Summary
There is a ton of content forLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthplayers to check out, including several full-fledged games within the game that players can sink dozens of hours into without even touching the main story. One of these side activities is the Sujimon League, which sees players collect and battle their way to become the Sujimon Champion in a silly parody of the iconicPokemonfranchise. However, thePokemonreferences inLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthdon’t end with Sujimon, as another mini-game players can participate in appears to be based on a classicPokemonspin-off game.
The Sujimon League side activity inLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthis already full of cleverPokemonreferences for fans of Game Freak’s classic series to pick up on. When players first meet the Sujimon Sensei, he notes that Hawaii is the land of the sun and the moon, a reference to the fact thatPokemon Sun and Moon’s Alola Regionis based on Hawaii, and there are even more references to the series later in the game when Kasuga meets up with the Sujimon Sensei again in Hawaii. These are not the onlyPokemonreferences in the game, and players who ride the trolley inLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthare sure to discover another clearPokemonallusion.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s Sicko Snap Mini-Game Draws Heavy Inspiration from Pokemon Snap
Once players reach Chapter 3 and gain access to roam freely around the map, they might discover a substory that can be accessed by hopping onLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s trolleynear the beach. While riding the trolley, players will meet George Kuroki who teaches players about the art of Sicko Snap, a mini-game where players must take pictures of sickos in questionable outfits around Hawaii for the local police department. The premise of the mini-game is simple, and it plays out almost exactly like thePokemonseries spin-off title,Pokemon Snap.
Sicko Snap is essentially an on-rails shooter where players will need to snap photos of the sickos as they come into view while the trolley moves along its route. LikePokemon Snap, the larger the photo’s subject and the more centered they are in the frame, the better the score players will earn. There are various levels of difficulty within Sicko Snap that players will want to check out since earning Snap Points can come in handy for purchasing unique items like CDs and blueprints forLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’sAnimal Crossingmini-game, Dondoko Island.
How Sicko Snap Could Lean Even Harder into Pokemon Snap Mechanics
While it’s clear that Sicko Snap is another direct reference to thePokemonfranchise andPokemon Snap, it’s a lot less fleshed out compared to the depth of the Sujimon League. There isn’t much more to the mini-game beyond trying to capture the best shots of the sickos dressed in colors worth the most points while managing the number of shots the player has left. However, this mode could be improved by taking more pages out ofPokemon Snap’s book.
A key part ofPokemon Snapis the ability to throw certain itemsat the critters to get their attention or provoke them into acting in specific ways to improve the quality of the pictures the player takes. Sicko Snap could have done something similar by allowing players to toss items like food or money from the trolley to try and entice rarer Sickos out of hiding so they can get a better shot. At higher difficulties, Sicko Snap can get pretty tough with how quickly the window for snapping that perfect shot closes, so giving players access to more tools likePokemon Snapdoes could have improved this mini-game.
