Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast
Release Date: February 18, 2025
Hosts: Tim Gettys, Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Blessing Adeoye, and Andy Cortez
Special Guests: Brittany and Roger (Yakuza Experts)

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Introduction

The episode kicks off with Snowbike Mike warmly welcoming listeners back to another episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast. He introduces the special guests, Brittany and Roger, who are described as their "Yakuza best friends," setting the stage for an in-depth review of the latest installment in the Yakuza series: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

Notable Quotes:

• Snowbike Mike [00:37]: "Welcome back to another episode of the Kind of Funny Games cast for Tuesday, February 18, 2025."
• Brittany [01:00]: "Ah, it feels back. Feels like coming home."

Current Activities and Updates

The hosts share their recent gaming adventures, highlighting a resurgence in playing classic titles. Brittany mentions taking a break from the daily grind to enjoy older games like Resident Evil 4 and Half-Life 1. Greg shares his current engagement with Hollow Knight, noting a sense of nostalgia and a backward journey through beloved titles.

Notable Quotes:

• Greg Miller [04:07]: "I play Hollow Knight right now. You know, I feel like we're on our journey, we're going backwards."
• Brittany [03:32]: "I have been reviewing games, which feels like since the beginning of the year... trying to strike that work-life balance."

Housekeeping and Announcements

Snowbike Mike provides updates on upcoming content and encourages listeners to support the podcast through Patreon for ad-free experiences and exclusive content. He also mentions their upcoming appearance at Magicon 2025 in Chicago, inviting fans to join their meetup and streams.

Notable Quotes:

• Snowbike Mike [06:03]: "Donate... get Greg way from Nick Scarpino."
• Snowbike Mike [07:58]: "Blessing and Mike are coming to Chicago this weekend to attend Magicon 2025."

Main Review: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Scoring and Initial Impressions

Brittany assigns the game an 8 out of 10, praising its wild and innovative concept of turning Majima, the series' most unhinged character, into a pirate. She lauds the successful integration of ship combat into the traditional Yakuza crime drama genre but points out narrative pacing issues and moments that felt rushed or lacked emotional depth.

Notable Quotes:

• Brittany [09:22]: "I think this is a wild freaking concept for a video game... And they freaking pull it off."
• Greg Miller [11:54]: "It's an 8 out of 10 for me... I just couldn't stop saying the word great."

Combat System

The podcast delves into the game's revamped combat mechanics, highlighting the shift from turn-based to fast-paced, action-oriented battles. Brittany appreciates the introduction of ship combat and the use of a grappling hook, which adds a new layer of verticality to the fights. Greg emphasizes the enjoyment derived from the vertical combat dynamics, allowing characters to jump and throw enemies, a first for the franchise.

Notable Quotes:

• Greg Miller [19:11]: "It's the first time... you can actually be jumping in the air and like throwing people around."
• Brittany [20:56]: "The combat is so good. The ship combat is surprisingly pretty good. The exploration is fun."

Ship and Naval Mechanics

The hosts discuss the game's naval components, acknowledging the fun aspects of managing and customizing ships. However, they express frustration with the slow traversal between islands due to limited fast travel options. While the ship's weapon customization is praised, they note balance issues that make certain weapons disproportionately powerful.

Notable Quotes:

• Greg Miller [25:29]: "I wish there was some type of transmogging... It felt unbalanced and underbaked."
• Brittany [27:52]: "So yeah, the foundation was definitely set. There's a lot more innovation needed."

Story and Narrative

The narrative centers on Majima, who suffers from amnesia and teams up with a young boy named Noah to become pirates and explore the seas. While the premise is intriguing, Brittany and Greg critique the story for feeling rushed and lacking emotional depth in certain segments. They appreciate the character development of Majima, noting a softer side rarely seen in previous installments.

Notable Quotes:

• Brittany [40:34]: "The final chapter... sticks the landing so damn good that I was like, oh, I'm never gonna forget this."
• Greg Miller [41:03]: "It starts off pretty strong, gets weaker by the middle, but the ending has that Yakuza magic."

Customization and Side Content

Customization receives high praise, with over 200 different articles of clothing available, allowing players to personalize Majima's appearance extensively. The hosts enjoy the ability to outfit their characters uniquely, enhancing the game's replayability. Additionally, the multitude of side quests and subplots provides ample content, although managing them can be overwhelming.

Notable Quotes:

• Brittany [63:44]: "There are up to 200 different articles of clothing that you can customize... It looks even in the cut scenes."
• Snowbike Mike [62:25]: "I made it a point of, like, I'm buying rings at every shop."

Humor and Tone

Brittany and Greg appreciate the blend of serious storytelling with the series' trademark humor. The game excels in delivering laugh-out-loud moments through its eccentric characters and outrageous scenarios, maintaining the balance that fans expect from the Yakuza series.

Notable Quotes:

• Brittany [57:22]: "It's the epitome of what RGG is good at... laugh out loud moments."
• Greg Miller [55:30]: "It's a fucking miracle. That's crazy."

Future of the Franchise

The discussion shifts to the future of the Yakuza series, with speculation about Yakuza 9 and how the innovations introduced in "Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii" might influence future titles. Greg expresses hope that Studio RGG continues to innovate, possibly integrating ship combat into the main series, while Brittany theorizes about potential narratives and character developments. They also touch on Project Century, another RGG project, pondering its impact on Yakuza's evolution.

Notable Quotes:

• Greg Miller [66:35]: "I hope that Project Century comes out and see what they learn from it... maybe put into Yakuza 9."
• Brittany [67:03]: "I think with the ship combat, this could belong in the next game."

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the podcast winds down, the hosts reiterate their positive reception of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, despite minor criticisms. They encourage listeners to explore the game's extensive side content to fully appreciate its depth and humor. Brittany shares her social media handles for fans to follow her ongoing game reviews and previews.

Notable Quotes:

• Snowbike Mike [70:02]: "Let us know where you want to see the franchise go... Thank you to Roger and Brittany for joining us today."
• Brittany [70:28]: "You can find me on X at Blonderd, Instagram @blonderd, YouTube @blonderd... always posting my antics online."

Key Takeaways

• Innovative Concept: Transforming Majima into a pirate character brings a fresh and wild twist to the Yakuza series.
• Engaging Combat: The shift to fast-paced, vertical combat has been well-received, enhancing the action-oriented gameplay.
• Customization and Content: Extensive customization options and abundant side quests offer high replayability, though managing them can be challenging.
• Narrative Strengths and Weaknesses: While the story is engaging, pacing issues detract from emotional depth in certain areas.
• Humor and Tone Balance: Effective blending of serious storytelling with the series' characteristic humor maintains the franchise's unique charm.
• Future Prospects: Optimistic outlook on the series' evolution, with hopes for continued innovation and depth in future installments.

Overall Rating: 8/10

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This detailed summary encapsulates the rich discussions, insights, and conclusions of the Kinda Funny Gamescast episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the full podcast.

Transcript

[Greg Miller]

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[Snowbike Mike]

Hey, what's up? And welcome back to another episode of the Kind of Funny Games cast for Tuesday, February 18, 2025. I'm one of your hosts, Snowbike Mike. And today I am joined by two incredible human beings. It's our Yakuza best friends. It's Roger and Brit. How you too? I'll start with our guest. Hi, Brittany, how are you? It's great to see you here on the big screen with us.

[Brittany]

Ah, it feels back. Feels like coming home. Talk about Yakuza with Mike, who I feel like you don't have a lot of clues of what's going on. And Roger, yeah, can be great.

[Greg Miller]

He got hit in the head.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm perfect for this. He got hit in the head. I woke up and I'm back. I'm excited for this.

[Greg Miller]

Every Monday.

[Snowbike Mike]

Every Monday.

[Greg Miller]

He's like, ah, man, I, I don't remember the weekend.

[Snowbike Mike]

It's crazy because the last time we were with Britney was you, me and her and we were talking about Infinite wealth last year. So we are back again to talk about more Yakuza and you have the Yakuza newb along with the two pros here. So it's going to be another fun time, of course, kind of giving away the topic of the show. But today the topic of the show is the, like a dragon pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review with these two and myself. But Roger, how are you? I missed you because I wasn't at work on, On Monday.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, that must be hard for you, Mike.

[Snowbike Mike]

You know, Mondays are my favorite day and I'm not happy about it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no, it was, it was not, it was not the same without you. We did have Carl Jacobs here, which was nice. I was very. It was really great. It was really great. But yeah, I'm feeling great. You know, it's like I was telling, I was telling Brittany and I was telling you Mike earlier, but, like, it's my favorite time of the year, right? Like, and it, it, it is nice that it is a yearly thing, right? Like, we can come together every year and just, you know, get thirsty about some majima, you know, talk a little bit. And the fact that you're here and you're talking about it, you're actually playing the game potentially. Like talk about that.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm playing a lot of it. I think we'll talk about it in the review. But this is the game that I've asked for from YouTube, right? I wanted something that was dubbed. I needed that fast. Action combat. I I wasn't getting that in like a dragon. Infinite wealth, which is very much, hey, you get the dub but you have turn base. I just didn't love that blend. This is all about me right here. So we'll talk about that and more. But of course, today it is the kind of Funny games cast for Tuesday, February 18th. Don't forget that this is the kind of funny games cast. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews and of course topics of discussion in the video game world. Live on YouTube, Twitch and of course on podcast services around the globe. Don't forget, if you like what we do, please consider supporting us with the kind of Funny membership on patreon and on YouTube to get all of our shows ad free live as we record them. And of course get your daily exclusive show Greg Way for a chance to be part of the show. Submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. Since it's a very special review, get those questions in with Super Chats. I'll make sure to pause the conversation. I'll have these two pros in answer those ones. And of course you just want to say hi to Brittany. Britney, I apologize. I kicked off the show written right into housekeeping and we needed to catch up. How are you Brits? It's 2025. It's a new year. It's February. How are you in the family? How's life?

[Brittany]

Life is good, man. You know what's good? Wrapped up in October, I think it was. And after that I kind of just took a break. Disconnected a bit from the day to day video game news of the world, but slowly dipping my toes back in reviewing some stuff, previewing some stuff. But it was good to kind of sit back, you know, and play games for fun. Games that are old. Oh, I mean I say for fun. Like don't get me wrong, at the time, I like playing this game, but like old shit, you know, you can like go back and play something, it's like, oh, this is irrelevant, but it's fine.

[Snowbike Mike]

I love that I've gone through Resident Evil 4. I've gone through. I went through Half Life 1. I just finished BioShock 1. So I'm going through some old games myself.

[Greg Miller]

I play Hollow Knight right now. You know, I feel like we're on our journey, we're going backwards.

[Brittany]

I like, we are cultured. We are cultured individuals now.

[Snowbike Mike]

Britt, how have you been? I saw you talking about Kingdom Come, Deliverance two. What are some other games that you've been enjoying lately to start off the year?

[Brittany]

Oh, man. Well, I feel like when kingdom come, deliverance2, when that review code came in, it was like a month before it came out, right? So I feel like I have been playing just. I've been reviewing games, which feels like since the beginning of the year, which I think I have actually. So, yeah, it was Kingdom Come, Deliverance two, which is just. Oh my God. So phenomenal. And then I previewed south of Midnight and then I jumped into this game. So it's just been a lot of reviewing lately. That's great time. Yeah, yeah, no, it feels good. Just trying to strike that work life balance, you know, with the. With a kid, three and a half now, you know, and trying.

[Greg Miller]

Time flies. Holy hell.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

Roger's being a great uncle to Greg's child, Ben. I mean, I'm seeing a lot. Seeing a lot of Instagram posts about how Roger's the best uncle in the office. I'm the fun uncle.

[Greg Miller]

Well, at least I was present Mike. You know what I mean? He needs a present uncle. I did have a great moment yesterday, you know. So sorry to bust Nick's balls, but Nick comes in, he's just a little jealous because me and, me and Ben are hanging out, we're playing, and then Nick's just like, hey, what' my name? And Ben's like, I don't know.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh. And.

[Greg Miller]

And then he looks at me and. And he's like, okay, let's try this. What's his name? And he points at me and Ben's like, uncle Roger. And I'm like, you, you got you, Nick.

[Brittany]

Remember when the kid more validating Britney?

[Snowbike Mike]

Of course. You talk about doing all these reviews and previews with the wind down of what's good games. Where can all the best friends find you if they're like, hey, I know all about what's good games. But now the girls are off doing their own thing. Where can I find Britney?

[Brittany]

Uh, you can find me mostly on the social media platforms of the world. So still on Twitter, Slash X a little bit on Blue Sky. I Post my videos natively on those platforms because it just does better than the YouTube algorithm. But I still have a YouTube channel, so. Yeah, mostly just on social media. I don't really have a major, like, platform right now. But, you know, I'm always posting my antics online, so it's not hard to find me.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, that's great. Go find Brit. Go support Britain. Have some fun talking to all things video games with her. Some housekeeping news for you. Of course, today you've already gotten Lost Records, Bloom and Rage Tape one review on Kind of Funny Games Daily with Joey, Roger and Bless, of course. The stream after this is two awesome sponsored mini streams showcasing Monaco 2 and Lost Skies. Very, very fun indie games. And then of course, if you're a Kind of Funny member today, you'll get your Greg way from Nick Scarpino. I have no idea what he'll talk.

[Greg Miller]

He might talk about the betrayal.

[Snowbike Mike]

He might not even remember what that is in Day to Day. But from Nick Scar.

[Greg Miller]

Don't mean to blow up your spot, Brit. That was the biggest water bottle I've ever seen in my life.

[Brittany]

Oh, yeah, no, it's huge. I always like casually pulling it out. You've never met a hydrated human.

[Snowbike Mike]

So what's the goal there, Brit? Is that one a day or two.

[Brittany]

A day with the growler? This big ass?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, the big growler.

[Brittany]

I call it what it is. Acknowledge the beast, please. I usually go through about two of these a day.

[Snowbike Mike]

Two is a good goal. I like that. Two.

[Brittany]

A lot of water.

[Greg Miller]

How big is it? Like a gallon?

[Brittany]

It's like 64 ounces, I think. Yeah. Mike. Pathetic. Step up your game, bro. What do you think that's gonna.

[Snowbike Mike]

He drinks like four of this is. Yeah, I think about. Yeah, it's a lot of money. Shouldn't be doing this.

[Brittany]

Smart. Water is legit.

[Snowbike Mike]

It's legit. Legit. Sponsor me. Call me. But some fun. More housekeeping news for you before we keep the show going. I'm going to Chicago, ladies and gentlemen, and MBS out there. Blessing and Mike are coming to Chicago this weekend to attend Magicon 2025 in Chicago. If you want to play some magic the gathering with me and bless. You want to see me. And bless. We have a meetup scheduled on Friday night. You can come out and see us. I will be all around the town on Saturday. Similar to when I went to Washington. There will be an insane snowbike. Mike, meet me at this spot. Good luck and find me. So if you want to find me.

[Greg Miller]

Might be the last Tweet you ever tweeted.

[Snowbike Mike]

Keep an eye out. I'll be around in Chicago on Saturday as well. It'll be a whole lot of fun. Of course, we want to thank those who support us, just like our Patreon producers for the month, Delaney Twining, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster, and Karen Lindener. Thank you so much for your support today. We are brought to you by Built, Rewards Factor, and Stash, but I'll tell you all about that a little bit later. Let's jump into the fun with topic of the show.

[Greg Miller]

No one does it. No one does it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, I. I'm the host. I don't do it. You're supposed to do it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, you're supposed to do it, too.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, I'm tired. I just said a lot there.

[Greg Miller]

Well, I'm tired. You guys want to go again?

[Snowbike Mike]

Do you want to go in?

[Brittany]

Let's do it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Let's do it. Okay, let's start off the show with what is topic of the show?

[Greg Miller]

I love that today's topic of the.

[Snowbike Mike]

Show is like a dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review with Brittany and Roger, our two Yakuza pros. Of course, we're going to start off with maybe a score on the kind of funny scale 1 through 10. And of course, your little short review the things you liked, you didn't like, and then we'll dive deeper into. Into the nuance and all the fun stuff. But I think. You know what, let's start off with our guest, Roger.

[Greg Miller]

I agree, Brittany.

[Snowbike Mike]

If you could score this on a scale of 1 to 10, if you'd like to put a score on it.

[Greg Miller]

You do point fives and we can.

[Snowbike Mike]

Do whatever you want. And then of course, give me a little rundown of what you thought of Pirate Yakuza.

[Brittany]

I would love to, Mike. I think I would give this an 8 out of 10. And the reason is, I think this is a wild freaking concept for a video game, right? Give the series most unhinged video game character, Majima, or as Mike calls Emojima, amnesia, Give him a pirate ship. And don't forget, this game is the narrative bridge between Infinite wealth and the next game in the series, right? So this is an important step for the game. But still, they're like, yo, we're going to make this wacky and we're going to try to pull it off. And they freaking pull it off. And so a testament to them, I don't know how they managed to do this kind of shit and make it work all the time, but they absolutely did And I think it also proves that Majima belongs in the leading role. And this is something fans have been screaming from the rooftops for a very, very long time. Glad to see they still have their charm and their spark when it comes to writing him. And I mean props for the ship combat as well. I think the ship combat. And we'll talk about it later. I know in depth. But I think that was a really cool, neat innovation to throw inside a crime drama game, which again, has no business being there, but it frickin works. But I do think I dock points because this is a smaller title in scale, right? And it was always intended to be that way, which is, you know, expectations and setting them are great. But I found some issues with the narrative and I think in Marjorie, you and I were talking a little bit about this on. On dm there is just a moment that were a little too unbelievable and like, listen, I'm someone who has been through the rubber bullet saga. If you know, you know. But even sounds like this just seems weird. Why is Majimo taking a 10 year old boy on the open sea without even talking to his dad first? He's just like, yeah, you want an adventure? Man to man, I'll take you. I'm like, bro, he hasn't even gone through puberty yet. Okay, you live your best life. And then a lot of moments that I think were supposed to be impactful didn't feel impactful because the story just needed more time, it needed more Runway. So if they're going to continue to do these smaller scale games in the future, I think that's just something they need to be mindful of because it just didn't hit the mark that we're accustomed to with their games. But other than that, friggin loved it.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that.

[Greg Miller]

I like that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Short and sweet. To the point. Roger, you're up next. Give me a score. Give me your thoughts on it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, this is an interesting one because we had the last in between mini game, which was man who Erased His Name, Right. Which came out a few years ago, which was the bridge between the last game leading up to Infinite wealth. Right. And I was not hot on my game at all. I felt like it was way too long, but also way too. I did not like that game. I don't know, I'm sorry. Like I. I enjoyed Kiryu. I enjoyed seeing him do his thing. But it just felt like it could have been an email, could have been a literal. It was a DLC originally. It felt like it was a DLC that was heartless.

[Brittany]

You're heartless.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But. But with that all said, I played this one Pirate Yakuza, and I was cautiously optimistic. Meaning that Majima. I love Majima. I love this boy. I'm excited to see him get hit in the head with coconut and just forget everything and become a pirate. Right? What that looks like. And throughout the game, I was like, man, this is like, pretty good. Like, it reuses a lot of assets. Clearly, it's a Yakuza game, right? It's a lot of the same stuff. It's the same world for the most part from like Infinite wealth, right? So it's like, okay, that's fine. It's a button mashy. It's whatever. And then I beat the game and I just couldn't stop saying the word great. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I just. I just. It's an 8 out of 10 for me. Like, it's so funny because, like, all the pieces together, like, probably are seven, right? It's a good game. It reuses a lot of stuff. It's, you know, the story is really. It's 20 hours. It took me 20 hours to beat the game. Probably beat in probably 15 hours, right? You know, we'll talk about Brits runtime in a little bit, but it took me about 20 hours. I think the story is just too padded out. Like, I do think there' like five hours of a really good story, but there's enough going on. They just kind of stretch it out. Stretch it out. So by the ending of it, you're like, all right, you could have just cut a few of these subplots and we could have just been going here. But again, by the ending of it has that Yakuza magic, right? Where I'm just. I'm at my desk, I'm finishing the game. I'm like, I have a few reviews. Let me just finish this at work. And I'm. I'm just there and I'm just like tearing up a little bit and I'm. Barrett's looking at me, he's like, what's going on? What? Like, this means something to me. You know what I mean? This story means something to me. It is so dumb. It is absolutely ridiculous. But I just couldn't stop playing. And there was no point in the game where I was bored, even when I was doing the same shit over and over, right? The combat is so good. The ship combat is surprisingly pretty good. The exploration is fun, right? Like, finding all the side Stuff going out there, beating up all the bounties. Like there's so much stuff to do in this game that, you know, again, again, even when I'm doing the same stuff that I did, you know, a year ago. Right. I'm like, you know what? This is just a fun way to play this game and I'm having a great time. So yeah, 8 out of 10.

[Snowbike Mike]

I love that from both of you. Of course, I do want to ask about runtime really quick, Roger, how many hours did you put in? One more time.

[Greg Miller]

I think I did 23 hours all said and done. And that was me taking my time. I really took my time with this one. I was like, you know what, I'm not gonna do all the side stuff, but I'm gonna do a lot of the side stuff. I did all the bounty, most of the bounties, running around, having a good time. Yeah. 23 hours to finish the entire game. How about you, Britt?

[Snowbike Mike]

Not bad.

[Brittany]

45. And I usually could go back for another 10 to 15.

[Greg Miller]

Wow.

[Brittany]

So yeah, I mean, that's a really good point too. Is is there is a lot of side stuff. We talked about bounties and I don't want to like jump the gun here because Mike, I like, I want to hear what you have to say too. But depending again, like to your point, Roger, I was never bored either. If even, even if I was doing the same bounty hunts over and over again, even if I was just wandering around, even if I was just trying to do photo rally stuff, it has the same magic that Infinite wealth had Hawaii did, specifically where you can just hop in and you can just wander around and you'll get lost. You'll spend the whole evening, bam, six hours gone and you don't even really know what you've done. But you've been productive if you've done some stuff right. It's that, it's that it just sucks you in and it's just fun no matter what you're doing.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Mike, you. This is your first Yakuza game. You've touched Infinite Wealth a little bit. It dropped. You know, you don't like the turn based element of it. I want to know what your experience is. How much of it have you played? Are you willing to give a score?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

This first. First. This is your true blue first.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. This is going to be my true full head dive into this because I have tried like a dragon before. I fell in love with Ichiban, but I could not get into the turn based combat. So I always Put it down at about the 10 hour mark, similar to what we talked about last year with Infinite Wealth. And it's fun to now dive into this one where I've put 12 hours of nothing but smiles into like a dragon Pirate Yakuza on this one because I fall in love with the characters. I love that it is dubbed so I don't have to worry about just reading subtitles all the time. I can enjoy all the awesome shenanigans happening on the screen. And I love the moment to moment combat that is that fast paced, engaging punch, punch, punch, slashing, jumping all around the map combat. So for me this has been a great time. This is an awesome experience that I can't wait to dive more in and I will see all of it through because there is so much to this. I have always heard that Yakuza has a lot of things going on, but now when you really are like, I'm committed to this. There is so much going on. I can be a pirate and go out and treasure hunt. I can go into ship combat and go fight the other pirate gangs that there are. I can go into the pilot Pirate Coliseum. Oh wait, I fell in love with Hawaii again. I've already been to Hawaii once, but somehow they've made me smile again in a place that I've already been with new fun things. Same familiar things. Like I love going to the mall and being hit with the nostalgia of like, oh, I've been here. Oh wait, now it's a little bit different. There's different people. I'm doing the same friends link thing where I'm saying aloha to people all day. Like, I can't stop with that. And so I found so much fun in this because of the combat truly. And because it is dubbed, it has finally brought me on board as the Yakuza fan that wants to be a fan. But it's not quite there. And like I said, there's just been so much to do. I told Roger I found the baseball mini game for the first ever time. And I said, Roger, I might not finish this because I'm only going to play baseball. And he's like, don't worry, Mike. Like there's even more to do.

[Greg Miller]

And so my response was, that is the Yakuza way, you know, I mean, you find your minigame and that is all you play for 10 hours and then you hop out of the minigame, you're like, oh shit, there's a whole game. I mean like, it's like you kind of like walk out of a casino after 4:00am like, oh, fuck.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh my gosh, I have a save that is at the doorway to the baseball. Because I was like, don't leave this moment, Mike. This could be you. You know what I mean? And so other fun things, of course, recruiting crewmates onto your ship. We're going to talk about. It's always been fun, but I also fell in love with the animal kingdom. All of a sudden I'm different animals, which insane, like mini game, but also just like this weird thing that you could do. It's like all of a sudden I got a cow and I'm in love with this cow. And I'm like, this cow is me. Like, whatever this cow wants, I'm going to get it. And the guy is like, I can't own this cow anymore. Give me $2,000. You could have the cow. I was like, sir, I have so much money, I'll take the cow. And so, yes, I have fallen head over heels for this Yakuza game. As I was reviewing it, I knew Britney and Roger were going to have you with the big review. But as I was dipping my toes and I was playing more and more, I was doing the one moment of, well, maybe I'll just Golden path it. And then there was moments where I was like, stop, this is too much fun. I don't want to do anything but like all the side stuff, right? All of a sudden, one of my crewmates is like, my dad, he needs us to find these golden balls. And he says if we collect seven golden balls, he can grant us one wish. And my head exploded, right? Because I've been watching Dragon Ball for the first ever time and I was like, my God, Dragon Ball reference. This is crazy. So, like, I'm, I'm having a great time. That's all I can say. And so that is your snow Mike. Mike impression so far.

[Greg Miller]

I love it.

[Snowbike Mike]

I love every moment of it. And there's so much to talk about. So, yeah, Brittany and Roger, let's talk about it. Where do you want to start things off for this, you know, review where we dive in? I mean, there's the setting to talk about, there's the story, the combat, all the crazy side objectives. Where do you guys want to start? I want to allow you guys to take me anywhere and we'll just go along for the fun ride.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I think I want to start with the combat, right? Because it is, it is a beat them up, as you've, as you've alluded to. And I really love this combat because it is vertical.

[Brittany]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

It's the first time, correct me if I'm wrong, Brittany, but it is the first time, like, you can actually be jumping in the air and like throwing people around. I believe that that is a new thing. Yeah. So that's. That. That was a huge part of this combat that made it so fun, right. Is being able to use the two different styles, right? You have the Sea Dog and I believe the Mad Dog. The Mad Dog is like the fast and light combat combat with a focus on air combat. And it's a. It's a first. First of the franchise, as I said, with the air combat and the ultimate, which is great. Each mode has two different ultimates, or I guess multiple different ultimates, as we'll talk about, allows you to have multiple different versions of Majima. So you just press R2 and then you just have just six, seven Majima's run around, beat them up, and like, they're just like random NPCs. It's awesome. It's so fun. And then you have the Sea Dog, which is the pirate version of him, right. He changes outfits, which is so sick. You're able to go in there and customize your outfit. Customize the little tiger's outfit, as we'll talk about later. He's a cat, but, you know, he's a tiger. He's a cat. Yeah, yeah. And yeah. And it's dual sword in the Sea Dog format. It has a grappling hook. It has a gun. You can also go in the air as well. It's a bit heavier, but that was the way that I mostly played it. And then it has some crazy alts, which I won't spoil because they have spoiled it in the trailers. But don't. Don't look it up because it's. It's some good. But yeah, it's. It is just so fun because it is the same thing. Like, that's what this game is. That's what Yakuza is for the most part, just doing the same thing over and over. But it is. There's so much fun to be had in this combat. And there was a certain point, probably 15 hours in where I was like, I've never played a Dynasty warriors game, but I assume that this is like where the fun comes from. It's just like turning your brain off and just mashing buttons and then finding, like that. Right. Upgrade. That changes it just enough, right? Where you're like, oh, shit, this is. This feels different, right? So, yeah, I just got into that flow state where, yeah. Even More than Infinite wealth, where Infinite wealth did have that grind. Of course, that game is like double the length, right? Like more than double the length of it. So it didn't overstay its welcome as much. But even then I was just grinding. But it didn't feel like grinding. It was just me having a great time just smashing the X button. You just making fun of it.

[Snowbike Mike]

We made fun of Roger a couple times because Joey and I, we sit like a triangle. Me, Joey and Roger. And all you heard was a button smash from Roger for eight hours straight. He would giggle and laugh and it would just be a button smash. So to anyone out there in your life, if your significant other or partner is just button smashing, they have a problem there. In love with Yakuza. That's what it is.

[Brittany]

That's the telltale sign they're doing that out of the room. Yeah. What's interesting to you, Roger, is in Mike, you probably noticed this as well, is this game shoves money, resources down your throat. You're going to be so rich so quickly because the way you upgrade your skills and the way you get more powerful, whether it's Majima or your ship, is you are getting money and you have reputation points.

[Snowbike Mike]

Right?

[Brittany]

And I found for me anyway, because I also did most all the side stuff. By the time I hit chapter three, the beginning, I was a God. Nothing could touch me, right? I felt like those DBZ scenes when like, you're like, goku's just using his finger and he's just like blocking everything and you're like, I'm a God. You can't touch me. So when you talk about getting in the flow state, I also found that. So I think don't be afraid to up the difficulty if you do like a little bit more challenge in your games. Because before you know it, you'll be drowning and you will be fully maxed out with everything. The other thing with the combat too, that is really fun is they have these much larger scale battles. And we'll talk about this, I'm sure, a little bit more as we get into more like the ship mechanics and all. But you have these moments where it's like you versus 100 dudes or you versus 3 or 30 dudes or something, and you really just get to mash. It is just the most amazing button master pulling off sit combos. You're doing things that I didn't even know. I didn't even really use a grappling hook until the last like four hours of the game. I was like, oh, Yeah, I forgot I can do this. And the game was giving me little hints in the corner. It's like, hey, you know you can do this, right?

[Greg Miller]

We work so hard on. Please, please.

[Brittany]

I know, but I'm like, I could just smash the. But yeah, I really enjoy the combat too. I like the quick pace and I do appreciate that there was not much of a grind here because yeah, like the grind is good with the, with the turn based stuff, but I just didn't want that with this game. So I'm so glad they stuck to the fast paced combat.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, the combat me, for me was what gripped me and got me right. And I really enjoyed both styles. I found myself more on the Sea Dog using those two cutlasses, using the grapple hook. I loved the ultimates that you can unlock and earn. Is a lot of fun to have and will lead to lot of laughter. A lot of just fun breaking up the moments. But what I enjoyed you two both kind of got to it was these interesting Dynasty Warrior moments where it's like normally it's, you know, you versus three, you versus maybe ten in a small arena and you laugh and you beat them up. Then there's this moment where it's like, no, there's 100 guys here and you're like, what? Just like, we'll bring your crew and then you fight 100 people on a pirate ship or on an island. And it's like coming off of Dynasty warriors origin, that, that really spoke to me. I'm like, that's cool, right? Like, that's fun moments that you can enjoy. I really enjoyed the combat the whole entire time switching between the two. What I didn't like was there's a moment in this game where all of a sudden it wants to become a parkour platformer for just a brief moment in a dungeon and they want you to jump and kick some alarms off is what I'll call it. And I had the hardest time jumping and trying to kick those where it's like, hey, like, I love the idea. I thought that was really fun and different of like, hey, let's have like this parkour moment where you're jumping over lasers and you're going all crazy and like, I'm like, hey, this is cool. But then I'd get to a wall moment where it's like this thing is 20ft in the air and I cannot jump and kick it for the life of me. Plus dodge lasers down below. I just wish that was a smoother thing because it was fun in the combat zone. But when you're doing like a weird parkour thing, it just didn't fit the moment. Yeah.

[Brittany]

Thankfully you're actually in the combat mode when you're going through that. Right. And so it's not like you can just run and jump smoothie. You're stuck as if you are stuck in combat. So you're moving like you're in combat. I forgot that even happen because I think that's the only freaking time it happens.

[Snowbike Mike]

It's weird.

[Brittany]

How random.

[Snowbike Mike]

It's so weird of like you jump in. It's like, oh, I'm in combat mode, but nobody's around. But I'm running. This is interesting. And then they also used the grapple hook in the world where Noah will be like, there's treasure around. And I'm like, Noah, I got this. And then you'll go into this interesting first person view with your little aim down sights and you'll look to grapple hook onto something you, you'll quickly get on a roof, get a treasure chest. But like, it is fun how they incorporated the hook into the open world that you guys have already been in in Honolulu. And of course Madlantis, which you'll run around in. And it's like, oh, I like that a lot. That was fun.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah. I, I. My only criticism with, with the grappling hook is I don't think in the. At least for me, correct me, you know, tell me what you guys experience were. But like for me, I didn't really find too much of that verticality. I. It's there, but I just, it wasn't like being made clear to me like with man who ra. Right. When they give you that little other grappling hook pretty much and you're able to just find things up there and just bring it down to you. I think I was finding a lot more of that. And also Japan is a little less, you know, all the buildings are a little less tall. Yeah. I just wasn't going, I wasn't finding all that verticality that I'm sure is there. But it just wasn't made clear to me.

[Brittany]

I think it was only clear. Yeah. When there was treasure up top or something. I know it would be like, what's that? I don't know. And then you'd have to. Yeah. Then you'd have to aim and then everything would highlight in blue. And then, you know, you would be able to like grapple up there and get the treasure or whatnot. Yeah. I mean it's a fun little interesting addition to the to the moment to moment gameplay, I guess. You know, I, I would have preferred the fishing mechanics more that you have on Dondo island with the spear or something. But instead, no, you just grapple these like mahi mahis and bluefin tunas like out of the ground like it's no big deal. I just got this big bluefin tuna. Cool.

[Greg Miller]

I don't.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, I wish the grapple hook in combat was a little more. It feels like it was only to hook onto someone and pull me closer because there's like items that you can grab, like you guys know of like a bike or like a barrel. And I wish I could like grab that and like swing it around me or grab someone and swing them around. It never felt like that.

[Greg Miller]

Let me introduce a video game called man who Raises Name which does that exact mechanic. Yeah, I actually was thinking about this because that's. That was the last game in the Yakuza franchise that did this type of like beat them up combat. And it has a similar mechanic where yeah, you're just running around, you're. You have this little whip kind of that's like going around. You have rocket boots and all this crazy stuff. It almost made me wish that we could just like merge that with, with what we have here and then just make like one big happy family. And I think that that would have been like the perfect like turn your brain off. Like I could play this for 300 hours video game. Because you felt so powerful in this game. You feel very powerful here, but to a different degree.

[Snowbike Mike]

Right, well, let's keep the combat talk going because not only are you on land, you're also on sea. And Brittany has talked about it before. There is that naval ship to ship combat that we want to get into. Of course there is these open segments, open mini worlds, nothing massive, but there are moments where you are sailing from island to island. There's also a coliseum. So why don't you guys talk to me about the boating mechanic itself when we talk about combat and also just kind of floating around the world. Brittany, what'd you think about that?

[Brittany]

Oh man, it was really fun. And again, like, I would never think that RGG would be the kind of studio that's like, yo, we're gonna make a whole ass mechanic and make it work and make it fun and enjoy it. But again, they surprise me all the time and they somehow made it work. Yeah, so like the moment to moment traversal in the ship itself, it's fine. I mean the thing moves like a brick slow and you're going to want to use those turbos as much as you can. And all these boost rings that are throughout the ocean and they get you going and whatnot. You know, I would say the traversal is probably, like, the weakest part of it. The maps themselves are a little bare bones, so unless you've. Unless you just want to go and enjoy the sights. I never really found myself going back to the ocean to just sail around and relax. I will say there are some gorgeous moments, though, while you're on that ocean. Maybe there's a storm, and maybe the sun is setting, and the way the light just reflects off the water, it's like, oh, man, that is sexy. I really. I. I did enjoy. And also having to see shanties and then having. I had a spiritual moment. Roger. 24 hours, Cinderella was playing, and I was sailing my sea in my bright pink ship, and it was just like this. This is it. I've. I've healed my soul.

[Greg Miller]

I'm a fixed person. I'm a new person. Like, this is beautiful. I. I enjoyed my time with the ship stuff. I. I was pleasantly surprised, right? Because when I had the initial preview of the game, they. I asked them, I was like, hey, you showing any ship stuff? Like, what's up with this? And they're like, no, we're not showing any ship stuff, which. Which I was like, oh, man. Like, is this gonna be rough? Like, what's it gonna look like? And I. It's. It's very serviceable. I think it's fun. I had a lot of good moments, especially towards the end of the game when it gets really hard with some of the ship stuff, even though mine was super upgraded. Yeah. But, yeah, mine had all the durability and everything. I was fighting a few enemy boats that were kind of giving me a run for my money, so I had to do some crazy maneuvers. My biggest issue with it is just moving around the world, right? There is a lot of. They open up a lot of different side quests where, yeah, you have these little mini worlds where you have to go from one island to another, and it just takes a little too long, even fully upgraded, to get places. Like, there's a boost mechanic, which is awesome. And it's so sick. And it's so fucking Yakuza, Right? Having a nitrous boost on your. On your pirate with it. Yeah, exactly. Being able to drift with it, it's so sick. But I just want to have that forever. Like, I just want to be able to hold that button and just go. And I. It's Kind of an oversight in my mind that they didn't let you do that. Because I don't think there's any positive to just kind of making. You have to wait and then do the thing like just let me go. Like if I'm fully upgraded, let me spend $3 million. I'll do it to get the nitrous. The nitrous just going forever. Because that was, that was the only thing that was stopping me from having. Because I was having so much fun grinding in the regular coliseum, beating up people, but going around and I did it all. I did that entire side quest. I forget what the name of the crew is or whatever.

[Brittany]

Legend of the Garo Pirates.

[Greg Miller]

Yes.

[Brittany]

Oh, the Devil Flags.

[Greg Miller]

Yes, the Devil Flags. I did that. I did the entire Devil Flag stuff. But it just that, that felt like a grind. That was the only time where I was like, oh shit. Like I want to do it, but I have to go from this island to this island to get to the. I also, they give you lighthouses in the middle of each of these islands. But you know you can't go from lighthouse to lighthouse unless you're at a lighthouse. So you have to.

[Brittany]

I know the worst decision.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, it's. But here's the thing, like that's cool about studio RTG is like they have this and they've built this and now they can just iterate hopefully and make this something really fucking cool. Like, I don't want to get into the conversation of a future game. Maybe we will at the end of this.

[Brittany]

But, but I.

[Greg Miller]

If they do get to that point where like, hey, this is successful and they make a sequel, this could have a run for its money for like a black flag or whatever it is. Like you can really kind of fine tune this and make this something really special because they got the stuff here and it looks really good.

[Brittany]

So yeah, I say, yeah, I think the foundation was. Is definitely set there. I think there is a lot more innovation that needs to be done and a lot more hands on customization if you want to have like, like a fully fledged ship type experience. And I feel like that's, that's, that's kind of how I feel about this game in general is everyone's like, oh, it's the best pirate game ever. And it's like, no, I feel like it's. It's a lovely baked Yakuza honey baked ham with a little bit of parrot garnish on it. Like that's what it feels like to me. It doesn't feel like the ultimate Pirate game. But I think with the ship customization they, they offered. How freaking cool is that? I mean, I had a ship dedicated to Kiryu. I had a ship dedicated to Majima. I had a pink ship. I had a ship that had a big vibrator on the front.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, me too. I felt so about it. I was like, oh, I don't know.

[Greg Miller]

Why, why would you feel bad?

[Snowbike Mike]

I put it on. I was like, this little kid's gonna see. I'm trying to imprint a good impression on back massager. I felt bad. I'm sorry.

[Greg Miller]

No, don't look, don't look, kid.

[Brittany]

And I do love how you could have the most wild weapons on your, on your ship. Right. You could have lasers, you can have flamethrowers, you can have shark missiles and stuff. Like that's the kind of wackiness that I think also made it feel really fun and unique. But there needed to be more balancing when it came to the actual power of these weapons. Because why would I use a shark cannon that has like what, 400 power? And I could use a laser Cannon which has 2,000.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And you can up and you get that one before if you just have a little bit of money. Right. So yeah, I, I agree with you. Like I wish there was some type of like transmogging or something like that where I can like get in there and be like, okay, I want the shark cannon and I'm gonna upgrade this a bunch of times. Yeah, it was just a little bit unbalanced and it didn't, I wouldn't. It felt under baked, but it didn't feel half baked if that makes sense. Right. Like this. This is definitely a mechanic that I think stands with this game and I'm happy to play it. And I had a good time. It's just not fully there. So hopefully we do get some time to iterate this eventually one day.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, I'm right there with both of you. Just if it wasn't for the traversal being so slow, I would enjoy it a lot. I liked the combat, I liked pulling up to islands. I didn't appreciate that I can't fast travel in the middle of it. I hated that I had to go to a lighthouse. But you know, all in all it was a, a fun different idea there. I really enjoyed getting there. There I was. I put that's beautiful. Cuz we'll talk about it in the story here in a little bit. But like me and Noah, we really built a connection. I did all of the, the like links with Noah. I did all of those. And so there's some really nice moments right where he's trying to be like, hey, don't look at this adult store. Like, you're too young for that. And then he also has, like, the laughter of like, well, like, should he look at. He's like, don't look at it. Don't. It's like parenting a child that has.

[Greg Miller]

A parent, has two parents.

[Snowbike Mike]

I was like, I can't do this. But yeah, I mean, for me, I loved the ship upgrades. I was similar to Brit, where I had so much money that when I did finally get deep into the Coliseum, I was so strong already that I was like, oh, I'm steamrolling you right now. But I think Brit says it well of like, up to difficulty. If you ever feel like that, have some fun getting the challenge and enjoy it because it is really cool. But I want to talk about more pirate yakuza because I want to talk about the setting. I want to talk about the story right after a word from our sponsors.

[D]

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[Snowbike Mike]

Welcome back. All right you two, I want to dive into a couple more fun topics before we get out of here so we have a whole second half of the show. I want to talk about setting, I want to talk about the story, I want to talk about some fun subplots because there's some fun stories I would love to tell and hear your guys's stories. And then of course the future of the game franchise, where you want it to go. You talk about building off of the ship combat. What else could we see in this? So let's open it up. Let's talk about the Story really quick, Roger, why don't you set the tone? Maybe for people who got bumped on the head by a coconut, forgot everything. What is the setup of this story and what did you enjoy? What did you not enjoy?

[Greg Miller]

Well, the cool thing about this one is, I believe. Let me see if I can find the commentary here. Nateen Natino. No, sorry, Nate. Neo94 asks, Is this a friendly game for newcomers? And it absolutely is. Because the story of this is that Majima, this character that is story throughout the Yakuza franchise, has amnesia, lands on a random island, and he's trying to figure out who he is. Right. So you learn a lot about Majima through the lens of him having amnesia. They don't do a lot of the big history dumps as I expected. Right. They're not like, here's the entire history of Majima. Here's it. Like, they don't overload you. I mean, you can talk from your perspective later on, but like, yeah, I don't feel like that. So basically, he lands on this random island, a little boy named Noah, and his cat, who's a tiger, comes up and they save him. And then, you know, he just becomes a pirate. Like, that's just like. That's just kind of it. Like this kid, this guy just is like, okay, well, I'm a pirate now. And he just starts fighting people and stuff.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, Noah wanted to get off the island.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

And the little island that his father runs a bar on, it's just kind of just boring. There's not much going on. It's a young, we'll call him 10 year old that wants to see the world and wants to get out there. And thanks to his newfound friend, maybe they have the opportunity to go out there and explore.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Yeah. And that's what it is. It's beautiful.

[Brittany]

That's the part of the story for me that I was again, dming with Roger. Like, what the hell? Like, this is crazy. This dude, like Yakuza, like, washes up on the shore and then within 24 hours he's like, I will take you on the seas, young man.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Don't you want to ask your father first? Granted, he's probably drunk at the bar. Probably doesn't even know you're here, kid. But I mean, most dysfunctional family ever. But that was the moment where I was like, okay. Like I. And this is my. My only issue with the story, I touched on this a little bit earlier is it just feels a little rushed at times. I know, Roger, you said that you wish it had less padding. Is that what you.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah. There's a. There's a section in the middle where there's pretty much like a few side quests that become part of the main story that I'm like, we could have just taken that out and had a five, five hour main story.

[Brittany]

And so I feel like I. But the problem is I see them, I see the blueprint, I see the framework of, like, what they were going for. Right. But the problem is, yeah, it's just because of the scale of this game. There just was not enough time to actually make everything feel real and authentic and not. And you couldn't really connect with all the characters. So there were these emotional moments. And I could tell they were supposed to be emotional, but I felt dead inside. I'm like, oh, no, this is not good. I am a psychopath. What is wrong with me?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

And then I realized, well, I've only seen this person on screen for two minutes, so I don't really care that much. So. And I think that is the weakest part of this game is just the story. Whether you wish there is a little bit more or you wish there was less. But the final chapter, I'm not going to spoil anything. Is one of my favorite chapters in this entire franchise. Yeah, it sticks the landing so damn good that I was like, oh, I'm never gonna forget this. Like, I also have a save and I also have a screen share of, like, everything that happened. And I was like, I have. I go back and I watch it, like, all the time because it was so impactful and so freaking hype.

[Greg Miller]

But, yeah, yeah, no, I. I agree with you. I. Yeah, my. My issue was more of like, the. The padding in the middle becomes very, like, hey, gameplay centric. Right? Like, it's less about the actual story. It's less about, like, the twists and turns, which is what I expect. And I like about Yakuza, right, where I'm always excited about, oh, the end of a chapter. Holy shit, there's a massive twist. Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited to play that next one where it was just like, okay, like, in the middle, like, do the pirate Coliseum thing, like, do this, do that. And then you finally, by the ending of it, we get back to the core of it, which is a pirate doing pirate shit, which is like finding treasure and like, the. The people betraying each other and all this fun Yakuza stuff, or Yakuza pirate stuff, which I'm looking forward to. And we get there by the ending of It. But, yeah, it. It starts off pretty strong. It gets kind of weaker by the middle of it. I think as we talked about it, like, the whole thing is that this little boy, he really wants to get off this island. He's got. He's got a little bit of a cough. He got a little bit asthma. He's got a big asthma. He's trying to get off this island. And then Majima, who, by the way, everybody, like, he has amnesia. He's still Majima. Like, there's no. Like, he just doesn't remember where his address is. That's like. That's the only difference. You know what I mean? It's the same guy. Same guy, exactly. Like, no differences at all. So he's like, man, I'm gonna take this kid and I'm gonna. I'm gonna take him, have him sail the seas with me, get him off this island. He has a father, right? Like, he has a father that exists. That's like. Is present. Like, he doesn't want to leave.

[Snowbike Mike]

Jason was like, I'm set in my ways. I've been there before.

[Greg Miller]

He comes with it.

[Brittany]

He's like, you need the humidity for your cough. No, you must stay here.

[Snowbike Mike]

My favorite thing of all all things. And I'm sure this happens in a lot of yakis. It's like, no, my son can't go with you, but if we fight each other, I'll go with every yoga game.

[Greg Miller]

I will beat your ass, and then I will take your son.

[Brittany]

It's like, okay, I'm not a man of words. I'm a man who speaks with his fist to get to know someone. It's like, I've heard that all over again. Roger, real quick, though, I do want to say, I don't know if I fully agree when you said that he's still Majima. He just doesn't remember his address. Again, like, I fully admit, Majima is my favorite character. I am probably slightly unhealthily obsessed with this man, and I've seen a lot of his scenes over and over again, and there definitely is a shift in his personality which makes, as the game unfolds, even more fascinating. So I'm not sure. You probably don't study him like I do.

[Greg Miller]

No, I don't. I would.

[Brittany]

Normal.

[Greg Miller]

I'm excited to hear the history lesson after this. Yeah.

[Brittany]

Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. But the point being is, like, you definitely. There's just a softer glow about him, certain aura, if you will. Even the kindness in his eyes and the way he has the patience to talk with certain people, it's like, oh, wow. And. And this is what I was kind of gushing about earlier. And again, not going to get into spoiler territory, talk too much about this, but it is utterly fascinating to watch him throughout this game, especially, you know, if you've played Yakuza 0, you've seen him in Kiwami, you know about who he really is at his core versus Mad Dog Persona. But as the games go on, you've kind of lost track of who is he really and what is his Mad Dog Persona. Are they the same? Like, who is this man, truly? And you, for the first time in so long, get an actual look at him, because he is one of the most fascinating characters, I think, in all of video games, if you understand his story. So that's just my little, like, gush moment.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that. That's where I connected, right? As being a newcomer on this and seeing some Yakuza before, I kind of knew the character what I expected from him, but I saw a different side of him this time. Being next to Noah, being kind of that, like, hey, we're two buddies. I'm also kind of like a father figure here, and we're gonna go on this grand adventure. I really loved the moments that we had where it's like, oh, this is a softer side of this Yakuza character that I didn't think I would get, because normally it's like, hot dude, tough bod punch, rip the shirt off. There's a crazy lobster over there that we're gonna fight. No, this was like, hey, we have some really good connection moments.

[Greg Miller]

Is a crazy bear.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm gonna tell you about this bear. It was a bear, Roger. It's a crazy bear in Hawaii, bro. So, yeah, I. I liked the story, and it felt like a. It felt like a pirate story where, like, I totally get what you're talking about in the middle, because I felt that. But it felt like, oh, we're just introducing more pirate stuff. Oh, did you know there's another pirate gang that you got to go over here? You can explore them, but guess what? You don't got to do it right now. And that it always felt like that was like, do one mission. You don't got to do that. Hey, we're gonna introduce you to the Pirate Coliseum. You ain't got to do that right now.

[Greg Miller]

Until you do, you have to do a lot of it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, I liked. I liked a lot of it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it wraps up, because I. I like all the layers that it adds, I guess, is what I'm getting out of. Like, I enjoy they're adding so much. Oh, there's other X Yakuza. Here we go. Boom. That's cool. Oh, there's a pirate gang here. Oh, this lady's running the whole pirate coliseum. Oh, this guy's got money. Like, that's cool. I, I liked everything that they threw at me where I'm like, okay, you got something in the pot here. Let's see what it looks like at the end. I'm excited for sure.

[Brittany]

And I do want to also mention that if you have not played Infinite wealth, but you think you would be interested in Infinite wealth, try to play that first if you can. Because this game does spoil what happens within that game and it is a continuation of some of the events of that game. But if you're like, no, I don't have time before that, you can hop right in. But just be prepared that it's not going to be as emotionally impactful if you have not seen what went down in that last game.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, absolutely. Especially for the very, very ending, the post credit scene, potentially. Or like any other. Like the ending. Yes. But also, I will say it says a lot of. I feel like I was putting myself in like the, the mindset of somebody who's never played these games before. And I was like, this is a lot of them talking about things that I just, I don't feel like I would remember. You know what I mean? Like, it would be like, oh, this thing happened and this thing happened. And I'll be like, what the fuck? Like, I don't, I don't understand that. So I think I agree with you. It does spoil things, but I don't think it fully spoils it in the sense that if you went back and played in Infinite wealth now, Micah, you wouldn't be like, oh my God, they spoil that thing. Holy shit. Like, yeah, you would be, you would be just fine. Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

Let's talk about the setting. Because of course you bring up Infinite Wealth. We returned to Honolulu. We've also added in a new location. What did you guys think about going to those locations? Did you ever feel like, oh man, I'm back here. I don't. I wanted something new. Or were you pleased with going back again?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I mean, I was, I was pleased to go back to it. I think my biggest quote unquote issue, which is not really an issue because these are, the mini games are fun and they are returning. A lot of them are returning from Infinite wealth, but like, they're not upgraded at all. Right. So, like, I was. I was having those moments of playing like the Crazy Eats or whatever where I enjoyed Crazy Eats, but I literally just played it, you know, a year ago in Infinite wealth, and it just feels like the same thing and the same small issues that I had with it are still there. So there's a little bit of that throughout the open world is like, oh, I've done this. I've seen that. Right. It just isn't upgraded. Right. It's the same thing. But I. It is, it is. Has been enough time and there has. There is enough things to do in there. And you're not also. You're also on the ship a lot. Right. So it's not like you're like, you know, clinging to Honolulu and like, oh my gosh, I got to be here all the time. Like, there's enough to do outside of it that I was totally fine with them reusing it and, you know, adding the little things that they did. How about you, Britt?

[Brittany]

Yeah, no, I agree with that. I think what just made honestly it more enjoyable, I mean, not more enjoyable than Infinite.

[Greg Miller]

What.

[Brittany]

But made it enjoyable, just to be plain, is that you are Majima again and again, as someone, like, who is sick in the head is like, yo, like, I just want to see how this man interacts with the world around him because I want to try to understand his psyche. That was really cool too. Yeah. And I mean, unfortunately, Donda island isn't in here. Sujiman isn't in here. You do have bounties, and I don't think those were in the last game.

[Greg Miller]

No.

[Brittany]

And there are so many bounties, dude. Oh my God, so many. And it's like once you think you cleared them all, you get a little text message and like, oh, there's way more. I got a gift for you at the bar. And it's like a piece of shit. The rewards were, like, not good. But the cash that you got for doing the bodies was really great. But no, I mean, Hawaii was. Being in Hawaii was fun, you know, and I. And because it was a smaller scale game, I didn't feel as much pressure to spend as much time doing everything. But being able to play darts with your crewmates, that was really fun. And the dragon cart mode, I don't know if that one was in the last one where it's kind of like a. It's like a battle royale. Like, that was cool. But the, the main side thing that was just the best was Masaru's love story and I don't know.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, I didn't do this.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm currently on that right now.

[Greg Miller]

So I know, yeah, it popped up and I, I, it popped up at the end of a play session and then I literally just remembered it now. That's crazy.

[Brittany]

I got to take a sip of water before I talk about it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, because this is, I get thirsty.

[Brittany]

Oh, this is Mike. How far are you in this story?

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm, I'm probably part two, three area. I would call it step three, maybe.

[Brittany]

So this gets introduced to you as like the main part of the game. So you can't really miss it, but it is your choice if you want to pursue it or not. But essentially your dude has a thing for these type of girls. We saw this casting last year and we're like, what's a minato girl? Apparently RGG is looking for minato girls for their next game. Whole lot of speculation coming. I did not anticipate this is what it was for. But essentially, yeah, you got a wingman for your boy. And, and, and the payoff, my friend, is almost 40 minutes of live action cinematics. Where you have it is the most unhinged shit you will ever see. And it is glorious. It is the epitome of what RGG is good at. But yeah, I mean, it's worth it alone. It's better than a bachelor. This is what I said. Instead of having a rose dude, he carries a dandelion and he's like, I'm like a dandelion. I grow through the cracks of cement too. And I have hardships and blood. It's just so ridiculous.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes.

[Brittany]

So funny.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, shit, I gotta play that. Okay, yeah, go back.

[Snowbike Mike]

There's a lot of good stuff hidden in there and it's like, it's easy to get overwhelmed, especially as a new player. I'm sure you guys know. It's like you probably pick and choose your battles or you try to play it all, but like, you get hit with so much. And especially like, if you are trying to progress it, there's that moment where it's like, oh, he's sad. Oh, he wants a girlfriend. It's like, I don't care about that. Jaboti things to do. Like, what do you mean? And then when you try to do those, like, because I laughed. I did that a couple nights ago where it's like, you have to go back to the bar to go speak about that. I was like, no, no, I got to get on the pirate ship. We got to go. And they won't let you, so you have to go back. I was like, you slow me down. Like, I'm trying to do things. But, yeah, I love. For me, I liked going back to Honolulu because of my time with Infinite Wealth. I. I smiled. Seeing back some of the characters that you see, the iconic locations was great. The little fortune teller dog costume guy where it's like, jabroni, I remember you. Yeah. Like, it's the same dude, y'all. It's like, my favorite.

[Greg Miller]

And you can bring them on your crew. I love them.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, Roger. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you about the crew in just a second, because I assembled a crew. Roger. I will always love the phone taking a photo.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

I will never. I will never not enjoy running around the town and be like, little photo op right there. I'm like. I'm like, oh, get that camera.

[Greg Miller]

Stop on the segue.

[Snowbike Mike]

Give my little photo camera right now. But, yeah, I loved recruiting, you know, cast members onto my team or fellow pirates, because there's a moment where it's like, hey, you need 10 more crew members if you want to progress the story. And you stop and you look at Honolulu, and you can hover over all these different crew members, and you go up to them and you think like, okay, well, what do I got to do? And the first couple are like, hey, I'm down on my luck. I need money. Pay me $2,000 or join a crew. Hey, I'm having a bad day. Can you get me a drink? And then it progresses past there or the normal telltale one. I gotta prove, if you're worth my time, fight me. And it's like, okay, I'm gonna fight you. And so I enjoyed every single one of those. And I liked the different cast and crew, right? I had an old lady pirate who just wanted to be wined and dined, and I was like, lady, that's not me, but it could be me. You know what I mean? Did I find her on the ship, give her some roses? Roger, of course I did. You know, did I get a lady ninja? Yeah, it was pretty dope. You know what I mean? Do I have a lemon head guy on the. On the front of my boat? Of course I do, because I like that guy. Like, the best part is you make all these character. You meet all these characters, and you recruit them onto the ship, and then you can play with them on where they are in your boat, right? They can be on the cannon side. They can be on the. You know, we're gonna jump on the ship and fight people Side. So I loved having different casts and crews all over the place and being like, well, who is my second mate? Oh, is the polar bear now like my best friend and that needs to be on the crew? Of course the polar bear is. So, yeah, I loved that. I. I fell in love with them.

[Greg Miller]

I'm so happy.

[Snowbike Mike]

That's why I was like, that's when the 100 mike came out where I was like, I can't leave until I do all of these. And then the guy was like, I need a bento box. I was like, fuck you. I don't know where the bento box is. I'm leaving you.

[Brittany]

You know, a man in need, a man needed food to survive. And you're like, nope, go starve.

[Greg Miller]

Go die.

[Snowbike Mike]

You want $2,000? I'll give you $2,000.

[Greg Miller]

No Bentzo box. No Bentzo box.

[Brittany]

No Bento box.

[Greg Miller]

Take the money.

[Brittany]

Get the bento crew. There's a lot of crew to recruit. I think 89 total. That you crazy. And I. I also recruited every single one of them. That's off the fun.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no, I. I was just kind of like, I did my. My piece, I got my. My team and I just kind of bounced off. So like, yeah, yeah, that was. That wasn't like a. Like a yeah, yeah, me saying I didn't like it.

[Snowbike Mike]

My perfect crew once I set in of like, like, you have your 10, like Brit said. Once I saw them, I was like, oh, now I want to hand select my crew. So I'm going up and I'm finding who I like. I like your backstory. I like the look of you. You know what I mean? I got the one nerd who's. He's all about stats and he's trying to break down how powerful I am via stats. It's like, how about I punch you in the head right now? You'll join this crew. It was a great time, Roger. This game was great.

[Greg Miller]

It's a great game.

[Brittany]

It is so good. And that's a good point too, because you will not use half your crew because you have a certain allotted. You know, you have a certain spaces that you can only fill with your crew, right? Because everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Some of them are good with cannon. Some of them are good with ship repair. Some of them are good for fighting when you board the ships. And so you have to decide where you want them to go. And you can level them up. You can level them up by putting them through actual combat, or you can just give them gifts like Mike did. Give Them roses and stuff, and they'll be very happy. But it is fun to min max and try to get those points as high as possible. So when you do have those battles, you just destroy them all.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, of course, because the crew also, yeah. Goes into your ship battles where they all have stats, they all have proficiencies into different things. Right. So you want people with good canon use to be on your cannons. You want people that are on the shipboarding crew to be strong in combat. And they all have their different stuff. They all have different stats. Some of them help heal and are kind of medics. Some of them are just more for the physical side. So, yeah, it is cool to kind of min max. It is, right, Brit? And think about, who am I adding on? And then to the animals, which I got to get to the animal kingdom, because at first he teased me. He's like, hey, look at this chicken. We got to save this rooster from getting its head chopped off. It's a phoenix. It rises from the ashes. I'm like, me and this phoenix, we're about to be best friends. Because you start off with a little pen, and you have the animals, right? And then you immediately leave them. And all in the back of my mind is like, well, what's up with these animals? I just left all these animals right over coming back to this. And sure enough, you will. And then the best is when you go to these islands, you go save more animals. So there was a monkey in a tree, and it was like, here's three options to try to get the monkey out of the tree. Shake it, throw coconut at it, or pose. And I was like, of course I'm gonna hit it with a strong pose. Let's see what happens. And I pose in front of this monkey. Threw a coconut at me, didn't like it.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

But I got the monkey to fall in love with.

[Greg Miller]

You throw a coconut in.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, but, like, that's not how it came. Once he hits you in the head and then he appreciates you, he loves you.

[Greg Miller]

It's so funny, right? Because I played so much, so much of Yakuza, and when people like Mike explained to me something that happened in the game that I just didn't get to, I'm like, that's a fake thing. Like, that's not real. Like, I don't know how anyone gets into this franchise. Like, it is.

[Brittany]

It's insane.

[Greg Miller]

It's a fucking miracle. That's crazy.

[Brittany]

Like, I would actually love to hear just, like, real quick, your. Your fast thoughts. What do you think about that because it has been known and it's so hard to explain, like, Roger was saying how crazy this game can be, but also how serious it can be. Is that interesting for you?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. My fast officers. I love that. I love the quick, like, coin flip of this could be a really serious pull at your heartstrings moment. This could be an intense fight where we're gonna break down insane Yakuza Mafia backstory that you need to know about. And then all of a sudden, I'm at a moving circus in Honolulu that's all about, you know, creatures in the Antarctic Circle, and he's got an ice cage around a polar bear. But how do you keep a ice cage warm or cool in the middle of Antarctica or in the middle of Honolulu? And it gets out, and you got to refreeze it. I love that. And that's what I told Roger at the beginning is I came to Yakuza for those crazy moments. I see these cutscenes, I see my friends talk about, oh, this crazy lobster fight. You know what I mean? It's like, I looked around. I was like, there's not enough humor right now. Where is that? Roger was like, you'll get some. But I think you find more of the humor in the subplots. I think you have to pause. I talked about it with you guys at the beginning of. I used the term park the bus, which means, like, in, you know, soccer, any sports. It's like, just stop what you're doing and slow down. And that's where I think you find those fun, outrageous moments, because you don't get that in the moment to moment story beats. You'll get fun moments, but, like, you won't get outrageous moments. And that's where I was like, oh, I wanted that. That's what I want. The mix of. And so I had to really slow down, Brit, and get into the subplots, because I was looking for those, and I wasn't getting enough of it right now.

[Brittany]

That's perfect. That's. That's actually a really good piece of advice. Do the sub stuff. And I don't know if y'all did Sicko Snap again. This is. We didn't talk about this. This is like the Pokemon Snap version of Yakuza, where you're going around taking pictures of men and tight leotards and butterfly masks.

[Greg Miller]

That's in this game?

[Brittany]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, my gosh. It's always so funny talking to me. I'm like, I. I feel like we play different games. Like, that's crazy.

[Brittany]

And it I think it's a better version than it was then. Was an Infinite wealth because at the end you have to find the legendary Crystal Sigo and it's a whole ass Pokemon Snap level. Not even joking.

[Greg Miller]

That's incredible.

[Brittany]

And that's. It made me cackle so hard. Like, you know, it just. The laugh out loud moments. I think I had more of these than I did in probably Infinite Wolf. It's just insane. But that's because it's Majima.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, it's great. I love every moment. I love the connections. All of a sudden, me and Noah, the little kid, are back at the Revolve bar, which he loves. He shouldn't be allowed milk. He shouldn't got a beer. We're like connecting and I'm like, I know I should be getting this in Infinite wealth that everybody tells me to play. But, like, this is my moment.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, this is yours.

[Snowbike Mike]

Hey, we're building this anywhere you can get it. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

We'll welcome you. We'll welcome it to the franchise.

[Snowbike Mike]

And so, yeah, I really enjoyed that. And like Britt said, I. I think you got to enjoy those subplots. You got to stop and do that. I think you get overwhelmed quickly with how much there is and you can get lost in doing your favorite stuff, but you should get a little taste of everything because it's really cool. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

There's one subplot which I will not spoil because it's just so we'll talk off air. It was hilarious, but it was also genuinely uncomfortable. And we'll talk about it. It's where a. I'll pitch the. The main idea is where someone comes to Majima and says, hey, the tiger that you're with, you can talk to the tiger. I have technology. It's a genuinely uncomfortable one, but it's also hilarious. But it's also the weirdest thing that I've seen RGG ever do, and that's saying a lot. So, yeah, you're gonna get some really good ones that run the. Run the gamut from, you know, that. And then also had one where I was talking to a fan of an idol and he may or may not be getting scammed by this idol. So that was. That was a really fun one. That was a really, really fun one.

[Snowbike Mike]

As we start to ramp down the podcast, I want to talk about the future and where you guys want the franchise to go, what kind of cool things you'd like them to kind of carry with us from Pirate Yakuza. But before that, did we forget anything? Do you want to hype up anything. Do you want to talk about anything, Brittany? And roger that. Maybe we kind of skirted over a missed. We only had an hour, so it was a lot of things to talk about in this game. Game.

[Brittany]

Did we talk about Madlantis, the new location?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, that's true. We didn't.

[Snowbike Mike]

We didn't talk enough about it. We talked about Honolulu. Let's talk about Midlantis. What did you think?

[Brittany]

Okay, so Madlantis is in the middle of the ocean, and it's kind of like if Kamurocho and a pirate hideout had a baby. It's like this little mini pleasure district, right? And within it you have again, we talked about the batting, the batting cages or whatever that is. There's golf, there's arcades, there's a bar. And then you have the Coliseum, which is the main draw. Right. And this is where you get to do all those pirate battles. We talked about that a bit. I think it's a fun location and it was something that I think a lot of us were looking forward to and are still looking forward to. If you haven't played yet, wasn't a heck of a lot there. Besides the Coliseum, I would say to really just kind of sink your teeth into. Unless you want to do some of the side active activities, which is great. But other than that, like, I think that was the other only major. When we were talking about the setting, we just kind of skirted over that a bit.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no, that's a great call. It reminds me of the ship that they had in man who Races Name. It's kind of the same vibe, right? I like the history behind Badlantis. I don't love walking around and getting around Matlantis. That was my big issue with that, is that, like, you have the area where you get off and you run. You can do the pirate Coliseum, which is mostly what I'm doing. But anywhere, anytime you have to get anywhere else. Like, they do have a fast travel system, but it's not really great. So you have to go find a person. It's just always out of my way. That's my only criticism of it. I liked it. I thought it was a good, like, vibe setter. Especially in the beginning of the game, right. When you get to Madlantis and they tell you how. How it's a ship graveyard and all the. All these crazy things about it. It's. It's a solid, nice. A nice way to start the story. So, yeah, it's. It's cool. And I think this is the way to go for, like, these, you know, smaller experiences. Right. You don't have to build out an entire world that is, you know, part of the main story. You just put all the fun stuff in one little area. You can fast travel there and have a good time.

[Snowbike Mike]

Didn't like the layout of it, but I enjoyed the look of it. I enjoyed what it offered. I didn't love, like, when you go to the map and you see, like, it's kind of just an awkward, like, circular strip that you're just really tight on. Especially come from Honolulu where you get lost in the streets. But. But yeah, like you guys said, it's like a fun tone of like, hey, this is pirates, right? We're all about pirates. We're gonna have some cool stuff in here. We want that Pleasure District look. I think they nailed that for sure. I enjoyed all the mini games right there. I was playing blackjack and I'm like, oh, snap. Stuff is playing hours of blackjack here.

[Greg Miller]

I'm so deep in poker, bro. I love it. I love it. That's actually. Yakuza is actually the game that made me. Taught me how to play poker. 0 so, yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, I like that.

[Brittany]

The other thing, real quick, I think we should talk about is the fact that you can customize Majima's outfit.

[Greg Miller]

Yes.

[Brittany]

We didn't talk about that. And all of the rings you can wear, and that's kind of how you buff his. His gear.

[Greg Miller]

Yes.

[Brittany]

Right.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, my rings.

[Brittany]

They're so good. So you don't equip gear in this game like you would in another game. Instead, you have all these. You have ten fingers, so you have ten rings that you can equip. And if you equip certain combinations of rings, it'll up your attack battles and your attack power in certain combat modes. There's a lot you can play around with there. But honestly, I just love the shiny rings. I was like, this looks even in the cut scenes.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

I was gonna say, it's so cool. I was looking out for all my cool.

[Snowbike Mike]

I was buying rings at every shop.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

Like, I made it a point of, like, I'm buying rings at every shop. It doesn't matter what you got. And I did love that you could go in. He's got the thumb rings, he's got the pinky rings, and you're going through like, what's the stats here? What do I want? Yeah, that was a. That was a nice touch right there.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, it was a great time.

[Snowbike Mike]

How about customers customizing? What cool outfits did you wear? I Noticed I didn't like changing my outfit often. I really liked my look.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

But I did find some cool stuff. I'm like, oh, am I putting them in a sweater and sweatpants today?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. No, I. Honestly, I was having so much fun with the game and I forgot about the customization because I got it. I feel like I got it right the first time. But I do. I did want to go back to. I do want to go back to it now because I forgot that they have the entire Majima look from Yakuza 0. So I gotta. I gotta put that on. I gotta put that on. I gotta put that thing on. But I had the long hair for the Mad Dog, the Sea Dog, rather. And then I have a shorter hair for Mad Dog. Right. So you grow some hair.

[Brittany]

I think I saw there's 200 different articles of clothing that you can customize. So you can do shoes and eye patches and hair and tops and bottoms. You can have them walking around, nothing but like. I can't remember what the actual name is, but it looks like a little towel thong thing. You can do that if you want to with socks. It's glorious. I had a lot of fun with this. And I also. Roger recreated him like Yakuza 0, but I mostly just had him in sweats and a ponytail. Like, this is my perfect version of him. So it's really, really, really fun. And you can walk around in your hostess outfit too. I mean, you can make this wild because the look into the cutscenes.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

So you're supposed to be having like this intense scene, and it's Gouromi with her bright makeup and her blonde hair and her pink tight dress. And you're like, okay, sure.

[Greg Miller]

And even on. Even on the little tiger. Even on Goro the tiger.

[Snowbike Mike]

You can customize the ship. You can customize. Question for you. So those are like loadout presets will come because, like, it was cool. Like, I could customize them. But then I noticed it was a 2, 3, 4, 5 for everything. Meaning I could have five different looks. I can just quickly choose and switch between. Love that.

[Brittany]

Love that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Roger, anything else you want to highlight? Because I have a couple things I want to ask you about.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, okay. I was gonna talk about the future.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, yeah. We'll get to the future in a second. Some things I want to highlight. The dubbed version. I'd love to know you guys thoughts on that?

[Greg Miller]

I didn't listen to it. Did you? Did you, Brit?

[Snowbike Mike]

I played the whole game and, well, I started my first four hours in Sub. Then I switched to dub. I liked it a lot. I didn't love the voice for him. When I. When I look at him, I think of a little bit different style of voice. But to me it made the game more accessible to me. Of like, I can just enjoy this without having to read a bunch of subtitles and get lost in the text and not see above. And so for me, I loved it. I really enjoyed it. Everyone was voice acted, everybody. It's like it was just good. It fit well. Was it as good as Infinite wealth and what I think Ichiban and that cast was? No. But do I think it was good enough? Yeah, for sure.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

That's awesome. That makes me really happy because I think it goes to show how important it is that RGG went to go do that. Right. Because they didn't start doing that with their recent games. So. Because a lot of people just don't like reading subtitles. And I can totally understand that, but I never considered how many people that was probably alienating from the franchise.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no, absolutely. I'm happy that you like it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I agree with you. I don't think I'm the biggest fan of Majima the way that they casted him. But I mean it's. If it helps you and it's serviceable, then yeah, for. For sure.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. So I enjoyed that one a lot. And yeah. Let's talk about the future, guys. I, you know, you talk about the ship. Ship combat. What do you want to see from the future for Yakuza? Do you want another Majima story? Do we want pirates too? Where do you guys want to go with this?

[Greg Miller]

No, I. I know Brit, you have a lot of ideas and theories and everything. And of course we have infinite Yakuza 9. Right? I mean that. That's the next one, right? Like I. I assume that that is the next one. I assume we don't get another in between game. I could see it's it. But I. I hope that we just go to nine. There is a part of me and this is hopefully not controversial, but maybe a little bit. We just take a break for a second. We take a break and we may be. We may be. Because here's the thing about Studio rgg, right? Like they are now on the cutting edge floor of trying to push their graphics engine. They're trying to. With Virtual Fighter. Virtual Fighter. So next. That's the game that they're making, right? Whatever. They're making the next Virtua Fighter. They are making Project Century. They're making a lot of different games. Probably Super Monkey Ball in the meantime. And they are pushing their, their engine, they're pushing their gameplay. I kind of want Project Century to come out and kind of see what they learn from it. And maybe they can take some of that and put into Yakuza 9.

[Snowbike Mike]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

Because Yakuza 9 to me doesn't seem like the end of the franchise very clearly. We're gonna make a billion of these games forever. But it seems like it could be an, an end to some, to some things. Right. So I want them to take their time and, and kind of build that up to, hey, by the time we get to the next Yakuza, oh, we had the in for Yakuza Pirate Yakuza. Right. People are in it, people are playing it. People loved Infinite wealth that sold a bajillion copies. Right?

[Brittany]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

Let's now go and try to make this next one the definitive Yakuza game for the next generation.

[Snowbike Mike]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

That's my hope. And I also hope that we do another pyro Yakuza because we need to, we need to go back these characters and there's enough world building here that we can sustainably make a sequel that doesn't feel like we're just shoehorning it in. Right. We can do this again.

[Snowbike Mike]

How do you feel?

[Brittany]

I am processing. Okay. So I think obviously when it comes to Yakuza 9, like a dragon 9, I think what we're going to see is we're going to see everything that the series has built up into this point, including the ship and the naval stuff. And I think it's going to be inserted as a main mechanic into the next game.

[Greg Miller]

Interesting.

[Brittany]

I think it just. I think it just makes sense. If you play this game and you watch kind of where the story unfolds and where it looks like it's going, it looks like it could be a very stark possibility because I don't know, I mean they have done Eshin in like those kind of like older type games, right. Where the more period setting. But I think with the ship combat, I think that this could easily belong in the next game. And like my ideal one of you who's at 9 will have Dondo island again, a better version of a bitter ship combat. And I feel like you can fit all of those the same thing and make sense because I also think that we're going to see Majima as a core character in the next game. I think we're still wondering like what's going on with Kiryu. Like we know at the end Of Infinite Wealth. Something happens with him and we're gonna see what's going on with that. And then a bunch of other loose ends that have not, not since been tied up.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

So with that to the side, you mentioned Project Century and I don't know and I want Project Century to come out, but my feeling with this game is that this is going to be taking the core like a Dragon formula and just applying it to that narrative. Because my theory with that game is that is going to be telling the origin story of the Chojo clan.

[Greg Miller]

Yes.

[Brittany]

Because if you look at right when, when that game takes place and when the what Yamaguchi Gumi, I think that's the actual like name of the clan in Tokyo was founded, they take place in the exact same year.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, wow.

[Brittany]

So I don't know if they're going to be doing a lot of innovation stuff, if they're going to be retelling that story again. All hypotheticals here. Right. But I think that's, that's more of where I'm leaning is nine is going to continue to innovate and apply everything they've learned and push the boundaries where they're going to apply the same formula to Century. Maybe with a few different narrative tweaks here and there, but nothing too outrageous.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Part of me about Project Century, just from that trailer and I know it's based off nothing, gives me the vibe that this might be like a soulsy type game. I don't know, something about it feels a little bit different with this gameplay, at least just from the very small amount that we saw. So yeah, I, I just, I just want to know about Project Century and I wonder if it does come out in this next year. If. Are we. Is do we get a product century before we get a new Yakuza game? Right. Where we get Virtual Fighter. Right. Like there's so much they're working on. So much like Studio RGG is an insane studio and one of my dream projects products is to do probably a podcast with you Brit, and people from Studio RGG and sitting down and being like, how the do you make these games? Like I need to know like the behind the scenes of how this works out. So yeah, I, I hope that we get a Project Century before that. Just so I can see like, are you pushing the formula forward or is this just, you know, we're just adding new things, new ideas, ideas, new spin offs. But I, I have a feeling that Project Century is doing something different here. So I want to see that first.

[Snowbike Mike]

We'll See, let us know where you want to see the franchise and the team take your favorite Yakuza characters and beyond. Of course, let us know as well in the comments below what you thought of like a dragon pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Because this has been our review. A big thank you to Roger and of course the lovely Brittany for joining us today. Both of you were fantastic. Brit, before we get out of here, where can people find you? What cool stuff are you doing that you might want to share about? And let's get out of here, Zachary.

[Brittany]

Let'S get out of here. Now. This has been super duper fun things. I was bubbling inside with all this excitement because I had nowhere to get this all out, but I did today. So thank you. I feel really. You can find me on X at Blonderd. You can find me on instagram @blonderd, YouTube @blonderd. I'm everywhere. I'm just doing, like I said, pick and choosing certain game reviews and previews right now, having fun with everything. Gonna probably take a break because I feel like I've just been reviewing games until 3am for the past two months, so. But I think there's a few games coming out this year's looks like it'd be pretty beefy that I'm gonna check out, but yeah, I mean, I'm always just posting my antics online.

[Snowbike Mike]

So go, go find them. Thank you so much to the both of you for all that. Thank you to everyone who watched and listens to today's podcast. This has been your games cast for a lovely Tuesday in February. We'll be back with more. But of course, if you're watching live on YouTube and on Twitch, the fun does not stop. We have more streaming action coming your way where me and the crew are going to go into the lab and play some awesome indie games you need to know about. And of course with that, thank you all so much for tuning in. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.