[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Ah, okay. I'm really curious about how lenient Japan is with the Yakuza these days. I was watching a Japan IRL stream on Twitch, and the streamer stumbled into an area known for Yakuza presence. And get this—they met someone who most likely belonged to the organization, singing his heart out in a bar 😂

You raise some great points! Apart from stereotypes, I definitely think the devs might be under heavy scrutiny from the countries featured in the game. Not all countries are as tolerant as Japan. There are places with a heavy gang presence, like Mexico, but I doubt they'd be happy to be shown in a negative light. Korea's also cementing itself as an entertainment powerhouse, but yeah, it lacks the "weird" vibe you mentioned.

"Dough" is an understatement lmao 😂 The subtitle for GTA 6 should've been Infinite Wealth. As for a Bully remaster, I really hope they go for the same approach as Remedy with the Max Payne remake 🙏

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Well, a quick google search had this to show:

Japan is not strict about prohibiting membership in the Yakuza, a confederation of criminal syndicates. However, the Japanese government has passed laws to limit the Yakuza's income and increase their liability for criminal activity.

So bar-singing yakuzas checks out.

I'd say Korea has its own brand of weirdness (I mean, birthplace of K-pop, come on), but it is not so well-known in popular culture yet. But give it a decade, with all the doramas, it may soon grow popular enough. Though I'd prefer something more exotic as a place, like India. Mexico...I dunno, honestly. If we go South America, then I'd say go for Brazil. Yakuza games mostly take time during Christmas, and a game set there could take time in Rio during Carnival. That could give a chance to tell a good and culture-rich story in a colourful and crazy setting.

GTA 6 is rather hyped. And deservingly so by Rockstar's track record, but still, I hope it lives up to all the hype. As for the Bully remake, we can hope, though I worry a bit that the game may be too rough around the edges by modern standards. Maybe they will also do what Mafia did and cut/add content but, if so, the game may loose some of its hooligan charm.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch This is so fascinating! In LAD, they showed how the Yakuza acted as the yin to the Police's yang, working together to rebuild the country after the World War. The fact that it still persists today is so mind boggling though! There's even something called a 'Yakuza parade' for crying out loud 😅. Say, if you ever walk into a bar and see a karaoke-singing Yakuza, would you vibe with him or find another bar 😂?

Oh dang, yeah, Brazil is a solid choice. Max Payne 3 used the setting brilliantly. Add some wackiness and football, and we’ve got ourselves a fantastic spiritual successor to Yakuza.

I hope so too. I try to keep my expectations in check for new releases, but hoooly GTA 6 feels like a whole different beast. By the way, when you say rough edges in Bully, are you referring to the gameplay or the story?

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Japan is a unique country in many respects for sure, Yakuza being just one of them. I would not be surprised if they still have ninjas running around there somewhere.

About the bar, ahem...I'd say that me walking into any bar in the first place is stretching it a bit too thin. I am not much of a bar person. 😅

Brazil has some good developers these days, too. Hopefully, they will do something like that, can be even smaller scale like that game about India.

About Bully, I am more about the additional gameplay elements. School bullying is taken much more seriously these days (and deservingly so, too), so a game that permits you to engage in and even sort of encourages that behaviour now is a bit on thin ice. Sure, many games involve bodily or emotional harm in one way or the other, but Bully is where children do it, so...not sure how it would play out at least as far as publicity is concerned.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Modern ninjas must be holding themselves back from commenting that being a ninja is all about espionage and not the flashy stuff Naruto does 😅

Haha, I see 😄 But hey, there could be other chances to meet these folks. Maybe even a trip to Japan to showcase the newest Legion Go device 👀

Oh, there are? I’ll have to check out these games from Brazilian devs!

Bully was highly controversial when it first came out, so releasing it now—when the world is a bit more sensitive—yeah, it might not bode well for its publicity 😥

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Ah well, you can play Mark of the Ninja (from Klei too, by the way):

or watch Ninja Kamui:

for an insight on what modern ninjas are up to 😉

Rogue Snail is not bad, and pay attention to Brazilian culture. But there are a few others out there.

Sad but true. But a remake may see the light on a wave of nostalgia, maybe. So many remakes and remasters are being made these days, that it may just slip in there...

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH maybe @j7schultz knows any other good Brazil game developers?

[ZaidH]

God Mark of the Ninja is easily in my top 5 indie games of all time! I haven’t played the remastered version yet, but I’ve got to try it soon.

And wow, the voice acting in the Ninja Kamui trailer 🔥🔥🔥 Looks like a stacked VA roster. You know a character is going to be legendary if they are voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda.

That article was a great read! Thanks for sharing.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Mark of the Ninja is what put Klei on the map, it was one of their first games before they moved on to Don't Starve and Oxygen Not Included. I wish they'd spend as much effort as they do on those two games on others: Mark of the Ninja 2 would be awesome. Or part 2 of Invisible, Inc.

But as far as ninjas are concerned, the new Ninja Gaiden is to come out this autumn, hopefully, it will be better than its predecessor, they often get Mostly Positive on Steam. Still, better than nothing.

Is the remastered version only upscaled graphics, or did they add some new content, too?

Well, with anime it is often studio and actor that make it good. Ninja Kamui had Netflix behind it, but they managed to get it right and make a good show, even if the story itself was rather basic. I'd say it is worth watching for voice acting alone.

Glad you liked the article, I find it refreshing to search for those "local perspectives" on games, often the mainstream game media is focused on big studios or projects, but there is inspiration to be found in smaller local stories, I think.

[ZaidH]

Mark of the Ninja 2 announcement for the Switch 2 launch lineup 🤞 And yeah, it looks like they added some new content for the remaster, but not much—just a few prequel missions, I think.

Oh man, I loved the Ninja Gaiden 4 presentation! Have you played Ninja Gaiden 2?

That’s some high praise for the anime! I’ll have to give it a watch sometime.

Like they say, limitations foster innovation. It’s important to have articles like these to show that gaming projects fueled purely by passion still exist.