Highlights
- The Like a Dragon collection captures Japan’s feel and appear completely, right down to the smallest particulars in areas like Dotonbori and Kabukicho.
- Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio replicated key landmarks in Dotonbori with spectacular accuracy and a spotlight to element.
- Even mundane particulars like a coin locker and darts machines are faithfully recreated, enhancing the sport’s realism.
As I began mapping out this text, I turned hyper-aware that I might most likely sound like that one Boss Child tweet. However, after visiting Japan, I must shout it from the rooftops — God rattling, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio did a stellar job at nailing the trivia of Japan’s feel and appear within the Like a Dragon/Yakuza collection.
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Fully by chance, or possibly subconsciously, my accommodations in Tokyo and Osaka had been in Kabukicho and Dotonbori, two of the primary areas RGG has centered on within the Like a Dragon collection to this point. This meant, as I used to be strolling round, I discovered heaps (and much) of similarities between the actual world and the video games, and I documented them in your pleasure.
Dotonbori (Osaka)/Sotenbori (Like a Dragon)
Okay, so this one is much less in regards to the minor particulars and extra about how effectively RGG perfected the appear and feel of Sotenbori within the Yakuza collection.
Modelled after Dotonbori in Osaka, Sotenbori options two parallel streets separated by a big river and linked by two bridges, very similar to its real-world counterpart. The world, in actual life, is well-known for its brilliant lights, much like Kabukicho, and its overly exuberant constructing facades, all of which RGG lovingly replicates.
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You may erase your identify, however not your previous.
You will discover from the primary set of pictures that as you enter the primary Dotonbori avenue, you are greeted by a large crab; you may additionally discover that the identical factor is seen once you enter the primary strip in Sotenbori. Nevertheless it’s extra than simply the large crab that RGG obtained proper right here; the indicators on the constructing of the crab are virtually similar, minus a number of differing katakana/kanji characters. Each buildings even have brilliant purple awnings, the indicators within the distance are related, and even the lamppost placement is similar. After all, my photographs aren’t as vibrant as I visited on a moist and cloudy day.
As I walked additional down the primary Dotonbori avenue, I used to be awestruck — not solely by the handfuls of eccentric shopfronts but additionally by what number of I would seen earlier than within the Like a Dragon collection. You may see from the gallery above that I picked out 4 examples by which RGG has replicated the colourful avenue in Osaka, essentially the most spectacular of which is the dragon, in my humble opinion.
Sure, the precise statue of the dragon is fairly spot on, however as soon as once more, the minor particulars surrounding it actually stand out. The signal the dragon shares a constructing with is replicated virtually one to at least one, together with the kanji and hiragana, there is a tall signal within the background, which, though its colours are flipped, is frighteningly related, and there is even an indication on the prime of the constructing, dealing with the wrong way obvious in each pictures. The eye to element is spectacular.
Very similar to its interpretation of the primary Dotonbori avenue, Ryu Ga Gotako additionally obtained the realm’s canal good. Two boardwalks straddling the water, with grey buildings and neon indicators lining either side.
In Dotonbori one finish of the canal is a constructing lined in brightly lit ads, together with the well-known Glico signal. Reverse that constructing is a big advert for Japanese beer model, Asahi. Product placement apart, though some real-world adverts do stay, RGG as soon as once more captured the appear and feel faultlessly.
Kabukicho (Tokyo)/Kamurocho (Like a Dragon)
Whereas Dotonbori is filled with garish landmarks for RGG Studio to duplicate, Kabukicho is much less so. Certain, there are many brilliant lights and colourful buildings, however there aren’t actually any big octopuses hanging off the partitions. This meant that RGG centered on the smaller particulars, and did so extremely effectively.
That being stated, the Don Quiote retail retailer has been a fixture in each Kabukicho and Kamurocho for fairly a while, and, although the studio might have settled for simply remaking the well-known retailer, the road reverse has placing similarities, together with the large purple recreation heart.
Nevertheless, whereas the Don Quiote was the one actual main landmark that I discovered given the total Like a Dragon therapy, Kamurocho shines with a lot of Kabukicho’s smaller particulars.
One of many first photographs I took after I arrived in Japan was of a small automobile park, simply because it jogged my memory of the Like a Dragon video games, a lot to the bemusement of the Tokyo locals round me. I then stumbled upon a random coin locker in the midst of the road, as soon as once more taking an image and as soon as once more complicated these round me. Silly, I am effectively conscious, however the small particulars weren’t misplaced on me.
And people small particulars did not cease there. Darts Reside, a (possible sponsored) function inside the Like a Dragon collection, was discovered recurrently in arcades up and down the nation, so, after all, I needed to throw some arrows like Kiryu and Ichiban. However greater than the precise darts machines, which had been replicated to perfection, sounds and all, had been the adverts outdoors the buildings they had been present in.
I used Yakuza Kiwami to seize a number of my Like a Dragon Kamurocho screenshots for the article, which, when set in 2005, meant sure elements had been outdated. Again within the olden instances of the 00’s, whereas nonetheless a serious factor, host golf equipment had been clearly marketed with small footage of the hosts and hostesses outdoors the membership. These days, massive brash screens characterize the employees, with leaderboards displaying the highest hosts of the month with explosive, closely edited trailers rolling for every of them who labored there.
Lastly, and presumably the wildest of all for me, was the truth that the medicine I bought in a Tokyo pharmacy for a headache I used to be nursing, regarded precisely like one thing Kiryu may take after receiving an ass-kicking from a gaggle of six males.
And, whereas I used to be solely capable of seize the visible components of my journey, the sounds that echoed the streets of each Tokyo and Osaka had been precisely like I would turn into accustomed to within the recreation. Bravo Ryu Ga Gotaku.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title
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- November 8, 2023