🎮 FF7 Rebirth Fans, This Game Will BLOW Your Mind! 🎮

Loved Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? Think the next epic adventure has to be another fantasy RPG? Think again. 😲

There’s a hidden gem out there—a non-fantasy game with gripping storytelling, intense combat, and emotional depth that rivals Cloud’s journey. It’s not what you’d expect, but it’s perfect for FF7 fans!

What’s this surprising masterpiece?

👉 Find out now:

Players who enjoyed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and are looking for a new game to sink their teeth into a new game can find exactly what they’re looking for in another RPG, though maybe not the one they’d expect. The obvious follow-up to FF7 Rebirth would be FF7 Remake Part 3, but until that game materializes, fans will need other options to tide them over. The 2020s have seen many fantastic RPGs – Baldur’s Gate 3, Tales of Arise, and Persona 3 Reload to name a few – but one that may have slipped under the radar of many fans was Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Set in the Japanese city of Yokohama, Like a Dragon follows the story of a low-ranking yakuza gangster named Ichiban Kasuga on a quest for redemption after being betrayed. Though the premise and setting may sound like a far cry from FF7 Rebirth, there’s a lot of the same DNA to be found in both games despite their seemingly vast differences. Much of what fans enjoyed in FF7 Rebirth is also to be found in spades in Like a Dragon.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon Has All Of FF7 Rebirth’s Strong Points

Story, Gameplay, And Side Content All Tuned To Perfection

The overwhelmingly positive reviews for FF7 Rebirth all tend to heap glowing praise on the game for several points: its tight action-RPG combat system, its world that encourages players to explore and discover, and the excellent, character-rich writing of its story. All these aspects together helped elevate FF7 Rebirth into a true triple-A JRPG experience, far beyond just being the middle installment of a remake trilogy. Like a Dragon echoes many of the same points of praise with its design as well, though with a markedly different spin on everything.

While FF7 Rebirth‘s wealth of side content earned a mixed response from many, it served a purpose in fleshing out the game’s world, and Like a Dragon offers a similar feast of minigames, side quests, and classic Sega arcade titles to play that make the world feel more lived-in than it would otherwise. Each area is brimming with things to do and people to meet, each with a distinct personality and character all their own. The Yakuza games have long been praised for their side content, and Like a Dragon is certainly no slouch when it comes to that.

While the series was called Yakuza internationally, Like a Dragon has always been the franchise’s title in Japan. After the release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, all subsequent installments have used the main title Like a Dragon in all regions. This article refers to the franchise as Yakuza for the sake of clarity.

FF7 Rebirth was praised by many outlets for allowing its characters to embrace their sillier sides; that same earnest goofiness is part and parcel of Like A Dragon. For example, despite his backstory sounding hard-boiled on the surface, Ichiban’s mind is so steeped in the tropes of Dragon Quest that he actually perceives every fight as an RPG battle. It’s a clever setup to facilitate the game’s choice of genre, but it’s done in a way that further serves the game’s core narrative without undercutting it.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon Is Even More Of A Classic RPG

An Affectionate Pastiche Of RPG Tropes In A Modern Setting

The release of Like a Dragon signified a massive change in direction for the Yakuza series as it moved away from the action-focused beat ’em up style that had defined the series since its inception in 2005. Using Ichiban’s obsession with Dragon Quest as a framing device, Like a Dragon reimagines the action as a proper RPG, with fist fights now taking place in a turn-based system with things like character classes and special attacks. It’s a stark departure from the previous entries, especially considering Like a Dragon was the eighth main installment in the Yakuza series.

Even with this radical reinvention, Like a Dragon still retains much of the style of its predecessors. Characters move around dynamically between turns, special moves require timed button presses to execute, and proper positioning during a fight enables characters to pull off improvised attacks using environmental weapons. It’s a unique marriage of action and RPG that doesn’t feel quite like anything else out there, making Like a Dragon a one-of-a-kind RPG.

While FF7 Rebirth doesn’t use a turn-based system, it is still very much an RPG, and Like a Dragon will likely feel familiar to anyone who’s spent time with the FF7 Remake trilogy. It hearkens back lovingly to the olden days of RPGs (the same days that birthed the original Final Fantasy 7), but updates the classic systems with modern sensibilities to keep things feeling fresh. Though it may be the eighth mainline Yakuza game, it’s the perfect entry point for FF7 fans to fall in love with a brand-new series.

Every Yakuza Game Is A Great Option For FF7 Rebirth Fans

There Are No Wrong Choices With Yakuza

Perhaps the best thing about the Yakuza series is how wonderfully varied and diverse each game is. There’s always something to do, whether it’s beating up thugs on the street, visiting bars and nightclubs, gambling, singing karaoke, or just hanging out in the arcade. For FF7 Rebirth fans who enjoyed seeing everything Midgar had to offer, exploring the neighborhoods in which the Yakuza games take place can offer a very similar form of enrichment.

The Yakuza series also covers a very wide range of settings and styles for players to experience. While many of the games do stay rooted in an urban Tokyo setting, the spinoff Like a Dragon: Ishin! offers a samurai story in the Edo period; the excellent sequel Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth takes Ichiban to the balmy shores of Honolulu, Hawaii, a setting sure to please those who enjoyed the atmosphere of Costa del Sol; the upcoming spinoff, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, will also let players experience a swashbuckling adventure complete with naval combat if that’s what they desire.

The term “RPG” covers a lot of ground, especially when it’s blended with action the way FF7 Rebirth and Yakuza have both done. Whether they enjoyed the tweaking of character stats and equipment, the action-packed combat, the wide array of minigames, or just the simple joy of exploring a world and finding all the secrets it has to offer, players who enjoyed their time with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth owe it to themselves to give Yakuza: Like a Dragon a shot.