Yakuza 6: Onomichi Jingaicho and Baseball [Famitsu Wednesday]

Welcome back to famitsu wednesdays translated by Chelsea.

This week we get to learn a little more about Onomichi Jingaicho in Hiroshima. There are some unique districts to this area and some interesting restaurants/play spots. Make sure you read the dramatic descriptions for each one, they’re totally worth it.

Not just batting cages! The baseball play spot and team creator is all new for Ryu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza 6. It will have you creating teams, managing players, and playing matches. This thing could be a game unto itself. Don’t forget to scroll down to the bottom to check out all the details.

There’s so much to do in Onomichi Jingaicho!

Map of Onomichi Jingaicho

Ryunan Shrine

A shrine which has been in Onomichi Jingaicho since long ago, which is sometimes used as a meeting spot by the area’s residents.

Worshippers once flocked here in a time when the town was still full of life, but the effects of the depopulation of recent years have turned it into a quiet place.

Tradition tells that if you make an offering to the five jizo statues on its grounds your wish will be granted, which serves as one of the play spots as detailed in a further report!

Jingai Central District

This is a shopping district which sustains the residents’ daily lives, but most of the shops are closed, turning it into a so-called “dead mall”. Attempts have been made to turn the tables on this using yuru-charas, but how does it go!?

Snack District

A snack bar district full of establishments that you will be hesitant to enter. Snack Kiyomi, visited by Kiryu, is also located here. This area was once a vibrant red light district under the control of the Yomei Association, but not a trace of that can be seen now.

Jingai ferry port

Back in the days when Onomichi Jingaicho prospered, a dizzying number of ferries filled to the brim with passengers passed through this port. Now, however, these crowds have vanished, leaving only the deserted wharf. Although the ferry passengers have vanished, the structure itself is an indispensable part of the town, still used for things such as the docking of fishing vessels.

Café LaPente

A French restaurant that stands deep in the mountains of Onomichi Jingaicho. It is famous for its atmospheric interior, being an old residence that has been renovated, and the exquisite cuisine created by its owner. The owner seems to have been a local delinquent, but now serves as a sympathetic supporter of the town’s youth.

Hills

A place that symbolises Jingaicho, enclosed by sea and mountains. There are two hills on the north side of town, called Ichinosaka and Ninosaka.

Graveyard

A graveyard surrounded by old houses which look to have stood there since the Showa period. The area feels deserted, and there are no people to be seen visiting graves. Even under normal circumstances this is an eerie place, but there are rumours saying that all kinds of things come out at night here…

Intersection

The National Route 2 West intersection serves as a sort of central point of the town. There is a lot of traffic, and trains sometimes pass by on the tracks alongside it.

Cable Car Boarding Point

This is the boarding point for the cable car that leads to Senkoji, one of several famous temples in the Chugoku region. Using it allows you to reach the entrance to Senkoji in a flash. By the way, it is possible to play a game involving throwing coins into the Senkoji offering box. There must surely be benefits to doing this, too!?

Head of RGG6 coverage Moge Saito tells us what to look out for in Onomichi Jingaicho!

Now the Onomichi Jingaicho map has been revealed, and grass-lot baseball detailed on the next page, you might think that everything has been revealed about Onomichi Jingaicho – but that’s not the case at all! Despite having introduced play spots such as free-dive fishing, cat café management and babysitting at Tokyo Game Show 2016, they are still hidden in this update. We’ll surely keep steadily releasing information, so look forward to it.

And.. actually, the game’s producer, Masayoshi Yokoyama, let slip something about “something that uses yuru-chara” (it’s okay to write this now, isn’t it!?), which you seem to encounter in Jingai Central District. You should really look forward to just what you’re going to end up doing with a yuru-chara.

What is Onomichi Jingaicho’s grass-lot baseball?

By unexpected chance, Kiryu ends up being appointed as captain of the grass-lot baseball team Setouchi Warriors. This is the game’s first play spot, grass-lot baseball. What exactly do you need to do, then? We will dissect it in greater detail below.

Most of the matches proceed automatically, with Kiryu giving directions at important points!?

Naturally, matches proceed automatically by default. However, when the team gets a chance, the players themselves can control the players as they bat! If you succeed at batting, there are times when you will score then and there, and also merits such as your players’ abilities increasing (there are no demerits for getting out).

If you don’t hit the other team here, they will toy with you with a variety of curve balls. It seems like there are even some pitchers who throw balls you would only see from a pro!?

Head of RGG6 coverage Moge Saito’s grass-plot baseball observations

The opportunity to show off your true abilities has finally arrived!

When talking about batting in Ryu ga Gotoku, many people will surely think of Yoshida Batting Centre. In the past in Ryu ga Gotoku, no matter how much you refined your skills, all you would do was receive a prize. Now, however, you can utilise those refined skills in grass-plot baseball, meaning that the way you play previous play spots has changed hugely. When you start playing the game, it might be a given that the first play spot you visit is Yoshida Batting Centre?

Gather players from around town and train them to create the ultimate team!

In order to grow the Setouchi Warriors into the strongest team in Onomichi Jingaicho, as detailed below you will need to have players appear in matches, and also train them to improve their abilities. However, simply train the players who are already part of the team from the beginning and you will soon begin to approach your limits.

What Kiryu must do in this situation as captain is… scout! Through scouting people you find around town who look experienced in baseball or people you befriend by clearing substories, increasing the depth of your squad is important. By carefully training these players, you will turn the Setouchi Warriors into an even stronger team. Be active in your scouring of the town in order to accomplish this.

Increase players’ abilities by having them play matches and train!

In order to strengthen your players, the most important thing to do is have them play matches and gain experience. They will gradually accumulate experience points, and will level up after building up a certain amount. Players’ abilities will increase in proportion with their level, so of course their potential to play a role in matches increases, too! Sometimes, players will also obtain powerful skills upon levelling up.

Increasing your players’ abilities via honest hard work forms the basis of grass-lot baseball, but there is an even faster way to strengthen your players. This is “training”. In order to train you will need to expend training tickets that are sometimes obtained upon winning regular games, and results are instantaneous. You can even rank up a player’s abilities in the blink of an eye, so make sure to actively train players who seem like they will be useful.

Building a team based on player abilities is important, too!

Grass-plot baseball isn’t simple enough that merely increasing your players’ abilities is enough to win matches. If they don’t defend areas they are suited to defending, they will simply make more and more errors, and you won’t efficiently gain points if your batting line-up doesn’t work. Furthermore, the player’s condition at that time is also important. You must carefully consider each of your players’ strengths when deciding on the team line-up in order to win.

In any case, your starting line-up and batting order will have a huge effect on how the match plays out. In grass-lot baseball you play the role of designated hitter, so first of all choose your starting line-up based on their defensive strengths, then use skilled batters as designated hitter or pinch hitter. Then select batting order based on abilities and condition, and challenge yourself to grass-lot baseball based on baseball theory!

Head of RGG6 coverage Moge Saito’s grass-plot baseball observations

Grass-lot baseball is basically YakyuTsuku!!
Maybe you’ll start playing that, too!?

When I heard reports that grass-lot baseball was to be added to this game, my honest impressions as a writer were, “So it’s finally happened?” I was aware that the Ryu ga Gotoku series has always had a deep connection with baseball. The town upon which Kamurocho is modelled surely had a large effect on this, but the batting centre has appeared as a play spot in every Ryu ga Gotoku since the very first game. It went so far as Ryu ga Gotoku 5 including former professional baseball player Tatsuo Shinada as a protagonist, creating a whole story of its own. Masayoshi Yokoyama, who is in charge of script-writing and producer on the game, is also a huge sports fan. This is why nothing seemed off about including a new element involving baseball in RGG6. If anything, it actually felt more than natural.

However, when I actually saw screenshots of the grass-lot baseball, I was surprised in a different way entirely. That was: “Isn’t this YakyuTsuku!?” I’m sure people who play YakuyuTsuku!! will have got the same impression as myself, but the more I learn about it the stronger the feeling gets. Honestly, if you take away the elements of setting your hometown and the focus on pro baseball, plus the fact that you can bat for yourself, you basically have this game’s grass-lot baseball. This is fine, since they’re made by the same company, but isn’t it turning into too much of a self parody? (laughs)

SEGA’s YakyuTsuku!!

Anyway, it’ll definitely be fun if it’s based on YakyuTsuku!!. If you haven’t played it and are interested in this game’s grass-lot baseball and actual pro baseball, this might be a good time to try it out. If you do, I think you’ll understand why I say, “Is this a parody!?” Oh, this article is about reporting RGG6 info. I’ve gone off topic.

Since I’ve already digressed, here’s one more little anecdote. I’m not sure if he’s still this way now, but Mr. Yokoyama used to be hugely addicted to YakyuTsuku!!. For a time, he was apparently probably amongst the top players in Japan. I can kind of see the unexpected connection leading to grass-lot baseball turning out this way, which is a little bit interesting, and I thought I would let you all know.