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

Hey, what's up and welcome back to another episode of the kind of funny games cast for Tuesday February 18th 2025 I'm one of your hosts. So Mike Mike and today. I'm joined by two incredible human beings. It's our yakuza best friends It's Roger and Britt.

Hi you too. I'll start with our guest hi Brittany. How are you? It's great to see you here I'm going to scream with us.

Oh, I feels back feels like I'm at home talking about you Who's a Mike I feel like you don't have a lot of clues of what's going on? Yeah, yeah, yeah Great I'm back Man, I don't remember the weekend it's crazy because the last time we were with Brittany was you me and her and we were talking about Infinite wealth last year so we were back again talking about more yakis and you have the yakis a newbie along with the two pros here So it's gonna 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 one on Monday. Yeah, that must be hard for you You know my favorite day. Yeah, no, it was it was not it was not the same without you.

We did a Carl Jacobs year Which was nice really great. It was really great. Yeah, I'm feeling great You know, it's like I was so I was telling Brittany. I was telling you Mike earlier But like it's my favorite time of the year right like it is nice that it is a yearly thing right like we can come together every year And you know get thirsty about some module you know talk a little bit You're here and you're talking about it.

You're actually playing the game potentially like 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 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 fun game It's every week day we get together to talk about the biggest reviews previews and of course topics on the 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 get all of our shows ad-free Live as we record them and of course get your daily exclusive show Gregway for a chance to be part of the show So 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 make sure to pause the conversation. I'll have these two pros answer those ones and of course You just want to say hi to Brittany Brittany. I apologize.

I kicked off the show written right in the housekeeping and we needed to catch up How are you kids? It's 2025. It's a new year. It's February.

How are you in the family house life? 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 to do my toes back in reviewing some stuff preview and some stuff But it was good kind of step back, you know and plagings for fun.

Oh, I mean I say for fun Like don't give me wrong Like old shit, you know, you know, you go back and play something. It's like oh, this isn't relevant It's fine. 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. I'm gonna hollen I right now, you know I feel like we're on our journey. We're going backwards. I like we are cultured.

We are cultured individuals Brit how have you been I saw you talking about Kingdom Come Deliverance 2? What are some other games that you've been enjoying lately to start off the year? Oh, man Well, I feel like when Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 when that review code came in it was like a month before it came out, right? So I feel like I've been playing just I've been reviewing games which feels like since the beginning of the year I have actually so yeah, it was Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, 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 right. Yeah, yeah, no, it's good. Just trying to strike that work life balance You know with the kid three and a half now, you know and trying to do this time flies Oh, yeah, Roger's being a great uncle to Greg's child Ben I mean a lot a lot of Instagram posts about how Rogers the best uncle in the office on the fun. Oh, well at least I was present I think I have a great moment yesterday, you know, so sorry to buzz Nick's balls But Nick comes in he's just a little jealous because me and better hanging out we're playing and then nix just like hey What's my name and then it's like I don't know oh no And then he's like, okay, let's try this what's his name points at me and then's like Uncle Roger Brittany of course you talk about doing all these reviews and previews with the wind down what's good games We're gonna 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 Brittany?

You 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 when a D on those platforms because it just does better than the YouTube algorithm 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 that's great go find break go support Britain have some fun talking to all things video games with her So the 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 too awesome sponsored mini streams showcasing Monaco to and lost skies very very fun indie games And then of course you're kind of funny member today. You'll get your great way from Nick Scarpeano You've never met a hydrated human Yeah, so what's the goal there, but is that one a day or two a day? With a growler this big The beast leaves I used to go through about two of these a day two with a good goal. I like that too I like that a lot of water.

How big is it? I don't like it Alan. It's like 64 ounces. Oh shit.

Yeah, Mike pathetic step up your game We're gonna be drinking for a bit. Yeah, I'm sure about yeah, it's a lot of money It's not good. It's not good. Smart water is legit.

It's legit legit. It's called 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 magic on 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 schedule on Friday night and 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 snow bike Mike meet me at this spot good luck and find me So if you want to find me the last week you ever sweet 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 patron producers for the month the lady twine and Carl Jacobs Omega Buster and Karen Linden are thank you so much for your support today We're 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 I'm tired Let's start off the show with what is topic of the show I love that today's topic of the show is like a dragon pirate yakuza in Hawaii Review with Brittany and Roger are to yakuza pros of course We're gonna start off with maybe a score on the kind of funny scale went through 10 And of course a little short review the things you liked you didn't like and it will dive deeper into the nuance and all the fun stuff But I think you know what let's start off with our guest Roger I agree Brittany if you could score this on a scale of one to ten if you'd like to put a score on it you do point five And we can do whatever you want and then of course give me a little rundown of what you thought of pirate yakuza I would love to make I think I would give this an eight out of ten and the reason is I think This is a wild frickin concept for a video game right and give it a series most unhinged video game character Modume or as Michael emoji man amnesia give him a pirate ship and don't forget this game is the narrative bridge between infinibalt 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 gonna make this wacky and we're gonna try to pull it off and they frickin pull it off And so I tested it 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 modume that 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 will talk about later I know in depth But I think that was a really cool neat innovation to throw inside a prime drama game Which again has no business being there but it freaking works But I do think I dock points because this is a smaller title and 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 my dream I were talking a little bit about this on a on DM But there was 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 wise modume of taking a ten year old boy on the open seat 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's has even got to puberty yet Okay, you live your best life and then a lot of moments that I think we're supposed to be impactful And I feel impactful because the story just needed more time I needed more runway So if they're gonna 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 But they're games but other than that freaking love it. I Like that I like that George sweet to the point Roger Europe next give me a score give me your thoughts on it Yeah, this is an interesting one because we had the last in between mini game Which was a man who raised his name right which I came out a few years ago Which was the bridge between the last game leading up to infinite wealth, right? And I was not on my game at all. I thought like it was way too long But also I did not like that game.

I'm sorry like I enjoyed I enjoyed kid you I enjoyed seeing him do his thing But it was just felt like it could have been you know could have been a little it was a DLC originally It felt like it was a DLC. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but but with that all said I played this one pirate Yeah, cuz I was cautiously optimistic. I mean it mod you my love mod you my love this boy I'm excited to see him get him the head with coconut and just forget everything 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 the same world for the most part from like a infinite wealth, right?

So it's like okay, that's fine It's a button mashy it's whatever and I beat the game and I just couldn't stop saying the word great Like you know I mean like I just it's an eight out of ten for me Like it's so funny cuz like all the pieces together like probably are seven rights a good game It reuses a lot of stuff. It's you know the the story is really it's 20 hours I took me 20 hours to beat the game probably be in probably 15 hours, right? You know we'll talk about Brits run time a little bit, but it took me about 20 hours I think the story is just to pad it out like I do think there's like five hours of a really good story But there's enough going on they just kind of stretch it out stretch it out to by the end of it You're like alright you could have just cut a few of these sub lots and we could have just been going here But again by the end 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 just like tearing up a little bit and I'm embarrassed looking at me It's like what's going on with it like this shit means something to me You know this is why it means something to me it is so fucking dumb It is absolutely ridiculous But I just couldn't stop playing and there's no point in the game where I was bored even though it's been 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 I'm having a great time. So yeah, and 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 time? I think I did 23 hours all said no 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 side stuff I did all the bounty of most of the bounties run around having a good time Yeah, 23 hours to finish the entire game. How about you Britt? 45 I could go back for another 10 to 15. So yeah, I mean that's a really good point too Is there is a lot of side stuff we talked about bounties and I don't want to like jump the gun here Like I want to hear what you have to say to you But depending again like to your point Roger I was never bored either if you 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 well had who I did specifically Or 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 you've done some stuff right?

It's that it's that it just sucks you win and it's just fun no matter what you're doing Yeah, Mike you this is your first yakuza game. Yeah, you've touched in for a while the little bit It dropped it. You don't like the turn base on it. I want to know what your experience is how much of it Have you played are you willing to score?

Yeah? First this is your true blue first. Yeah, this is gonna be my true full head dive into this because I have tried like a drag Before I fell in love with Ichimon, but I could not get into the turn base combat So I always put it down about the 10 hour mark similar to what we talked about last year within fair 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 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 moments moment combat that is that fast-paced engaging punch punch punch Slash and 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 go into the pilot I see him. Oh wait, I fell in love with Oye 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 I'm saying a low-hadow people all day. 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 gonna play baseball And he's like don't worry Mike like there's even more to do it So my response was that is the yakuza way Yeah, I mean you find your mini game and that is all you play for ten hours and then you hop out of the mini I'm like, oh shit, this whole game. You're like, it's like you're kind of like walk out of a casino after four a.m. Oh my gosh I have a save that it's at the doorway to the baseball Because I was like don't leave this moment my disc would be you You know what I mean?

And so other fun things of course recruiting crew mates onto your ship We're gonna talk about it's always been fun, but I also fell in love with the animal kingdom all of a sudden I'm a different animals. It's insane like mini game, but also just like there's weird thing you can do It's like all of a sudden I got a cow and I'm in love with this cow I'm like this cow is me like whatever this cow wants. I'm gonna get it and the guy's like I can't own this cow anymore Give me $2,000. You can have the cows like survive 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 Brittany and Roger were gonna 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 go and path it and then there was moments 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 crew mates It's like my dad he needs us to find these golden balls And he says like seven golden balls he can grant us one wish and my head exploded right because I've been watching Dragon Ball for the first Evertime and I was like oh my god dragon ball reference. This is crazy Time that's all I can say and so that is your snow bike my impression so far. I love every moment 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 of 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? We'll just go along for the fun ride.

Yeah, I think I want to start with the combat right because it is it is a beam beat Them up as you've alluded to and I really love this combat because it is vertical Right, it's the first time it's the first time like you can actually be jumping in the air and like throwing people around I believe that is a new thing Yeah, so that's 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 with a focus on air combat And it's a first first of the franchise I said with the air combat and the ultimate which is great each mode has two different Ultimate or I guess multiple different ultimate's will talk about allows you to have multiple different versions of modima So you just press R2 and then you just have just six seven modules run around beat them up and like they just like random NBC's 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 Just so sick you're able to go in there and customize your outfit customize the little tigers outfit as we talk about later He's a cat, but you know he's a tiger's cat And yeah, and it's a dual sword in the sea dog format. It has a grappling hook 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 it has some crazy ults which I won't spoil because they have spoiled it in the trailers But don't don't look it up because it's some good shit But yeah, it is just so fun because it is the same thing like that's what this game is what you obviously 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 by the 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 turn your brain off and just mash in 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 see I just got into that flow state where I yeah even more than infinite wealth We're infinite wealth did have that grind of course that game's like double the length right like more than double length of it So it didn't overstayed as well come 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 mashing the back spot.

You just making fun. 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 So anyone out there in your life if you're significant other partners just button smashing they have a problem there in love with you Yeah, it was interesting to you Roger is in Mike you probably noticed as well Is this game shoves money resources down your throat? You're gonna be so rich so quickly because the way you upgrade your skills and the way you get more powerful whether it's Modular ship is you are getting money and you have reputation points right and I found for me anyway Because I also did most all the side stuff by the time I hit chapter 3 the beginning I was a god nothing to touch Right. I felt like those DBC scenes were like you're like go Coaches you see the 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 as 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 vs 100 do's or you vs.

3 or 30 do's or something and you really just get to mash it It's just the most amazing button match your pull-in off stick combos you're doing things that I didn't even really use a grappling hook Into 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? Please please I just smash stuff, but yeah, I really enjoyed the contact 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 term based stuff But I just didn't want that with this game so I'm so glad I stepped in the fast-paced combat Yeah, the combat for me was what grit me and got me right now really enjoyed both styles I found myself more on the seed dog using those two cutlasses using the grapple hook I loved the ultimates that you can unlock and earn a lot of fun to have and will lead to a lot of laughter a lot of just fun breaking up the Moment but when I enjoyed YouTube 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 the small arena and you laugh and you beat them up Then there's these moments like no, there's a hundred guys here You're like what just like we'll bring your crew and then you fight a hundred people on a pirate ship around an island And it's like coming off of Dynasty Warriors or just that really spoke to me 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 the Suddenly 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 way 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 We jump in overlays and you're going all lazy 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 20 feet 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, 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 your stuff as if you are stuck in combat So you're moving like you're in combat I forgot that part even happened because I think that's the only freaking time that happens Yeah, it's really 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 yeah This is interesting and then they also used to grab a hook in the world where Noah will be like there's treasure around I'm like Noah I got this and then you'll go into this interesting first-person view with your little aim down sites And you'll look to grab a look on this on the new 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 Honolulu And of course mad lantis which will run around in and it's like oh, I like that a lot that was fun Yeah, I my only criticism with with the grappling hook is I don't think in the at least for 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'd say or but I just it wasn't like being made clear to me like with men who races name 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 But yeah, I wasn't going I wasn't fine while that verticality that I'm sure is there But it just wasn't made clear to me.

I think it was only clear. Yeah, when there was treasure up top or something I know it would be like what's that? No, no, no, no, and then you have to you then you have to aim and then everything would highlight in blue and then you Would be able to like grapple up there and get a treasure whatnot Yeah, I mean it's a fun little interesting addition to the moment's moment gameplay I guess you know I I would have preferred the fishing mechanics more that you haven't don't go island with a spear or something But instead, you just grapple these like mahi mahi's and bluefin tuna's like out of the ground like it's no big deal It's not a big bluefin tuna cool. I don't it yeah I wish to grapple hook in combat was a little more it feels like it was only to hook onto someone and pull me closer Yeah, cuz it's like items that you can grab like you guys know like a bike or like a barrel and I wish I could like grab that and like Swinging around me or grab someone and swing around it never felt like that.

Let me introduce a video game called man who raises Yeah, I actually was thinking about this because that's that was the last game in the opposite franchise that did this type of like Beaten 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 all this crazy stuff It almost made me wish that we could just like merge that's with yeah with what we have here and then just make like one big Happy family and I think that would have been like the perfect like turn your brain off like I can place for 300 hours I think you can feel so powerful in this game you feel very powerful here between different degree, 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 world something massive, but there are moments where you are sailing from island 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? 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 shit 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's a moment traversal in the ship itself It's fine.

I mean the thing moves like a brick And you're gonna 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 What not, you know, I would say the traversal is probably like the weakest part of it The maps themselves are little bare bones. So unless you've only 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 did enjoy it also having the sea shanties and then having I had a spiritual moment Roger 24 hours in Dorella I was playing and I was sailing my seat and my bright pink ship and it was just like this this is it I healed my soul. I'm a fixed person. I'm a new person.

This is beautiful I I enjoyed my time with the ship stuff 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? No, we're not showing any ship stuff which which I was like, oh man Like it's gonna be rough like what's it gonna look like and it's very serviceable I think it's fun I had a lot of good moments towards the end of the game when it gets really hard with some of the ship stuff Even though mine was super upgraded. Yeah, my head 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's a lot of they open up a lot of different side quests where 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 out because I'm right having a nitrous boost on your Your pirate ship 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 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 I'm fully upgraded Let me spend three million dollars. I'll do it to get the nitrous out of the nitrous just going forever because that was the only thing I was stopping me from having so much fun grinding in the regular Coliseum beaten up people But going around and I did it all I did that entire side quests. I forget what the name of the crew is What I know the girl pirates.

Yes, oh the devil flag. Yes, the devil flag Double flag stuff, but 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 down to this 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 I know the worst decision Yeah, but here's the thing like it's cool about so you're G.G. It's 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 to the conversation with future Game I maybe we'll But if they do get to that point where like hey, this is successful and they make a sequel this could have a run for It's 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.

It looks really good. Yeah, I think the foundation was definitely set there I think there's a lot more innovation that needs to be done a lot more hands-on customization If you want to have like a fully fledged ship type experience and I feel like that's that's how I feel about this game in general Is everyone's like oh so that's a paragon over and it's like no I feel like it's it's a lovely baked You couza honey baked ham with a little bit of paragornish on it Like that's what it feels like to me doesn't feel like the ultimate pirate game But I think with the ship customization 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 I want me to I'm so bad about it.

I feel bad. I'm putting on as a I'm trying to bring a good impression I know I do love how you could have the most wild Weapons on your ship right you have lasers you can have flamethrowers you can have shark missiles instead I think 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 has like 400 power when I could use a laser cannon which has 2000 yeah, and you get that one before you just have a little Money, right? So yeah, 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 I want the shark cannon and I'm gonna upgrade this a bunch of times Yeah, it was just a little bit on balancing it didn't I wouldn't say felt underbaked 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 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 Yeah, I'm right there with both of you just if it wasn't for the traversal being so slow I would enjoy 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 a lighthouse, but you know all know it was a fun different idea there I really enjoyed getting there was I put it's beautiful because we'll talk about in the story here in a little bit But like me and Noah we really built a connection I did all of the like links with no idea all 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 yes Do you young for that any else I was like laughter like well like shitty like any's like don't look at it I'm so I'm just a parent of a child that has a parent But yeah, I mean for me.

I love the ship upgrades I'm similar to Britwear I had so much money that when I did finally get deep into the costume I was so strong already that was like oh I'm steam rolling you right now But I think Brit says well like up the 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 This episode is brought to you by builds y'all already know I'm a big points and rewards guy But here's a PSA for anyone who rents if you haven't heard of built you're about to thank me earning points on rent is now a reality When you pay your rent through built there's no cost to join built and as a member You will earn valuable points on rent and on your everyday spending Built points can be transferred to your favorite hotels and airlines and even the ones you haven't heard of there are over 500 airlines and 700,000 hotels and properties around the world you can redeem your built points toward points can also be redeemed towards a future rent payment and Unique experiences that only built members can access so if you're not earning points on rent My question is why not start earning points on rent you're already paying by going to join built calm slash kind of funny That's J. Oh, I and bi lt calm slash kind of funny make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you join built calm Slash kind of funny to start earning points on your rent payments today. It's bi lt This episode brought to you by factor ready to optimize your nutrition this year factor has chef made gourmet meals that make eating well easy The dietitian approved and ready to heat and eat in two minutes So you can fuel right and feel great no matter what life goes at you Greg Miller's been loving how simple it is to enjoy his factor meals as he's rushing between shows each day here kind of funny Factor arrives fresh and fully prepared perfect for any active busy lifestyle with 40 options across eat dietary preferences on the menu each week It's easy to pick meals tailored to your goals choose from preferences like calorie smarts protein plus or keto Multiple people here at kind of funny have been loving their experience with factor and you can too eat smart with factor Get started at factor meals calm slash factor podcast and use code factor podcast to get 50 Of your first box plus free shipping that's code factor podcast at factor meals calm slash factor podcast to get 50 percent off Plus free shipping on your first box this podcast is brought to you by stash saving and investing can feel impossible, but with stash It's not just a reality. It's easy stash isn't just an investing app It's a registered investment advisor that combines automated investing with dependable financial strategies to help you reach your goals faster They'll provide you with personalized advice on what to invest in based on your goals or if you want to just sit back and watch your money Go to work you can opt into their award-winning expert managed portfolio the pick stops for you Stations helped millions of americans reach their financial goals and starts at just three dollars per month Don't let your savings sit around make it work harder for you Go to get dot stash dot com slash kind of funny to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures That's get dot stash dot com slash kind of funny paid non-client endorsements not representative all clients and not the guarantee Investment advice resources offer by stash investment LLC and sc Restarting advisor investing involves a list offer subjective t and C's Welcome back.

All right, you too. I want to dive into a couple more fun topics before we get out of here So we have a whole second half of this, yo 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 the stories and then of course the future of the game franchise where you wanted to go You talk about building off of the ship combat what else could we see in this? So, uh, 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? Well, the cool thing about this one is uh, I believe let me see a big fun the comment right here uh 19, um, 18. Oh, no, sorry, nay, neo 94 Ask is this a friendly game for newcomers? And it absolutely is because the story of this is that modgima this character that is a 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 modgima through the lens of him having amnesia They don't do a lot of the big history dumps as I expected right there not like here's the entire history of modgima Here's 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 cats who's a tiger comes up and they save him and then you know He just becomes a pirate. That's just like that's just kind of it like this guy just like okay Well, I'm a pirate now and he just starts buying people a little no one to get off the yeah He's a little island and the little island that his father runs a bar on it's just kind of just boring There's how much going on this a young will come ten 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 Yeah, yeah, and that's beautiful That's the part of the story for me that I was again DMing with roger like what the hell like this is crazy Dude like yakuza like watches up on the shore and then within 24 hours He's like I will take you on the seas young man. Yeah, you want to ask your father first?

He's probably drunk at the bar probably doesn't even know you're here kid But most dysfunctional family ever but that was the moment where I was like, okay, like I and this is my my only issue This right I touched on this a little bit earlier is it just feels a little rush at times and a roger You said that you wish it had less padding is that what you yeah? Yeah, there's a section in the middle where there's pretty much like a few side quests that become part of the main story Then I'm like we could have just taken that out and had a five hour main story And so I feel like I see them I see the blueprint I see the framework of like what they were going for right But the problems yeah It's just because of the scale is 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 Yeah, and then I realized why 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 gonna spoil anything is one of my favorite chapters in this entire franchise It sticks the landing so damn good that I was like, oh, I'm never gonna forget this like I also have to save And I also have a screen share of like everything that happened and I was like I have to watch it like all day Because it was so impactful and so freaking hype, but yeah, yeah, no, I agree with you My issue was more of like 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 is a massive twist Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to play that next one where we're just like okay Like in the middle like do the pirate Colosseum 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 Yakuza pirate stuff which I'm looking forward to and we get there by the ending of it But yeah, it starts off pretty strong.

It gets kind of weaker by the middle of it I think we talked about like the whole thing is that this little boy he really wants to get off this island He's got a little bit of a coffee Got a bit of asthma he's trying to get off this island and then Majima who by the way everybody like he has an eesha He's still Majima like there's no like he just doesn't remember where his address is like that's the only difference You know, I mean 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 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 his present like it's like it's just wanna leave Jason. It's like I'm setting my ways I've been there before The humidity for your coffee. You must stay here my favorite thing of all things that I'm sure this happens a lot I'm just like no my son can't go with you, but if we fight each other I'll go with you I will be your ass and then I will take your son's I'm not a man of words I'm a man who speaks with this because I know someone like I heard that all over again Roger real quick I do want to say I don't know if I fully agree when you said that he's still not gonna He just doesn't remember his address again like I fully admit Majima's my favorite character I probably slightly unhealthily obsessed with this man And I've seen a lot of scenes over and over again and there definitely is a shift in his personality Which makes us a game and folds even more fascinating.

So I'm not sure you probably don't study him like I do No, I don't I'm excited to hear the history lesson after this. Oh, no, yeah But the point being is that you definitely there's just a softer glow about him certain or 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 gonna 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 played you because he's ero you've seen him in kiwami you know about who he really is at his core versus Mad dog persona But as the games to 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 and so long get an actual look at him because he is one of the most Fascinating characters I think in all the video games if you understand his story So that's just my little like gush moment I like that because 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 with 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 jock is a character that I didn't think I would get Because normally it's like hot dude tough bod punch and there's a crazy lobster over there. We're gonna fight No, this was like hey, we have some really good connection moment.

It's a crazy there. I'm gonna tell you about this bear Roger the crazy bear to why you throw it's oh, yeah, I like the story and it felt like a it felt like a pirate story Well, 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 pirates Oh, did you know there's another pirate game that you got to go over here? You can explore them. Yeah, guess what you don't got to do it right now And I always felt like that I was like do one mission you don't got to do that.

Yeah, we're gonna introduce you to the pirate Colosseum you I got to do that right now. This gives you a lot of it Yeah, I like to I like to 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 extra kuz Here we go boom that's cool. Oh, there's a pirate gang here. Oh, this ladies running the whole pirate Colosseum Oh, this guy's got money like that's cool.

I liked everything that they threw at me We're like, okay, you got something in the pot here Let's see what it looks like at the end. I'm excited for sure 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 boil What happens within that game and it is a continuation of some of the events of that game But if you're like now, I don't have time before that you can hop right in but just be prepared that It's not gonna be as emotionally impactful if you have not seen what went down in that last game Yeah, absolutely Especially for the very very ending the post credit scene potentially or like any other like that ending yes But also I will say it says a lot of I feel like I was putting myself in like the the mindsets of somebody who's never played these games Before I was like this is a lot of them talking about things. I just I don't like I remember You know, I mean like oh this thing happened and I'm like what the fuck like I don't understand that So I think I grew through it does both things But I don't think it's fully spoils in the sense that if you went back and played in infinite wealth now Mike You wouldn't be like, oh my god, they spoke that thing. Holy shit like yeah, you would be just fine.

Yeah, yeah Let's talk about the setting because of course you bring up infinite wealth we return to Honolulu We've also added in any location. What do you guys think about going to those locations? 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?

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 turning from infinite wealth But like they're not upgraded at all right So I was I was having those moments of playing like crazy eats or whatever where I'm crazy But I've literally just played it You know a year ago in infinite wealth 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's 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 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 gotta be here all the time like there's enough to do outside of it that I was totally fine with them We using it and you know adding a little things that they did how about you, bro?

Yeah, I know I agree with that I think what just made honestly it more enjoyable I mean not more enjoyable than if it wasn't enjoyable just to be plain as you are again and again as someone like who's sick in the head is like You're like I just want to see how this man interacts with the world around him because I want to understand his psyche That was really cool to you Yeah, and I mean unfortunately don't go island is in in here Sujiman isn't in here you do have bounties and I don't think those were in the last game No, and there's so many bounties do so many God so many and it's like once you think it cleared them all you get a little text message And I go there's way more I gotta get 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 bounties was really great But not me who I was being and why 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 dark to their crew mates that was really fun and the dragon cart mode I don't know if that one was in the last one was kind of like a like a battle royale like that was cool But the the main side thing that was just the best was my sorrow's love story and I don't know I'm currently on that right now, so I know I know yeah, I popped up and I End of a play session and I literally just remembered it now Oh, this is my how far are you in this story? I'm family part two three area I would call it step three maybe 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 Essentially you're due it has a thing for these type of girls We saw this casting last year and really what's a Minato girl, but really are you just looking for Minato girls for the next game Oh, a 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 the payoff my friend is almost 40 minutes of live-action cinematics where you have It is almost unhinged shit. You'll ever see and it is glorious. It is the epitome of what RGG is good at But yeah, it's worth it alone.

It's better than a bachelor This is what I said I'm a rose do the carries a dandelion and he's like I'm like a dandelion I grew up through the cracks of cement to you and I have hardships and well, it's just so ridiculous. Yes, so funny Oh shit, I gotta play that okay. Yeah, there's a lot of good stuff hidden in there And it's like it's easy to get overwhelmed first. There's a new player I'm sure you guys know it's like you're probably picking two 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.

It's like oh, he's sad Oh, he wants a girlfriend's like I don't care about that You don't like what do you mean and then when you try to do those like because I laughed I did that a couple nights ago It's like you have to go back to the bar to go speak about that and like no no I gotta get on the pirate ship We gotta go and they won't let you so you have to go back I was like you slow me down to brownie like I'm trying to do things But yeah, I love for me I like to go back to Honolulu because of my time with infinite wealth I smiled seeing back some of the characters that you see the iconic locations was great the little fortune-teller dog costume guy Which like the broni I remember you know it is the same dude y'all it's like my favorite And you can bring them on your crew. I want them. Oh Roger. Yeah, I'm gonna tell you about the crew and just assemble the crew Roger shit I will always love the phone taking a photo.

Yeah, I will never I will never not enjoy running around the town be like little Photo up right there. I'm like oh get the car stop on the same way Give my little photo camera right now. Well, yeah, I loved recruiting Matt, you know Cass members onto my team or fellow pirates because there's a one which 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 okay Well, what I got to do in the first couple or like hey, I'm down on my luck I need money pay me $2,000. I'm joining crew.

Hey, I'm having a bad day Can you get me a drink and then it progresses past there or the normal tell tell one? I got a proof of your worth my time fight me and it's like okay I'm gonna fight you and so I enjoyed every single one of those I liked the different casting crew right I had an old lady pirate Who just wanted to be wind and dine since I was like lady That's not me, but it could be me. Did I find around the ship gave her some roses Roger? Did I get a lady ninja?

Yeah, which pretty dope you know what I mean? Do I have a lemon head guy on the book 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 cast and crews all over the place and being like well Who is my second mates? 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 fell in love with that mom so happy that's like that's when the 100% might came out Where I can't leave it 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 what the bento boxes. I'm leaving you, you know I'm leaving you know I was just kind of like I did my piece I got my team and I just kind of bounced off like yeah, yeah, I was like me saying I didn't like it I was just like oh my perfect crew that once I said in of 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 now finding who I like I like your back story I like a look of 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 is like how about I punch you in the head right now you'll join the crew It is so good and that's a good point too because you will not use half your crew because you have a certain A lot of 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 of cannon some of our good with ship repair Some of them are good for fighting when you board a ship 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 You can rose 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 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 cannon use to be on your cannons you want people that are on the shipboarding crew to be strong in combat 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 Britt 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 the tent chopped off It's a Phoenix it rises from the ashes I'm like me in this Phoenix We're about to be best friends because he's talking off a little pen and you have the animals right and then you immediately leave them And all in the back of my heart is like well what's up with these animals left all these animals right coming back to this It's 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 the option to try to get the monkey out of the tree Shake it throw coconut at it or pose and I was like of course my head with a strong pose Let's see what happens and I pose in front of this monkey through a coconut I mean didn't like it.

Oh, yeah, I got the monkey to fall in love with him. Yeah, but like that's not how okay Once like he hits you and I had any appreciation he loves you Yeah, it's so funny right because I played so much so much of Yakuza and people like Mike explains me something that happened in the game That I just didn't get to I'm like that's a fake thing I don't know anyone gets into this franchise like it is insane. It's a fucking miracle It's crazy. I'd actually love to hear just like real quick.

You're fast. Lots. What do you think about that? Because it has been known and it's so hard to explain like Roger is saying how crazy this game can be but also how serious it can be Interesting for you.

Yeah, my fast archers. I love that. I love the quick like coin flip of this could be a really serious pull out your heart Strings moment this could be an intense fight where we're gonna break down insane yakuza mafia back story 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 ice cage more or cool in the middle of Antarctica or in the middle of Honolulu and it gets out You got to re-freeze it. I love that right 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 all this crazy lobster fight You know what I mean? It's like I look to our eyes like there's not enough humor right now Where is that? And Roger was like you'll get some but I think you find more the humor in the subplots I think you have to pause I talked about it with you guys at the beginning of I used to turn part the bus Which means like in you know soccer any sport just 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 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 to mix up and so I had to really slow down bread and get into the subplots because I was looking for those And I wasn't kidding enough of it That's perfect. That's actually really good piece of advice do the sub stuff And I don't know if y'all did sicko snap again, because we didn't talk about this It's like the Pokemon snap version of yakuza where you're going around taking pictures of men and tightly Yes, oh my gosh Better version then it was an infinite well because at the end you have to find the legendary crystals to go And it's a whole ass Pokemon snap level not even fucking joking.

That's incredible And that's it made me cackle so hard like you know it is laugh out loud moments I think I had more of these and I didn't probably into the wall. It's just insane. That's because it's much money. 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 should be a little bit of beer and we're like connecting and I'm like I know I should be getting this It didn't fit it well that everybody tells you to play but like this is my moment And so yeah, I really enjoyed that like Brit said I think you gotta enjoy those subplots You got to stop and do that I think you get overwhelmed quickly with how much there is and you get lost and doing your favorite stuff But you should get a little taste of everything because it's really cool Yeah, 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 genuinely uncomfortable and we'll talk about it It's where a I'll pitch the main idea is where someone comes to mod you when says hey the tiger that you're with you can talk to the tiger I have technology to talk about it. It's a genuinely uncomfortable one But it's also fucking 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 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 I also that was a really fun one I was a really really fun one as I 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 like them They kind of carry with us from pirate yachas up But before that did we forget anything you want to hype up anything? Do you want to talk about anything Brittany and Roger that maybe we kind of scur over missed we only had an hour So there's a lot of things to talk about in this game.

Do we talk about madlandis then you look at sure we didn't We talked about it. We talked about how to let's talk about manlandis. What did you think? Okay, so madlandis is in the middle of the ocean and it's kind of like if Kamurocho and a pirate hideout how to baby It's like this little mini pleasure district right 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-octaves activities Which is great, but other than that like I think that was the other only major when we're talking about the setting we just kind of scurted over that a bit 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 bad land just I don't love walking around and getting around bad land Just 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 pyrocollis Which is mostly what I'm doing but anywhere anything 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 just always out of my way That's my only criticism of it. I like it I thought it was a good like vibe setter especially in the beginning of the game right when you get to bad land Just tell you how it's a ship graveyard and all these crazy things about it.

It's a solid nice nice way to start the story So yeah, 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 So you just put all the fun stuff in one little area you can fast travel there and have a good time Didn't like the layout of it, but I enjoyed the look of it I enjoyed where 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 tries to come from Honolulu where you get lost in the streets 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. Yeah, I enjoyed all the minigames right there was playing blackjack Oh my oh snap, so I just played hours of blackjack So deep in poker, but I love it. I love it. That's actually the game that maybe taught me how to play poker Yeah, I like that the other thing real quick I think we should talk about is the fact that you can customize my outfit.

Yes. Yeah, talk about that and all the rings You can wear and that's coming up his gear. Yes, I'm right They're so good So you don't equip gear in this game like you would another game instead you have all these you have ten fingers So you have ten rings that you can equip and 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 fucking even in the cut scene. Yes, I was gonna say it's so cool I was looking out for all my cool.

I was buying rings at every shop Yeah, I made it point like I'm buying rings and 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 this that's here? What do I want? Yeah, that was a nice touch right there. Yeah, it's a great time.

How about customers customizing what cool outfits did you wear? I know I didn't like changing my outfit off I really liked my look yeah, but I did find some cool stuff I'm like oh am I putting him in the sweater and sweat pants today? Yeah, no, I honestly I was having so much fun with the game I forgot about the customization because I got it 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 Moduma look from yeah, cuz it's zero so I got it. I got to put that on I got put that on I have a long hair for the Mad Dog the sea dog rather and then I have a shorter hair for Mad Dog right so you go some hair I think I saw there's 200 different articles of clothing that you can customize You know shoes and I patches and hair and tops and bottoms you can have them walking around nothing But like I can't remember 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 you could zero But I mostly just had him and sweats in ponytail and like this is my perfect version of it Really really fun and you can walk around and your hostess outfit too I mean you can make this wild because the looks translate into the cutscenes Yeah, so you're supposed to be having like this intense scene and it's growing me with her bright makeup and her blonde hair And her pink tight dress and you're like okay sure and even on even on the little tiger even on go The tiger 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 can customize them but then I just notice it was a two three four five for everything meaning I can have five different Looks I can just quickly choose and swing Love that Roger anything else you want to highlight because I have a couple things I want to ask you about oh, okay I was gonna talk about the future I'm gonna highlight the dubbed version.

I'd love to know you guys and thoughts on that I didn't listen to it Did you I played the whole game and well I started my first four hours in sub then I switched to dub I like to 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 and made the game more accessible to me 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 wasn't as good as infinite wealth and when I think each of my on that cast was no, but do I think it was good enough?

Yeah for sure. Yeah, that's awesome That makes me really happy because I think it goes to show how important it is that RTG went to go do that Right because I didn't start doing that until with a recent game So because a lot of people just like reading subtitles and I can totally understand that I never considered how many people that was probably alienating from the franchise Yeah, no absolutely. I'm happy that you like it. Yeah, I'm I agree with you I don't think I'm the biggest fan of Majima the way that they cast it in but I mean It's if it helps you and it's serviceable.

Yeah for sure. Yeah, so I enjoyed that one a lot then 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 yachos? Do you want another Majima story?

Do we want pirates to when you guys want to go with this? I know you have a lot of ideas and theories and everything of course we have Yachos and nine right I mean that's the next one right like I assume that that is the next one I said we don't get another in between game I could see it but I hope that we just go to nine there is a part of me and this is hopefully not controversial Maybe a little bit we just take a break per second we take a break and we maybe we maybe 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 a virtual fighter virtual fighter. That's the game to make it right? Whatever they're making the next virtual fighter.

They're 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 their 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 that put into yakuza 9 right So I'm not 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 end to some some things right so I want them to take their time and and kind of build that up So hey by the time we get to the next yakuza. Oh shit We have the in for yakuza pirate yakuza right people are in it people are playing it people loved infinite Well, that's all the bajillion copies right let's now go and try to make this next one the definitive yakuza game for the next generation Right, that's my hope and I also hope that we do another pyriaku stuff 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 you Wanting it right we can do this again, right? I am processing okay, so I think obviously when it comes to yakuza 9 like a dragon I think what we're gonna see is we're gonna see everything that the series has built up into this point including the ship and the Naval stuff I think it's going to be inserted as a main mechanic into the next game Interesting I think it just I think it just makes sense if you play this game and you watch kind of where the story unfold and where it looks Like it's going it looks like it could be a very stark possibility because I don't know They have done each in like those kind of like older type games right where the more period setting But I think with the ship combat I think this could easily belong in the next game and like that my ideal one of you who's in I will have don't Go island again the better version of a bitter ship combat I feel you can fit all of those in the same thing and make sense because I also think that we're gonna see Majima as a Core character in the next game I think we're still wondering like what's going on at the key room like we know at the end of infinites Well, 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 since been tied up So with that to the side you mentioned project century and I don't know and I want a 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 at the Tojo clan yes, because if you look at right when that game takes place and when the 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 Oh, I don't know if they're gonna be doing a lot of innovation stuff if they're gonna be retelling that story again Oh hypothetical 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 boundary is where they're gonna play the same for formula to century Maybe with a few different narrative tweaks here and there but nothing too outrageous. Yeah part of me about project century just from that trailer And I know it's based off nothing gives me the vibe. 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 a very small amount that we saw So yeah, I just I just want to know about product I wonder if it does come out in this next year if they are we say do we get a product century before we get a new yakuza game, right? Do we get virtual fighter right there's so much they're working on so much it like a Studio RGG is an insane studio and one of my dream projects is to do probably a podcast with you Brit and people from Studio RGG and sitting down And being like how the fuck do you make these games like I need to know like the behind the scenes of how this works out?

So yeah, I hope that we get a project century before that just so I can see like are you pushing the form before it? Or is this just you know, we're just adding new things new ideas do spin-offs, but I have a feeling that product century is doing something different here So I want to see that first 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 drag at 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 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 Let's get out of here. No, this has been super duper fun things I was bubbling inside with all this excitement I had nowhere to get this all out, but I did today so thank you I feel really happy and you can find me on X at Blondered if I'm an Instagram a blondered YouTube have longed 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 So I feel like I've just been reviewing games until 3 a.m.

For the past two months So I think there's a few games coming out this year's looks like a pretty beefy that I'm gonna check out But yeah, I mean, I'm always just posting my antics online, so that's great. You'll find them Thank you so much to the both of you for all that. Thank you to everyone who watch the listen today's podcast This has been your games cast for a lovely Tuesday in February We'll be back with more but of course you're watching live on YouTube and on twitch the fun does not stop We have more streaming action coming your way when me and the crew are gonna go into the lab and play some awesome in the 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