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Yakuza: Like A Dragon Poundmates guide - how to unlock all the summons

by George Foster on 10 November, 2020

As you would expect in a full-blown RPG, Yakuza: Like A Dragon features summons that can help out in battle. Since Like A Dragon is first and foremost a Yakuza game, they’re done in an extremely over-the-top and hilarious way. 

The first thing to note is that Like A Dragon never actually calls them summons. Instead, they’re referred to as Poundmates (no, really), although their basic function is the same. You won’t see Poundmates appear until Chapter 4, where you’ll encounter a mandatory sub-story called A Trip to Pound Town which will unlock the mechanic and give you your first Poundmate, Gary Buster Holmes.

From there, story progression and side content will reward you additional Poundmates that you can summon to your side in battle. On this page, we list all summons, what they do, and how to unlock them.

 

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon Summons - how to unlock all Poundmates summon assists

When a Poundmate is summoned, they function much the same as summon monster attacks in other popular RPGs. When summoned, you'll get a quick cutscene showing off your chosen Poundmate in all their glory, before they cast an effect and leave. You can skip the cutscenes later on.

Every Poundmates summon has different side effects, too. Some cause massive damage, some poison enemies or inflict other negative status effects, while others buff or restore HP and MP to the team. Yakuza: Like a Dragon isn't a particularly tough game, but towards the end of the campaign and beyond you’re definitely going to want to make use of summons as much as possible. 

It’s also important to note that some Poundmates have different conditions attached to them, like only being available at night or only attacking humans. There are also some battles that won’t let you use them at all, so plan accordingly. We list these below, where applicable.

To unlock all of the Poundmates available to you, you’ll need to get to Chapter 13 and have completed a bunch of different sub-stories. The complete list of Poundmates, how to unlock them and their costs are below. Please be aware that some of the later Poundmates are in themselves story spoilers, so this page will feature some spoilers.

Gary Buster Holmes

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story “A Trip To Pound Town” in Chapter 4 
  • Fee: 10,000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage to multiple enemies, stun chance
  • Summoning Condition: None

Patriarch Gondahara

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Baby Don't Cry" in Chapter 4
  • Fee: 5000 Yen
  • Effect: Attack and Defense decreased for enemies
  • Summoning Condition: Night-time only

Tosanoyama

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Persimmon Premonition" in Chapter 4
  • Fee: 6000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage to multiple enemies, chance to decrease hit rate
  • Summoning Condition: None

Omelette

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Ijincho's Safety" Net in Chapter 5
  • Fee: 60,000 Yen
  • Effect: HP or MP recovery for the Party 
  • Summoning Condition: Day-time only

Nancy

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Crawfish Caper" in Chapter 5 
  • Fee: 1000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage and chance of poison to enemies 
  • Summoning Condition: Only against humans

Shirakawa

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "A Love Worth Fighting For" in Chapter 5
  • Fee: 3000 Yen
  • Effect: MP restore to the Party
  • Summoning Condition: None 

Megumi 

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Warmest Wishes" in Chapter 9
  • Fee: 20,000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage to multiple enemies, increase Yen at the end of the battle 
  • Summoning Condition: Day-time only, human enemies only  

Mr Masochist/Sota

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Fifty Shades of Play" in Chapter 7
  • Fee: 7000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage reduction
  • Summoning Condition: Night-time only

Yu-Jin

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "A Fading Star" in Chapter 7
  • Fee: 40,000
  • Effect: Ice damage to all
  • Summoning Condition: Human enemies only

Jie

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "The Masked Murderer" in Chapter 9
  • Fee: 60,000
  • Effect: Knife damage, chance of fear 
  • Summoning Condition: Human enemies only 

Ono-Michio 

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Fauxno Michio" in Chapter 9
  • Fee: 70,000
  • Effect: Attack and defense increase 
  • Summoning Condition: Day-time only

Taka

  • Unlock: Complete the sub-story "Bros till the end" in Chapter 9 
  • Fee: 50,000
  • Effect: Damage to multiple enemies, chance of burn
  • Summoning Condition: None

Chau Ka-Long 

  • Unlock: Complete sub-story "Whispers of the Underworld" in Chapter 9
  • Fee: 8000
  • Effect: Damage to multiple enemies
  • Summoning Condition: None

Robson 

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Story-related Poundmates Summons

The next few Poundmates are unlocked by progressing through the last few chapters of the main story. We mean it when we say MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD, as these are some key characters. 

Goro Majima  

  • Unlock: Complete Chapter 12
  • Fee: 1,000,000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage to all enemies, chance of paralysis
  • Summoning Condition: None 

Taiga Saejima  

  • Unlock: Complete Chapter 12
  • Fee: 1,000,000 Yen
  • Effect:
  • Summoning Condition: None

Daigo Dojima 

  • Unlock: Exchange 50 Tojo Clan Crests
  • Fee: 1,000,000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage to mulitple enemies 
  • Summoning Condition: None

Masaru Watase 

  • Unlock: Exchange 50 Tojo Clan Crests
  • Fee: 1,000,000 Yen
  • Effect: Damage to one enemy
  • Summoning Condition: None

Kazuma Kiryu

  • Unlock: Complete Chapter 14
  • Fee: 1,000,000
  • Effect: Massive damage to multiple enemies, chance of instant KO
  • Summoning Condition: None