As Kiryu ventures further into the story Like a Dragon Gaiden, he will come across a handful of menacing bosses whose only aim is to stop the undercover agent in his tracks. Luckily, Kiryu has a few new moves and tools at his disposal to make these fights easier than before. On the other hand, the bosses have also stepped up their game, become more aggressive and tactical with their attacks.
The bosses in Like a Dragon Gaiden vary drastically in their difficulty. It doesn’t matter whether they appear near the end of the game, or even in the first few hours. It’s hard to predict just how challenging these bosses are going to be, so it never hurts to do a little research on which ones are the most dangerous, and how to take them out for good.
5 Man In Hannya Mask
Move around to avoid getting staggered by heavy attacks.
While this character’s identity is revealed a little further on in the story, he’s initially known as a man sporting a Hannya Mask. This does give him a pretty intimidating appearance. He has a few tricky moves that can be hard to avoid, such as his large spin attack. The key to beating him is keeping the pressure on with fast strikes and sudden movements.
It’s extremely important to move out of the way whenever the man starts to charge up his slam attack. If it hits, this will stagger Kiryu and force him into a juggle state, which can end the fight quickly. The Yakuza Style does make the fight a bit easier, but the man will become a little more defensive when in danger. Keep piling on the pressure, and he’ll eventually be seeing stars.
4 Yuki Tsuruno
Tsuruno’s thugs make it difficult to reach the man himself.
Tsurono won’t just be fighting Kiryu on his own. He’ll have a handful of his goons to back him up, which can make the fight trick. The thugs themselves aren’t too difficult to defeat. The challenge comes from Tsuruno, who will use them as human shields while he charges up his devastating heavy weapon attacks. Going straight for the man himself is a difficult task, so it’s advised to first focus on dealing with the goons one by one with fast flurries and Kiryu’s drones before facing Tsuruno himself.
When it’s just a one-on-one fight, the encounter becomes a lot easier to manage. Tsuruno has lengthy windups for his attacks, but once he takes enough damage, he will ditch the weapons to become immensely strong for a few moments. These few seconds can make or break the fight, so it’s best to use a few health drinks and power ups.
3 Homare Nishitani (Second Fight)
Ultimate Parry and other deeper combat mechanics are essential.
Considering that Homare Nishitani has earned the title of the Patriarch of Clan Kijin, it’s obvious that getting on his bad side is a bad idea. His merciless attitude and behavior are on full display during his second boss fight. The most notable thing about Nishitani’s fighting style is how fast he is. He can evade nearly all of Kiryu’s attacks, even if he’s in the middle of a combo. He will often let out a quick lunge with his blade after dodging a move. His main tactic for the first half is to whittle down Kiryu’s health with quick and deadly jabs.
Players will need to beat Nishitani at his own game if they want to deal any damage. Quick maneuvers and light attacks are the most effective way of handling the Patirarch, but things can get a little trickier during the second phase. Once the building catches fire, Nishitani will start using his smoke bomb. This can stun Kiryu in place while Nishitani charges up an Ultimate Attack. This attack can only be avoided with a parry, but the timing for this needs to be very precise. This boss fight will severely punish the player if they don’t have good grasp of the deeper combat mechanics, and that second phase can be especially scary.
2 Homare Nishitani (Third Fight)
Players will need to get creative with their environment.
It’s hard enough dealing with Nishitani on his own, but when he’s surrounded by his loyal servants, it results in a fight that feels almost impossible to beat without a few extra health drinks. Nishitani is just as fast as he was before, but this time, he also has a small blade, which he isn’t shy about swinging around as soon as he gets in range of Kiryu. He also isn’t above cutting through his own men to reach his target, which can quickly drain Kiryu’s health bar.
As the fight goes on, Nishitani will also start using some unorthodox moves that will make him extremely hard to hit. These include spinning on the floor while holding out his blade, or letting out a giant backslash. his fight can be brutally difficult if players don’t take advantage of the weapons lying around them, such as barrels and bricks. Rather than using them to deal with the goons, players should save these weapons for later in the fight to deal some extra damage to Nishitani. Even then, it’s not guaranteed that Nishitani won’t just jump out the way and continue his assault. Players will need a lot of luck and quick thinking to finish this fight in one piece.
1 Kosei Shishido
Get in some practice and stock up on items beforehand.
While the other bosses can be staggered with enough punches, Shishido works a little differently. He has an impenetrable defense which feels like it’s specifically designed to counter everything Kiryu throws at him. That doesn’t just include punches and kicks, but grabs as well. This is only the beginning of the fight, though. Things don’t get any easier once the two reach the rooftop. Here, Shishido becomes even faster, and much more aggressive.
Even if Kiryu does somehow manage to get a hit on him, Shishido has such a staggering amount of health that he can easily brush off these attacks, making him the most formidable foe in the game. Stocking up on items beforehand is essential for this fight. It can even be worth brushing up on switching Styles and learning new moves just to have a chance of defeating Shishido. Kiryu has fought an endless number of foes in his time, but Kosei Shishido might be the toughest of them all.
