By Kaan Serin

Documentaries chronicling game development are fantastic. Amid saturated game marketing, it is wonderful to hear directly from developers about their inspirations, struggles and creative intentions. Listening to them talk candidly, joke and share excitement serves as a great reminder that real people lie at the heart of every game — what a wild notion. Fortunately, this genre of documentary seems to be growing more common, as proven by the new Yakuza (or Like a Dragon) documentary that just premiered on YouTube.

Titled Behind The Scenes Of Like A Dragon, the documentary covers the “generational shift” at RGG Studio when production on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth kicked off in 2021. The first episode runs 20 minutes and dives deep into how RGG approached the earliest phase of development, focusing on motion capture details and all the subtle voice-over considerations that make the franchise so beloved. The Yakuza series has always held charm even in its most mundane scenes, so it is fascinating to see the thought process behind that magic. Only the first episode is out so far, and I expect new episodes of this series to release weekly.

While the series details the finer points of development, it has yet to delve deeply into the developers’ emotional journeys. The recent 32-episode Psychonauts 2 series did an incredible job exploring the office drama, heartbreak and joy that come with game development, and hopefully we will get a similar glimpse into RGG’s team.

The documentary does not reveal too much about the mysterious Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, though fans of the Japanese crime saga are not exactly starved for games right now. Like a Dragon: Ishin! was just released, and our editor Ed had a fantastic time with this 19th-century prequel. In his review, Ed wrote, “Ishin! feels the most like Yakuza 0 (my favourite), which will certainly delight long-time fans.” He went on to say, “There is no doubt its standalone nature makes it one of the strongest entry points for newcomers.” If you are among those new players, Ed elegantly answered the age-old question of where to start with the Yakuza series.