175: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (with Brian Edwards)

Support my work on Patreon Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has risen to the gaming mainstream with its beloved Like a Dragon series, and when a hot streak occurs, a heat check often follows, and there is no bigger heat check than a game where you play through a Hawaiian pirate adventure starring the series' lovable maniac, Goro Majima. So why has Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii fallen out of the conversation, even among series diehards? Did the heat check connect, or is it the beginning of a downturn? All that and more in this great conversation. Guest info: Brian Edwards Listen to the Cane and Rinse podcast https://caneandrinse.com/ Listen to the Character Issues podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-character-issues-podcast/id1530881747 Follow Brian on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/characterissues.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:20 Intros 5:45 Personal Histories With Yakuza Series 9:53 The Yakuza Secret Sauce 14:12 Opening Thoughts about Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii 20:34 Like a Dragon Series Fatigue? 35:15 Story Setup, Majima the Leading Man 45:40 Framing Device, Substories, Goofs 1:11:18 Pirate Gameplay, Ship Combat 1:33:51 Action Combat 1:44:59 Mini-Games and Side Activities 1:52:36 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations 1:57:57 Character Issues, Cane and Rinse 2:02:33 Spoiler Wall/Patron Thank-Yous 2:04:37 Spoiler Section- Substories 2:18:42 Spoiler Section- Main Story and Ending Music used in the episode: Anchors Aweigh (Saori Yoshida) Nameless Traveler (Saori Yoshida) Palekanian Dance (Yuri Fukuda) Mad Dog (Keitarou Hanada) Echoes of Hope (Kazuki Takagi) Masaru's Love Journey (Mitsuhara Fukuyama) Check out the King of Games 1999 tournament on Retro Hangover! https://linktr.ee/retrohangover Social Media: BlueSky Instagram Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!