If you've played Yakuza: Like a Dragon before, you'll remember struggling financially with Ichiban Kasuga and his band of companions, which was especially painful when you walked into a shop with the best weapons and equipment and found you were millions of yen away from being able to get your hands on anything. That all changed when you became president of Ichiban Sweets, a humble shop that eventually became the largest (and most lucrative) holding company in Yokohama.
Once you completed and optimised the management mini-game, money was no longer an issue, but now there's a new mini-game in Infinite Wealth, and it's much deeper and requires much more dedication and attention to produce profits. The Dondoko Island holiday resort will be the best resort in all of Hawaii, but first you'll have to work hard and plan ahead to transform an island from a dump into the best hotel you've ever dreamed of.
The first thing to know, of course, is when you'll be able to access the Dondoko Island mini-game. We won't reveal too many details (that's what enjoying the game is all about), but we can tell you that you'll be able to visit the island from Chapter 6 onwards. It's then that Ichiban (alone) will take it upon himself to help some strange creatures and a poor vendor to restore the island to its former glory, while taking on a gang of pirates who use it as an illegal dumping ground.
When we arrive on Dondoko Island, Mukku and Gachapin ask us to clean up the beach and the entrance to Dondoko Square. All other areas will be closed for now, so tidying up this area will serve first to familiarise you with their systems, and then to start the urban planning for the hotel complex. But before you build, you'll need materials, and for that you need to use the tool of the bat. Don't leave a single pile of rubbish unturned, and in doing so you will collect the various materials with which to construct buildings and objects to make the island attractive.
As you clean up, you'll probably see strange coloured caterpillars hopping around you. Get out the butterfly catcher to collect your first Dokoinsects (red and green). They will be a great way to start earning dokobucks until you find other bugs or fish (in the fishing areas). The local currency on the island is what will allow you to purchase tool upgrades, buy accommodation and build everything else. Make sure you get as many resources and items for sale as you can on each day (or turn) of the game. Important: if you have a full inventory, sell everything you don't need, and keep the rest in storage.
Once you have cleared enough rubbish from an area and saved enough money, it is time to clear the area. By paying a certain amount, you will always have the land cleared of rubbish, and the materials that would appear there will go straight to the recycling point for you to collect. Don't forget to go there every day, because what you don't pick up one day, you don't accumulate for the next. And you'll need every scrap of plastic you find.
To upgrade the Dondoko Island complex, you need to increase the level of three different types of attributes: Creative Talent, Satisfaction and Popularity.
Creative Talent increases each time you build an object or building within the island. Unlocking certain types of buildings or accessing other areas of the island will also require you to level up. Satisfaction increases as you add a variety of activities to the island, which in turn are activated by buildings. The last part, Popularity, rises with certain special buildings, with certain actions (such as broadcasting an announcement to bring tourists to the island), and by greeting and giving gifts to visitors. All three bars go up at about the same time, but Popularity requires a lot more attention and perseverance to reach rank S. And speaking of ranks...
As I warned in my review of Infinite Wealth, Dondoko Island isn't as quick a way to get money as Ichiban Sweets was in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Here you'll have to take your time saving materials, catching fish and insects, and making sure the island is safe. The Trash Pirates are a nuisance, but defeating them shouldn't be too much of a problem. However, if you're struggling in combat, you can upgrade your bat to hit faster than them. And if you need health, simply decorate Ichiban's house on the island to increase your health hearts. Also, each defeated enemy drops dokobucks, so it's another source of income.
Let's talk about the residences. For the island to start making a profit, you have to attract customers, but they will only come if they have a place to sleep. F-range accommodation is very cheap, but of very poor quality (shacks like those in the Yokohama settlement). Right now it doesn't matter much, as only F-rank tourists (with little money to spend on the attractions we build) will want to come to the island, so it can be good for us. An important tip here is that you don't want to buy all the accommodations in each rank (you don't have the space to put them, nor do you have that many customers). I built a couple of F-range lodgings and then jumped straight to a C-range, with which the customers were much more satisfied. Tourists only stay on the island for three days, so you need to make them feel comfortable. Greet them whenever you see them passing by and offer them a gift you have made/hunted/fished for. As you complete the objectives, you will move up in rank, and so you will reach the second island: Dondoko Farm.
The Sujimon you have captured in Honolulu will appear with you at the Dondoko Farm, and here you can put them to work in different activities to collect resources, make gifts (and earn money), or train them to become better fighters in the Sujimon League. In addition, you will be able to pay attention to them (after all, everyone wants you to listen to them) and thus improve their efficiency. The strategy idea is to get them to develop vegetable crops and recycle natural elements, as at higher levels you need a good supply of extra wood and stone.
And that's all for now. We will keep updating this guide with tips on how to reach five stars and S Rank on Dondoko Island. So you'll never be short of funding for the best weapons and equipment in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.