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

Support my work on Patreon (https://patreon.com/realdavejackson) Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! (https://discord.gg/bptGyEWbk7) Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson) Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has risen to the gaming mainstream with its beloved Like a Dragon series, and when a hot streak occurs, a heat check often follows, and there is no bigger heat check than a game where you play through a Hawaiian pirate adventure starring the series' lovable maniac, Goro Majima. So why has Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii fallen out of the conversation, even among series diehards? Did the heat check connect, or is it the beginning of a downturn? All that and more in this great conversation. Guest info: Brian Edwards * Listen to the Cane and Rinse podcast https://caneandrinse.com/ * Listen to the Character Issues podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-character-issues-podcast/id1530881747 * Follow Brian on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/characterissues.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS * 0:00 Title Card * 0:20 Intros * 5:45 Personal Histories With Yakuza Series * 9:53 The Yakuza Secret Sauce * 14:12 Opening Thoughts about Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii * 20:34 Like a Dragon Series Fatigue? * 35:15 Story Setup, Majima the Leading Man * 45:40 Framing Device, Substories, Goofs * 1:11:18 Pirate Gameplay, Ship Combat * 1:33:51 Action Combat * 1:44:59 Mini-Games and Side Activities * 1:52:36 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations * 1:57:57 Character Issues, Cane and Rinse * 2:02:33 Spoiler Wall/Patron Thank-Yous * 2:04:37 Spoiler Section- Substories * 2:18:42 Spoiler Section- Main Story and Ending Music used in the episode: * Anchors Aweigh (Saori Yoshida) * Nameless Traveler (Saori Yoshida) * Palekanian Dance (Yuri Fukuda) * Mad Dog (Keitarou Hanada) * Echoes of Hope (Kazuki Takagi) * Masaru's Love Journey (Mitsuhara Fukuyama) Check out the King of Games 1999 tournament on Retro Hangover! https://linktr.ee/retrohangover Social Media: BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/) Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-top-3-podcast/id1555269504), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/2euGp3pWi7Hy1c6fmY526O?si=0ebcb770618c460c) and other podcast platforms (atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!