Part 50: Bonus Material

This is the final update to wrap up some of the things I didn't get to show off in the middle of the LP. First of all, here's a link to the attract trailer that plays before the menu loads up. It includes a fair number of clips from the Chapter 12 cutscenes so I didn't want to link it until now.



Trailer

The song is an original theme written and performed for Kenzan by the rap artist ZEEBRA (ジブラ).


Once you've beaten the game for the first time a few new options open up from the main menu:

New Game + lets you start the game over from the beginning, but Kiryuu retains all of his experience levels, items, weapons, and HEAT and crafting completion lists.

Sightseeing in Kyoto drops a New Game + character in the game world with everything opened up so you're free to do sidequests, training, crafting, random battles or whatever non-story activities you want. You can advance the time at Kouetsu's just like in Chapter 12, but there are no story triggers. This mode only ends when you decide to import the character into a New Game +. What you can carry with you is the same, however, so if you complete all sidequests in this mode and get the reward, you'll keep it. But whether you finish them all or not that completion list will be wiped clean once a new game begins.

Challenges are gimmick battles for the Kenzan master. There are 33 in total, separated into 5 different categories. Earlier challenges in each category have to be completed before later ones will unlock. There's a ranking system from C to S, and if you S-rank all 33 you'll get an accessory called the True Fighting God Talisman that lets you use all the HEAT actions in the game while it's equipped. Since the challenges aren't tied to any character, once you've accomplished this every time you start a new game (+ or not) Kiryuu will have this in his mailbox at the beginning. If you watched the first update video I picked it up there.

Beating Kenzan on Expert mode also gives you the Fighting God Amulet (as distinct from the True Fighting God Amulet above), which keeps Kiryuu's HEAT gauge maxed at all times. This one is attached to the character, however, so it's not available when starting a fresh new game.

I'm going to show off some of the more interesting challenge missions. A lot of them are just defeating X amount of goons in Y amount of time, or replaying the action stages from the story under a strict time limit. But there are also quite a few unusual ones out there. Some of them give you a fully powered-up Kiryuu, some have you using a low-level Kiryuu. The enemies seems to be at about Normal difficulty level.



CHALLENGE 1-2

Victory condition: Defeat the Magistrate and his henchmen.
S-rank condition: Under 2:00

This is what happens any time you run into the patrolling magistrate from Chapter 5 on. Except that, in story mode, if you beat him you still have to run away and he'll still be patrolling the next time you come to Rakugai.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zT8-DS1an8


CHALLENGE 1-8

Victory condition: Defeat the gunmen in the village with the umbrella.
S-rank condition: Under 2:00

This is the rice field map from Chapter 3, in Ukiyo's village.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuHzuB8czM0


CHALLENGE 1-10

Victory condition: Defeat all enemies while naked.
S-rank condition: Under 1:00

The map this time is the riverside where Kiryuu dueled Itou in Chapter 7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwxqBFUprw4


CHALLENGE 3-2

Victory condition: Reach the main stairs of Kiyomizudera naked.
S-rank condition: Under 1:45

The pathway is now choked with fire-shooting archers and Kiryuu still has to carry bombs to blow up obstacles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5T90rfBcg8


CHALLENGE 3-5

Victory condition: Defeat all enemies only by sheathing and unsheathing a hoe.
S-rank condition: Under 0:45

The hoe counts as a greatsword, and when Kiryuu draws it he hits any enemy standing to his right. We're only allowed to attack that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e34D_VbW8Zc


CHALLENGE 2-4

Victory condition: Defeat Yoshioka Seijuurou with the umbrella.
S-rank condition: Health over 33%

The map is the Rendai Fields from Chapter 9, the same one where Kiryuu fought Seijuurou in the main game. Kiryuu wears his kabuki makeup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y2Twgcp3RQ


CHALLENGE 2-5

Victory condition: Defeat Sasaki Kojirou naked.
S-rank condition: Clear the challenge

As it says, if you complete it at all you automatically get an S-rank. The catch? Kiryuu is at Level 1, with no training, no weapons and no HEAT actions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Je1Xv7xFc


CHALLENGE 4-1

Victory condition: Defeat all your underlings as Shishido Baiken.
S-rank condition: Under 3:00

Yep, we get to control Majima for this. He has a pretty good variety of attacks and easily knocks enemies off their feet. However, his attacks aren't too damaging, so it can be challenging to make the time limit. Unfortunately, none of the characters besides Kiryuu seem to have HEAT actions, even though they have HEAT gauges.
Oh, and Majima has a dedicated laugh button.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3kBxjHpVig


CHALLENGE 4-2

Victory condition: Defeat Ueda and his followers at the Rendai Fields as Itou Ittousai.
S-rank condition: Under 2:00

Itou has all the same moves from when we fought him in the main game. His only weak point is he's much slower than Kiryuu or Majima and can't roll. You can do different attacks depending on whether you're standing still and locked on, standing still and not locked on, or in motion when you push the weak or strong attack buttons. Itou also has his own unique taunt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOJoKwHvSC0


CHALLENGE 4-3

Victory condition: Defeat all challengers at the Yoshioka Dojo as Gion Touji.
S-rank condition: Under 6:00

This is a series of small battles rather than one big melee. Touji controls much like Itou, but instead of a guard-breaking kick he can throw dust in his opponents' eyes, just like in his battle with Kiryuu in Chapter 9. He can also do a dodge roll. This challenge seems easy at first, but the last round goes much more slowly than the others so it's important to get through the early enemies as quickly as possible. Touji also has his own taunt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dXDHXnFdvY


CHALLENGE 4-4

Victory condition: Defeat your greatest rival, Miyamoto Musashi, as Sasaki Kojirou
S-rank condition: Clear the challenge

Once again you just have to win to get an S-rank. This challenge also requires you to beat all the level 5 challenges first to unlock it. Kojirou is fun to play as because he's quick and controls much more like Kiryuu does. He, too, has a unique taunt and can do all the moves from the duel in Chapter 12, except for the red HEAT charge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkzi4T9L7MU


That's all the best ones, in my opinion. The level 5 challenges are gauntlets of the bosses in the game with no special conditions except a time limit. For the final one (5-4) you have to beat Majima (Chapter 1 form), Itou, the ninja bosses from the burning Tsuruya basement in Chapter 7, Seijuurou, Touji, Shishido (Chapter 5 form), Sekishuusai's disciples from Chapter 11, Kojirou, Shibusawa, Komaki, and finally the Tengu man. Of course, this takes a fair amount of time and the fights are all on roughly Normal difficulty, so I didn't think it was worth recording. You've already seen them all on Expert mode anyway.


There were also a few performances we never watched at the sideshow in Rakugai, so here they are back-to-back:



Sideshows


Finally, here are a few tie-in products released alongside this game or soon after:

The Legendary Drinker of Ryuukyuu is, I believe, how Yakuza 3/4 translated this item. In-game it reduces Kiryuu's drunkenness, but now you can buy the real thing to cure your real hangover!



Ryuu ga Gotoku: Kenzan! instant yaki-udon. No idea how it tastes, and sadly I never got a chance to see it in stores.



This came out after Kenzan, but if you ever wanted Kiryuu's tattoo on your back or just to wrap yourself in the dragon from his slick Gion outfit, now you can!





Not related to Kenzan, but I figured some of you would like this:





Well, that's it for bonus material. Thanks again to everyone who kept coming back through the many months and repeated delays. I hope it was worth the wait.