Yakuza: Like A Dragon - RPG Tips & Tricks

In this Yakuza: Like A Dragon guide you can read:

  • The most important tips for the new turn-based battle system
  • What job skills, group bonding & personality values are all about
  • Many more tricks to help you get started in Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Yakuza: Like A Dragon is the seventh installment of the main Yakuza series and does a few things differently than its predecessors. That's why both series newcomers and veterans will find useful tricks for the game in our tips guide for the role-playing game.


Yakuza: Like A Dragon: Tips & tricks for the new battle system

Ichiban Kasuga is not only a Yakuza with a heart of gold, he is also a huge Dragon Quest fan. That's why he imagines he's a hero in battles, which is why Yakuza: Like A Dragon opponents transform. Here are the best tips and tricks for the new turn-based battle system:

  • Always pay attention to the positions of the enemies. If you attack enemies that are in a back row, you can be blocked by other enemies, which will cancel your attack and cause you damage.
  • Some attacks can hit multiple enemies at once, but again, the position of the enemies is crucial. For example, Nanba's fire breath hits several enemies right in front of him. However, you can only select one target and other enemies are still moving while Nanba is getting ready to attack, making it a matter of luck whether you actually hit multiple enemies. With other attacks like Ichiban's roundhouse mega swing, it's easier to hit many targets, but again, you should think carefully about which target you attack.
  • If enemies remain on the ground after your attack, you can deal bonus damage. To do this, your next party member must perform a normal attack before the enemy is completely up. As long as the enemy was still in the get-up animation when you entered the command, it still counts as a ground attack.
  • All enemies in Yakuza: Like A Dragon have weaknesses that you can exploit with the right attacks to deal bonus damage. In Chapter 3, you'll automatically meet a professor who will give you the SUJIDEX. In it, you can look up the weaknesses of all 252 enemies once you encounter them in the game.
  • Another tip about enemy weaknesses: If you set the text language in Yakuza: Like A Dragon to German, you will be shown in combat if an enemy has a weakness for the selected attack. However, if you play with English text language, you will not be shown any weaknesses. We assume that this is a bug and that this display will still be patched.

What are the best consumables?

Especially at the beginning of Yakuza: Lika A Dragon, you can spend your money without much hesitation. Make sure you always have items that replenish mana so you can use your skills as often as possible.

To avoid wasting money, when buying consumable items, make sure that many items have the same effect, but cost different amounts of money. For example, for the beginning you want to buy items that regenerate 15 mana. C.C. Lemon and GREEN DAKARA are the cheapest consumable items for this.

If you want to heal yourself and replenish your mana completely, you should definitely go to a restaurant. There you can whip your entire group into shape for much less money. Especially in the beginning, you should choose from the menu yourself and not buy the restaurant's recommendation. Individual dishes are cheaper, but still heal you completely. Use consumables only in combat, in dungeons, or when you really don't have a restaurant nearby, otherwise you'll be wasting your yen.

Later in the game, you'll have so much money that you won't have to pay attention to where you heal. For the beginning, however, it's still worth looking at the prices.

We also recommend that you always have items with you that you can use to cancel out status effects. Especially Stun, Confuse and Fear are annoying because they can stop your characters from attacking.

Equipment - Where can I get armor, weapons and accessories?

In the fourth chapter of the main story, you will not be allowed to continue unless you have equipped weapons, armor and accessories. To advance in the story mission, only Ichiban needs to have all the equipment slots filled. Of course, if you have the money, you should also equip the other party members in Yakuza: Like A Dragon as best as possible.

You can find equipment through battles, completing side quests or as loot in the open world. Stores where you can buy specific equipment will be marked on the map with orange icons. As you advance into new neighborhoods, you'll also find stores with better weapons, but they'll also be more expensive. At some point in the course of Yakuza: Like A Dragon you'll come to the Romantic Workshop , where you can improve your equipment or craft it yourself.

What do the jobs in Yakuza: Like A Dragon mean?

In the first few hours of Yakuza: Like A Dragon, you'll notice that in addition to their normal level, your characters will also increase their job levels and, in some cases, achieve other job titles. The jobs serve as skills in the game and can later be changed at the job office.

You can find all available skills and the best jobs for all seven party members in our Yakuza: Like A Dragon skill guide.

What effect do the personality stats have?

In Yakuza: Lika A Dragon you can improve six personality values. In the course of the game, you can make decisions, use items and complete certain tasks, after which the stats will be aligned. You can also go to the Ounabara Vocational School to specifically increase your stats. Depending on your personality, you'll unlock new perks, skills and bonus features.

Also, some events will only happen with the right personality values, and you'll only be able to talk to certain characters if the matching personality values are high enough. Leveling up also increases Ichiban's resistance to status effects. If you've played the JRPG Persona 5 (), you should feel right at home.

Tips for the side quests in Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Keep an eye out on the map for speech bubbles that start side quests that reward you with experience, equipment, and new gameplay features. Decisions you make in the side quests will also affect your personality stats. You'll solve most side quests directly where you accepted the quest, or you'll be shown a light blue speech bubble icon on the map where the quest continues.

An important note: In Yakuza: Like A Dragon, there are two side quests (Number 23: Warmest Greetings and Number 35: Really Cute) that require you to spend 1 million yen each. However, we recommend that you don't do them right away. In the 11th chapter of the main story of Yakuza: Like A Dragon, you'll need to find 3 million y en, which is especially difficult if you've already spent so much money on the side quests.

Don't do the two side quests until you've spent the money on the main story. The further you are in the game, the more money you will get for fights and rewards - so save the two sidequests.

All sidequests that don't have an obvious solution will soon be explained in our Yakuza: Like A Dragon guide to sidequest solutions.

Increase Group Bonding - Here's how!

Once you have unlocked Bar Survive as the party meeting place (Chapter 4), you can start alcohol-soaked side quests with your party members. Before doing so, however, you'll need to build a strong bond with them.

A stronger bond between Ichiban and his team members will ensure that they get experience points even when they are not part of the active party. A bit like the EP divider in the Pokémon games (). Also, certain skills, items and jobs can only be used with a high group level.

Group bonding increases through:

  • Fighting together
  • Eating together in restaurants
  • Visiting clubs
  • Conversations: Your party members will sometimes start conversations when you walk by certain places. Listening to them in their entirety will increase group bonding.

Important: Your party members will only level up if you talk to them in the Survive Bar once the bond bar is full. If you don't, you'll lose any bond points you've earned because you haven't advanced to the next level yet. So whenever possible, go to the bar and bring your allies to the next level.

By the way, there is also a secret party member in Yakuza: Like A Dragon that you can bond with in a different way. You can find everything about this in our Yakuza: Like A Dragon guide to all the allies.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon Language Edition - Can I play in German?

In the European version of Yakuza: Lika A Dragon, the text and audio languages can be set separately. The text options include English, German, Spanish, French and Italian.

However, in the audio options, as with previous Yakuza games, you can only choose between English and the original Japanese. There is no German voice output, but the text language options also apply to the subtitles.

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