishes outside of battle as well, making the stakes to act fast feel even higher. Coupled with a number of items that can be picked up and some maze-like corridors to boot, the poison room is another way that District Five is utilized beyond plain traversal while making the Barracudas feel more like a strategic unit.
Battling on the Catwalk
The chapter four sequence takes things a step further through theLike a Dragonseries' dynamic cutscenes, setting the backdrop for a fun gauntlet fight between the team and members of the Barracuda gang. As the crew make their way back to the shopping center’s entrance, they have a straight shot to an elevator that will take them to the gang’s boss. What could have been an ordinary cutscene transition instead seesIchiban and his alliesat the center of District Five’s fashion show, with the spotlights shining down and a cheering audience on all sides. Complete with a fantastic music track from the game’s OST, the ensuing combat encounter has the team fight through three waves of enemies who saunter down the catwalk as an announcer regales the crowd.
Not only does the spectacle of the fight feel in tune with the environment, but certain moves feel all the more relevant in this context. For example,Chitose’s heiress job includes a Catwalk Trance actionthat works perfectly in this sequence, while defeating opponents has Ichi and the team knock them into the water that surrounds the runway, making the setting feel tangible in battle. This, along with the previous environmental obstacles, helps make the sequence feel appropriately dynamic and dangerous in consideration of the enemies that the player is up against, adding to both the humor and compellingness ofInfinite Wealth’s traversal through environments.
