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Beast in the East: Yakuza 0 - Part 21

The only thing better than fighting alongside your best friend is fighting alongside your best friend while not wearing shirts.

The Giant Bomb East crew takes on the Yakuza series.

Jul. 3 2017

Cast: Vinny, Alex, Dan

Posted by: Abby

In This Episode:

Yakuza 0

122 Comments

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BioSpock

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@theblue said:

I can't wait for the final episode: "Who's Shibusawa again?"

Don't trigger me like that.

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monkeyking1969

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As always, an enjoyable bit of content. And many things are going to happen before the closing credits.

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odinsmana

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Edited By odinsmana

@undeadpool said:

What's the significance of the koi fish tattoo?

Cause everyone else has a dragon or an oni or some kind of angry samurai man, and then there's one of the most harmless, meatiest, domesticated fish...

It`s the Japanese legend/myth about a koi fish swimming up a waterfall and becoming a dragon. The reason why Nishiki has that tattoo will make more sense later in the series. To some degree every tattoo in the series has some significance and says something about the person wearing it

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blikketty

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Too much story. This series is much more fun when it's a balance of stupid side missions / weird gameplay mechanics from some some kind of management sim / break in a new fighting move / and then some story.

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Francium34

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@undeadpool said:

What's the significance of the koi fish tattoo?

Cause everyone else has a dragon or an oni or some kind of angry samurai man, and then there's one of the most harmless, meatiest, domesticated fish...

It`s the Japanese legend/myth about a koi fish swimming up a waterfall and becoming a dragon. The reason why Nishiki has that tattoo will make more sense later in the series. To some degree every tattoo in the game has some significance and says something about the person wearing it

yes, thats the idea behind magikarp

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DoctorNieves

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Too much story. This series is much more fun when it's a balance of stupid side missions / weird gameplay mechanics from some some kind of management sim / break in a new fighting move / and then some story.

Wrong.

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blikketty

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@blikketty said:

Too much story. This series is much more fun when it's a balance of stupid side missions / weird gameplay mechanics from some some kind of management sim / break in a new fighting move / and then some story.

Wrong.

Meh, YMMV. I get it, they seem over the mechanics of the game and are just racing toward the end. There was a point early in the series when they seemed bored with the fighting as well, almost like they might just blow it off, then they got into a groove. I get why they are ready for something else.

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cyberspacecat

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Edited By cyberspacecat

I like as soon as Dan brings up the "how much to get shot" dilemma he gets shut down immediately, it's so funny to me.

It does scare me that Dan thinks it would not be a big deal, that it's even in his thoughts as a hypothetical thing, you'd think he'd learn from the shooting range.

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s5n8k3

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So, this is supposed to explain why Majima's bad $hit crazy?!

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DoctorNieves

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@doctornieves said:
@blikketty said:

Too much story. This series is much more fun when it's a balance of stupid side missions / weird gameplay mechanics from some some kind of management sim / break in a new fighting move / and then some story.

Wrong.

Meh, YMMV. I get it, they seem over the mechanics of the game and are just racing toward the end. There was a point early in the series when they seemed bored with the fighting as well, almost like they might just blow it off, then they got into a groove. I get why they are ready for something else.

The game is definitely more fun when you explore the side stuff when you're the one playing it. For a video series that only has one episode a week? They're finally making the right call and just focusing on the story. Stuff like pocket racer, business grinding etc etc... would just be way too boring to watch another second of imo.

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blikketty

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Edited By blikketty

@doctornieves:

@doctornieves said:
@blikketty said:
@doctornieves said:
@blikketty said:

Too much story. This series is much more fun when it's a balance of stupid side missions / weird gameplay mechanics from some some kind of management sim / break in a new fighting move / and then some story.

Wrong.

Meh, YMMV. I get it, they seem over the mechanics of the game and are just racing toward the end. There was a point early in the series when they seemed bored with the fighting as well, almost like they might just blow it off, then they got into a groove. I get why they are ready for something else.

The game is definitely more fun when you explore the side stuff when you're the one playing it. For a video series that only has one episode a week? They're finally making the right call and just focusing on the story. Stuff like pocket racer, business grinding etc etc... would just be way too boring to watch another second of imo.

I get where you are coming from, but I prefer the asides and convos that end up taking place when they are goofing on the weirdness of this game, rather than the confused musings when they are trying to piece together the convoluted story line. I think some of it is where one is coming from. I'm a lot more likely to be listening and half watching these while I'm working, rather than being fully engaged. I feel kind of the opposite, in that If I gave half a damn about the story, then I would be playing the game myself instead.

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odinsmana

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Edited By odinsmana

@s5n8k3 said:

So, this is supposed to explain why Majima's bad $hit crazy?!

Character development for Majima spoilers I guess?

As we find out later (earlier?) in the series the whole Mad Dog thing is partly if not mostly an act. So I think this is more the moment where he decides to put on the act of being "the clown" as he says.

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Phalex

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Shirt comes off: FIIIIIIISSSSHHHH

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BrainScratch

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Edited By BrainScratch

I hope the GBE crew brings up the whole part on the Crescendo Building for the GOTY of best moment when the time comes. I'm not saying it should win, but it should definitely be mentioned. Yakuza 0 is also a strong contender for best story as well.

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s5n8k3

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@odinsmana: Thanks for the info man! Wow! This is my first Yakuza, just took a glance at the other ones and couldn't patch Majima's personality together. Looking forward to see how that turns out.

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IndeedBeni

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This might have been commented on in the previous episodes, but I wonder if the way the Osaka crew is using words like "ya", "ain't" and dropping the last consonants (doin' sayin', tellin') is the localization's way of conveying that they're speaking Kansai/Osaka dialect. I don't know Japanese so I don't know if they are. I'm asking.

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Undeadpool

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@undeadpool said:

What's the significance of the koi fish tattoo?

Cause everyone else has a dragon or an oni or some kind of angry samurai man, and then there's one of the most harmless, meatiest, domesticated fish...

It`s the Japanese legend/myth about a koi fish swimming up a waterfall and becoming a dragon. The reason why Nishiki has that tattoo will make more sense later in the series. To some degree every tattoo in the game has some significance and says something about the person wearing it

I actually have played a bunch of the latter day ones (not all of them to completion) and if I'm remembering correctly, that definitely tracks.

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billymaysrip

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@kindofblue: That's correct. It's a common way of representing Osaka-ben in English.

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Edited By OMGFather

Damn. Who's slicing onions? :(

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paulunga

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Shimano was eating Fugu. You know, the potentially deadly, super expensive pufferfish.

No Caption Provided

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pyrodactyl

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Here you go

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Grunt808

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Edited By Grunt808

Is anyone else worried that the epilogue to this game may spoil future games for the GBE crew?

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estragon

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@odinsmana: I'm a long time fan of the series, and have played the previous entries before 0, and although 5 did downplayed his craziness a bit, i was still expecting something to "break" Majima. The moment Makoto got shot, i thought he would murder all three lieutenants.

Was disappointed when he didn't even killed the hitman, and even had a bro moment with Awano, a total scumbag.

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Efesell

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@grunt808 said:

Is anyone else worried that the epilogue to this game may spoil future games for the GBE crew?

No? I can't think of how it would do so at least.

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Grunt808

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@efesell: I may be wrong, but don't they mention Kiryu going to jail for 10 years, and Nishiki becoming evil, the fact that Kiryu has a surrogate daughter that he's taking care of. All those sorts of things?

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estragon

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@grunt808: But that happens in the first 30 minutes, except Haruka

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Edited By Grunt808

@estragon: Still, wouldn't that be better for them to find out from playing Kiwami? I don't know, but it seems to me they're playing this game for the story, and that might potentially take away from their experience of the next one.

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Edited By peffy

@grunt808: There are no spoilers in the epilogue. I just looked it up to make sure my memory is correct. It only shows Kiryu and Majima running into each other in Kamurochou. The only thing said is "Kiryu-chan!" . I assume it's meant to be a teaser for the "Majima Everywhere" system in Kiwami. Unless there's some other epilogue you're referring to.

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omg we are almost at the end. Shibusawa is a bad ass.

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Geralt

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@danryckert Have you consider "Bullet Ant" as an option? There will be no laceration or internal bleeding to worry about. Just pure pain.

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Quantris

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FFS the names are really not that hard to keep straight.

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Grunt808

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@peffy: More talking about what is said over the credits, with their still images. Though I was wrong about the game mentioning : Haruka.

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buhssuht

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when Best of Giant Bomb for this specific series gets made, I want all of them clips to be the crew reacting.

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Efesell

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@grunt808 said:

@peffy: More talking about what is said over the credits, with their still images. Though I was wrong about the game mentioning : Haruka.

Maybe I'm just misremembering but I thought a lot of was stuff that was more just saying 'Long time players, you know what's up.' and wouldn't overtly spoil anything for people without that knowledge.

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Maleel

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@grunt808: The credits do spoil the first 30 minutes of Yakuza 1, (But then again, so do all the trailers for it and Kiwami) but IIRC they only hinted at Haruka.

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"...and back in the 2010s, that's how Mitch McConnell broke the Senate."

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Francium34

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The story is so good, but the weekly wait is killing me!

Having no knowledge of future games, I'm really curious how the writing ties the main characters back into the yakuza. At this point in the story, both feel so done with that life.

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Edited By Kingpk

When I got to this point I just ran through the rest of the story because it is so great and it felt weird to have Kiryu suffer Tachibana dying and then have him go do karaoke or something.

For the sake of this series, going off the main path is fine, but I want to see them react to the rest of the story myself.

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sgtsphynx  Moderator

@danryckert I have a friend who was shot in the fleshy part of the thigh. It went straight through and didn't hit anything vital. He spent 6 months in a hospital learning to walk again.

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Dave_Tacitus

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@kingpk said:

When I got to this point I just ran through the rest of the story because it is so great and it felt weird to have Kiryu suffer Tachibana dying and then have him go do karaoke or something.

For the sake of this series, going off the main path is fine, but I want to see them react to the rest of the story myself.

I'll just add to this that sidequests and business stuff is still available once you finish the main story, and you can freely swap between Kiryu and Majima at any time.

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Ind1gnation

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Edited By Ind1gnation

@peffy:The game gives a rundown of events that happen to Nishiki etc after the credits. Or before. I can't remember. But it does

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Edited By electricbarrier

@undeadpool: They're also very respected and very symbolic, representing things like spiritual strength, wisdom, courage, perseverance, and just in general being the kind of person who stands in the face of great odds and remains steady while doing it. It also means things like loyalty, which works with him siding with his sworn brother over the yakuza family. It's likely by choosing that as his tattoo, he wants to either show he's a man of strong character, or he hopes he'll become one.

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Edited By chrispurple
@kingpk said:

When I got to this point I just ran through the rest of the story because it is so great and it felt weird to have Kiryu suffer Tachibana dying and then have him go do karaoke or something.

For the sake of this series, going off the main path is fine, but I want to see them react to the rest of the story myself.

I'll just add to this that sidequests and business stuff is still available once you finish the main story, and you can freely swap between Kiryu and Majima at any time.

As someone who previously advocated for the crew to finish the business substories and dive into side content I'm inclined to agree that the premium adventure mode (post-game free play) would probably be the way to go for anything that isn't the main story at this point.

The visit to The Camellia Grove typically seems to be the point where people start to mainline the rest of the story missions and it's pretty clear why; I won't blame them if they want to blast through the rest of the game now. After that if The Beasts in the East want some extra episodes to fill the weeks until Kiwami comes out it'd be a great opportunity for a bunch of side content.

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@danryckert Brock Lesner could hit you in the ass with a bat covered in nails, for real, and it would do less damage to your ass than someone shooting you in the ass with a gun..... stop asking these questions.

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Regarding the "I'll totally let somebody shoot me for money" topic.

Dan I think you're mixing up doctors who'll "immediately fix you up and make sure you don't die/bleed out" thing with wizards. And wizards aren't real. Doctors are not wizards.

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odinsmana

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Edited By odinsmana

@estragon said:

@odinsmana: I'm a long time fan of the series, and have played the previous entries before 0, and although 5 did downplayed his craziness a bit, i was still expecting something to "break" Majima. The moment Makoto got shot, i thought he would murder all three lieutenants.

Was disappointed when he didn't even killed the hitman, and even had a bro moment with Awano, a total scumbag.

He never really broke though. It`s more that he decided to put on the Mad Dog act. As we see with his scenes with Seajima in 4 or his scenes in 5 he can put that part of him aside when he feels like it or when he needs to (as he does when he gets more and more responsibility as the series goes on). So the "breaking point" is more what happened in this episode where he decided to play the part of the Mad Dog.

In previous games I am pretty sure it`s at the very least hinted at, but I think outright stated that Majima has never killed anyone. So he couldn`t really kill the hitman either way.

Also I think there are ways to make the Awano redemption work better, but I won`t get into that. His scene with Majima can make sense in the context that Majima does not know him and how big of a dick he is, so it`s easier for him to forgive Awano.

@grunt808 said:

Is anyone else worried that the epilogue to this game may spoil future games for the GBE crew?

As others have mentioned it`s the first 30 minutes of that game and it`s fairly vague and is also shown way more explicitly in every trailer for Kiwami, so unless they avoid all media of that game it will be spoiled for them either way.

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Bonsai

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God, that punch they used for the thumbnail got me SO AMPED to fight Kuze even though it happens so much in this game.

Also, Majima letting the punks beat the crap out of him has me excited for next week (I hope) when he runs into them again.

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Genji-Gloves

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Its ramping up now and the fights get better near the end. I know some people have mentioned about further game spoilers but the crew haven't met the fortune teller who hints at the other events of games or Ryuji Goda as a Kid. Also I cant wait to see them play the last couple fights and the ending/epilogue.

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Francium34

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@estragon said:

@odinsmana: I'm a long time fan of the series, and have played the previous entries before 0, and although 5 did downplayed his craziness a bit, i was still expecting something to "break" Majima. The moment Makoto got shot, i thought he would murder all three lieutenants.

Was disappointed when he didn't even killed the hitman, and even had a bro moment with Awano, a total scumbag.

He never really broke though. It`s more that he decided to put on the Mad Dog act. As we see with his scenes with Seajima in 4 or his scenes in 5 he can put that part of him aside when he feels like it or when he needs to (as he does when he gets more and more responsibility as the series goes on). So the "breaking point" is more what happened in this episode where he decided to play the part of the Mad Dog.

In previous games I am pretty sure it`s at the very least hinted at, but I think outright stated that Majima has never killed anyone. So he couldn`t really kill the hitman either way.

Also I think there are ways to make the Awano redemption work better, but I won`t get into that. His scene with Majima can make sense in the context that Majima does not know him and how big of a dick he is, so it`s easier for him to forgive Awano.

@grunt808 said:

Is anyone else worried that the epilogue to this game may spoil future games for the GBE crew?

As others have mentioned it`s the first 30 minutes of that game and it`s fairly vague and is also shown way more explicitly in every trailer for Kiwami, so unless they avoid all media of that game it will be spoiled for them either way.

Never played the other games, but saw the Kiwami trailers. I read some online discussion on Majima's character change, most people seemed disappointed. However I agree with you, assuming Majima never really "broke" but was merely putting on an act, the revelation in this episode is significant (This is, of course, without knowing what else happens in this prequel). The interpretation can be that Majima decided to act crazy in order to be unpredictable, so that he will never be played like this again in the future. And as people have pointed out, Majima is taking elements of characters he met in this prequel as "inspirations".

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Edited By Efesell

@francium34: Yeah I don't see the disappointment myself. The notion of putting on the Mad Dog persona is so much more interesting than the boring breaking under the strain of the life scenario.

I feel like the only mishandling of it that I've seen is having Majima appear in flashbacks prior to Zero, he isn't super defined in those compared to later but it still is enough to look strange when you then see him as he is in Zero.