The 7 Weirdest Special Moves In Yakuza: Like A Dragon

GamesRadar

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a fresh start for a 15-year-old franchise. It's the debut for a new hero and a brand new battle system that takes a page from JRPG classics like Dragon Quest. Despite all the changes, it still holds true to Yakuza fundamentals like picking up improbable side gigs, going out to eat for every meal, and taking down hundreds of thugs in over-the-top street brawls.  In fact, Yakuza: Like a Dragon uses its new RPG chops to expand your butt-kicking possibilities in some frankly ridiculous ways. Sega recently gave us an extended look at the game's new combat system, and here are seven of the weirdest special moves that we saw.

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00:00 Yakuza Like a Dragon is a fresh start for a 15-year-old franchise. It's the debut

00:20 for a new hero and a brand new battle system that takes a page from JRPG classics like

00:26 Dragon Quest. Despite all the changes, it still holds true to Yakuza fundamentals like

00:32 picking up improbable side gigs, going out to eat for every meal, and taking down hundreds

00:37 of thugs in over-the-top street brawls. In fact, Yakuza Like a Dragon uses its new RPG

00:43 chops to expand your butt-kicking possibilities in some frankly ridiculous ways. Sega recently

00:49 gave us an extended look at the game's new combat system, and here are seven of the weirdest

00:55 special moves that we saw.

01:04 Gary "Buster" Holmes is a mountain of a man who wears wrecking balls for boxing gloves.

01:09 Usually you end up fighting him, but Yakuza Like a Dragon lets him fight for you as a

01:14 combat summon in the Poundmates app. Give him a call and he'll come to pulverise your

01:19 enemies for a nominal fee, then dip back out like he was never there. It's good to see

01:24 Gary is still getting work these days.

01:27 Your Poundmates options aren't limited to human beings, either. At some point in the

01:31 story - I'm sure this will make perfect sense in the full game - you unlock the ability

01:35 to summon Nancy-chan, the lobster. She descends into battle with a whole pod of crustaceans,

01:41 who get to work pinching your foes to oblivion. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Nancy-chan

01:45 is a poisonous lobster, leaving your opponents with a nasty status condition long after she

01:51 scuttles back home.

01:53 Each of your characters in Yakuza Like a Dragon can learn special skills from the different

01:56 jobs they take, and one of the deadliest for Saeko is the Powderpuff press. She could have

02:02 gone the obvious route and lunged straight at her foes with an eyelash curler or something

02:06 more overtly painful, but she went for the subtle power of the Powderpuff instead. Pause

02:11 concealed, pain revealed.

02:15 Another one of the moves that Saeko can pick up is the subtle art of weaponised champagne.

02:20 Not only does the initial burst of sparkling wine damage groups of enemies, somehow it

02:25 also might make them catch a cold. I don't know how she keeps the champagne chilled while

02:29 she's running around and fighting people in the street, but I wouldn't want to be

02:33 on the wrong end of that bottle.

02:35 Nanba is a homeless former nurse who saves our hero Kasuga from bleeding out in a garbage

02:41 heap early in the game, and Nanba's unique path through life has endowed him with an

02:45 equally unique set of skills. That includes taking a swig of liquor to turn his breath

02:50 into a flamethrower, not taking a swig of anything to disgust enemies with his normal

02:55 stank breath, and scattering breadcrumbs to summon a pigeon aerial assault.

03:03 Certain special moves let you combine the fighting skills of several members of your

03:07 party for an even greater impact. Nelson's strike lets Adechi hold a foe in place so

03:12 Kasuga can charge up for one big baseball bat swing straight to the head. It isn't

03:17 very sporting in either sense of the word, but it's undeniably effective.

03:22 Essence of Mayhem's in-game description calls it "a grandiose display of absurdity

03:28 that damages a single enemy", and that sounds about right. It's a rolling celebration

03:32 of each teammate's fighting skills that ends with a huge dropkick from our hero, and

03:38 it's extra powerful if all your party members have a good bond with each other, because

03:42 nothing brings the whole gang together like coordinated arse-kicking.

03:47 So those are seven of the weirdest moves in the upcoming Yakuza Like a Dragon, although

03:51 admittedly it was pretty hard to narrow it down. Let us know your personal favourite

03:56 in the comments, subscribe to GamesRadar for more gaming previews, reviews, guides and

04:00 news, and thanks for watching.

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