Originally posted on 20 January 2016
Source: page 152-153

Destiny of a Dragon

Notable new elements and systems from Ryu ga Gotoku 4

The Ryu ga Gotoku series has evolved with each new installment. What kinds of changes were made to new game Ryu ga Gotoku 4? Let's take a look at some notable features.

Play spots that can be experienced in the new game

Having several play spots that can be enjoyed independently of the main story is one of the Ryu ga Gotoku series' charms. RGG4 features the largest number of play spots in the series. The most notable of these is the hot spring. At "Kamuro Yu-no-Sono", you can enjoy dates out with cabaret girls. Since you can hear voices from the female baths in the male ones, Kiryu, Akiyama and Tanimura end up lost in outrageous fantasies. After bating, you can challenge the girls to a game of hot spring ping pong in which you can peer closely at the cabaret girls' fine bosoms. Now, you can enjoy a sexy feel that was impossible to reproduce at the time of RGG1. Also, "Cabaret Girl TV" was broadcast on the official site to show off their charms.

Pachinko, which was been around since RGG1, has also received new upgrades. CR Aladdin's Destiny and CR Virtua Fighter MVJC, actually playable at pachinko parlours nationwide, can be played in-game. The player can experience an excitement like that of real life.

Another new test is the training sim "Let's Create a Fighter!". Guiding your apprentice at the dojo, you aim together to become top of the underground arena. Since "Let's Create a Cabaret Girl!", first appearing in RGG3, is a game in which you train women, some of the staff also wanted to try making a game in which you trained a man, and this game was born. Fukushi Ochiai, son of Hiromitsu Ochiai, appears as a pupil, which became a hot topic.

New systems introduced with in-game advertising

The advertisement system also underwent big changes. A technique using the internet to display adverts on the signs throughout town, called "dynamic advertisement technology", was employed. By connecting to the internet, the adverts shown would sometimes change. There is also apparently a built-in system that calculates how many adverts the player has seen, and the effect of advertising. This shows that the advertising via the Ryu ga Gotoku games, being seen by several hundred thousand people, is considered a good method of marketing by businesses.

Along with the play spots, the range of tie-ups using a new advertising system was expanded. All of these things, giving the game even a little more surprise and freshness compared to the previous games, were important to Nagoshi.

"Whether it's the number of play spots, the number of substories or the number of tie-ups, I just say, "Whatever you do, don't have less of them." I believe that I have a team with the power to push through even the unreasonable." (Nagoshi)

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