Infinite Wealth’s Attempt at Romance (and Its Implications)
Note: I recently uploaded a video to my YouTube channel that actually touches and expands on this article’s topics. If you liked this, consider checking out my video here.
Around the time when Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was first being announced, there was a preview they showed that included some rather eyebrow-raising information: that Ichiban proposed to Saeko, and she turned him down. I admit that at first, the idea worried me; it sounded like this was their excuse to write Saeko out of the game, and maybe the series as a whole. Thankfully, that soon proved not to be the case, but I still remained curious about how Like a Dragon was going to handle this little plotline, since they’ve generally exhibited a kind of aversion to any kind of serious romance story in prior games.
Well, after spending seventy or so hours finishing up Infinite Wealth, the romance between the two ended the way I pretty much assumed it would: somewhat open-ended, though positively enough that it doesn’t leave you totally unsatisfied. To be honest, I didn’t love this little subplot (though it was thankfully a very minor part of the story, and still worthy of a bunch of laughs), but the outcome was probably the best I could expect from a series like this. Like a Dragon has never had a stellar track record when it comes to romance, and disasters like Kiryu’s relationship with Kaoru Sayama (which went from a passionate makeout session in 2 to a detached farewell in 3) made it pretty clear to fans not to expect much from the franchise when it comes to romance.
So it goes for Ichiban and Saeko. I never really expected RGG Studio to actually have the two get together, but I’m sure a lot of people were, and in my opinion the developers have really put themselves in a corner here. While they managed to avoid coming to a conclusion this time around, they can’t put it off forever. Either they’re together or they’re not, and short of pissing everyone off by trying to write it off in 9 they’ll have to make a decision one way or another, which opens a whole other can of worms. It’s not something I’d usually worry about with other franchises, but considering the series’ usual approach to romance, I’m honestly curious to see how Like a Dragon plans to deal with it.
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Having said that, I honestly doubt that they’ll end up not getting together. Ichiban has put so much effort into this romance that it not working out for whatever reason would just put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, regardless of what they felt about the romance itself. Discarding this love story completely would also make everyone question why they even bothered putting it in the game in the first place if they were just going to dismiss it later. It’d probably de-legitimize every future romance story too, since the players would just assume it’ll be ignored or tossed away later.
Even so, having the two be in a committed relationship comes with its own share of problems. For one, this makes Ichiban partaking in the raunchier mini-games a little weird. There’s always been at least one or two of these per game, and they’re essentially a staple of the franchise at this point. It would be odd for the games to not have them, yet it would be even odder for Ichiban to indulge in them when he’s in a committed relationship. Not only would it be out of character for him, it would make him kind of a scumbag either way.
Yeah, I know not every LaD game has these lewd mini-games-in fact, Ichiban’s first game didn’t have them at all-but RGG Studio loves them hostess clubs and dating games way too much to do away with them completely. Like I said, they’re a staple, and if Ichiban being committed would make it hard to implement them, they’re incentivized to keep him as single as possible. As much as I would like them to make the sacrifice for the sake of Ichiban’s character, I doubt they ever would.
I also wonder how RGG Studio plans to deal with a protagonist that is in a committed relationship from the outset, if they actually do get together in the first place. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but RGG has always had a certain tone and mentality when it comes to writing their characters and monogamous relationships don’t exactly jibe with that. Considering how the only successful romances we ever see are either offscreen or in side stories, it doesn’t really inspire confidence that they’d take that route.
Still, I’d love to see them at least try. I suppose the whole point of this article is that the most interesting thing about Infinite Wealth’s romance subplot is how RGG Studio plans to handle it. It’s the first time they’ve swerved into romance rather than out of it, and I really do not know what the end result will be. Hopefully, it’ll be a happy ending for Ichiban and Saeko, but I won’t be holding my breath for it either. This is one situation where only time will tell, as we’re genuinely in unexplored territory for the Like a Dragon series.
Originally published at http://talesfromsquareone.wordpress.com on March 8, 2024.
