Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name follows the beloved Kiryu after the events of Yakuza 6 and is a spin-off that doesn’t take too long to beat. Here’s a rough estimation of how long it takes to beat Like a Dragon Gaiden and a breakdown of its gameplay and story.
Like a Dragon Gaiden Length Explained
According to Like a Dragon Gaiden game director Masayoshi Yokoyama of RGG Studio in a Famitsu interview, the spin-off should take 10 to 20 hours to beat in your first playthrough. Compared to the last installment, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it’s a much shorter game focused entirely on Kiryu.
“It’s not a huge scale game…you can think of it as about half of a pure numbered title,” Yokoyama explained in the interview before the spin-off was released. “I think the playtime will be around 10 to 20 hours…the city [in the game] is fully featured, and we are trying to provide new sub-stories and mini-games.”
Yokoyama also mentioned Like a Dragon Gaiden is more fleshed out than the Kaito Files DLC for Lost Judgement, which rounded out to a nearly 7-hour experience. For the most part, don’t expect a full-on Yakuza mainline title in terms of length, but there are plenty of side quests and other activities you can get into before you beat Like a Dragon Gaiden.
Related: Like a Dragon Gaiden Won’t Have an English Dub at Launch
What Is Like a Dragon Gaiden About?
If you recently joined the Like a Dragon Gaiden bandwagon in the West, this spin-off might pique your interest. You’ll play Kiryu, one of the franchise’s protagonists, after faking his death and abandoning his name for the sake of protecting his family. The once-legendary yakuza will find himself thrust out into the open by a mysterious figure, embarking on yet another gripping action-adventure narrative, yet under the codename of “Joryu.”
Unlike Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the combat in Like a Dragon Gaiden brings back the franchise’s roots. As Kiryu, you’ll pull off aggressive moves to smash enemies into walls and utilize wild gadgets to unleash crazy attacks. And when not brawling in the streets, you can sing Karaoke songs, participate in a secret battle arena, and complete a boatload of side activities.
If you’re hooked into the Yakuza storyline and want to be ready when Like a Dragon 8 drops, Like a Dragon Gaiden is worth playing to see what Kiryu’s been up to ahead of the next mainline title.
If you’d like to read more, check out how long it took to make Like a Dragon Gaiden.
