Yakuza 4 - Haruka's Trust

[@MilosTown]

Heya! I'm the same dude that was commenting on your Y3 Haruka's Trust video like a year ago lol, I just kept forgetting to switch accounts for commenting. I finally got around playing Y4 about a month ago, managed to wrap up everything yesterday. I'm quite glad that they heavily toned down the requirements on a lot of stuff, after how much of a grind Y3 was with the insanely high minigame scores. I see you pulled an almost perfect score on the Batting Center Extra Hard, impressive. I was scratching my head around that one until i figured out you can work with multipliers for the bingo bonuses, you can actually easily pull off the 4000 points with with just about 10 shots, if you leave big spaces to hit 4 tiles and especially if you leave a glaring hole in the middle, hitting 4 to fill in the board gives you like 1500 points at once. I did manage to do to it with not that many attempts so i didn't got to the point to seek out guides for help on it haha. I did get curious on how you had done it. Overall that was like the only thing I "struggled" with to do in the game, which again coming from Y3 was such a relief. By the way, i remember you mentioning to be careful with Y5 since they lock stuff near the end or something like that, I was wondering if you could give me the pointers of what i should be carfeul as to not miss out stuff? I think you said like do everything before finishing so I had tought to whenever it is to beat the game and then complete the stuff by reloading an earlier save file, though idk where would be the right place to be wary of. I plan to play it in like 2 months or so, need to pick up the pace with this franchise now that there's so many games 😅

[@GeorgiePotatoFace]

Hello again. Congrats on completing Y4. Regarding the batting centre minigame... I don't know if using the mouse gives PC players an unfair advantage over people on console... But it certainly helps. Although, even with a mouse, hitting 4 of the boxes was still hit and miss. Think the video got that across of my few failed attempts. The key to this kind of thing is being stubborn, I think. lol Sounds like you figured out a good method with the points. I'd always forget about the multipliers and would just go into auto-pilot trying to aim right. With 5, I did some experiments and discovered something a bit unique about it's clear saves. It's kind of odd. But basically, whilst you can't make a Clear Save in Premium Adventure, completion rewards WILL carry over. You just have to make sure to read the emails/texts to unlock them once you have control of Kiryu. Then you can collect them at any convenience store. Having quickly jumped into a NG+ game, I've figured out that outside of completion rewards, everything else (items, job ranks, char levels and such) is stuck at whatever progress they were before finishing the story. For instance, I'd fully upgraded the characters (in PA), but in NG+, Kiryu is still only at lvl.22 (out of 25). So to be safe, I'd suggest doing everything that you want to bring over to your NG+ replays before you finish the story. If you aren't worried about anything outside of completion awards, then don't worry yourself. You can get those in PA. Next warning is that the last time you can play as Haruka (until PA) is the 4th chapter of the finale. CyricZ's guide is what I've been referring to whilst I've been readying myself for recording Yakuza 5 (hope to start soon). It's basically a bible to live by with these games. But to give a no-spoiler warning... Do everything you need to before going back to the Lesson Studio AFTER the stuff at Public Park 3. You can travel back to Sotenbori if you need to. Good luck with 5, man.

[@MilosTown]

@@GeorgiePotatoFace Thank you for the tips! Yeah, on PC using the mouse the reticle stays still in place so it is way easier. Hitting 4 panels is kinda weird but i found a video from 13 years ago where the guy says that the actual spot is aiming a tad bit down and to the left of the actual center, it is weird but it works, not sure why it is designed like that lol.

[@GeorgiePotatoFace]

@@MilosTown Oh, that's interesting. Would explain why it never felt fully consistent, even if the the reticle was pixel-perfectly in the centre. Not sure if this applies to Yakuza, but back when one of my younger brothers was pretty much addicted to Fortnite, he actually bought a keyboard and mouse to play with (he was playing on PS4). It'd be cool if that worked for the RGG games too... Don't think it will, but one can dream.

[@EpicFailfree]

I seldom comment on KZbin videos, but I'd be remiss if I didn't gush for a moment to say that I absolutely LOVED this video as well as your Yakuza 3 Haruka's Trust video (I've yet to watch Kiwami's and Kiwami 2's and potentially your full playthrough of each game!)! Everything about it was honestly perfect: The editing was SO fantastic and satisfying, the thumbnail art (that you drew?!) was absolutely adorable and genuinely looked professionally done, the explanations were sublime, the gameplay was top notch, and the blend of post-commentary with live commentary was done to perfection! I also just want to say that you're honestly making history in my eyes by recording and uploading this side mode in its entirety, since I've only found two other KZbinrs who've even touched it (to wit, @VicRyu and @MilosTown). I'll even go so far as to say that you're one of only a few KZbinrs who's uploaded other content like the the hostess maker as well! To drive it home, as far as I can tell from my searching, I think you'd be the first KZbinr to upload Haruka's Trust in Yakuza 5. All in all, as if it wasn't apparent, you're a super underrated KZbinr who I well and truly hope makes it big and has more people watching your stuff. Your liveliness, commentary, gameplay, and knowledge are a match made in heaven! I wish you the best of luck in your Yakuza 5 playthrough and eagerly await it when it's ready (whenever that is!)!

[@GeorgiePotatoFace]

Wow... I'm really not used to this kind of praise. Honestly, I'm really touched. Thank you. I've always liked the idea of more in depth videos on things I'm passionate about. Although, in the past I think I've failed to reach that. But the Yakuza games ended up getting me into doing game completion, so I guess that helped. With the Haruka stuff specifically, I was surprised that there hadn't been more coverage on much of it. I had to go to the Japanese side of KZbin to find any, and even there, it's sparse. So I figured "why not?". I'm glad I came off comprehensive. I keep worrying I possibly worded things in an odd way or talked too fast. It was my first time doing something scripted, after all. And yes, I draw all of my illustrated thumbnails. I don't know if I'd call it professional by any means, but I appreciate that you think so. I'm happy you think I'm underrated and all that. But honestly being smaller then small-time is kind of nice. Most of the interactions I've had from being a nobody have been rather pleasant. I've been raring to go with recording Yakuza 5... but I think I'm coming down with my brother's cold, so I will probably have to delay starting. Not the first time. It took me months to get through 4, because of health/life getting in the way. Health and life are still clearly winning. lol. Can't give a definitive date. But I was hoping things would go up around April/May time... But with how I started recording 4 in around March and it didn't go up until October... I dunno. We'll see. But I'll be honest. I think Yakuza 6 might be the last RGG game I do a series on (maybe Ishin Kiwami. Would rather do the original but... 日本語はすごく難しいだね). I've been trying to get into the post-Kiwami 2 games and have been struggling (Gaiden was fun, though). I don't really want my more cynical, stubborn and overly opinionated British side to dampen the mood for games most people are very much in love with, y'know? Not really sure what I'll do after 6. I'd rather not stop completely, but I don't actually play many games, so I'm limited on ideas. We shall see what the future brings, eh? Again, I really appreciate your comment. It will likely fuel me for a good while. lol

[@EpicFailfree]

I am beyond thrilled you took my comment to heart! I mean every word of it! I think your pacing was great and you articulated your points in an eloquent manner, truly! I never felt like the video was rushed or off in certain parts. Everything flowed smoothly, was incredibly organized (doubly so with the timestamps!), and overall exuded polish throughout the entire video! I'd even say the same goes for Yakuza 3 despite it being unscripted -- your camera presence combined with minimal editing just naturally brings forth good pacing and flow, and your energy and banter greatly help give the videos a welcomed warmth, if you will. I hope that doesn't sound snooty or overly critique-y, but it's the only way I can think of to reinforce the fact that there really wasn't anything out of place and really just knocked it out of the -park- batting cage, haha. As an aside, I think if you had stiff commentary or were monotone, it'd definitely take away and make the video choppier, but your interactions with the characters (_"the child"_), sprinkling of Japanese, and funny edits all really made for an excellent video! And the art is honestly incredibly well done! I'm no expert but I legitimately loved it! It's even more impressive it's done by you considering all the other skills under your belt! I hear you on being small leading to nicer interactions, I've definitely noticed that across other channels of your size or a bit bigger; there's that sense of community and connection on account of just not having as many people around, haha. A silver lining for being small, I suppose! Definitely don't commit yourself to a hard date, just take your time and enjoy the ride, there's no rush whatsoever, and going at your own rate will hopefully mitigate or outright prevent burnout (which is unironically an important thing to keep in mind for a huge game like Yakuza 5). Regarding future games, I actually vividly remember seeing your "turn-based combat isn't my thing" in your full Yakuza playlist's description, and I even thought, "I wonder if they view Yakuza 6 or Gaiden as the canonical ending for Kiryu / the series!" That said, to be honest, I'd definitely advise against jumping into Y7 or Y8 if you don't enjoy turn-based combat, since it can give whiplash for those who've been so accustomed to the action genre that the series -- though thankfully we have the Judgment series and spin-offs like Ishin to sate our appetites, hah. I _will_ say, however, that Y8's combat is much more nuanced than Y7's. If you're at all interested in tactics gameplay, Y8 could prove to be scratch that itch. It has fairly meaty combat for a JRPG! Here are a bunch of ideas that might make for interesting content or videos to jump into -- NONE of these are requests, they're legit just things that might be of interest to you, hahaha. I just wanna make that clear that these are just ramblings rather than pressures, haha: - Kurohyou 1 and 2 on the PSP: I've not played them, but I think the gameplay is akin to Def Jam on the PSP if you've played that, so I'm not sure if it'd be for you. But I don't think anyone's actually covered it end-to-end (i.e., hostesses and substories), so that could be something to sink your teeth into! Although I don't _think_ K1's hostesses are translated yet, but K2's might be. - Dead Souls: Turbo meme game, horrendous performance on both real hardware and emulators, but coverage on it is super sparse. Full playthroughs are out there, but things like hostesses or substories are super rare (one KZbinr, @AZDragonGames, has covered the substories and all but one of the hostesses). - Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise: It's Yakuza with FOTNS painted over it. Same Yakuza VAs, same combat mechanics as Y0, same wackiness in the substories, WAY more gore. I love this game and if you haven't played it, it should definitely be on your list! There's good coverage on it too, so you can do as much or as little as you want and leave the rest to other channels. - OG Yakuza 1 and 2: Again, pretty sparse coverage, and one aspect of them I know isn't covered is failed QTEs if you wanna make a video on that for the giggles. - Judgment series: I'm not sure if these count as post-Kiwami 2 games or if they're of interest to you (or if you already played them), but I mean, it's Dragon Engine combat with a super fast-moving protagonist, it's hard to hate. Super ample coverage so you could easily just do a casual playthrough or whatnot. - OG Ishin: I'd actually love that just so we could see the difference in gameplay, writing, (likeness) characters, and even substories, but of course, it's in Japanese! Although it's funny you mention OG Ishin, as there's a fan translation group (Team Historic) who were translating it when Ishin Kiwami got announced. As you can imagine, that announcement took the wind out of their sails big time, to the point that they called it quits. The quasi-upside is that they're releasing all their work and tools as is so someone could carry the torch if they want at some point. - OG Kenzan: Good luck with the Japanese, haha. There is an ongoing fan translation (easy to Google, don't want to risk linking it and having KZbin deleting my comment, haha) but it's slow-moving, so who knows when we'll see it finished. They did say it would be before Kenzan Kiwami, so we've some hope to glom onto! Then if you wanna go full nut you can cover extremely niche and hidden things like all the Colisseum fighter descriptions, all answers in substories, all Taxi Mission answers, or all hostess date answers and whatnot. Again, legit just an unhinged idea (along with the rest), definitely not asking you to do this or anything like that, hahaha. It's more like, "scraping the bottom of the barrel if you wanna do _something_ Yakuza related."

[@GeorgiePotatoFace]

​@@EpicFailfree Don't worry. you don't come off as snooty or anything. Just very articulated. In regards to the turn-based comment... I went over it a bit in the Police Scanner video for 4. But I don't want to discount the newer games just because of it. I've just been burnt in the past when things (in general terms, not just games) I've liked have changed so drastically, is all. And to be fair, my only experience with turn-based is the rather unfortunate Sonic Chronicles (I was not a Pokemon kid or anything). I bought 7 heavily discounted ages ago and I intend to give it a fair shake... But it will be privately. That being said, I promised myself that it would be after I finish Judgment. As to somewhat keep with the release order, I suppose. But it's taken me over a year just to play to chapter 3. I dunno... Maybe I just prefer the more "gamey" feel of the older games or something. Even with speed upgrades, Yagami feels very slow and I can't figure out his combat/combos. The lack of dodging outside of locking on has REALLY thrown me off, too. Doesn't help that every time Kaito is on screen I'd rather be playing as him... Kinda outs my preference in characters, ey? lol I do like my well meaning, buff lug-heads. Heh. I've never tried emulating PSP games yet. But I do have interest in the Kurohyou games. Think I'd rather wait until they're fully translated, though. I may be studying Japanese, but I've slowed down A LOT in the last year... I'm still at a really basic level, even after 3 years. But I do like fiddling with tech, so I'll probably start experimenting with a rom of them at some point. I would LOVE to play Lost Paradise. But I don't have a PS4 and don't intend on getting one. If they ever port it to PC I will for sure check it out. Even if I hear a lot of mixed thigs, I've been wanting to get into Hokuto No Ken for a while. It's a very influential series and basically started that overly masculine, muscly style that flooded 80's manga. I remember how heavily inspired the first act of Berserk was to North Star, before going for a more balanced inspiration of Shonen and Shojo. And I LOVE Berserk. My art style has been very inspired by Miura, actually. Again, I would LOVE to play Dead Souls. But instead of console issues, I have emulation issues. I've tried multiple roms and settings, but every time I get to the second tutorial of Chapter 2 the game freezes as soon as I get to the text box showing how to aim the gun or even just opening the menu. I'm too anxious to join any discord servers for help, so it's just something I've accepted as not working. Even though my PC should be able to run the game fine enough. I can run Ishin at a steady 30 and an unstable 60... Sucks. The controls are ass. But more Majima AND Ryuji with a friggin' minigun arm sounds fun as hell. It's a shame Yokoyama said it will never get a remake/port. It's the one game I think sorely needs one. But since the game was a major flop when it released, I can understand his hesitancy. Especially with Ishin Kiwami not doing well. Speaking of Ishin. I hadn't heard that Team Historic gave up... Last I heard was they still planned to release. But again, I'm too nervous to join Discord servers so I can't actively keep up. That's a damn shame. I was looking forward to that. The tools being released sounds promising, though. Especially if they have any good text based modding tools. The games are easy to break in regards to trying to mod text based stuff, I've found. I have a Kenzan rom ready to go. But it being fully Japanese, and my JP level being basically still at a beginner level means it would be 10x more work in terms of even just reading the text boxes. So I'll be playing that privately for now. Maybe one day I might be somewhere good enough to put the energy needed into that... or they port the game, which would be nice, too. Maybe not a Kiwami remake. I'm worried they'll give Musashi superpowers or something, lol. I remember the translation team mentioning they were pretty much not currently working on the game (at least in a pretty old tumblr post) because of lack of assistance. unless there's something I don't know. As it stands. I don't really want to add onto the series I've already done. I like my round numbers. But maybe I'll do separate, more focused videos on some things. I dunno. Maybe a more edited romp in certain game modes, like the Climax battles... Although I damn near have PTSD from a certain weapon based Shinada one... Dear lord, what were they thinking!?!?!? Outside of RGG stuff, I've got to finish my Arkham series I started years ago (No, I'm not counting Suicide Squad. lol). Just Arkham Knight left for that one. I'm also hoping that Tomb Raider Remastered trilogy isn't a complete disaster like I heard the GTA one was. I've only actively completed the first of the OG games (twice. lol. Fun game), but I have a lot of affection towards Lara Croft (or at least the Lara from the non Rise of the Shadow of the Planet of the Tombs stuff). She's a fun one. I bought Onimusha: Warlords a while ago. Thought the Netflix trailer looked interesting and wanted to see where the adaptation originated. Also bought most of the Hitman games after watching a now graduated VTuber playing the most recent one... Looks like a series I can get into. There ARE a few games I really wanna play, but I'm limited in that they are two-player games and I don't have any friends... Well I do, but none that I'd wanna force to record stuff with me. I started recording A Way Out with someone, but we had a falling out and haven't talked in years (I'd rather keep it that way for both out sakes, tbh). There's also an Escape Room sim game that looks like fun. But oh well. Maybe one day... Again, I'm far from finished with Yakuza just yet. I've still got gas left in the tank for that. I have all my lists and pacing stuff planned out for 5 and once I'm feeling better (for sure got a cold), I'll be getting right into it. Then 6 will be a nice wind down, since it's nowhere near as big a game. Oh, and with you wondering about what I think of 6/Gaiden. I've played both and like both. I've also watched the more Kiryu-centric stuff from 8. Honestly, Gaiden was the best out of them story wise. 6 and 8 fell into the issue of not putting a close on enough to satisfy me, honestly. It's a bummer that for his "final" romps, Kiryu hardly got to be around his old friends/allies. I knew from the start they'd find a way to write the Jima's out of the plot (of 8), but it felt weird to see how passive they became when they never were before... And I dunno if you've finished the game or anything, but them not really getting a close out was... Annoying. It's clear that Yokoyama wants to stop including characters like Majima and Saejima but it's not like they've even attempted to give them a satisfying send off/death. They kinda got one in 7, but 8 pretty much fully reversed it and didn't really conclude anything for them. Major bummer. I think I'm okay with where Kiryu has ended up, though. There's still stuff that's not completely satisfying in my eyes, but he's done enough. I love him, but honestly I think it'd be elder abuse to keep bringing him back at this point. lol

[@EpicFailfree]

Haha, I appreciate the reassurance regarding my wording, it definitely helps assuage any outstanding concerns I had when I hit reply! I think if you're not feeling Judgment's combat, you could always try Lost Judgment's instead. They refined the combat in my eyes and made things smoother in terms of Yagami's flow. There's also Kaito DLC to play as him since you like your gorillas, haha. But I definitely wouldn't stick to tolerating the combat if it's not your thing -- in my eyes, the gameplay is what's most important, so if that's not hitting you, I myself would bow out to avoid burnout and just watch a summary. Plus, the two games are barely even connected, only making one or two allusions to the first game, so nothing lost if you skip Judgment. I would definitely give turn-based combat another try if you've only played Sonic Chronicles, haha. It's definitely more relaxed in terms of the gameplay, but I find there's more strategy and "overhead" involved in figuring out which attacks work, combos, magic and tech, etc. You could even try emulating older games like Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VII (although both are on Steam, emulation for each is basically solved), which both hold up wonderfully even to this day. OR, you could go absolutely bananas and play Y7 with the "Like a Brawler" mod! That way you're getting to play Y7 while still enjoying the brawler/action-y combat you're used to with the other games. It's a high-praised mod that I think would definitely be something worth checking out. Total blunder on my part that you might not have the hardware for playing the games I mentioned, I do apologize about that! Although if you do find yourself seeing Playstation with a good amount of games/exclusives (e.g., Ghosts of Tsushima, Stellar Blade, etc.), it might not be a bad idea to save up for a PS5 and get FOTNS access alongside the exclusives. Especially since OG PS5s might drop in price once the rumored PS5 Pro hits shelves. To be honest there might be an upside to not playing Dead Souls since it really is a..._unique_ game, to say the least. You _can_ actually play a sized down version of it in the arcade in Judgment (and maybe Lost Judgment), which I always thought was a nice touch! It's an on-rails shooter though, but definitely has the same atmosphere as the real game. Honestly all the action games you've played or bought and intend on playing are slappers -- I haven't played the Batman Arkham games yet (sans Suicide Squad for obvious reasons) but I've heard the combat there is an ecstasy high of its own. And Hitman is incredible, always admired how you can solve the missions in an innumerable amount of ways. I've actually not played the Lara Croft or Onimusha games, but the former's remaster is super interesting and the latter just seems like a good series of games to check out at some point! SAME on the two-player games -- It Takes Two, A Way Out, and a bunch of others seem super neat but I've no one to play them with. Ironically it might be a blessing in disguise because it means I can ignore any co-op games that would otherwise append themselves to my infinitely long backlog, hah. That's great to hear both about your planning for Yakuza 5 and getting better! I'm honestly curious to see just how far down the rabbit hole you go for Yakuza 5 considering there's both major side content (e.g., Another Drama) and super minor content (e.g., watching a comedy duo's set in a bar or going out with the Cho-han dealer and winning [which I don't think is even documented in English -- might be in Japanese]). Yakuza 6 will definitely be a nice send-off due to its length but also has some nice content to it like the bar in Onomichi, spear fishing (weird that this is the second on-rails shooter to make its way into this conversation) and the hostesses. It being an entirely voiced game is also honestly super cool in my eyes. They found a way to make it fully voiced without being slow, something that I find Yakuza 8 is not so good at (lots of expositions, unfortunately). I've actually not finished Yakuza 8 yet, haha! I'm on chapter 5, which is still the "slow" part of the game, but I always figure there would be loose ends like the "jimas" (LOVE that name!) not getting proper sendoffs. I've also seen tons of thumbnails since I'm subbed to a million Yakuza and game playthrough channels, so I'm at least a tad in the know of what to expect. But no spoiler talk, I definitely wanna try and see it through to the end myself! I'm glad you liked Gaiden, it was definitely a well-told story in a short span, which I'm thankful for but simultaneously sad by given it's the last major Kiryu game (unless Kiwami 3 or another spinoff pops up). I would've loved if they made it twice as long just because the Daidoji are super interesting and I have no quarrel with using the Spider gadget to defeat every single enemy, hah.

[@GeorgiePotatoFace]

​@@EpicFailfree Oh no. I'll for sure finish Judgment. I'm stubborn like that. I'm probably shooting myself in the foot with attempting to do as much completion as possible early on, tbh. And yes, I like my gorillas. Yakuza was an... awakening of sorts? lol. Old buff dudes with a heart of gold... I've watched gameplay of 7 and 8 and I'm a bit worried that I find it boring. I'm just hoping it's more engaging to play rather then to watch... But also considering I really didn't like Clan Creator, which is more strategy based, I dunno... It might just be a feeling of the over the top romps being replaced with more... Admittedly cartoony stuff. Not that that's all there is to it, of course. I've watched enough gameplay to know that. Maybe it's a case of I won't like it for Yakuza but will like it for something that was turn based from the start. I dunno. Also, as cool as the Like a Brawler mod is, the creator and I share the opinion of needing to experience the game as it is first. Mods like that are a fun thing to play with after the fact, methinks. My PC was considered mid-high end maybe... a year or two ago. lol. I've got a pretty decent rig, in all honestly. I can't play the big beefy modern games, but I honestly have no desire to. I'd be more interested in getting a 40 series card, for instance for better processing in Blender and my video editing software. I'm really not sure why Dead Souls doesn't work... And again, I'm to shy,/awkward to go out of my way to ask for help. But for all intents and purposes, it SHOULD work on my rig. My aunt and uncle actually have an old PS3 they don't use... Maybe I can "borrow" it. But honestly, one of the reasons for not getting consoles is I don't really want to clutter my room up with stuff I might only use sparingly. And being on PC and wanting to make videos, I'd rather be able to upscale my games anyways. I also have spent WAY too much money on stuff for videos (and I'm not monetized or anything). A capture card is pushing it, imo. And yeah, I played through Kamuro of the Dead. It was a fun time. Still gotta do some stuff in it for 100%, though. Fun fact. Whilst looking through the texture files of Kiwami 2/6 (mostly to make video assets), I discovered the Kamuro of the Dead textures where there. Implying it was possibly intended to be in Kiwami 2 or 6. Guess they couldn't finish it in time or just decided not to include it until Judgment. The Arkham Games are a BIG recommend from me. Those games and Portal were what got me interested in games. Used to play them on my old Xbox 360. Good times. And with more modern hardware they run great on PC. But there are the remasters on modern consoles as well. Although personally, I'm not keen on all the newer textures. But ho-hum. Still looks good. yes, the gameplay is great. Arkham City is the best game out of all of them, but the gameplay of Arkham Knight is on another level. So fun. I think it might be one of the reasons I like Yakuza so much. I don't have any history with Beat-Em-ups... When doing completion for Virtua Fighter in the games I just cheese it because I can't fathom it at all. lol. But I suppose the less flowy and more involved combat of Yakuza was a big appeal. Arkham is fun, but Yakuza romps are so fun to play around with. Not gonna compare them. Both are great. I don't care what people say about the Yakuza combat being "outdated" or "clunky". It gud. Me likey. lol Looking forward to starting Hitman. Although I hear the first game is pretty... Aged out. Not that that's stopped me from enjoying games before. I'm the one Yakuza 3 fan. And I LOVE Silent Hill 1 and Tomb Raider 1. I ain't afraid of a little clunk. I'm hoping for good things with the TR remaster. if it is good that saves me the trouble of emulation. The first few games are tricky to do because of copyright protection. Not that I haven't managed. ha. If it is good, it's a shame it's only the first three games. Why not the last two PS1 games? Are they gonna bundle it with say, an Angel of Darkness remaster/remake? Whatever the case may be. More appreciation for old-school Lara is good. Modern "Lara" just doesn't compare... A fellow, got-no-one-to-play-with kyoudai. lol. I feel you, man. I also have the issue of having a massive backlog. Steam sales are a blessing and a curse, man. If you want, you can add me on Steam/Discord/whatever and I'll show you the lists. I go a bit intense when I'm planning. I have them all printed off and on a magnetic board above my monitors ready for use. lol. I've honestly wondered why they never translated the Manzai duo in 5 (I heard something similar happened with the radio feature in 8). I can try and give translating a shot, but my listening comprehension could be better. And they talk fast from what I remember. I dunno about the Cho-Han lady... I could cover her, I suppose. But I hate Cho-Han with a fiery passion. lol. But I've never won a date with her, so we'll see. Yeah, I really appreciated the more involved voice acting in 6... Even if it was sometimes weird... Like the little boys who sounded like men because they only had so many actors. lol. And Spear Fishing was awesome... Baseball... Not so much. But I'm committed to covering it when I get to it. I think all of the RGG games have moments of being slow. Even 0, which is, in my opinion one of the tightest in terms of pacing. I have chuckled to myself hearing people asking when 7 for instance picks up and people are saying stuff like "Wait until chapter 8 (or whatever). THAT'S when it REALLY gets going". Like damn. I'm all for slow burns (again, I like 3) but... Damn... lol I don't think it's much of a spoiler that the Jima's involvement isn't MAJOR. I think that was something anyone could guess. Honestly, every time Yokoyama has talked about Majima and co in recent years I can't help but think he's starting to (maybe unintentionally) resent their popularity. I think he even stated that the Yamai character was made to overtake Majima's popularity (that could be fake news. I read it somewhere, though)... As a Majima simp I kinda scoff at that. But if there's one thing RGG are good at, it's their characters. Tsuruno is a new favourite of mine. Shame he was a one-off likeness character. He was cool. I will say though. Fan service is fan service, and 8 did do well with some of it... Just nothing CONCLUSIVE per say. (Leaves room for the Majima-Saejima spin off I know won't happen but want badlyyyyyyyy) And yes, the Gaiden gadgets brought me right back to the Arkham Games... I know Kiryu is compared to Spiderman more so but... Batman. Sorta a Batman-James Bond hybrid. Which is right up my alley. I dug the hell out of it. Hope you have fun with 8. Even if it ends up not being my cup of tea, everyone has been raving about it. Crappy DLC practices aside, of course.