JACKIE MA!

my buddy vito was looking through case related text and happened to notice this objective. i was already vaguely aware of Four Finger being more involved in this case through some unused audio where Teng talks about him dying from a busted kidney at the end, but i'd assumed he'd just succumbed to his habits (drugs) and the whole organ harvesting operation was specifically for his benefit. you know because he needed a new kidney. but i was wrong, Wei was literally gonna murk the guy for killing/trying to kill his buddies and he probably did it behind Teng's back too

like it's the complete lack of ambiguity of his actions that gets to me, what originally motivated Wei in this case was 100% the fact that he cares about his crew and he's mad Four Finger's hurting them. to me it sounds like this little subplot might've instead been more about the moral ambiguity and the blurred lines of his actions if anything, going behind Teng's back to dish out some vigilante justice like that. Wei has a line that still even plays in the final game when the case is closed - "a tragic story of modern medicine, inspector" - that no longer makes any fucking sense but obviously originally referred to what he'd done to Four Finger. "not every patient makes it" he continues. because Teng doesn't need to know the truth (although she can probably guess)

i've always suspected that Wei was intentionally rewritten to be more distant and detached when it comes to his relationship with the Boys (and they obviously reduced the Boys' role in the game in return) but i've never wanted to outright claim that was the case because it sounds so goddamn stupid and contradictory. like Wei getting invested is supposed to be the source of his whole inner conflict right? the thing that Raymond constantly keeps saying he's doing, that he starts to actually give a shit, like that's why the events of the game happen in the first place? but this is such a blatant example of "rewrite Wei to make him care less" it's undeniable it was all on purpose and the game and especially Wei's character are so much worse off because of it. to add insult to injury it makes Vincent getting borderline written out of the game even more bafflingly pointless than it already was, because it's not supposed to matter, not to Wei and therefore not to the player. there are a lot of frustrating changes in this game but this one legit makes me so upset

finally to add a little bit more salt in the wound, when Wei rescues Calvin from the kidnappers in the final game he just tells Teng to send someone over to let him out of the trunk. but you wanna know what he said originally?

"Make sure you send someone to let Calvin out of that trunk too, ok? Him I care about"

我的哥哥你走他乡哎

wǒ de gēge nǐ zǒu tā xiāng āi

My darling you are so far from home

妹妹我心头愁得慌呀

mèimei wǒ xīntóu chóu dé huāng ya

My mind is racing worrying about you

外面的世界不同在家耶

wàimiàn de shìjiè bùtóng zàijiā yē

The outside world is so different from home

哥哥你要多留心眼唉

gēge nǐ yào duō liúxīn yǎn ài

Darling you have to be careful out there

哥哥你记得早回家诶 

gēge nǐ jìde zǎo huíjiā ēi

Dearest remember to come home soon

妹妹我每天等着你耶 

mèimei wǒ měitiān děng zhe nǐ yē

I’ve been waiting for you every day

我在我心上美心田里耶 

wǒ zài wǒ xīnshàng měi xīntián lǐ yē

I’m in my heart of hearts 

哥你要把妹挂心头诶

gē nǐ yào bǎ mèi guà xīntóu ēi

Dear you have to carry me in your heart

我的哥哥你走他乡哎

wǒ de gēge nǐ zǒu tā xiāng āi

My darling you are so far from home

妹妹我心头愁得慌呀

mèimei wǒ xīntóu chóu dé huāng ya

My mind is racing worrying about you

外面的世界不同在家耶

wàimiàn de shìjiè bùtóng zàijiā yē

The outside world is so different from home

哥哥你要多留心眼唉

gēge nǐ yào duō liúxīn yǎn ài

Darling you have to be careful out there

This song plays on the in game radio station Softly. The version of this song that plays in game and in the linked video is alternate/abridged version of From Xikou With Love. The lyrics in that version is just the first verse repeated twice. The second verse provided above is from the longer version or the (A) version which can be found here!

hmm

GREAT COMPOSITION

i like how Duke and Vincent are all "are you for real dude"

Meet the New Boss unused audio and the explanation for this weird prompt at the start of the mission, namely Vincent and Duke were supposed to be there in addition to Jackie and Conroy

Vincent's lines are mostly by his previous VA and consist of the friendly fire reaction line set, a few mission specific lines and finally one single new line from Osric Chau

Duke's lines are much of the same, Anthony Chow did a couple of lines but the rest are from his previous voice actor... or maybe two previous voice actors even? they kinda don't all sound like the same person

while obviously he's actually there i've never been able to get Conroy to say anything during the mission and he only has 4 lines total associated with it anyways. the first two are mission specific, probably for when you were supposed to "get to your crew", but the last two are just his reaction lines for when Wei's driving like shit. was he supposed to provide backup for when Wei and Jackie chase after Ponytail? i mean i wish but i doubt that was the case