Part 11: CHAPTER 5: The One Ryou Request - [Part III]
We undergo some training before taking on Shishido's gang. At last we learn the final combat style, as well as open up our weapon crafting options.
Some historical notes:
It's mentioned in the video and in the sidequest section, but the Tokugawa rulers established an official four-tier class system to divide the Japanese people based on Confucian philosophy imported from China. The highest level would be the samurai, who were the ruling warrior class. Next came the farmers or peasants, since they produced the most essential commodity - food. Third were the artisans or craftsmen, because they had special skills and produced less vital goods. Finally, at the bottom were merchants, ostensibly middlemen who produced nothing of value. Social mobility was nonexistent and one's class was determined by birth.
However, class had little to do with material wealth and comfort. While only samurai could hope to have direct political power, the merchant class was always the wealthiest while the farmers were always the poorest and lived the hardest lives. As the Edo Period wore on and the samurai's martial skills waned for lack of demand, most families became essentially parasites on Japanese society. Producing nothing and filling no positions of power, they fell ever farther into debt - debt owed to the merchant class, who grew wealthier each year. Several times during this era the shogunate declared sweeping amnesties on all samurai debt, wiping out entire merchant class fortunes and livelihoods. Of course, this had the eminently foreseeable effect of making the townsmen reluctant to issue loans to samurai families at all, ultimately putting them in even more dire straits once the money ran out again.
Quite a few members of society did not fall into any one of the four tiers. At the upper end, there were the hereditary nobles, essentially relics from the Heian Era some 500 years earlier when the Emperor had held court in Kyoto. At that time there was no such thing as "samurai" and the capital was filled with clans of rather softer and more artistic types who lived more or less oblivous to what was going on outside the city walls. When the rural lords who later became daimyou and samurai officially began running the country they gained legitimacy by simply marrying into or arranging to be adopted by these noble families, which in turn assured the nobles' continued existence in the luxury to which they had become accustomed.
Monks and priests also stood outside the system, and could have been born as members of any of the four classes. How comfortable their actual existence was and the degree of their political power varied widely by period, sect and location.
The most famous outsiders were considered the last after all other classes: the outcasts or burakumin - untouchables. These people suffered the same fate of their more familiar counterparts in India for much the same reasons. Because of religious taboos regarding defilement by association with death and blood, tanners, cobblers, executioners, butchers and others like them were considered little more than animals and segregated strictly from the rest of society. This continued well into modern times, and even today there is a very low rate of intermarriage between buraku people and other Japanese, largely due to the latter group's institutionalized distaste for the former. Given how non-religious modern Japan is as a whole, it's safe to assume that these feelings, where they do crop up, are not due to any real feeling of defilement by occupation (particularly when almost no burakumin have jobs different from anyone else) but simply to a legacy of discrimination.
This system continued until after the Meiji Emperor had asserted control and officially nullified the caste distinctions in 1871. However, although great strides have been made, burakumin still face measurable discrimination in Japan today.
Several new sidequests open up once we meet the blacksmith and unlock the Greatsword Style. A detailed explanation of the blacksmith and crafting system is in this post after the sidequests.
Heading west across Kawaramachi, we run into a worried-looking woman.
Oof!
Ow!Literally.
Oh! My, aren't you a sweet one.
Hey Okiku, knock it off already, will ya? Stop! I'm not marrying that idiot, and that's final! I want a strong man like this one here. You just met him! He's not going to marry you. .......... How about it, mister? .....Really, what are you going to say to that?
Look, you're embarrassing him. Get these foolish ideas out of your head. Your man is just young. He's always talking about how important you are to him. That's beside the point! I don't want to spend my life with a weak prissy man like him! Speak of the devil...
Oh! Okiku! Ah! Tasuke! Wait... Who the hell is this guy!? He's my fiance. We're in love, so just leave us alone. What!? You told me you were gonna marry me! I never said that! I hate girly men like you! You... You stole Okiku away from me! .....you're mistaken. Tasuke, Okiku's just running her mouth again. Goddamnit! I'll show you I can be tough when it really matters! Watch this, Okiku! Go on then, show me what you've got. I don't think you have the guts to fight. YAHHHH! You just watch! Hey, you! Let's go! Um, sir... Would you mind losing? Just so Tasuke can save face? I don't even want to fight him at all. What's the hold up? Get over here right now! Wait, you're really going to do it? Please, sir, I'm begging you... Throw the fight!So we get into battle with this guy, and he has a very short health meter. If we want to "complete" the sidequest we'll have to stand there while he very.... slowly.... pummels Kiryuu to death.
Actually, on Expert he's pretty aggressive so it doesn't take forever, but fighting back will still down him in just a couple of punches.
...... Eh!? Tasuke! I can't believe how strong you were! I, uh.... hahhhh... I just.... didn't want to show my hand before. Yeah.... What do you mean? I fought... with all I had for you. I'll always... protect you, Okiku. Will you.... Will you marry me? Oh, well, um.... Why don't we try being friends first? What the hell?
...... A fine performance. Thank you. Don't worry. I don't really hate Tasuke. Now I can see his many good points, and I think I've learned to appreciate him more. I see. Maybe I should reevalute my opinion of him. Sorry. I guess things won't work out between us after all. .... Please take this.Received [Tortoiseshell Hairpin].
You can keep it to remember me by. ....Eloquent as always, Kiryuu.
Got 1500 Experience Points
On the way back toward Rakugai, if we stick to the south side of the road we run into these two older gentlemen. Less literally this time.
What is it?
Ah! It's a samurai!
.... We don't have anything!And then the village idiot comes running up.
Kennosuke's coming!The four stare slackjawed at the scene going on across the street.
You! How dare you run into me like that!It doesn't translate, but Kennosuke here uses the word sessha for "me", which was a word used pretty exclusively by samurai. You can hear Kiryuu refer to himself using it when he refuses the Tokugawa soldier's sake at the beginning of video 1B.
I'm so sorry, Kennosuke-sama! It was certainly not my intention! Shut up! I should cut off your head right here!I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but particularly during the Edo Period, samurai had the power of life and death over the three (four counting "outcasts") classes below them and could legally execute anyone on the spot without needing to give cause. It probably didn't happen very often, as the threat alone was usually enough to keep people in line and mass decapitations would have almost certainly led to an uprising eventually.
Oh! How can I make it up to you, sir? Bah! Forget it. I'll let you live for today. Ha ha ha!Kennosuke wanders off and Kiryuu is left wondering what just happened.
Who was that samurai? That was Kennosuke-sama. Kennosuke-sama? He's been visiting this area frequently in recent days. If anyone so much as looks at him funny it's "I'll cut off your head!" Has he actually killed anyone? No. To tell the truth, he never follows through with his threats. He just picks fights and then starts demanding money over every little thing. Whenever someone refuses he just threatens them some more. It's terrible. Why don't any of you stand up to him? He's just one man. He's a samurai, and we're townsmen. There's nothing we can do. And he's not just any samurai either. I hear he's the third son of a powerful noble lord. Well I heard that he's a top retainer to one of the shogun's most important vassals, and also the son of a decorated military commander from Sekigahara. ..... Anyway, it doesn't matter. There's nothing we can do about Kennosuke. We have to just learn to live with it.That's all fine and good for a couple of muppets, but Kiryuu isn't about to put up with this shit.
Hey! You! Stop glaring at me like that!
Oh no, Kennosuke-sama, I would never do something like that! Shut it! I oughtta cut your head right off! Ahh! Hold it!
A man should introduce himself first before asking another's name. Ha! You've got some real balls! You look like just some dirty, no-name ronin to me! It doesn't matter who I am. Keep your hands off the girl. Hmph. Why do you care how many of these low-born townsmen I kill? Because I'm a samurai too, and it's embarrassing to see you acting like that. What did you say!? I'll tell you one more time. Get away from the girl. Hmph! Fine. If you give me 3 ryou I'll let it go this time. Like a poor trash samurai like you has that kind of money! Ha ha ha!There's a choice here about whether to pay or not, but I couldn't tell you what happens if you give him the money since I've never chosen that option. And I never will. WWKD?
I'm not paying anything to a man like you. What's that!? I told you I wouldn't kill you for 3 ryou, you idiot! That line's getting old. I'd never give money to a twisted, sadistic samurai like you. Bastard! I'll cut off your head!(Click the first picture for video)
Ah, felt good to get out all that aggression after having to stand around and let that last guy punch us in the dick over and over again for about ten minutes.
D-Damn!Suddenly, a gap-toothed old woman appears.
Huh? Is that you, Gonbei? What are you doing dressed like that? Gonbei? What? I'm... uh... I don't know any Gonbei, old woman!There's another joke here that's getting lost in translation. The name "Gonbei" has the same starting kanji as "Kennosuke", but it also pretty much means both "redneck" and "a nobody" all at once. "Ken" from "Kennosuke" by contrast, despite being the same kanji as "Gon", actually means "authority" and the suffix "nosuke" is one of a handful that pretty clearly denote samurai names. (Kiryuu Kazumanosuke being an obvious example.)
Kennosuke also slips out of his samurai accent briefly in the previous line, calling himself "wai" (a common way of saying "I" in the Kansai dialect) instead of "sessha" like a samurai would.
Are you really a farmer yourself? Y'ahhhh! You don't know me! I'm no farmer! What are you talking about? I'd know you anywhere! You're Gonbei, from the village! What are you doing abandoning the fields all morning!? Otae-chan's been looking everwhere for you! Eh!? Otae's here? Sure is. And she's already fit to be tied! So stop wasting the day here and hurry on back home. I, uh... Excuse me!
Gonbei makes like a tree, but Kiryuu is forced to give up the chase when the old woman launches into a story about the snowstorm of '05.
Excuse me! Oh thank god!Before the old woman had a chance to really get going on telling Kiryuu what her grandchildren are up to, she's rudely interrupted by the arrival of Gonbei's wife.
Hello, Mr. samurai, sir. Has my husband come this way by any chance? Are you talking about that guy Gonbei? Yes. I'm his wife, Otae. I apologize if he's been making any trouble this time. As long as I can remember he's said "I don't plan to be a farmer forever!" He's never been happy with his lot in life. So now he pretends to be a samurai and goes around causing problems for other people. I'm so sorry, sir. Would you please help me look for my fool of a husband so I can set him straight?Of course we will. And if we're lucky, we'll get to kick him around a little more when we find him.
Sure. Let's go look for him. Anything to get away from that old crone before she asks me to rub her feet. I can't thank you enough. I doubt he could've gotten far....
Otae disappears into our invisible inventory, apparently, and we're now on our own to track down Gonbei. Despite his wife's claim that he must be close by, he's actually in a relatively distant and out of the way place: all the way in the northeastern corner of Rakugai.
There he is, taking in the sights of Yasaka Shrine like every good tourist to the big city. The next segment will activate just by getting moderately close to Gonbei so you probably won't miss this once you've activated the quest, but you may not complete it right away without knowing where to go.
Eh? Is that Gonbei?Like the world's lamest Pokemon, Otae re-materializes from our invisible inventory and rushes to her husband.
Gonbeeeeeei!
What do you think you're doing slacking off work like this!? And what are you trying to do, putting on those clothes and ruining everyone's day!? What's wrong with you, you stupid oaf!? I'm sorry, Otae! I'm sorry! Enough! I'll never forgive you for this! I never want to hear about you pulling this stupid stunt again! But... I just couldn't stand it anymore. I hate always being spit on and pushed around by those self-important townsmen! That's why I wanted to do this. Give them a taste of their own medicine, you know? If only I hadn't been born a farmer, I wouldn't have to feel like this all the time. You think that's a good enough reason to pretend you're a samurai and go around threatening people? You idiot! W'ahhh! You're just doing the same thing to other people that you hated when it was done to you! We farmers aren't lower than other people, you know. We have lots of things to be proud of, that only we can do! ..... But you wouldn't know that because you don't make any effort! I'm sorry, Otae.
We've caused you a lot of trouble, sir. Please take this for your assistance.Received [Fine Celery]
Received [Fine Onion]
Received [Fine Burdock]
Once again, our deepest apologies. C'mon Gonbei, let's go! You have a lot more people to apologize to! Sorry, dear...Got 1500 Experience Points
We have one final quest that becomes available after first encountering the blacksmith. If we head to the southwest corner of Rakugai, where we learned the Revelation from the dog earlier, we can encounter a traveling weapons dealer.
Hey there! You look like a big, tough fighter. I got the perfect sword for you! What do you say? You wanna take a look? Let's see it. Great! I'm sure you've never seen anything like it. Set your eyes on this!
Enchanted? That's right. The blade is imbued with the power of the wind god. Just look at the bright blue glow! It has to be magic, right? And it's not just how it looks. This sword will cut through anything! So what do you say? I know you wanna buy it. If you decide now I'll let it go for just 1000 mon!There's a choice whether to buy it, but Kiryuu'd be a real sucker not to snag a sweet magical sword at a price like that.
I'll take it. Really? Uh, thanks!
A third man quietly approaches.
Excuse me, can I have a moment? What do you want, old timer? I'd like to take a look at that sword, if you don't mind. You want bo buy this sword too, huh? Ha, course you do. It's magic! Yes, something like that. Okay. You don't mind if I show it to him, do you, buddy? Go ahead. Here you go. As I suspected. What's supposed to be magical about this sword? It looks like a fake to me. Wha-!? Whaddya mean? Just look at it glow, old man! That's just a simple trick on the part of the craftsman. Any smith could do it easily enough. No way! Shame on you, trying to deceive this young man. You can find blades like this anywhere. It's barely worth the price of the steel it's made from. Wait, is this true? Uh, well... Um... I think that answers the question. Wait, uh... Shit! I won't forget this, you old bastard!And off he runs.
No need to thank me. I can't believe how foolish I was. There's no such thing as an enchanted sword. Are you sure there isn't? Huh? Of course not. Hm. Here, take a look at this sword. ...? Go on, give it a swing. What's... What's going on!? I can't move! Heh heh. That is a real life Enchanted Sword that dampens the wielder's freedom of movement. A real Enchanted Sword... Are you starting to believe it now? Yeah... That is the first Enchanted Sword I ever created. Wait, you made this? I used to work as a blacksmith in Obama, where I studied the art of creating Enchanted Swords.
It was a long time ago. So you don't make them anymore? Why did you stop? They only brought misery to those who used them. What do you mean? I originally began creating Enchanted Swords to empower the weak. That those without confidence might find strength within, and then use that strength to protect themselves and find happiness. At least, that's what I intended. But I was mistaken. A gang of vile criminals got hold of my creations and used them for evil purposes, using them to kill countless innocents in cold blood. I unleashed a terrifying engine of destruction on the world. I see. That is why I have vowed never again to forge an Enchanted Sword and to do whatever it takes to track down and destroy those that still remain. I have to clean up my own mess. Hmm. How many swords did you make? One hundred in all. So far I have collected 95 of them. I came to Kyoto because I heard that the remaining five are somewhere in the city. Makes sense. But I haven't had any luck so far. This city is so unfamiliar to me. Bah, I suppose I'm just getting on in years. My old muscles just don't do quite what I tell them to anymore. ....... However, I'm determined to dispose of every last Enchanted Sword personally, whatever it takes. I won't go to my grave without completing my mission. Maybe I can help you. What, really? Sure. I know Kyoto better than you. I bet I can track these swords down. ...thank you. I am truly in your debt. If I find one what should I do with it? Hmm... Bring it to me whenever it is convenient for you and I will inspect it. I will be staying at the Rakugai blacksmith's shop. The blacksmith's? Got it. I appreciate your assistance. If you really do track down all five of my remaining Enchanted Swords I promise to make for you a unique sword of unrivaled power. Heh. I'm looking forward to it.Got 1500 Experience Points
This was actually two sidequests in one. The first is simply choosing to buy the fake sword from the dealer and having the old man save you from wasting 1000 mon, which is what the experience points are for. The second is the quest to track down the 5 magic swords, which can't be completed for quite awhile. There are exactly 5 in each playthrough, and all of them are found through other sidequests, mostly not available in Chapter 5. The Enchanted Swords can't be forged at the blacksmith's and neither can the one the old man gives as a reward for collecting them, so you'll have to finish this quest chain to fill out your weapon completion list if you're going for that.
One other thing I did while taking care of these quests was pay a visit to the weapon shop in Rakugai.
This place is open starting in Chapter 5 and its inventory expands in each subsequent chapter.
The old guy behind the counter isn't much for conversation, but he does have some decent armor, which is what we're here for.
This is the best armor available in Chapter 5. A cost of 1 ryou 5000 mon would be pretty steep for a fresh character, but definitely affordable if he'd been doing the sidequests.
Here are our new defensive stats. In order from top to bottom they are:
BLUNT - Resistance to unarmed and bokutou attacks
BLADE - Resistance to knives and swords
BULLET - Resistance to firearms. Not sure if this includes arrows or not.
FIRE - Resistance to - you guessed it - fire
The FIRE resistance sucks, but we won't encounter too much of that in Shishido's den and there are accessories to offset it.
I also pin on a fortune from Gion Inari shrine that you can pick up all over the damn place and that at least gets our FIRE stat out of negative numbers.
And with that we're protected and ready to upgrade our offensive power.
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Sidequests:
Enchanted Sword Collection (Ongoing)
Kakemawari Jobs:
That brings us to the end of the sidequests for this section, but there will be a couple more to do in Chapter 5 once we've confronted Shishido's gang.
In this update we also learned our final combat style - the [Greatsword Style] - and at last gained access to the blacksmith. Because the repetitive menu-surfing that is Kenzan's crafting interface doesn't make for thrilling viewing in video form, the following will explain how the system works, as well as the offensive and defensive statistics that affect combat. If you don't care about the upgrade system or the effects of armor and sword stats on gameplay go ahead and skip this section, though I will probably be referencing this information from time to time in future videos.
The forge is on the eastern edge of Rakugai, on Hanami Lane. You can see what it looks like at the intersection of Hanami and Shijou today in this YouTube video (not mine). At about 00:04 you'll see Yasaka Shrine at the end of the street, which is where we confronted Gonbei/Kennosuke in the sidequests for this update. At about 00:12 the camera turns to look south from Shijou Avenue down Hanami Lane, and if the blacksmith were a real place and this were the 17th century you'd see it on the left just ahead.
Somewhere around there. Sorry if this is mundane, but I personally love it when games are set in real locations, especially if I've been there.
Anyway, once we're inside we can chat up the blacksmith for a couple of new weapon recipes, and then talk to him any time later to get a rundown on how all this works. The guy sitting on the dais is the one we place our orders with.
There's also a locker key near the open flames in back.
Many weapons can be upgraded without actually reforging them into different swords. This is what the smith meant in the video when he talked about [Tempering]. You don't need any recipes or materials to do this, just cash. Not all weapons have different levels, and those that do can have anywhere from two to five ranks. [Tempering] doesn't change the sword's appearance and has only minimal effects on stats. However, you won't be able to make a new sword out of an old one until the old sword is upgraded to its maximum level.
This is the [Iron Greatsword] that we got free from the blacksmith in this update. All weapons have 3 main stats that I'll get into in a moment, but unfortunately you can only see two of them from the upgrade screen, and not one of the most important ones either. If we upgrade it....
...we get a moderate increase in stats and our wallet lightens by 1000 mon. That's peanuts compared to what future weapons will cost, but keep in mind that a fresh character who has done all the sidequests up until now will probably have only 2 - 3 ryou to his name at this point. And since the [Iron Greatsword] sucks, this wouldn't be a very wise investment.
Next we've got a standard [Nameless Katana], which we found in the Chapter 1 action stage, but which is also available in limitless supply from the Rakugai weapons shop for about 2000 mon, or 4000 mon if you buy it already fully upgraded. Since it has 4 levels and each upgrade costs 500 it makes no difference how you get it to the top level. You'll probably want a few of these since the [Nameless Katana] is the base for a good number of tachi in the game.
Now for [Crafting]. with the katana at max level we can now use some of our crafting items and pay a much stiffer price to convert it into an entirely new weapon. This will have a much bigger effect on its stats, generally in a positive direction, and will change the sword's in-game appearance as well. [Crafting] is the part that requires recipes, so while I said before that the [Nameless Katana] is a base for multiple other weapons, the only one we can forge now is the [Bidoromaru], which we got a recipe for from the coin locker quest last update. Like many things in Kenzan, even on NewGame+ you can't carry your recipes over from the last playthrough.
The [Bidoromaru] costs 3000 mon, and requires a max-level [Nameless Katana] (total value: 4000 mon), a [Tengu Stone] (400 mon at the Rakugai weapon shop or from random battles), and a [Gold Tortoiseshell] (500 mon at the same shop or from random battles as well).
We've got our new tachi, but it too can be upgraded.
800 mon a pop this time. We're still in the very, very, very cheap price range, relatively speaking. The [Bidoromaru] has 5 ranks itself, so 4000 mon later and we can [Craft] it again to that other tachi we learned about in the same recipe book:
The [Water God Tachi]. This one takes a max-level [Bidoromaru] (total value from scratch: 1 ryou 1000 mon), a [Water God Stone] (500 mon in the Rakugai weapon shop), [Dragon Whiskers] (available at the pharmacy in Rakugai for 1500 mon, but only from Chapter 7. One is available from the storage lockers by using the key we just found in the back of the forge).
Now to talk about stats. Up to this point Kiryuu's loadout has been, in order from top to bottom:
DUAL SWORD: Sakushuu Tachi (Kiryuu starts the game with it, but it seems like NewGame+ automatically upgrades it to max level. It's not much of a buff.) / Sakushuu Kodachi (see previous)
OTHER: Iron Greatsword
SINGLE SWORD: Sakushuu Tachi (this is always the same as above)
UNARMED: ---- (can't equip anything here)
"OTHER" is for greatswords, the kodachi and non-sword weapons that can be purchased, found, and crafted. This slot is what Kiryuu will draw when you push UP on the d-pad. You can't have a kodachi and a greatsword equipped at the same time, but Kiryuu will still use his tachi/kodachi pair from the first two fields for the [Dual Sword Style] (LEFT on the d-pad) regardless of what's in this slot.
There are, of course, many matching tachi/kodachi pairs, although not every tachi has a partner and not every combo member shares a name with its mate, but if you equip a set the names will turn green in the menu and you'll get a stat bonus when using the [Dual Sword Style]. The red and blue numbers show the stat changes that will occur if we equip the max-level [Bidoromaru] as our tachi. The [Single Sword Style] will get a significant boost because the new sword is better all around than the old one, but we'll lose out on the pair bonus for the [Dual Sword Style].
The three stats are, in order from left to right:
ATTACK: Damage inflicted if an attack connects. Pretty self-explanatory.
POWER : Guard and guard-break. The higher this is the stronger the attack you can block without the block being broken or getting staggered, and the more easily you can stagger the enemy or cut through his guard.
SPEED : Speed of strikes. No effect on running speed. Comes in 4 increments: slow, moderate, fast, and very fast. As a general rule, don't accept anything less than "fast", even for a Greatsword.
Out of these POWER and SPEED are the most important, with POWER, in my opinion, being absolutely vital. Don't even bother looking at the ATTACK stat unless it's a 3-digit drop or something. As the game goes on enemies will block much more and will themselves have higher and higher POWER stats to block your strikes. Unless you're upgrading this attribute you'll start finding that a lot of fights go pretty much like the battle with Marume in Chapter 2. On higher difficulties the only difference is that this situation starts right at the beginning of the game, although NewGame+ players will still have all their weapons from the previous playthrough.
As you might expect, greatswords will usually have a higher score in the first two stats and a lower one in the third. In addition, the SPEED stat is relative to the weapon's class, so a rating of "very fast" for a greatsword is not as swift as "very fast" for a tachi. Greatswords will always swing more slowly. Since it's in kanji, I'll point out that our current equipment has a SPEED rating of very fast, fast, very fast for the [DUAL SWORD], [OTHER] (greatsword), and [SINGLE SWORD] categories, respectively.
Anyway, we're not going to bother equipping the [Bidoromaru] because we can already [Craft] it into something even better.
And then immediately pay several thousand mon to bring it to max level.
Here's a picture of Kiryuu with the [Sakushuu] set:
Note that those are his "canonical" swords, in that they match the ones from the cutscenes.
Now here's him with the same kodachi but with the [Water God Tachi]:
A lot of weapons will have unique graphical effects when drawn and swung in combat, although I can't remember offhand whether this one does or not. That's more often true of the higher-level swords.
We learned how to make one more weapon from that book in the storage lockers, and it just so happens to be the mate to our new tachi. The [Holy Fountain Kodachi] takes one max-level [Nameless Kodachi] (also available from the Rakugai weapon shop), a [Tengu Stone], and an [Essence of the Lust Waterfall] (one is found in the storage lockers using a key sitting on the ground in front of the Tatsuya), plus 3000 mon. Then we can [Temper] it once for 1200 mon.
Quite an upgrade, and we've still got stats in the "very fast" range. I also [Tempered] the [Iron Greatsword], but didn't have anything to [Craft] it into. Greatswords are pretty situational and far more expensive than other weapons to upgrade, so I won't be blowing a lot of money on them. Unlike all the other Yakuza games, money is a pretty serious problem in Kenzan. Our Kiryuu has around 150 ryou, but this is my fifth playthrough on this character. It's the closest thing to impossible to complete your weapon list in one time through the game because of the sheer expense and lack of reasonable grinding options. Not to mention you'll need multiple copies of certain rare materials that have ridiculously low random drop rates and only one sure pickup per playthrough (such as being in a storage locker). And when I say expense I'm not kidding. More than one greatsword costs around 100 ryou, plus all the intermediates and materials. If you do all the sidequests, open all the lockers and collect everything on the ground you'll still need well over 500 ryou just for the blacksmith. That's not counting what you'll need for other activities like romancing the yuujo and Gyoutensai's inventions. Even consulting a guide and carefully planning every step, I was just barely able to complete the weapon list right before I finished my second run through the game.
Anyway, enough ranting.
Now we're all decked out in our shiny blue swords and ready to hit the town. Next time we'll test out our new toys on Shishido's goons.