Like a Dragon: Ishin Review
Entering the remake of Like a Dragon: Ishin is as disorienting as it is thrilling. It’s set in 1860s Japan, a feudal-era Kyoto that’s a stark contrast to the glittering urban landscapes that the Like a Dragon and Yakuza games usually dump us into. Adorned in traditional Japanese attire, with a katana at my side, it took a considerable amount of time to acclimate to these alien surroundings.
Kyo is a sensory overload, albeit a visually appealing one. Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku has constructed a seemingly authentic rendition of a historical city – an open world that’s captivating to traverse. Every nook and cranny of Kyo, from the serene fishing docks in Fushimi with their view of riverside residences and a wooded mountain range, to the rundown slums of Mukurogai, implores to be discovered. This is arguably the most scenic Yakuza game thus far, and it’s a commendable showcase for the first in the series to be built in Unreal Engine 4. However, it’s debatable whether it’s the most intriguing setting in a Yakuza game in recent memory.
Like a Dragon: Ishin never seems to have a moment of tranquility, even when half of its inhabitants are inebriated on an impressive array of sake options. Wherever you glance, a multitude of vendors rush through the bustling markets peddling fertilizer and food, rowdy izakaya customers spill onto the streets, merchants hawk their goods loudly, palanquins stand ready for passengers wishing to zip around town, and townsfolk chatter about the latest gossip – usually concerning protagonist Sakamoto Ryoma, who bears a striking resemblance (and shares a voice actor) with Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu.
Ishin’s backdrop effortlessly taps into our shared intrigue with samurai culture and that historical era more broadly. The narrative loosely reinterprets the Bakumatsu period at the end of the Edo era, when the Tokugawa shogunate fell, and the main characters are amalgamations of familiar Yakuza personalities and real historical figures. While Ishin is unlikely to be as educational as a history book, its highly dramatized plot is rife with intriguing historical notions, especially around class disparity and societal upheaval. There’s even an in-game glossary that allows you to delve deeper into historical Japan when certain locations are mentioned in the dialogue.
If you’re a seasoned Yakuza series fan, you’ll spot many recognizable faces donning unaccustomed attire – from Goro “mad dog” Majima to Koichi Adachi, among others. More than just their appearances and voices make a comeback, with their Ishin alter egos retaining the same quirks and character traits as well. It’s a constant reminder that, despite the novel setting, this is unmistakably a Yakuza game at its core.
This is mirrored in the storyline as well. The plot is set in motion when Ryoma endures the loss of his father figure to a masked assassin, who employs a unique sword-fighting style exclusive to a militarized gang known as the Shinsengumi. With the attacker’s distinctive swordsmanship as his sole clue, Ryoma infiltrates the ruling Tokugawa Clan’s elite samurai ranks with the singular aim of avenging his mentor’s murder. There’s a pervasive sense of peril throughout that’s truly engrossing. The ever-present bloodlust of Majima’s Edo-era equivalent is cleverly utilized to keep you alert, as the samurai can unpredictably transition from mad to feral, plunging you into a fierce battle for survival.
Regrettably, the numerous plot twists in the main campaign are mostly foreseeable, particularly if you’re acquainted with the Yakuza formula. It typically takes me until at least halfway through a Yakuza game to hazard a somewhat confident guess at the main antagonist, but in Ishin’s case, I had a strong hunch early on in the narrative. And my suspicion was confirmed.
That’s not to suggest it’s not enjoyable. On the contrary, it’s quite engaging. Ryoma’s melodramatic odyssey through steadfast resolve, treachery, heartache, and self-destruction is as enthralling as I’ve come to anticipate from the Yakuza series. The pacing is also commendable. I consistently felt a compelling urge to reach the next milestone, to the point where I’d forgo side quests and make a beeline for the story progression. The only real drawback to the narrative is that it has fewer “eureka” moments than, for instance, Yakuza 0 or Yakuza 7.
Of course, the 55 hours I invested in Like a Dragon: Ishin weren’t solely spent pursuing the Shinsengumi – this is a Yakuza game, after all, and one can only disregard the world’s myriad diversions for so long. The side quests and mini-games in Like a Dragon: Ishin are particularly dazzling, and the game does a good job of enticing you to heed the call of the city’s most peculiar inhabitants and interact with the world in ways that diverge from the main goal.
Because when the main quest intensifies, which it frequently does, you can offset the tension by exploring the city and conversing with people, invariably leading to an adventure. One side quest has become a series favorite for me. I won’t give too much away, but it involves a bathhouse and a sequence where you’re chasing a whimsical wrongdoer through crowded streets in the nude.
“You’ve got a real pair on you, and I don’t mean literally!” is an actual quote from the video game Like a Dragon: Ishin. Another standout is the one where you’re persuaded into visiting a brothel with supposedly “soft and supple” talent, only to discover its prostitutes are in fact sumo wrestlers. I laughed uproariously throughout the course of Ishin’s substantial side campaign.
Admittedly, there are an excessive number of mandatory side-quests in Like a Dragon: Ishin, and some of them are downright tedious. I lost count of the number of times I was sprinting towards the next objective, eager to see what was going to unfold, only to be interrupted by an obligatory cutscene that led to something unremarkable. I’m fairly certain I encountered the same woman who’d been robbed twice, but it’s possible that was due to a save file error on my part.
Occasional difficulty spikes also mar the enjoyment from time to time, most notably in side quests. There was one that plunged me into a horde-type sequence that felt nearly insurmountable, and it defeated me twice before the game proposed to temporarily switch to easy mode, and even then I was still trounced. I came across the same side-quest much later in the game, and even then had a challenging time conquering it. For the most part, though, Ishin’s side quests are charming and embody the best of the Yakuza brand.
Beyond the main narrative, Like a Dragon: Ishin is teeming with a plethora of profound and gratifying minigames to occupy your time. You can wager on chicken races, lend a hand in an udon shop, cultivate relationships with a variety of quirky characters – my personal favorite being the young boy with an unexplainable and insatiable craving for home-grown vegetables – belt out karaoke tunes, outdrink rivals in friendly contests, and unleash your frustrations by firing cannons. And I must emphasize, none of the minigames feel like an afterthought.
I was particularly thrilled to see the return of fishing. At this juncture, I deem it a transgression for an open-world RPG to exclude fishing, and Ishin certainly complies with this rule. Mechanically, it mirrors Yakuza 0’s fishing minigame, which is by no means a negative aspect. There are numerous picturesque river and sea fishing spots to cast your line, a handful of different bait types available for purchase, and a variety of fishing poles you can upgrade to if you’re aiming to reel in larger catches. And yes, you can indeed catch a shark. If I were to delve into all the side content on offer, we’d be here indefinitely; you could populate an entire game with Ishin’s seemingly trivial diversions, and it would be an absolute blast.
Apart from the setting, the most significant deviation in Like a Dragon: Ishin from the series norm lies in its combat. Despite Yakuza 7 ushering in a turn-based style to the mainline series, Ishin marks a return to the franchise’s brawler origins, albeit with what I perceived to be a more nimble, less hefty feel to the movement. The four unique fighting styles – Brawler, Gunman, Swordsman, and Wild Dancer – provide a considerable amount of diversity. Brawler is quintessential Yakuza hand-to-hand combat with a dash of grappling, Gunman sees a stubborn samurai conform to the era and wield a range of pistols and revolvers, Swordsman places Ryoma in his element with a plethora of blade combinations, and Wild Dancer has you dual wielding a gun and sword with swift, fluid movements.
All are enjoyable, but I found myself gravitating towards Swordsman the most. This style tends to reward accuracy, successful blocking and parrying, and combos more than indiscriminate button mashing – which is a tactic I found myself resorting to in Gunman and Wild Dancer. Each style has its own skill tree, but there are also training orbs you can allocate as you please and then reassign later. I predominantly used my training orbs on the Swordsman tree as it’s the style I found most enjoyable, but I also had fun dabbling with the other styles.
By “dabbling,” I mean: when an enemy proved too formidable, I could retreat and pepper them with bullets from a safe distance. Is it the samurai way? Certainly not, but it’s effective, especially when those aforementioned difficulty spikes manifest as bosses hurling Kamehameha blasts at you. Ah, I haven’t mentioned the Kamehameha blasts, have I?
Some bosses come equipped with superpowers, boasting abilities you’d typically only encounter in cartoons and sci-fi films. Fortunately, you unlock attack cards shortly after joining the Shinsengumi which grant you similar capabilities, and you can configure them to activate automatically at full charge or to be used manually when you’re in a tight spot. I believe I echo the sentiments of many Yakuza fans when I say this kind of over-the-top absurdity is a cherished part of the experience. After all, there’s nothing more satisfying than triggering a move that allows you to force an orange into an enemy’s mouth and follow it up with a swift punch to the face.
VERDICT
The greatest praise I can bestow upon Like a Dragon: Ishin is that it’s a formidable Yakuza game masquerading in samurai attire. Indeed, the protagonist is a respected samurai rather than a rough-and-tumble rogue, but at his essence, he remains an honor-driven warrior with a robust moral compass, a composed demeanor, and an unwavering resolve to rectify injustices in the world amidst bouts of heavy drinking and befriending eccentric characters.
While the main narrative lacks the unexpected twists of other Yakuza games, and features some disproportionately challenging side-quests and boss fights, I find nearly everything else that Like a Dragon: Ishin brings to the table to be endearing. Ishin is whimsical and overly dramatic, slightly rough around the edges, and somewhat resistant to change, but ultimately a remarkable addition to one of the most adored RPG franchises in existence.