Video Game / Kurohyo Ryu Ga Gotoku Shinsho

The legend of the Mad Dragon of Kamuro begins in the ring.

Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (translates to "Black Panther: Like A Dragon New Chapter”); is a Spin-Off of the Like a Dragon series released exclusively for the PlayStation Portable in September 22, 2010.

In September 2010, an aimless delinquent skilled in street fighting named Tatsuya Ukyo kills Tojo member Naoki Toda in a botched robbery. On an ultimatum from Toda's boss Ryutaro Kuki, Tatsuya is forced to enter the Dragon Heat fight club while trying to clear his name. He is tasked to win 10 Dragon Heat matches in a row: lose once and he will be handed over to the police. Later on, Tatsuya learns Dragon Heat connects to his past and he yearns to unravel the mysteries behind it all.

The gameplay is vastly different than that of mainline Yakuza games. Combat in Kurohyō is more focused on 1-on-1 fighting modeled after its developer Syn Sophia's other title, Def Jam: Fight for NY, while at the same time borrowing many elements from the mainline games such as heat actions, overworld enemy encounters, and picking up weapons scattered around the area. Mechanics unique to the game includes stamina, limb health which results in different effects on the player depending on which limb is damaged (head, torso, arms and legs), as well as a Stance System, where outside of battle, you can change into different martial art styles you’ve unlocked throughout the game.

Free-roaming exploration in Kurohyō is similar to Yakuza and Yakuza 2, using transitions between fixed camera angles to explore Kamurocho. The player can also enjoy side activities like restaurants, hostess clubs, karaoke, or casino games, as well as do part-time jobs for cash.

A television adaptation of the game was made from October 5 to December 21, 2010 on Tokyo Broadcasting System, as well as a manga adaptation by Asada Yukai spanning 3 volumes. The sequel Kurohyo 2 Ryu Ga Gotoku Ashura Hen (English translation: "Black Panther 2: Like A Dragon Ashura Chapter"), was released 2 years later.

Kurohyō: Ryu Ga Gotoku Shinsho provides examples of the following tropes:

• Arc Words: Philosophy.
• Ascended Extra: The Yakuza games has always had an underground fighting ring at least once per game as a small side activity, defeating random fighters to collect money and items. In Kurohyō an underground fighting ring is what the plot revolves around, along with the history behind it, the struggle of running one and what goes on with the fighters’ lives.
• Betting Mini-Game: Tatsuya can partake in some underaged gambling at a secret casino, where you can play standard games like Blackjack, Poker and Baccarat, and games you wouldn't find in a proper casino like Speed and Freecell solitaire. You can redeem chips for plates that sell for a lot of cash at the pawn shop, equipment or an unlockable killer move scroll you can learn at Tsukuhara's dojo.
• Boxing Battler:
  • At the very beginning of the second chapter after defeating Tomoki, Taizan teaches you the Boxing fighting style in a flash. Serves as a little foreshadowing to who he really is and what he is really capable of. Boxing quite obviously has a good punch stat, but there is only a single kick attack unable to be chained by a combo and it has bad throw damage.
  • Later on in the game you fight the former middleweight Boxing champion “Iron” Shima Tetsuji as one of your Dragon Heat opponents.
• Brawler Lock: If a player and the opponent simultaneously try to grab each other they engage in a brawler lock that requires the player to button mash for control.
• Breakable Weapons: Much like the mainline games and Def Jam: Fight for NY, all the objects you pick up to use as weapons break in a few hits.
• Burger Fool: In Chapter 3 you unlock the option to work jobs for cash. Can’t make much from stealing from gang members off the streets. One of these jobs is at Smile Burger and the minigame has you bag up customers’ orders.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Yusuke, an acquaintance Tatsuya punched and shooed away in the beginning cinematic shows up later in a substory stalking a girl he has a crush at the Gelateria. Tatsuya, who has since then went under Character Development, decides to help him.
• Collection Sidequest:
  • Throughout Kamurocho is two brothers who can hand you trading cards of Gravure Idols, completing an Idol's 6-card set nets you 1000 exp and a bonus 7th card. The brothers are not on the map so you'd have to look on for white arrows on your own mini-map to find them.
  • Tsukahara's grandson loses 101 of his cats throughout Kamurocho. The old man gives you a discount on training when you find more cats throughout the game.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • The Weapon Mania and the Extreme Rousing/Awakening fighting style encourage the use of weapons by increasing the damage done with them. Their heat actions are very brutal as well, the former’s red heat has you stomp an opponents head into the ground multiple times, the latter’s blue heat has you take large chomps out an unlucky sap’s shoulder, the red heat has you strike the eyes then the groin in quick succession. OUCH.
  • Hayato Makabe was given information that Tatsuya’s leg was injured leading up to their fight so expect a lot of leg kicks. He is also given a modified version of the Extreme Awakening fighting style, get caught by him while he’s in heat mode and he’ll use the biting heat action.
• Continuity Cameo:
  • Akiyama is seen as your Cabaret rival for Yurika. Given that she can only be ordered as a hostess in New Game Plus, you have to beat the game once to see him.
  • The Florist of Sai makes an appearance to help Tatsuya learn about what goes on behind Dragon Heat. He’s found in the same sewer hatch to Purgatory like in the mainline games.
  • Hana appears as part of a branch of substories, dining in restaurants all over Kamurocho. A man who wants a loan from her job, Sky Finance, attacks her, causing Tatsuya to step in to set him straight but not without her help. You can also see her in the Ramen job minigame.
  • Mainline series Doctor, Dr.Emoto, will heal you up at his clinic for a price.
  • 2 hostesses from Yakuza 3, Saya Unten and Mika Tsuchiya, move from Okinawa to work hostess jobs in Kamurocho.
  • Mars Fighters, a comedy duo from the mainline games, show up here as a substory. Shiraishi fails one of their quizzes, so he has you help him out.
• Critical Existence Failure: Subverted. For the most part if you manage be damaged enough to have low health a body part of yours must have also been severely damaged by the enemies’ attacks, whether it be the head, torso or the limbs. If any of these parts are damaged it negatively affects you in battle. Take for example an injured torso causes you to lose stamina faster and injured arms causes your guard to break easier.
• Diegetic Interface: The Kurohyo series don't have a visible health bar, heat meter or weapons durability counters of the main Yakuza games. In battle the only visible meter is you and the enemy's body part health indicator. Realistically you obviously wouldn't have a health bar in real world fighting, but you would know what part of your body is hurting and with a bit of intuition you can tell where your opponent is injured in.
• Duels Decide Everything:
  • In the final battle even when the good guys have the upper hand over the villains,Tatsuya decides to settle everything with a one-on-one fight where winner takes all. When the villains lose they immediately try to attack Tatsuya and his comrades.
• Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting:
  • In the earlier parts of the game your standard street delinquents and substory enemies use the Brawling style. As you progress through the game the enemies start using stronger fighting styles, eventually to the point every guy you come across is trained in some martial art.
  • A literal example with the "Lone Wolf Group", a biker gang of chinese orphans, every one of them use either the Kung Fu and Bajiquan styles, complete with Funny Bruce Lee Noises.
• Extremity Extremist:
  • The Extreme Hard Arm and the Extreme God Leg fighting styles specialize in punches and kicks respectively, the kicks of Hard Arm is replaced with a heavier punch combo and vice versa with the punches of God Leg.
  • Also Tetsuji Shima
• Gameplay and Story Integration: During chapter 8, Tatsuya is captured and tortured by the conspirators. After he's saved, you're actually left with roughly 1/3 HP and a 70% injury rate spread across the four stats to deal with before the next Dragon Heat match.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • Encounters can randomly begin with the opponent ambushing Tatsuya and attempting to strike him from behind, breaking continuity with how every battle is announced in advance by enemies running up to the hero and forcing him to fight.
  • There are two boss fights where Tatsuya is vulnerable on certain body parts due to injuries suffered in the story, regardless of his actual health stats.
• Hidden Badass: A recurring trope in this game, never judge a book by it's cover.
  • Your old wimpy school teacher, Yuki, is actually a badass black belt martial artist and can give any first time player a hard time.
  • Nobumichi Fujimoto, the father of a student you once beat up in the past and taxi cab driver is actually a former karate champion.
  • Amamiya Taizan, your Dragon Heat doctor, is actually the strongest man in the company, with 9 fights won in a row.
  • A recurring character from substories, Shiraishi, is a Casanova Wannabe and complete loser when it comes to girls and you have to help inspire him to impress ladies. Later on in the penultimate Kamurocho gang mission it turns out he's the leader of KINGDOM, a gang that beat up your friend Akagi and a powerful fighter himself. He was actually framed by his right hand man but that doesn’t make him less powerful.
• Fight Clubbing: The game revolves an underground fighting ring that has existed as far back as World War 2.
• Mob War: A long branch of substories through most of the game concerns a war between street gangs in Kamurocho. Tatsuya inadvertently involves himself in the gang affairs after defending himself from one of the groups.
• Motion Comic: The game’s cutscenes employ voice-acted motion comic animation similar to another PSP game, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Hayato Makabe. An Ax-Crazy Laughing Mad Yakuza muscle with a violent fighting style. His nickname is Mad Dog. Sounds familiar.
  • The Florist of Sai mentions the Coliseum from Yakuza, it’s more of a pet project to him compared to the passion and history behind Dragon Heat.
• New Game Plus: After beating the game you are given the option of starting a new save; carrying over your level, styles, upgrades, items, and money with an extended level cap or premium addventure, where you can explore Kamurocho from where you continue where you left off without the constraints of the main story, and there’s someone you can talk to to fight the game’s bosses again. You also unlock the ability to skip cutscenes, replay cutscenes through the main menu, and the ability to date Yurika at the cabaret.
• Optional Boss:
  • After saving an afro wearing man named Todo from thugs in the hotel district, he puts you in a combat tournament of 29 fighters called the Kamurocho Strongest Ranking. You can beat these fighters for money and rare items. The strongest is Nobu, a level 30 fighter with the Extreme Man style.
  • A reporter on strong martial artists in Kamurocho hires you to interview these fighters. You have to battle the fighters with the same styles they have.
  • The leaders of the various gangs from the Kamurocho gang war substories are no slouches.
  • Replacing the Amon clan as the superboss is Kamurocho's strongest street fighter Gaia. Infamous for taking around '''30 minutes''' to beat. Defeat him and you are rewarded the Champion Belt, the best item in the game.
• Permanently Missable Content: There are three battles in the story where you can perform a Combination Attack with a partner, which is required for 100% completion. If you miss the chances to perform those three attacks, you can only try again on New Game Plus.
• Plot-Triggering Death: The game kicks off when Tatsuya accidentally kills yakuza Naoki Toda while trying to rob his office. Turns out, he's alive. But dies instantly after the reveal.
• Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: Tatsuya comes to blows with Chinese gangsters more than once. At the beginning of the game he fights and robs a group of Chinese loan sharks led by Toda which leads directly to the game's plot. Later on he fights the half-Chinese leader of a biker gang of Chinese refugees as one of his opponents, with the man's gang intending to injure Tatsuya before their fight.
• Sequel Hook: In The Stinger, the chief of Kamurocho police Tsurumi is elected governor, having gotten away with everything and wipes himself off with Tatsuya's own handkerchief used to frame him to boot. The game seems to frame him as the next Big Bad of the upcoming sequel.
• Shows Damage: You can tell if the enemy is low on health if they are visibly hunched over in pain, the same goes to you if your health is low.
• Stance System: Outside of battle you can change your fighting style, each and every fighting style has something new to offer whether it’s in their movesets or their stats. You can unlock these styles through story events, substories, or Maxing out certain combination of the fighting styles you have to learn new ones.
• Superboss: Finish all the substories and you can find there’s a man of notoriety named Gaia in the champion’s district. The strongest street fighter in Kamurocho. He has more health than the final boss and is one of the few fighters to have the Extreme Man fighting style.
• Turns Red: For main story bosses, when their health goes past a certain point they start glowing with the usual Yakuza heat energy aura and bust out attack patterns that when hit cause you to be attacked with their heat move.
• Unsatisfiable Customer: A recurring substory featuring an infamous customer who always has a problem with an establishment's food, blaming you after you finish your shifts, so much as to outright assault you for it.
• Vague Hit Points: Zigzagged. In battle there are no visible Life Meter, you can look at your own health in the pause menu but there is no way of knowing how much health the enemy has unless they have certain tells like pulling out heat moves when their health gets low or if they are visibly holding themselves in pain.
• Wrestler in All of Us:
  • Tatsuya can unlock the Pro-Wrestling and Lucha Libre fighting styles which add more power to grab moves (flashy too) and comes with an increased health bar. The grapple attacks of Hard and Soft/Extreme Flexibility and Extreme Fortitude/Tenacity are also very showy.
  • Hyuga Sho is a professional MMA fighter but he is noted to fight more like a Pro-Wrestler with his showboating style. To him, a boring fight is worse than a loss.