In 1868, the Tokugawa Shogunate took place in which the ruling shogunate lost all ruling power, transferring it back to the Emperor of Japan. The event marks the abolishment of the shogunate, the bakufu, and the practice of a class system that remained in practice in the country, ushering a new nation building era, the Meiji era.
In February 2014, Sega released what’s unofficially referred to by English speakers as Yakuza Ishin, a spin-off to the then-named Yakuza series where it depicts fictional story inspired by the events in the late Edo period that led to the Great Restoration. The game is one of two titles in the series that was so steeped in its Japanese culture and history that it never got an English release.
Until now. In February 2023, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega released Like A Dragon: Ishin. For the rest of the world, this is the first entry of the series now under the Like A Dragon name, in line with what the series in Japan is called. In Japan, this title is Like A Dragon Ishin Kiwami, the third game of the series to get that moniker, which indicates it as remake.
Why did I spend three whole paragraphs explaining the historical context of Like A Dragon: Ishin? Because as another game released in the now rechristened Like A Dragon name, released early this year ahead of two more Like A Dragon games coming in a matter of months, Ishin feels too familiar, a retread, with very few additions that make it feel like subpar compared to other Kiwami offerings. Objectively, Ishin is a good game you’ve played before back in the PS3 generation.
But this title should still be respected. We should still appreciate the existence of this English release, as it hold so much historical value. Both in its depictions of Japan’s historic lore, but also an important title that set the stage for Yakuza 0 and other future titles for success.
Presentation
The Kiwami remakes for Like A Dragon games have always involved a game engine change, and somehow Ishin follows that trend. For Ishin, the game now runs on Unreal Engine 4. For the most part, I don’t really feel any much difference to the gameplay feel, this game feels like how Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and the other PS3 Yakuza games play. If the goal for the dev team was to preserve and retain as much of the game feel with the new game engine, then they did a brilliant job.
The lighting and the occasional texture pop-ins are the giveaways that this game runs on a different engine than before. And you only see these if you look for it.
Like A Dragon Ishin will see you spend time in 19th century Kyo, now Kyoto. And it’s a delightful sight. People strolling the main street at night holding lanterns, shopkeepers sprinkling water outside their stores. It feels like walking through time… but at the same time, it’s not far from the same feeling of strolling around Kamurocho. The more things change the more they stay the same.
If you’ve played enough Yakuza games of this era, you can see the animations being used and reused. But shouldn’t take away how over-the-top some of the special attacks (Heat moves) and the dynamic intros can be.
The main cast of Ishin maybe historical figures, but they are all depicted as familiar faces from the Like A Dragon series. Main protagonist Sakamoto Ryoma (family name, given name) has the voice and character model of Kazuma Kiryu (given name, family name), and Shinsengumi First Division Captain Okita Soji is characterised by fellow Yakuza mainstay Majima Goro, for example. All of the captains and head honchos of the Shinsengumi are all depicted by characters you probably know and love from the past Yakuza games.
And speaking of characters you know and love, the several members of the Ishin ensemble cast has been recasted to feature faces from Yakuza 0 or Yakuza Like A Dragon. Ishin was first released after Yakuza 5 and before Yakuza 0, so there are many characters that for newcomers, are not household names and as such, replaced with more popular characters.
As someone who belong in that category, a relative newcomer, I do like the change. Seeing the big three bosses from Yakuza 0 (who are real-life actors) appear here all menacing, as well as party members from Yakuza Like A Dragon, are cool. Even if it leads to odd anachronistic choices.
Hey, this game has a Don Quixote chain in a time before it existed, a guy with bleached white hair is not of a big deal in this case. But I digress.
The voice performance here, all in Japanese VO, is enthralling even if you don’t understand the Japanese VO, you can feel the emotions when things get heated, or the tension from the simple matter-of-fact delivery as characters metaphorically play their cards in a game of wits and scheming during info-dump confrontations. There’s a lot of talking, though in true Like A Dragon fashion not all content are fully voiced. It’s a good thing the localisation remains great to keep you reading the subtitles in full attention.
The music direction is interesting. Like A Dragon Ishin does use traditional Japanese instrumentation, but it doesn’t fully commit to it. It incorporates rocking guitars, electronic beats and flamenco rhythms in its battle music. And long-time fans of the series will appreciate the remixed character themes that appears here.
Like A Dragon Ishin doesn’t make a big leap in terms of its presentation quality, which can be disappointing as this is a remake. But the original PS3 game holds up well enough- RGG Studio didn’t bother remaking Yakuza 3, 4 and 5, they simply ported those to eighth and ninth generations of consoles. And if you treat Ishin as a port, as the localised title implies, the game’s decent and holds up well in 2023.
Gameplay
In Like A Dragon Ishin, you play as Sakamoto Ryoma, a lower class samurai from Tosa who just got back to his realm after spending time away studying the blade. For a good chunk of the game, this character which has most of the mannerisms of Kiryu (including his hesitance to kill during cutscences, juxtaposing the outlandish moves you can pull in combat) also goes by the name Saito Hajime.
What follows after his reunion with his blood brother and father figure back home is a tale of murder, revenge, mystery and schemes that makes this play out a lot like a typical Yakuza plot that it is a reliable retelling of a historic moment in Japan’s history. Come for the Yakuza/Like A Dragon’s wild twists and reveals, and learn bits and bobs of the events leading to the Meiji Restoration and the legend of the Shinsengumi, which are supposed to be a special police force but in this game, it’s the yakuza equivalent. Violent murders and infighting and all.
Like A Dragon Ishin features a character relation map that features all the main cast you meet so far if you need a referesher of who’s who. The game has a handy glossary to explain some key words, but it fails to explain some crucial terms and concepts. Like what dappan is and why it’s a big deal, and why the loyalist wants to restore the ruling power back to the emperor. I had to look up Wikipedia more often than I would have wanted to understand some of the pivotal plot moments.
Gameplay-wise, Ishin is the game that precedes Yakuza 0, and this is the game that introduces style-switching to the real-time beat-em-up action brawler. Ryoma can be a Brawler, having access to hand-to-hand combat (more or less Kiryu’s moveset), or use a the katana with Swordsman, fire a volley of non-reloading revolvers with the Gunman, or be a samurai with a gun by using both armaments with Wild Dancer.
There’s an RPG progression, so the first few hours your moveset is limited and combat feels clunky. But as you put in the hours of grind, you’ll eventually fill up the sphere-grid-esque skill tree to unlock more options. And that’s when the combat comes alive. Options to counterattack, more Heat moves to cut down enemy mobs thin in one strike, and stronger attacks to quickly whittle down bosses with bountiful health.
There is a full-blown crafting system too, where you can upgrade a basic blade into powerful one by following an upgrade tree, Monster Hunter-style. The crafting menu is updated for this remake to make it visually clear the upgrade paths for each weapon.
There’s not much to say about the combat system, because not much of it is new or unique. The style-switching system has since become a staple, to the point that it’s a misstep that the first few games on the running on the Dragon Engine opted to not include it. But it was definitely the unique and strong selling point of the original release. (The upcoming Like A Dragon Gaiden will have style-switching, so good news.)
On Normal difficulty, the game becomes a relative breeze should you put in time to grind above level 50. The Like A Dragon series has always been an RPG, and Ishin is no exception.
There is one new gameplay feature for the Kiwami version, and that comes from the Trooper cards system. The original Ishin had these card system, a manifestation of Ryoma/Hajime’s legion of troops he leads when he becomes the Third Division Captain of the Shinsengumi, but this was limited to only the Battle Dungeon mini-game. For Like A Dragon Ishin, you can have your troopers augment your health and provide support abilities in most battles, including random battles and boss battles.
I can see someone love the card system as you get to collect, upgrade, fuse and min-max a deck. But as someone who didn’t engage in the Battle Dungeons (I’m more of an Arena enthusiast), this system is superfluous. I barely engage with it early on, and I prefer unlocking more movesets from the skill tree than getting minor buffs that require some time and understanding to set up. Too much work for very little gain. I can see this being of more use in higher difficulties, but for me, it’s just busywork. I’m good with this being left to history.
Gameplay-wise, Like A Dragon Ishin feels familiar to Yakuza fans. If you’re the person who think Yakuza 0 was peak and newer games don’t capture that combat feel anymore, try Like A Dragon Ishin. This game suffers from viewed out of its original chronological release order. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad- it’s familiar. Which doesn’t fare well with game reviewers like me who expects to see the next game to keep getter better based on previous expectations. But to the mainstream gamer? This is probably good stuff.
If you are curious how this version differs from the original release, this post here has made a thorough comparison.
Content
I finished Like A Dragon Ishin’ story under 40 hours, spending time getting sidetracked doing its many substories (side quests), mini-games and other activities. Karaoke is always a fun time just to see the music video. The new Baka Mitai arrangement is great and the other new song is.. err… something.
If you’re sick of the bloodshed you can always live a Another Life. This is the umbrella term for activities like farming, fishing and cooking where you help a lady out to clear her debt, and in so live the rural lifestyle. It’s a nice distraction, but requires way too much effort to really commit.
If you prefer bloodshed, there’s the aforementioned Battle Arena and Battle Dungeons to sink your teeth into. Arenas locked you out of using your troopers, or any healing items for that matter, so it’s a true test of character action skill and a fun way to grind those levels.
Smaller recurring mini-games like the various gambling games and shogi are here, if you’re into that.
Like any Like A Dragon games, it’s tough for a completionist. There are so many repetitive actions you should do that is designed to make you spend time strolling through town over and over. This is a game best enjoyed when you’re not rushing through the story. Take you time, enjoy the silly distractions as they come by, slowly accumulate those crafting material, and you’ll get out of Like A Dragon Ishin more.
Personal Enjoyment
I am more of a casual Like A Dragon fan. The only one I beated prior to Ishin was Yakuza: Like A Dragon. This is my first Like A Dragon game with real-time combat that I bothered seeing through the end. Though it’s mostly because I want to review it.
The first few hours were rough. I didn’t vibe with the combat, and the story feels like a the start of Yakuza 1 again which I thought was lame rather than a cool callback.
But then it got good. The whole Shinsengumi plot really got me intrigued, and how it somehow the schemes being played out here leads into the creation of modern Japan. And I am left satisfied.
After playing Final Fantasy XVI, a good game by the way, I fell unfulfilled with how the main plot point resolves itself after setting up so many different factions and characters with different and opposing interests. Like A Dragon Ishin, a story that’s almost 10 years old now, pulls that style of storytelling better. Even if it heavily requires our boy Ryoma to be a dense, foolhardy fellow to have it all played out as such. The Yakuza series has a lot of over-the-top plot twists, though Ishin’s twist are plausible and interesting to ponder. As such, I really left satisfied with this wild take on the Meiji Restoration.
Verdict
Like A Dragon: Ishin! isn’t the best game in the series. It’s the weakest remake for the series so far. But the game should be remembered as one of pivotal points that led to the series’ success overseas. The original release walked so Yakuza 0 can run. And with Like a Dragon Ishin, it marks a new era for the series to embrace its Japanese qualities and export it wholeheartedly to the world, now knowing that there’s an audience out there that wants to experience the series in full.
Like A Dragon: Ishin! may not live up fully to the Great Restoration moniker, but as a remake to a game that never officially released in English, and historical release that marks the “restoration” of the Like A Dragon name as the game’s franchise name in English to be in line with its Japanese name, it couldn’t be more perfect.
Played on PC. Review copy accessed via reviewer’s subscription of PC Game Pass
Like A Dragon: Ishin!
Like A Dragon: Ishin! isn't the best game in the series. It's the weakest remake for the series so far. But the game should be remembered as one of pivotal points that led to the series' success overseas.
- Presentation 7.5
- Gameplay 7.5
- Content 8
- Personal Enjoyment 9