Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's new trailer has reignited hope among fans that Kiryu might one day find love - and with one particular person.
Yesterday, December 7, RGG Studio rolled out the new Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth trailer below at The Game Awards 2023. Skip to around the two minute mark, and you're in for a double whammy surprise - not only is fan-favorite Shun Akiyama apparently returning for the new game, but so too is Kaoru Sayama, one-time love interest of Kazuma Kiryu.
It's been years since we've seen Sayama in a Yakuza game. The cop played a huge role in Yakuza 2 (and Kiwami 2), and drew very close to Kiryu over the course of the game, to the point where the two were basically joined at the hip and verging on a romance. Then, in Yakuza 3, everything went sideways, and Sayama abruptly transferred overseas to America at the beginning of the game, leaving Kiryu a little in limbo.
According to the new trailer, Sayama is back in Infinite Wealth. As the post below, there's still hope for Kiryu after all! "KIRYU SHE'S WAITING FOR THE RING GODDAMMIT DO IT" writes the top-voted Reddit comment under the post. "MARRY HER PLEASE KIRYU PLEASEEEE I BEG YOU DESERVE HAPPINESS" adds another similarly intense comment.
[Name redacted for Spoilers] There's still hope! from r/yakuzagames
What's odd about the entire thing is how Sayama's looking at her ring finger when she says "maybe a part of me is still waiting for him," before the trailer cuts to Kiryu in a bucket hat. Perhaps Sayama is alluding to how she never got married because she was waiting for Kiryu to propose?
As it happens, Infinite Wealth is set in Hawaii, so Kiryu could easily, in theory, come into contact with Sayama if she's still in America. RGG Studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama previously said Infinite Wealth was the longest Yakuza game to date, and it might need to be if we've got to cover the topics of Kiryu, lost love, and a delayed marriage.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is out on January 26, 2024, across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox systems.
Read up on our full Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth preview for what we made of the whacky RPG when we played it for ourselves.
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