Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is an upcoming action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. The game is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 9, 2023. It is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series.

Taking place between the events of the titles Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016), Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020) and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (2024), Like a Dragon Gaiden focuses on the series' original protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, as he embarks on a new adventure in Osaka and Yokohama under the guise of a secret agent.

Gameplay
In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, players control Kazuma Kiryu as they explore the Sotenbori district of Osaka and Isezaki Ijincho district of Yokohama. A third location, known as the Castle, is a hub area where players can participate in side activities. Minigames such as karaoke, Pocket Circuit racing, cabaret club, and fighting arena also return. A new character named Akame acts as an informant, providing Kiryu with sub-missions.

Kiryu has access to two fighting styles, Yakuza and Agent. The Yakuza style features aggressive brawler combat movement similar to Kiryu's classic fighting style from previous games, while the Agent style is described as having "absolute speed and precision", relying on high-tech gadgets.

Similar to Lost Judgment, Like a Dragon Gaiden features several Master System games which Kiryu can play: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alien Syndrome, Enduro Racer, Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, Galaxy Force, Global Defense, Maze Hunter 3-D, Quartet and Secret Command, as well the SG-1000 version of Flicky, among other arcade titles, such as Daytona USA 2 and Fighting Vipers 2.

 
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name was originally conceived during the development of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama suggested to the development team to expand further on Kazuma Kiryu's backstory in between the events of the prior titles, rather than restricting to an interlude for Infinite Wealth. It was discussed that the project be done in downloadable content format, before eventually evolving into a full game. The game was developed in parallel with Infinite Wealth and Like a Dragon: Ishin!, and was finished within six months.

Like a Dragon Gaiden was announced in September 2022 during RGG Studio's Summit livestream, alongside a debut cinematic trailer. Yokoyama explained that the game would be shorter in length compared to usual mainline entries. Gaiden's playtime was roughly estimated to be 10-20 hours, while Yokoyama promised that there would be an ample amount of activities for players to do.

In early 2023, RGG Studio hosted a Cabaret Club Grand Prix competition, in which five models were chosen to appear as live-action hostesses in the cabaret club minigame in Like a Dragon Gaiden, while the Grand Prix winner is given an in-game role in Infinite Wealth. Among the five finalists, VTuber Kson ultimately won the Grand Prix.

The first story trailer premiered at Summer Game Fest 2023, showcasing new characters as well as gameplay footage of the new Agent fighting style, in addition to confirming the release date. Additional gameplay was shown at RGG Summit Summer 2023, alongside an introduction of the main cast members. In June 2023, RGG Studio revealed that Yong Yea would voice Kiryu in the English dub, replacing Darryl Kurylo who previously voiced Kiryu in Yakuza (2005) and Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020).

The second story trailer premiered in August 2023, showcasing more characters in the story, including returning characters from previous Like a Dragon titles, in addition to a first-look at the various minigames. In September 2023, RGG Studio revealed the opening theme song for the game, "Katatoki", performed by singer Yojiro Noda and rapper JID.