It’s no secret that those of us here at Phenixx Gaming are fans of Ryu Ga Gotoku’s Yakuza (now renamed Like a Dragon) franchise. As some of us have talked about the franchise, I mentioned that I was interested in two differing options for spinoff games. The first is a Yakuza/Like a Dragon title featuring a female protagonist, showcasing Japan from a female view. The second is the idea of a period drama, showcasing more of what life in Japan was like back in the days of the Samurai. Like a Dragon: Ishin is the perfect example of what I had asked for with the second option.

Technically, Like a Dragon: Ishin isn’t new. The version that has been released is an enhanced, reworked, and remastered version of a title with the same name that was released in 2014, exclusively in Japan. You play Sakamoto Ryoma, a samurai who returns to his homeland just in time for his mentor to be murdered. Ryoma is framed for the murder and thus sets out to the land of Kyo (now known as Kyoto) in order to find his mentor’s killer. What ensues is a plot that has consequences for the entirety of Japan.

Ishin is set in 1867, during a time of political strife and unrest. The British are attempting to find inroads into Japan to ultimately colonize it, and a brutal class system strangles the people of Japan under its heel. With this backdrop, Like a Dragon: Ishin is a wholly new experience in the franchise, especially for western audiences. Mechanically speaking though, Like a Dragon: Ishin plays very similar to other games in the franchise and will feel very familiar.

Like games in the mainline franchise, Ryoma has access to multiple combat styles. Instead of Kiryu’s martial arts though, Ryoma uses four styles each with different methods of combat. Swordsman is based on Katana use, Brawler is martial arts-focused, Gunslinger uses pistols and other guns, while Wild Dancer is a highly mobile hybrid of both Swordsman and Gunslinger. Combat is smooth and stylish, and as you defeat enemies and use each style, you’ll gain one of two types of orbs.

There are training (grey) orbs, which can go in any slot on any of the styles’ skill trees, and then there are style orbs that are color coded for each style. As in other mainline titles, you also can learn/unlock abilities on the various trees by doing substories around various trainers. I’m not going to go into a large amount of detail here, but there are some familiar faces.

Additionally, there is a blacksmith where you can craft and enhance your weapons and equipment. This isn’t entirely new to the franchise, but it is definitely an interesting mechanic. Getting materials for blacksmithing is tied to several things, though mostly substories, the arena, and the Another Life segment of the game.

Another Life is a life-simulation sort of aspect where you can farm, cook, and submit trade orders for money. I won’t go into the particulars of where this comes in, because I don’t want to spoil a piece of the plot. However, it is a great side-element to the game that really fleshes out the quieter aspects of domestic Japanese life during this time period.

You also get access to Trooper Cards over the course of the game, though the methods are spoiler heavy. Trooper Cards work as powerful abilities you can attach to each of your styles. Some give you passive benefits as well, but overall you can use them to perform a variety of extra abilities to give you an edge in combat. These are optional, so using them isn’t mandatory if you don’t want to dig into the system. However, they do add an interesting little twist on the typical action combat, adding an extra resource to your arsenal.

As with all Like a Dragon/Yakuza titles, Ishin has mini-games. From Buyo Dancing, Karaoke, Cooking, Fishing, and even all the way to Chicken Racing, there’s a lot to do in this game. I like a few of the mini-games, but I have to admit that the Karaoke and Buyo Dancing mini-games are a little frustrating because they don’t have difficulty levels. This is a weird change from many of the other Yakuza titles, which give all of their rhythm mini-games scaling levels of difficulty.

Where Ishin shines is its side content. Whether you’re playing through Another Life, doing the substories, or enjoying mini-games, there’s a bit of color and flavor involved that really fleshes out the world and the time period. Of course, the typical Yakuza weirdness remains, and there is a lot of humor involved with the substories too.

On another note, the game does an excellent job of giving you details about the time period. At any time, during dialogue or in the menu you can access a Glossary of terms, as well as the Bakamatsu Archive. The archive gives you character profiles, as well as a relationship tree, details on the story, and a wealth of other information. This is great for people who really want to dig in and see how the terminology works, and how the time period is represented in the game.

There are a variety of accessibility options available that really help in a lot of ways. There is an “Auto QTE” function that really helps during hectic battles, along with a function that ties longer combo strings to a single button press, which is nice. There are also some options to tweak subtitles and other things, though admittedly I wish they had voiced this one with an English dub like they did with Like a Dragon.

This is a divisive sort of option for some people, because I know there’s a certain authenticity to telling a story like this with Japanese vocals. However, for people with reading difficulties or other visual impairments, a lack of voice acting can be a clear issue. I say this for a lot of localized games and while I know the developers have a vision, it can be an accessibility problem.

Overall, I really and truly love Like a Dragon: Ishin. I get annoyed by the frequency of enemy encounters while I’m walking around trying to do substories, and the map gets on my nerves occasionally. However, as a whole package, Ishin is precisely what I wanted from a game like this. Additionally, with the mainline series moving to Turn-Based RPG territory, games closer to Yakuza’s roots are always welcome.

With heartfelt, sometimes wild substories, a large amount of content, great mini-games, and intense combat, Like a Dragon: Ishin is exactly what fans of the franchise need. If you’ve been a fan for a while and want another adventure with familiar faces, in a different time period, this is the game for you. Alternatively, if you are looking to get into the franchise but don’t want to start at the beginning, the standalone nature of Ishin is a great place to start.

A PlayStation 5 review copy of Like a Dragon: Ishin! was provided by Sega for this review.

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Like a Dragon: Ishin!

$59.99 USD

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Engaging Combat
• Hilarious Substories
• Fun Mini-Games
• Beautiful Environments
• Interesting Story

Cons

• Enemy Encounters are Too Frequent