Review of Like a Dragon: Ishin!

Yakuza’s story-driven RPG thresher series, recently renamed Like a Dragon, has sold twenty million copies since 2005 and is highly regarded both in Japan and around the world. Many players started to really discover it only with a wave of remakes, which were also included in various subscriptions, such as Xbox Game Pass. If you’ve ever been drawn to the style or themes of these games, or you just like games with a strong story, then the latest remake of the offshoot of the series, set in the bloody late 19th century, might be a good fit. entering the world of Like a Dragon: The game is “standalone” in the sense that it is not connected to the rest of the series by story. At the same time, this is her first release in the West.

• Platform: PS5 (review) PS4, X1, XSX|S, PC
• Publication date: 02/21/2023
• Manufacturer: Studio Ryu Ga Gotoku (Japan)
• Genre: action role playing game
• Czech localization: No
• Multiplayer: No
• Data to download: 60 GB
• Game time: 30+ hours
• Price: 1415 CZK (couples)

Ronin as detective and avenger

The end of the nineteenth century was a turbulent time for Japan, full of political instability and bloody upheavals. One of the reasons was the arrival of Western ships in the country, which caused radically different reactions in different parts of the political scene – some were interested in Western technology and trade, while others, on the contrary, fought to reject foreign influence and strengthen the sovereignty of the Emperor and Japan as such. You enter this turbulent period as a samurai named Sakamoto Ryoma, who, like many other characters and events in the game, is based on a real historical figure. But the game manages to find a good balance between a Japanese history lesson and a gripping fictional story.

In the early chapters of the story, you lose your master and mentor as you search for his (masked) killer. On your decades-long journey, in order to uncover it, you’ll have to assume a false identity and even join an enemy organization of the Shinsengumi’s “police” unit, which in many ways resembles the Yakuza gang from modern installments of the series. This is also due to the fact that many characters have the same faces and voices as in modern versions of these games. In a word, this is a historical performance, but with popular modern actors in the lead roles. It should be noted that the actors are generally excellent, and the characters and plot are some of the best in the entire game. You will appreciate them in the Japanese version because Ishin does not contain an English dub (only English subtitles).

The characters and story are some of the best in the entire game.

As is common in games in the series, a strong story plays a dominant role and will not hesitate to expose you to dozens of minutes of continuous cinematic or dialogue scenes before allowing you to return to active gameplay. It can be a little confusing at first, but the characters and their fates will gradually draw you in, not least because of the excellent combination of deadly serious drama with calmer passages that allow you to show the humanity of key characters. The accelerating pace of the game also greatly enriches the detective subtext as you gradually cross off names from your list and get closer to discovering the identity of your master’s killer, knowing that this is one of your new “friends” in the police organization. As usual, you’ll find great fighters among villains and despicable traitors among your friends, which contributes to the maturity and overall quality of the story.

From wrestling to gardening

The gameplay of this series is based on a combat system reminiscent of traditional one-on-one beaters – with the difference that very often you have more than one opponent at the same time. As for the historical setting of the game, this time you also have a sword and a pistol in your hands, but the course of the battles still works more like a thresher (you don’t kill anyone with one shot). An attractive element of the fights is the smooth switching between fighting with fists, sword or pistol – depending on the opponent and the situation on the battlefield. In addition, you can further improve each of these fighting styles by unlocking stronger strikes or entire combos, and this works similarly to Skyrim – unlocking new improvements is achieved through this fighting style. The combat itself is fast and fun, with particularly memorable boss fights. However, in the newer parts of the series, the combat system has moved further.

But, as fans of the series know only too well, these games are far from just about story or combat. Their traditional content is also a varied mix of side-actions and mini-games. It’s different here, so you can do dozens of all sorts of side missions (from helping an old lady on the street to visiting an “unconventional” brothel) and mostly side activities, from chopping wood to fishing to dancing or singing karaoke. (in the form of a rhythmic minhra) in a bar. The highlight of this non-combat activity is tending your own garden where you plant and harvest crops and then cook and sell food. So, if you enjoy immersing yourself in samurai life, you can very easily spend much more in the game than the roughly thirty hours it takes to play through the fourteen chapters of the main story. While the game’s structure and combat system betray the game’s somewhat dated origins, the remake’s visual enhancements thanks to the Unreal engine give the game impressive visuals, especially in the cinematic sequences. In addition, the game does not suffer from any technical flaws, which, unfortunately, is becoming more common.