For the first time in Like a Dragon history, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth features two currencies: the Japanese yen and the American dollar. Unfortunately, the early game doesn’t give you much of either.
You start out poor in most LaD games, but forcing Ichiban to start anew on the foreign shores of Hawaii really serves to hammer in just how little he has to begin with. Luckily, like most LaD games, there are a multitude of ways to get some early-game money in your pocket.
What are the best ways to make early money in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth?
In Infinite Wealth‘s beginning hours, money will be both crucial and hard to come by—somewhat ironic, given the title of the game. Much like Ichiban Kasuga himself, however, you’ll be able to crawl up from rock bottom with a few tried-and-true moneymaking strategies.
When in doubt, scavenge
After being fired from his office job at Hello Work early in the game, Ichiban will regain the Treasure Hunt ability, which you may remember from the time he spent homeless in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Using Treasure Hunt, you can search for items under vending machines, parked cars, and dumpsters—really, anywhere you see a glowing golden circle can be investigated. The potential rewards for treasure hunting include loose pocket change, health items, and crafting materials, but if you’re really lucky, you can unearth valuable metal plates that you can sell at a pawn shop for anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. All it takes is one Platinum Plate to set you up for a while, so get out there and start digging!
The pawn shops, of which there are four in Honolulu, are valuable sources of early-game funds even if you’re not treasure hunting. You can sell virtually any item in the game there, so make sure to turn in weapons or gear you’re not using if you’re short on cash.
Hit up the local haunts
Infinite Wealth features two dungeons; vast, procedurally generated underground labyrinths stuffed with powerful enemies and valuable rewards alike. You’ll unlock the first one, the Hawaiian Haunt, through the main story not long after you arrive in Hawaii. Once you do, you’ll immediately want to spend a few hours in its dangerous depths, and the reason why is simple: dungeon progress absolutely showers you in XP and money, helping you level up your party and your wallet at the same time.
While it’s true that picking fights on the streets will also give you XP and money, dungeons have groups of enemies clustered together for your convenience, not to mention the potential for even better loot from the various chests and briefcases tucked away within.
The lower levels of the dungeon, while containing more powerful enemies, also pay out tens of thousands of dollars per fight. At first, you should only go as deep as you’re equipped to handle, but whatever your level is, very little is more lucrative than spending the odd 20 minutes in the dungeon here and there.
Take up a new hobby
There are also plenty of riches off the beaten path for those willing to look for them. While Infinite Wealth sadly doesn’t bring back Yakuza: Like a Dragon‘s highly profitable business management minigame, you can still make money and have fun doing it with the dazzling array of side content on offer.
My recommendation? Sujimon battles. In this side mode, you can assemble your own cast of bizarre creatures to climb the ranks of the so-called Sujimon League in a pretty bare-faced sendup of Pokémon—but much like Pokémon, every battle you win pays out a cash reward.
Start winning battle after battle, and you’ll quickly become unstoppable—it’s like a domino effect of money. Best of all, your Sujimon party has no connection to your main party, so there’s no need for grinding here. You can just run around, stomp other Sujimon trainers, and rake in the cash. The Sujimon League even has its own fully fleshed-out storyline, but in true LaD fashion, you can ignore that and focus on collecting fight money if you please.
With these tips and tricks, you’ll have no problem making Ichiban’s wealth infinite. If only these strategies worked in real life, you could just grind for the Deluxe Edition of the game.
