When you’ve got Dragon Quest on the brain like Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s Ichiban Kasuga, you draw parallels between games and real life. Since chests are a staple of RPGs, the closest real-life analogue would probably be safes, but unlike RPG chests, safes are typically locked. If you want to get at these safes and their contents, you’ll need to get yourself some gold keys. Here’s where to get Gold Keys in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
To clarify, there are two kinds of safes: silver and gold. After you clear a certain part of Chapter 3, you’ll receive a skeleton key that can open all silver safes. Gold safes, on the other hand, require single-use gold keys, and you ain’t getting these from story progression.
Where to Get Gold Keys in Yakuza: Like a Dragon
There are three ways to obtain gold keys, and two of them won’t be available until you can switch jobs at Hello Work during Chapter 5. When you can switch jobs, equip the Foreman job (which requires level 3 charisma, by the way) on Kasuga. This’ll unlock the Demolish skill in the field, which you can use to break down flimsy structures. You don’t need to keep Foreman equipped, by the way; once you know Demolish, you know it for good.
Down at the very bottom of the commercial district, near where the Part-Time Hero lady hangs out, you’ll find a boarded up shop with a red awning. Smash the boards to reveal an impromptu shop manned by an old lady, who will sell you gold keys for 10,000 yen a pop, as well as some other handy junk you can use to cheat at casino games.
Over in Restaurant Row, there’s a staircase in the alleyway by Zhou Long Distribution. You’ll head this way the first time you visit Zhao’s restaurant. Past the little square at the top of the stairs, you’ll see a shed on your right. At the back of the shed is a boarded up door, which you can smash open to reveal a black market dealer who will sell you keys for the same price as the old lady, as well as some accessories.
Finally, there’s one last method you can get a single gold key from that doesn’t require the Demolish skill. From Chapter 6 onward, head to the large building near Koreatown that houses Citron Mahjong. Good to the west end of the second floor, and you’ll find a strange, masked man hanging out on the floor. You’ll need to speak to him about 60 times, but eventually, he’ll cough up a gold key.
Remember to stay stocked up on these keys if you have the money for them, as there are gold safes in isolated areas you won’t be able to return to later.
