Even the main story without detours and “almost no side stories” takes “about 3-4 days without sleep”, says RGG Studio’s Masayoshi Yokoyama.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s titles tend to be quite long, not counting Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the team’s next mainline title, is no exception, with Honolulu City over three times bigger than Yokohama from Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama famously said it’s the longest game in the series, but what makes it so? Speaking to Automaton-Media, he said, “First of all, the main story is long. It features two main protagonists and numerous other characters, so the amount of side stories related to each of them is considerable.”

Activities like Dondoko Island and Bucket List are also “packed with side content and substantial enough to be independent games depending on how you play them. But, on the other hand, both ‘Dondoko Island’ and ‘Bucket List’ are optional.

“After all, side stories in Like a Dragon titles have always been optional. You can progress through only the main story if you want to, and you can play the side stories to feel the volume too. This has remained unchanged with Infinite Wealth. Besides, if you attempt to clear everything, it may never end.”

Though Yakuza: Like a Dragon also takes some time to complete, Yokoyama noted that Infinite Wealth is “of much greater volume.” “Just from the debugging process, I can tell that Infinite Wealth takes ‘never-ending’ to a whole new level.”

Even if players focus on the main story, he estimates it would take “about 3-4 days without sleep” with “no detours, and almost no side stories.” Yokoyama thus advises fans to play it “bit by bit, without losing any sleep.”

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches on January 26th, 2024, for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC. It’s not coming to Game Pass, and there are currently no plans for the same.