On September 14, 2022, Sega held a special event called "RGG 2022 Summit". This event was held to announce the restructuring within the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio itself after the previous director, Toshihiro Nagoshi (the man behind the creation of the Yakuza series), left the company, and also to announce three new titles that will be released in the future. Those titles are Like a Dragon: Ishin!, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and Like a Dragon 8. This time, Dunia Games would like to review one of the titles and the one that was just recently released, Like a Dragon: Ishin!

Like a Dragon: Ishin! (Like a Dragon: Restoration!) is an action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and produced by Sega. It was released globally on February 17, 2023 (the Digital Deluxe version) and February 22, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam. For those of you who are curious about this game, you can watch the trailer below to kill your curiosity.

If you are playing this game on PC, below are the minimum and recommended system requirements to run Like a Dragon: Ishin!:

MINIMUM:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

OS: Windows 10

Processor: Intel Core i5-3470, 3.2 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200, 3.1 GHz

Memory: 8 GB RAM

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, 2 GB or AMD Radeon RX 460, 2 GB

DirectX: Version 12

Storage: 60 GB available space

Sound Card: Windows Compatible Audio Device

Additional Notes: 1080p Low @ 30 FPS. Requires a CPU that supports the AVX and SSE4.2 instruction set.

RECOMMENDED:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

OS: Windows 10

Processor: Intel Core i7-4790, 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600, 3.2 GHz

Memory: 8 GB RAM

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, 6 GB or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, 8 GB

DirectX: Version 12

Storage: 60 GB available space

Sound Card: Windows Compatible Audio Device

Additional Notes: 1080p High @ 60 FPS. Requires a CPU that supports the AVX and SSE4.2 instruction set.

On the other hand, the Dunia Games team played this game on PlayStation 4. Without further ado, let’s get to the review!

LIKE A DRAGON: ISHIN! REVIEW

Sakamoto Ryoma’s Journey as a Shinsengumi Soldier

Before we’re going to the story, you have to know that this game doesn’t have a “time travel” theme in it, but instead, the theme is “What if Yakuza characters became Shinsengumi members in 19th century Japan?” Like actors who take part in movies, every Yakuza character is featured in this game and plays their respective roles.

Sets in the Bakumatsu era at the end of the Edo period, Japan, in 1867, right at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. Sakamoto Ryoma (Kazuma Kiryu/ Takaya Kuroda), a low-ranking samurai or goshi, is trapped in the situation of finding oneself and his role in the society that upholds the samurai class system above everything else. One day, Ryoma is involved in a coup to restore the Tosa government led by his foster father, Yoshida Toyo (Shintaro Kazama/ Unsho Ishizuka). But, before the day comes, Ryoma finds out that his foster father is assassinated. According to Ryoma, the unknown assailant uses a stance that samurai around his town rarely use. After a whole year of investigation, Ryoma finds out that the man who killed his father, used a Tennen Rishin style, a style which was only taught to certain people. According to the information he gathered, the stance is only taught by the Shinsengumi, a special police force formed by the shogun. In order to find his father’s killer, Ryoma decides to infiltrate the Shinsengumi under the alias Saito Hajime. Will Ryoma find his father’s killer? Play the game to find out!

Beat Enemies with Four Different Styles

Like a Dragon: Ishin! comes with action-adventure gameplay which you can find on other Yakuza titles (during the Kazuma Kiryu era) and in the Judgment series. In this game, Ryoma has four different fighting styles: ‘Swordsman’, 'Gunman', 'Brawler', and 'Wild Dancer'.

Swordsman focuses on one-handed swords, Gunman focuses on using firearms, especially pistols, Brawler focuses on fist fighting, and Wild Dancer, a style exclusively to Ryoma, arms Ryoma with a sword and a gun. You can switch these styles during combat anytime you like.

Besides fighting using those styles, Ryoma can also use other weapons as well, like odachi (a long katana sword), spears, or anything he found on the streets. In addition, you can also enhance your weapons to produce more deadly attacks on your enemies.

Enjoy 19th Century Japan

It’s different than other Yakuza games set in modern times,  Like a Dragon: Ishin! brings you to ancient Japan during the Edo period. You won’t find Kamurocho in this game along with its shining neon lights, but instead, you will find two Japanese cities during the 19th century that are depicted beautifully.

Unlike other games, Like a Dragon: Ishin! utilizes Unreal Engine 4 instead of Dragon Engine. According to Masayoshi Yokoyama the current director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the decision to use Unreal Engine 4 in this game was because the fights mainly take place during the day, whereas Dragon Engine only focuses on nighttime.

Cast

Still bearing the tradition, Like a Dragon: Ishin! invites Japanese top-class actors to take part in this game. This time, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is starring Riki Takeuchi, Hitoshi Ozawa, and Hideo Nakano, who play Takeda Kanryusai, Ito Kashitaro, and Takechi Hanpeita, respectively. They are actors from Yakuza 0 who are contacted back to participate in this project.

Besides those names, voice actors from previous games are also present in this game. These voice actors might be familiar to your ears like Akio Otsuka (Koichi Adachi) as Kondo Isami, Kazuhiro Nakaya (Akira Nishikiyama) as Izo Okada, Hidenari Ugaki (Goro Majima) as Soji Okita, Rikiya Koyama (Taiga Saejima) as Shinpachi Nagakura, and Unsho Ishizuka (Heihachi Mishima in Tekken) as Yoshida Toyo.

New Features

Like a Dragon: Ishin! still focus on exploration, side quests, and activities outside the main story to keep players hooked to the game. One of the new features introduced in this game is the Trooper Card system. The Trooper Card system is a support system in the form of cards that can help Ryoma in combat. Actually, these cards are Ryoma’s friends (or troops) in Shinsengumi. Ryoma can build a deck of cards with people that he chose, and it does not limit who and where they are deployed. You can use these cards by holding the L2 button while pressing the corresponding d-pad buttons. One style can have up to 4 cards, meaning that you can bring 16 cards in battle. If you don’t like this system in combat, you can turn it off on the Options menu.

Besides Trooper Card, Like a Dragon: Ishin! has Photo Mode, the first in the series. This feature allows you to capture the beauty of Kyoto in the past. This feature makes its debut in this game. You can make the coolest or the most absurd pictures of Ryoma and his surroundings to your heart’s content.

Minigames

A few minigames in this game still feature many minigames from past titles, such as karaoke, gambling, and fishing. With the technology at that time, some modern minigames don’t exist yet, however, you can find other entertainment that might be popular among people at that time like chicken race, fan dancing, and others.

Verdict

Overall, Like a Dragon: Ishin! offers solid gameplay, added with tons of activities that you can enjoy outside the main story with an unforgettable experience as a reward. Essentially, the game is a remake version of the original game that is aimed at the Western market. Previously, the original game was exclusively released in Japan in 2014 but didn’t get localized because the Yakuza series didn't perform well in the West. After many requests from the fans and the community, Sega decided to localize the series once again in the West, starting with Yakuza 5 in 2015 for PlayStation 3. Due to the positive reviews, Sega later localized Yakuza 0 in the West in 2016, which became a massive success.

Gameplay-wise, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is an improvement from Yakuza 5, because, according to the release date, the original game was released 2 years after Yakuza 5 was released in Japan. Then, a few aspects in Like a Dragon: Ishin! (the original game) were later continued to the next installment, Yakuza 0. One of the aspects that inherited was the multiple fighting styles.

If you like samurai-themed anime or games like Rurouni Kenshin, Gintama, Sengoku Basara, or Ghost of Tsushima, this game is a must-play! Play this game if you like history, samurai, and the beauty of Japan in the 19th century.

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