Ryoma’s clothes can be changed as you expand your fashion wardrobe, so dress to your heart’s content. New weapons and armor can be crafted and equipped after you fulfill the requirements at the blacksmith. Combat in Like a Dragon: Ishin! occurs in real time, as opposed to 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s turn-based system. This is a role playing game, and playing the role of Ryoma, you’ll be doing a lot of fighting. Heck, I was already invested in solving the crime of someone getting their mochi eaten during a side mission. Ryoma’s quest is a long one, well over 40 hours if you take your time and partake in side quests and whatnot. Story beats are well paced and highly dramatized, and will have you invested in the journey of Sakamoto Ryoma until the end. It’s probably better to experience the game in the native tongue anyway, as it does take place in Japan during a historically important period. Unfortunately the game only features Japanese subbed dialogue, but the localization work is excellently executed. Like a Dragon: Ishin! tells a powerful narrative brought to life by a cast of endearing voice actors and well presented cutscenes. Despite some historical inaccuracies, such as Sakamoto Ryoma and Saito Hajime not being the same person in real life, I found it fascinating to learn about an important part of Japanese history through the gaming medium. For those unfamiliar, the Shinsengumi was a special police force put together by the military government during the Bakumatsu period, famous for the Ikedaya incident of 1864. He takes on the persona of Saito Hajime after being framed for the murder he didn’t commit, and is on a quest to join the Shinsengumi to lead him one step closer to the real culprit. Ryoma embarks on a mission of revenge to seek out the man who killed his father only to find himself wrapped up in a political revolution. Given that Ishin! is a spinoff game from the Yakuza series and how well the Yakuza characters slip into their historical roles, I can see the merit behind this interesting design choice.ĭespite being a spinoff title, Ishin! tells an endearing yet bleak story of justice, betrayal, honor, and friendship that has important historical relevance. For example, Kiryu and Ryoma are both stoic and abide by the idea of honor and justice. Though characters from Like a Dragon: Ishin! don’t map one to one with those of the other Yakuza games, they retain most of the same personalities and characteristics. Soji is even referenced as the “Mad Dog” here much like Majima is in the mainline entries. You got Kazuma Kiryu playing the role of Sakamoto Ryoma and Goro Majima playing the role of Okita Soji. Well, that’s because the iconic characters from the mainline Yakuza games do indeed play the part of these real-life historical figures, almost as if it’s a dramatized live-action play. If you have played any other Yakuza game before, you’ll notice the protagonists of Ishin! looking suspiciously similar to the main characters from the other games. This PlayStation 4 launch title was released back in 2014 exclusively in Japan, and after nearly a decade, Sega and RGG Studio have finally decided to bring it over to the West as a remake titled Like a Dragon: Ishin! This spinoff Yakuza title focuses on the story of real life samurai Sakamota Ryoma set in 1860s Japan during the Bakumatsu era of political turmoil. Unfortunately this might mean that many games like Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! might not be imported to Western players due to lack of demand. Political dramas set in historical time periods may not interest many, especially gamers, but they do intrigue me.
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