When Can You Fully Explore the Open World in Like a Dragon Gaiden?

Similarly to previous entries, Like a Dragon Gaiden offers players the chance to fully explore its open world —but there are some restrictions.

Often in the Yakuza franchise, players don’t immediately get the chance to explore the main areas in each game. This fact hasn’t changed in Like a Dragon Gaiden, forcing players to complete some major story events before they get the chance to explore in full. The structure of Gaiden’s open world is a bit different from other games, though, which might leave fans confused even by the time they beat the main story.

When Players Can Fully Explore the Open World in Like a Dragon Gaiden

Though players get a taste of exploration as soon as chapter 1, the game only really opens up at the start of Chapter 2. This isn’t very far into the game, but it’ll take quite a bit of time for players to reach this point regardless. Once they do, they’ll get access to many activities immediately — including karaoke — but other pieces of side content won’t come until later. Access to other open areas, such as the Castle, will only be available later in Chapter 2, with a couple of main story beats being required first.

During chapter 1, players will also get the chance to roam around in a portioned-off section of Yokohama from Yakuza: Like a Dragon. This location is inaccessible after chapter 1, but players can return to it by using a taxi after completing the main story, which will unlock Premium Adventure. This will let them return to the area to discover anything they might’ve missed, but the area will still only cover a minimal portion of its original size.

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There are a few other story events in the game that will block access to already-unlocked areas. You’ll usually get a warning when this happens, so pay attention whenever the story might take a particularly nasty turn. If you just want to focus on Kiryu’s story, you can always wait until Premium Adventure for unrestricted access to the entirety of Like a Dragon Gaiden’s setting!