Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Pool

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Pool All right, pool is another one worth doing if you're collecting everything. There's a Treasury item here, two different crew recruits, clothing, music, and a set of challenges that goes beyond just winning a few matches. I'm going to separate those out because the two recruits don't come from the same thing. Where to start Go to Diamond Head in District Five, near Aloha Bridge in Honolulu. There is a taxi stop outside. Pool becomes available after the Chapter 2 story encounter with Domingo at the bar. Go inside and speak to the attendant by the table. Entry costs $8. You can play regular matches or the 1-Shot Challenge. The challenge has four difficulties with three layouts each. Clear a set to unlock the next difficulty. On PlayStation, Square switches the camera view, X enters shot mode, and Circle backs out. Use the overhead view to check the whole table. Adjust your direction with the left stick or directional controls; the right-stick pull controls power. R1 displays ball numbers, which is useful when you're trying to identify the lowest ball. Don't hit everything at full power. A shot can reach its target correctly and still fail because the cue ball keeps moving into a pocket or a black obstacle afterward. The regular rules Nine-Ball: Hit the lowest-numbered ball remaining first. You win by legally pocketing the 9. A combination is allowed: hit the lowest ball into the 9 and pocket it without fouling. You don't have to personally sink the other eight balls first. Rotation: Again, contact the lowest number first. Pocketed balls score their printed number, and the target is 61 points. Think about combinations that collect higher numbers while still making a legal first contact. Eight-Ball: Clear your assigned group, solids 1–7 or stripes 9–15, then pocket the 8 in the pocket you select. Leave the 8 alone until your group is cleared. Plan the last ordinary ball so the cue finishes somewhere useful for that final shot. Four-Ball: There are no pockets. Make your cue ball contact at least two other balls in one shot to score. First to 15 wins. The marked corners have an additional restriction: don't leave two object balls trapped in a marked area across repeated scoring shots. Move one out within two shots. In regular play, a scratch or illegal first contact can hand the opponent a much easier position. Before taking a difficult shot, check where the white ball is likely to finish, not just whether the object ball will go in. The 1-Shot Challenge Each layout asks you to pocket the red ball in the designated pocket with one shot. Black balls are hazards. Yellow balls can help with combinations. Scratching also fails the attempt. You have a limited failure allowance across the three layouts, so watch the counter rather than treating each layout as unlimited practice. These directions describe the route. They aren't a promise that one fixed stick position works every time. Small changes in angle and power matter, especially on the ramp layouts. Use the overhead camera and identify the obstacles before shooting; rotating the camera can change what looks like left or right. Easy 1. Bank around the wooden obstruction using the far cushion, then contact the red ball. Use enough power to reach it without a hard rebound afterward. 2. The black balls make excess power dangerous. Use the open line into the red ball and a controlled hit that doesn't send the cue through the hazards. 3. Bank toward the ramp and jump into the red ball's enclosure. Start with a strong shot below maximum; increase it if you fall short. If you fly off the table, reduce power or adjust the ramp approach. Normal 1. Go around the row of black balls by banking off the far end. Keep the returning line on the red ball and avoid carrying the cue back into the black row. 2. This takes two cushion contacts around the wooden barriers. In the standard overhead view, bank off the lower cushion and then the upper one. The aiming guide doesn't show the whole second rebound, so adjust in small amounts. Keep power controlled because black balls sit beyond the target. 3. Bank off the lower cushion into the ramp, with enough speed to clear the wooden enclosure. Line up the ramp before adding power. A shot that lands outside the enclosure needs an angle correction, not automatically more force. Hard 1. Bank off the upper cushion, then the lower one, to approach the ramp without touching the black balls around the cue. This needs a strong shot to retain enough speed after both rebounds. 2. Use the angled wooden blocks as rebound surfaces. Aim toward the upper portion of the first slanted block so the cue reaches the next block and then the red ball. Begin around medium power. 3. Bank around the central wooden obstruction and skim past its edge toward the red ball. There is a route that reaches the red directly instead of using the yellow-ball combination. If the preview keeps hitting the block, move the angle outward a little. Legend, also called Ex Hard in some guides 1. Use a bank from the upper cushion to reach the central yellow ball, which then knocks the red toward its corner pocket. A direct approach risks the black balls beside the yellow. Start around medium power and fine-tune the contact. 2. This is the two-ramp layout with rows of black balls. One route uses a strong shot over the ramps toward the left side of the red ball. The clearance is tight. If you hit the black row, adjust the angle rather than repeating the exact shot. There are alternate bank-shot solutions, but I don't have a verified universal angle or power setting for this one. 3. You can avoid the obvious ramp sequence. Bank off the lower cushion toward the right-hand yellow ball in the pair below the red. Let that yellow ball make the combination. Use restrained power so the cue doesn't continue into the hazards. Getting both crew members Sharpshooter Takumi is at Diamond Head. Clear all three Normal 1-Shot layouts, then speak to him. Clearing Easy alone isn't enough. Sheep Man is a separate exchange reward costing 900 Pool Points. Finishing Normal doesn't automatically purchase him. Go back to the attendant and use the prize exchange. Challenge points The first-clear stage rewards, followed by the repeat-clear stage rewards, are: • Easy: 50, 75, 100 first time; 10, 15, 20 on repeats. First full-set bonus: 300. • Normal: 125, 150, 175 first time; 25, 30, 35 on repeats. First full-set bonus: 500. • Hard: 200, 225, 250 first time; 40, 45, 50 on repeats. First full-set bonus: 700. • Legend: 300, 325, 350 first time; 60, 65, 70 on repeats. First full-set bonus: 1,000. That listed first-clear schedule totals 4,825 points. Don't budget on receiving the full-set bonus again every time you replay. Check the result screen as you go; some published totals conflict with the individual reward breakdown. Everything in the prize exchange • Silver Treasure Chest: 2,500. Contains Forest Goblet, Treasury entry 48. • Crewmate: Sheep Man: 900. • Eyepatch (Perforated): 200. • Eyepatch (Medical): 200. • Heavy Makeup: 200. • Visual Kei Makeup: 200. • Super Monkey Ball Soundtrack CD 1, Title Theme: 20. • Super Monkey Ball Soundtrack CD 2, Rose Garden: 20. • Super Monkey Ball Soundtrack CD 3, Neon Arena: 20. • Super Monkey Ball Soundtrack CD 4, Oceanus: 20. • Bronze Plate: 10. • Silver Plate: 100. • Gold Plate: 500. • Platinum Plate: 1,000. • Swiss Watch: 2,000. • Vintage Luxury Watch: 5,000. The treasure and Sheep Man together cost 3,400. Add all four cosmetics and all four CDs, and the one-time collection total is 4,280. Get those before spending your points on plates and watches if you're working on collections. Completion checks • Win twice: 1,000 Reputation. • Win four times: 1,000 Reputation. • Win eight times: 3,000 Reputation. • Play all five rulesets: 1,000 Reputation. • Earn 1,000 Pool Points cumulatively: 1,000 Reputation. • Earn 3,000 cumulatively: 3,000 Reputation. • Earn 6,000 cumulatively: 5,000 Reputation. The five rulesets are the four regular games plus 1-Shot Challenge. Changing an opponent's difficulty doesn't count as another ruleset. The points checks track earnings, so you don't have to sit on an unspent balance of 6,000. I'd start with Easy and Normal to get Takumi, then buy Sheep Man and save toward the treasure. Try the remaining rules while working toward eight opponent wins. After that, finish whichever challenge sets you can clear reliably and keep going until the 6,000-point earnings check is done. That way you're making progress on the actual rewards instead of just replaying matches without knowing what's left.