Like my Gaiden review from last year, I will be keeping this as spoiler-free as possible. However, unlike Gaiden, there will be some areas where the spoilers will be impossible to avoid. Spoiler warnings will be given in advance for those who may want to play this game blind. Now without further ado, sit down, strap in and get ready for a journey that’s as long as Ichiban’s flight to Hawaii.  

Hawaiian Roller-coaster Ride

It’s funny, had you told me a year ago that I would be sitting here talking about a game series that quickly shot to my top five, I would have laughed at you. I even would have told you there’s never a chance you’d see me doing reviews. Yet here we are, two Like A Dragon games later and I have no intention of stopping now. Like A Dragon is love, Like A Dragon is life.

Before even starting Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, I knew it was going to be a long and stacked play-through. But I didn’t care! We had Kazuma Kiryu back as a protagonist alongside Kasuga Ichiban. I knew it was going to be a rollercoaster of emotions. Little did I know how emotional it would get. Given RGG’s past works I shouldn’t have been surprised.  

For both long-time fans of the series and those who may have just jumped in around the time of Like A Dragon’s release, this game is fundamentally more of the same but with some absolutely fantastic QOL changes. For long-time fans, it’s a perfect send-off for Kiryu and the many fan-favourite characters that make appearances throughout the game.

To all the dragons I liked before

As much as I want to gush about Infinite Wealth’s story and the twists and turns it’s taken, I don’t want to get too into spoiler territory. I will say this though, the story up until Chapter 12 is fantastic and the plot points kept me guessing at times where they were planning on going with it(well except for one or two of the bigger twists, GamEir’s Horror Queen got theories on those only a couple of hours into the game, and the bigger of the two sadly ended up being correct).

Once chapter 12 hits the story starts to speed up a bit and not in a good way. Again without going too much into spoiler territory, all I will say is that the last two bosses and quite a portion of the ending felt rushed. Honestly, it felt like a slap to the face with the build-up that came before it, especially Kiryu’s bucket list. There were also some insanely late-game moments shown in trailers which disappointed me as well, with the Shark Boss not appearing until the final chapter and even part of the ending being shown. 

Saying that about the last few chapters though there were some fantastic moments. The main highlights include the boss for Chapter 12( the best boss theme in Yakuza, not just Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth in my opinion) to a moment in the final chapter. I won’t spoil what the moment was obviously, but it was good to hear Receive You play even if the moment itself was short-lived, luckily, we get to hear it even more in a remix during the final boss build-up/labyrinth.

Tonight Ichiban, we party like dragons! 

For the first time, I took part in none of the gambling mini-games. Be it Poker, Blackjack, oicho-kabu, Koi Koi etc. Now saying that, typically, I would hold on until I either had some cheat items or until I had the money necessary to grind out the completion points. Though like the previous LAD none of them are needed outside of 100% completion.  

“Fun” Minigames: 

With a lot of the smaller minigames that have been staples in the series since its inception it has always been good to see that “Club Sega” sign and know that you were either going to be tearing your hair out in the next five minutes because you’re like Squidward with the UFO catchers or you were going to be dominating AI in the likes of Virtua fighter. That’s been changed in Infinite Wealth to mirror the real-life rebranding with them now being called Club GiGo.

Just know, as soon as you walk in to give the new minigames a try, you’re going to be there for a while. The new mini-games added to Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth are some of the most awkward and painful added to the series. Well, next to boxcelios anyway. They actually left me longing for Mahjong. Luckily, these games do not need to be completed for the platinum trophy. But God, I wish I had known that before-hand.  

Aloha Madness

There are also new additions, such as the Crazy Taxi-esque Crazy Eats which sees Ichiban delivering food as fast and as stylishly as possible. Then there’s Sicko Snap which, well I’m sure you can imagine just what THAT entails. Both serve a similar role as can collectors from LAD and so follow a pattern of having course-based difficulties.

Club MeGo Gaga

Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth is the first time we see new UFO catchers. These ones are different, in the sense that they are a box sitting between two parallel bars. And let me tell you, it took me over an hour just to get two of the three pocket circuit racing cars available through the machine. That said, I didn’t need them for anything. I wanted them for completionist’s sake. The old UFO catchers still exist though and luckily, they’ve been made easier to win. Well, that or I’ve just had a lot of practice over nine games.  

Regarding the other minigames you’re going to find in Club GiGO, they are all new ones! Making their first appearances in a Yakuza/LAD game we have:

• Virtua Fighter 3TB
• SpikeOut
• Sega Bass Fishing

Honestly, I completed each of these on easy (they aren’t) and still struggled for at least an hour on each one. To only then find out that none of them were needed for anything beyond some completion points. I will admit, while I was not too happy about that I was a lot happier knowing that these weren’t old enough to make an appearance in the likes of Yakuza 0 with its 100% completion list.  

Clubs, Bats and Balls take flight!

If arcades and arcade-style games aren’t your thing though there is also:

• Baseball
• Darts
• Golf

Honestly, Darts and Golf feel just as good as they did in Gaiden. Once again, I found myself going back to some of the minigames in this far more often than others. Golf and Darts ended up being personal favourites though. Baseball is another returning mini-game to Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth. On one hand, I am glad to see it make a return as the newer variation of baseball is quite a bit better than the original. On the other, the original baseball mechanics combined with the equally insane completion points (hello there Yakuza 3) have turned me off/burned me out on baseball. 

Karaoke has returned in Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth: 

Once again, I will say karaoke is the greatest mini-game in the entirety of the Yakuza/LAD series. This is a hill I will once again die on. The gameplay is the same rhythm-style gameplay you’ve come to know and love. And now there’s an even bigger selection of songs/characters to sing this time. Unlike the last few LAD games though I found myself putting off karaoke quite late into my playthrough. You know what they say, if you’re not Kiryu are you truly the dame da ne-est of them all?

Admittedly, I found this to be one of the weaker entries in regard to the karaoke mini-game. It’s not due to song choice, though. Rather, the mixing on the non-singing characters that you do back-up for seems to be skewed more towards the backup sound effects being louder than the singing voice. This hurt most during Judgment-Shinpan, as we finally had a return to the Nishiki/Kiryu duo that was originally in Yakuza 0. I will admit I still teared up as soon as they started singing together though. 

Now if you’re looking for a whole slew of new songs, I’m sorry to say that isn’t the case. Well, for the most part anyway. If you’re happy with some repeats from older games like Machine Gun Kiss or Baka Mitai you’re in for a treat. If you’re looking for something new, you’ll be in for a treat there too! We have a few new songs to choose from depending on the character. My personal favourite going to Kiryu’s Baka Darou. I would also like to give a shout-out to Seonhee’s version of Like A Butterfly. While not as good as Akame’s from Gaiden, in my opinion, it’s still close to it. 

Darwin’s Cockfighting 

Ahh Sujimon. Never did I think I’d see a Pokémon spin-off in a LAD game. But here we are. Creeps, pervs and thugs acting and being used like Pokémon albeit on a less grand scale. Honestly, I don’t know where to start with the madness that is Sujimon without giving the entire storyline away. I will say that they leaned hard to the idea/aspect of Pokémon. While I didn’t spend a huge amount of time at it thanks to the ultimate edition boosters, and an insanely lucky early game Sujimon Gacha draw dropping me a legendary Sujimon it became a cakewalk very early, very fast.

Whatever you do though, don’t make the mistake I did and continue the storyline once you hit the champion. The jump in levels is a bit bigger than expected. Given all of that though it made for a welcome change of pace to the standard coliseum I’ve come to know from the series. I cannot wait to see where they go with this heading forward. Especially given how it’s tied into the enemy system of the game similar to how it was in Yakuza: LAD.  

Ballroom Blitz 

Ever since the original trailer for Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth dropped, I’ve been curious as to how they’d implement Kiryu’s combat style to Ichiban JRPG gameplay. And they have done it perfectly. For those who know Ichiban’s reasoning for fighting enemies in a turn-based fashion, you possibly had the same worry as me. Thankfully, there’s no reason to worry. While Kiryu himself does take part in the turn-based action, the Dragon of Dojima himself has a skill that allows him to break typical JRPG rules. This allows you to beat enemies up with combat like in previous games, being very similar to the extreme heat mode that made an appearance in Kiwami 2 and 6.  

That isn’t the biggest change they’ve made to the combat in Infinite Wealth. The bigger changes come in the new QOL changes and other implementations. Such as being able to move your party members within a certain range on the battlefield. While that may sound rudimentary change it can often mean the difference between surviving a big attack and seeing the game over screen. Or even taking down a boss with no issues thanks to the new proximity attacks.

The new combat system looks at distance from the enemy as well as the layout of your party. For the most damage, you want to be as close as possible before choosing to attack for a proximity bonus. Depending on the party member you’re playing as, that can mean the difference between a hit combo or a wide-sweeping move hitting multiple enemies in a singular attack. Like proximity bonuses, there are also back attacks which work in the same fashion. These have a higher damage roll and higher crit chance (possibly) but that could be just me seeing things.  

Quit your jibber jobber

Jobs have returned in Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, but this time with a couple of new ones based on Hawaiian culture. like the Pyro-dancer/Geo-dancer and Western culture like the Desperado and Aquanaut. Now that’s not to say the new jobs aren’t the only jobs available in the game no, far from it. Any fans of the previous LAD will be happy to see the return of most of the jobs in Infinite Wealth. The only ones not returning are the Enforcer and DLC jobs. Personally, I cannot comment on the other jobs outside of the standard job each character starts off with. However, changing jobs doesn’t appear until Chapter 5. If you’re anything like me at that point you’ll easily be close to 50 hours in from doing everything.  

Saying that even unlocking the jobs can be tricky at first. This is due to the pricing on each course for the point in the game at which you can finally change jobs. It is a good idea to swap to each of the jobs when you finally unlock them. This allows you to unlock more skills for use with your main job, through the new skill inheritance system.

Anyone who’s played Yakuza LAD will have a basic idea as to what the skill inheritance mechanic is. Unlike its predecessor, any skills unlocked can be combined with any job through skill inheritance. This gives you more freedom to build the perfect team. The only downside to this new system is it depends heavily on the returning bond system. The entire inheritance tree is locked behind certain bond thresholds, with the final slot being opened at bond level 100.  

Dragons Crossing Infinite Horizons

Before starting up Dondoko Island, I had never really played an Animal Crossing-style game. The closest I ever really got is Viva Pinata but that’s a different topic of a game altogether. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to hit Dondoko at first though. Sadly the excitement wasn’t to last (not totally at least). Dondoko Island doesn’t come into play until Chapter 6. This isn’t surprising, however. The rest of the series was also skewed towards having the money-making minigames/side content be at the mid-point of the game. Prime examples are the cabaret and real estate businesses from Yakuza 0.

Now, there is a story about Dondoko Island. You must get the resort to the highest rank possible In this game, that’s 5 stars. Thankfully, it is a lot easier than it sounds, especially if you have the Ultimate Edition (thanks again RGG/Sega!). For those who’ve played Animal Crossing, you already know how this part of the game goes. For those who haven’t, here’s a quick run-down.

Dondoko Island is an island resort that is currently being used as a dump. It’s up to you to return it to its former glory by cleaning, farming, building, and looking after guests. You must also take on a local pirate crew, who are the ones responsible for all the dumping, causing Dondokos issues and ultimately the main plot point of the side story.  

Dondoko is never done-doko

Before starting off at Dondoko I thought it would probably take a few hours at least to complete. Little did I know, I’d still be there 44 in-game days later. Each day equates to 15 minutes in real life. Eventually, I decided to leave to continue the main story. At that point, an entire fifth of my playtime(about 12/13 hours) with the game had been sucked in with the multitude of things to do on Dondoko. This was all while trying to make the best resort I could.

I sadly didn’t end up doing much with Dondoko after leaving it to continue the main story, outside of cleaning up my island a little bit more to make it more appealing, and a little bit of online so I could get the Seonhee Simp tag(Seonhee is best girl in Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, fight me). I did return once more after finishing the story but that was simply for a trophy I didn’t get during my original time with it, maybe on one of my NG+ play-throughs I’ll get properly hooked who knows?

An Infinite End, maybe?

While Kiryu doesn’t have a money-making scheme like Ichiban with Dondoko Island what he does have is his Bucket List. This is headed up by another character. I won’t say who but if you’re a longtime fan of the series it should be obvious who it is. I won’t get into too much detail about the bucket list, but I will say that RGG’s writing is some of its strongest here. The choices for returning characters, for the most part, were obvious. This is thanks to how close some people were with Kiryu. Especially due to his near-constant protection of Kamurocho and some other places he’s lived over the saga that is Yakuza.

The memories and feelings that these people share with the character heading up the Bucket List and the fact that none of them believe Kiryu to be dead, drove home the idea that Kiryu is more than just a man. The legacy he has left behind has touched far more people than he realised, which is shown a few times with his reactions to some of the things the returning characters say about him. While some characters had some fantastic life links like Akiyama and Kaoru, the other characters who appear that weren’t revealed in a prior trailer were where the writing for the Bucket List was truly at its best.

Conclusion

Overall, Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth is easily one of the most packed Yakuza/Like A Dragon games and with good reason! RGG have once again outdone themselves with the over-the-top madness I’ve come to expect. Between the absolutely absurd minigames and the rollercoaster that were the sub-stories,I am even more excited to see where Ichibans story is brought in the future. Especially when RGG’s writing just seems to get better with every game. Even with the issues I personally had with some of Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth’s plot points.

The fall of Yakuza’s past and the rise of the dragon’s future

Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth is a fantastic love letter and send-off (I hope) to Kiryu Kazama and the “past” of the Yakuza, while also passing the torch on to Ichiban and the new status quo for the Like A Dragon series going forward in the West. And I for one welcome it. GIVE ME ALL THE TURN BASED JRPG Like A Dragon!

Similarly, to Like A Dragon Gaiden, I do think that Takaya Kuroda is criminally underrated as a VA. He deserves a lot more praise than what he gets. It’s hard to say whether we’ll see him in the series again as Kiryu. But I would not be angry if we don’t see him as a playable character/main protagonist/integral character in a mainline Like A Dragon game again. He deserves rest and happiness, even though after finishing the game it doesn’t feel like that will necessarily happen.

A not so perfect send-off

Overall, Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth is not a perfect outing from RGG, but still one of the better games in the Yakuza/Like A Dragon from a content/minigame standpoint. The story begins to weaken late game and feels almost rushed. Especially when compared to some of the fantastically written sub-stories. Let It Snow is a personal favourite. That’s not to say that I’m not looking forward to the next game in the series though. I’m excited to see where the series goes in the future, and I can’t wait to laugh, cry, scream and shout my way through whatever RGG might plan. Maybe I’ll just go back to Dead Souls to tide me over for a little while, remake/remaster when RGG?  

Stay tuned to GamEir. Come talk with us on X (@gam_eir), Facebook (@GamEir), and Instagram (@GamEir). 

I promise we’re nice! Keep up with our streams over on Twitch (GamEir) and our videos on YouTube (GamEir) and we’ll give you all the latest content. 

The post Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth: A wealth of substance over style. appeared first on GamEir.

Hello everybody, it’s been a little while since my last review and what an absolute masterpiece to return with! First and foremost, I would like to give Graham and the rest of the GamEir guys a massive thank you for allowing me the honour to review my GOTY for 2023. That’s right. The newest instalment of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series, Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. And this will be spoiler free of course.    

A Joryuney a year in the making

I’m coming hot off the heels of a year-long playthrough, or should I say plat-through of the Yakuza series (excluding spin-offs). I couldn’t wait to see where Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio moved the story forward with Like A Dragon Gaiden. You know, it’s funny. Going into it, I was expecting a shorter experience. Less to do overall, especially in comparison to the older games.

More of a DLC-style game of sorts. However, what I ended up getting was something more akin to Yakuza 6. While not as wholly fleshed out as previous entries, it still delivers a solid Yakuza/Like A Dragon experience. Now saying that, the platinum trophy process doesn’t feel as fleshed out or bloated as prior games. (Definitely not looking at you Yakuza 5). Everything else from the music, combat and the characters more than make up for its shortcomings.  

For both long-time fans of the series and those who dropped off around the time of Like A Dragon’s release due to the shift in gameplay, this game is basically a love letter. At the same time, it’s a perfect send off for Kiryu. It also has the more action/brawler-oriented combat the Yakuza series is known for. This while also tying back into Like A Dragon’s story, and setting up Infinite Wealth perfectly.  

To all the dragons I liked before

As much as I would love to talk about how much of a masterpiece the story is and how beautiful the ending was in any sort of detail, I refuse to spoil it on anyone. Well, except for GamEir’s resident Horror Queen. She’s been on the receiving end of many a late-night text message about theories I’ve had or in-game reveals. Typically something like “OH MY GOD THIS GUY JUST REVEALED THIS” or “I WAS RIGHT/WRONG”.  

Like A Dragon Gaiden is a love letter to the games that came before. While heavily evident in the story throughout, the different themes and recurring characters, there’s no better way to truly get into Yakuza insanity than the mini games.  

Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who lost his sanity?

Pocket Circuit:

LAD Gaiden saw the return of Pocket Circuit. This hasn’t been seen in the mainline Yakuza games since Kiwami and it felt good to have it back. Now, I know it may seem counterintuitive to some but after going through Pocket Circuit… I can safely say it feels nearly the exact same as the Pocket Circuit from 0 and Kiwami, albeit a bit more RNG dependent.

That’s not to say they haven’t made new additions in Like A Dragon Gaiden though. With the inclusion of Time Trials and Rivals, the first time I sat down with pocket circuit I ended up losing a few hours just building, customising, testing, racing. And I’d happily do it again!

Another nice change of pace was the fact that full completion was not needed for the platinum trophy. Even with that being the case, I still recommend finishing all of the races and rivals. The end scene alone is worth it. If you’re having difficulty with any race, there are many guide builds that will help you! Soon enough, you’ll be zooming around the track like the mad drag-on that you are. 

Dragon Bluffs and Dragon folds

Gambling Minigames:

As much as I’d like to go on about all the minigames individually equally, they aren’t all created equal. This is where the gambling mini games like to rear their ugly heads. From Mahjong to Black Jack there’s a small but solid gambling base for those who are good at it. It’s a great way to do some early game money grinding! That said, I’d recommend waiting until the coliseum in chapter 3 for that.  

“Fun” Minigames:

In regards to the other “smaller” minigames that aren’t the likes of Pocket Circuit, you’ve got some old Yakuza staples. Virtua Fighter and the UFO Crane make a return. However, we’ve also got some new ones! In chapter 3 , you can access the Sega Master System, which you can find the roms for all around Sotenbori. Sega arcade makes an appearance with Sonic The Fighters, Fighting Vipers 2, Motor Raid and Sega Racing Classic 2.

If arcades and arcade style games aren’t your thing though there is also Billiards, Darts and Golf for you to take a swing at! Honestly, they’ve never felt better to play than they have in Gaiden. Usually with a lot of the minigames, I used to do them one and done once the completion points were hit. But this time, I found myself going back to some of the minigames in this far more often than others. Golf and Billiards ended up being personal favourites though. However, Billiards skill challenges were rougher than any of the other minigames. Except Mahjong, but that’s a whole other game of tiles.  

Tonight, we party like a dragon

Karaoke:

Karaoke is the greatest mini game in the entirety of the Yakuza series and this is a hill I will die on. The actual gameplay itself is pretty much the exact same as we’ve seen from Kiwami 1, 2, Song Of Life and Like A Dragon. Though it’s clearly been tweaked for the better input timing. The thing with Karaoke in any of the Yakuza games though is as soon as I get the chance to be the dame da ne-ist of all I will make sure I am, every single time.

Now if you’re looking for a whole slew of new songs, I’m sorry to say that isn’t the case. If you’ve played through the other games including (Ishin!) you should recognise 5 of the 6 songs. Song 6 is the only new song. I’m not going to list the songs here for sake of spoilers, but just know there are 2 returning karaoke staples for longtime Yakuza fans. 

Girls, Girls, Girls

Cabaret Club:

Myself and the Cabaret Club minigame have had a rocky relationship since I played Yakuza 0. That’s not through fault of trying to enjoy it. But when the completion process typically entailed maxing out affection with close to 10 girls each time, it took its toll very fast. Now, I’m happy to say the completion process has been made far smoother/easier with Gaiden. Overall, it has become more enjoyable. At the same time, the live action sequences themselves can come across as awkward, repetitive and cheesy. Especially if you’re as awful as I am when talking to the hostesses.

As weird as the live action scenes were, when the girls acted well, you felt like it was an actual hostess. This gave the minigame a lot more enjoyment. But at the same time, when the girls were clearly feeling a bit awkward or the dialogue was cheesy I couldn’t help but laugh at it.

I will say though, for my overall enjoyment with the minigame it can get very grating. Especially if you’re not using a guide and must re-watch the same scenes over and over. I can still hear “Kanpai, cheers!” every time I close my eyes… If you know, you know. 

Punch-Drunk Love

Coliseum:

Ahh the Coliseum, another staple from the series I have had a love-hate relationship with due to its completion processes. (Yakuza 5 I’m looking at you again). But honestly, this was easily the best Coliseum out of them all. Even if it has got an awful completion process like its predecessors.

Now sadly, the coliseum can still be a slog. But now with the addition of team rumble modes, and the fact that every character is controllable in some way adds a whole lot of experimentation with different teams and even solo fighters.

The biggest issue with the Coliseum though is the fact that it needs to be finished if you want to fight this game’s secret boss: Amon. Given how much harder that is to do in the other games, it’s not all that bad in the end. Even if you don’t want to fight Amon, I would highly recommend going through the entire Coliseum for the last tournament alone. Trust me, it’s worth it.  

Gaiden platinum hunters.

Platinum/Completion Tips:

Now I know this isn’t typically done in a review, but platinum trophies are my thing. With Like A Dragon Gaiden being an all-around easier platinum like Yakuza 6 it makes a good starting point for getting the platinum trophies or even the 1000g/100% scores on Xbox/Steam. If you’re like me too you’ll be doing everything as you go so here are some tips I wish I had known when I started. 

• The golden ball collectible set cannot be finished until chapter 4 but only one is needed for the platinum. 
• 49 of the locker keys (yes, the locker keys are back) are obtainable in chapter 2 but only 30 are needed for the trophy. If you want all 50 the last key is at the start of chapter 3 
• Get the contacts from the black market asap – they mark keys on the map. 
• Get the Eye of The Dragon gem asap as well, it nets you small amount extra Akame Points whenever you gain some 
• Invest in Akame’s network early as it will also increase the amount of points you can gain.  
• Farm the agent gadget uses to get new gadgets. They aren’t awful to grind out, but it saves a bit of time in the long run. 

An Emotional End

Conclusion:

All in all, Like A Dragon Gaiden is a fantastic love letter to not just the series prior to it but to the fans as well. The amount of references and recurring characters often had me grinning from ear to ear (many times I found myself going “hey, it’s“) and when it didn’t have me grinning it destroyed me.

Takaya Kuroda deserves an award for his acting in the ending scene alone honestly, and that is another hill I will die on even though don’t want to get into too much detail due to spoilers, nothing has truly made me weep uncontrollably like that since I watched Clannad: After Story 10 years ago (if you know, you know).

Overall, while not a perfect outing from RGG, it is still one of the best games in the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series and has left me even more hungry for Infinite Wealth on January 26th! 

Stay tuned to GamEir. Come talk with us on Twitter (@gam_eir), Facebook (@GamEir), and Instagram (@GamEir).

I promise we’re nice! Keep up with our streams over on Twitch (GamEir) and our videos on YouTube (GamEir) and we’ll give you all the latest content.

The post Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name but not this review appeared first on GamEir.

2022-02-21

A new year has come and with it a new member to GamEir! I won’t go into too much detail here. My name is Jack and I am delighted to be starting off my time with GamEir with a review of Rainbow Six Extraction. Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, and published by Ubisoft, Rainbow Six Extraction is a new game in the Rainbow Six Franchise. While Extraction may be a spin-off that came about thanks to the limited time event Siege had in 2018 called Outbreak, it isn’t without its own new ideas and mechanics but we’ll touch a little more on that later in the review.

Starting off Rainbow Six Extraction I was expecting it to be similar to its predecessor Rainbow Six Siege with some inspiration taken from the likes of Left 4 Dead and by extension Back 4 Blood. While my expectations weren’t too far off the mark in what my experience with Extraction was going to be like, they don’t quite fully hit the mark either and that isn’t necessarily for the best.

Day Zero: Invasion

Starting up Extraction before you’re even at the main menu of the game you’re thrown into a cut-scene giving you a fairly basic set-up to the premise of the game.

A race of Aliens called the Archaens attack the earth(even though all we’re shown in detail is New York City) with a weaponized parasite called Chimera. However, a new team called REACT has been set up to tackle this new threat. Now, fans of Siege will recognize some of the operators in this cut-scene, namely Ash, Mira and Thermite. Although, they aren’t the only ones you may recognize when it comes down to choosing your operator later on.

While I was hoping for more of a story heading into the game, its plot is very bare-bones. There are about 11 or so minutes worth of cut-scenes, (including the intro and the tutorial debrief) spread throughout the game. While to some that may not be a terrible thing, the premise that Ubisoft has gone for screams for something a bit more epic to go down. Ultimately it feels squandered here.

Inspiration from greatness doesn’t always equal greatness.

Jumping into my first incursion I could tell my expectations, while not completely off the mark, were going to be sideswiped by the first few enemies alone. Extraction, while taking some inspiration from games like Left 4 Dead, goes for a slow and tactical game-play style to get through the objectives.

Going into incursions guns blazing at any stage is going to get you killed within seconds if you’re not careful. Even the most basic of mobs can kill you within only a few attacks. That’s not to say it’s unfair in its difficulty though, as that will mainly come down to you and your teammates.

While the game itself looks absolutely stunning on the PS5, it’s definitely a case of more style over substance. In total, there are 13 objectives throughout the game, with each area having 3 objectives at a time. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to get used to doing those 13 over and over again. As a platinum hunter, I do enjoy a good trophy grind. As monotonous as they can be. But there are only so many times you can do the same objectives over and over again. This is made more apparent in-game as the only variation is the procedurally generated enemy and objective locations.

Repetition thy name is Extraction

The game-play and mechanics aren’t completely without hope though, as there are the added real stakes with the new MIA system. This ties into one of the games’ 13 objectives. If an operator goes down in the middle of an incursion they will become unplayable and labelled as MIA. It is possible to rescue them during another incursion. But to do so is one of the more frustrating objectives of the game. Teammates must carry the operator to an extraction point in that same incursion to achieve a rescue.

Is it a saving grace for the lacklustre amount of objectives in the game in comparison to how often the other 12 will repeat? No. But it does add that little bit of urgency to the game when played with friends. One wrong move and all 3 of you could easily lose an operator each. However, depending on if you’ve worked on other operators load-outs or not it can be easier said than done to rescue them.

Rainbow Six Extraction is a weird offshoot with some fantastic ideas. More often than not, however, it fails to hit those ideas home. It’s an ambitious game, but at its core ends up being too repetitive to stand toe to toe with some of its peers. If you’re a big fan of Siege, you may end up enjoying the change of pace Extraction brings to the table. But at the same time, it’s different enough to the point that hardcore Rainbow Six and possibly by extension Tom Clancy game fans may feel alienated.

To buy or not to buy, that is the question.

Would I recommend buying it? No. But if you’re a fan of Siege or co-operative shooters and you have some friends who’d be interested in playing it I’d recommend downloading it through Game-Pass instead. If you’re on PlayStation, I would recommend waiting for it to inevitably go on sale. If you’re a trophy hunter of any kind, I would steer clear. The trophy list itself contains a few trophies with some insanely silly prerequisites to unlock. For example, the Proud Papa trophy requires you to get all 18 operators to level 10.

Rainbow Six Extraction makes for a fun time with friends if you’re looking for something a bit more tactically involved. However, its repetitiveness and terrible grind let it down and more than likely it will wear on you over time.

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