One minute you’re taking part in a clandestine bathhouse meeting to unearth a lead on the man who killed your father, the next you’re wrestling someone butt-naked while little wisps of steam cover up your manhoods. After this, you grab a casual drink together, naturally. That might sound strange, but the Yakuza series has always paired meaningful, emotional narratives with quirky, offbeat humour. This balance has always been struck in spectacular, unforgettable fashion, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Like a Dragon: Ishin is no different.
Unlike the mainline series, Ishin takes place in historical Japan, the Bakumatsu period to be precise, so you’re trading in your dapper suit and good old Kamurocho for samurai gear and the city of Kyo. Ishin’s fun twist is that it takes the appearance of characters from the mainline series and puts them in new roles, many of which are actual historical figures. The protagonist might look like Kiryu, but he’s actually Sakamo♛to Ryom💧a, one of the most famous samurai in history.
RGG Studios draws character appearances from every main title to date for Ishin, which gives recognising familiar faces and wondering who would pop up next a slice of charm. We’ve said goodbye to many of these characters in the mainline series, so it’s great to see them back in action, especially when their personalities align with their modern counterparts. Okita Soji might be wearing a bloodied haori instead of a snakeskin jacket, but he’s still very much the Mad Dog (quite literally, he’s still called that), with a bloodthirsty streak and the ability to cause widespread damage like a wrecking ball. More importantly, our boys look good in blue — those are some damn fine-looking samurai. Unfortunately though, there’s no Ichiban - 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:he’s just too nice.
Four essential ingredients make the Yakuza games great: a stellar cast, an incredible setting, enough content to lose yourself in for hours, and a plot you can’t wait to discuss with others. Ishin checks all of those boxes. It has fan-favourite characters running around in s🌞amurai outfits too so that’s an instant win. The next important aspect is the setting. While there’s no open world to explore, the locations are so densely packed with detail and life that it’s difficult not to be in awe of the worldbuilding.
By day, couriers run around the dynamic city of Kyo while dogs bark and shoppers peruse market stalls. At night, you’ll see drunkards staggering down darkened alleys while shadowy figures stalk the lantern-lit streets. Even in t♓he background, in those places you can’t physically reach, you can see people wandering around and speaking to one another, adding to that sense of standing in a living, breathing world.
The detailed environment is further enhanced by the wealth of option𒀰al activities available, which is another hallmark of a great Yakuza game. It’s packed full of substories that range from the hilarious to the heartbreaking, you can’t seem to go down more than two streets before you accidentally trigger one, and there’s a wide range of minigames that can be lighthearted fun or tests of skill that make you want to throw your controller. Hidden gems ൩and small plot threads make chasing down these substories worthwhile, especially for those who love a little fan service.
Ishin adds to the usual smo❀rgasbord of side content fans are used to by introducing Battle Dungeons — exactly what they sound like — and the life sim-style Another Life content that sees you playing house with Haruka. You can raise crops, cook meals, sell veggies for profit, look after pets, and giv💟e the house a limited makeover.
But without question, the most important aspect of a Yakuza game is the storyline. Ishin uses the series’ trademark bag of tricks to give fans a wild ride of misdirection, murder, mayhem, and heartfelt sentiment. There are always those twists you can see coming a mile off, but there are plenty of surprises to keep you on your toes. They don't cheapen the narrative, even when you guess what’s coming, as by that point, you’re too invested and questioning whether it’s so obvious it might even be a red herring. After all, it wouldn’t be an RGG Studio game without some random events or characters you could never possibly predict affecting the grand scheme of things.
I was particularly fascinated with Ishin overall because of the historical setting. Producer168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Hiroyuki Sakamoto recently told me he hoped the game would intrigue players enough that they’d look into Japanese history more themselves, and that was certainl🔯y the case for me. After finishing the game, I wanted to know how many of the events were historically a🌃ccurate, what happened to the Shinsengumi, and of course, I looked up Okita Soji.
The💮 combat in Ishin is full of flair, fixing a common criticism of the series. You’ve got four styles to switch between,♒ each with its own skill tree, but the inclusion of proper weaponry makes all the difference. You’ve got katanas, guns, different ammo types, and even special weapons like cannons and spears at your disposal. Not only does this make battle a bloody, exciting clash of blades and bullets, but it feels more engaging as you have to upgrade, craft, and collect new and improved weapons to stay in top form, rather than just mindlessly punching the crap out of something day and night.
Wild Dancer was ꩲmy favourite style, as pirouetting around the battlefield with sword and gun in hand while unleashing a hailstorm of bullets is particularly satisfying, but there’s a suitable time and place for all, so you’ll find yourself often flipping between them. The inclusion of Trooper Cards added a fresh new facet to battle, allowing you to equip different sets for each style for further variation, ranging from buffs to summon-like attacks.
If you’re expecting zany over-the-top story bosses where you’re punching tigers in the face or taking on machinery, you might be a little disappointed. The dramatics have been scaled back in Ishin, leaving⛦ the bosses feeling relatively normal. However, the overhauled battle system changes for them as much as it does for you. Each has a different arsenal of weaponry and special techniques to keep you on your toes. For the most part, the latter seemed normal. Something electro-shocked me or made me a little dizzy for a second, which could feasibly happen, but then one boss seemed to Kamehameha me into the ground. Who am I to complain when I can use a Trooper Card to unleash explosive chicken eggs?
They don’t have the feeling of one punching bag boss after the other like some other Yakuza games, but they don’t elevate them much further, either. The boss battles are carried by the core battle improvements overall, and while the QTEs infuse them with a sense of cinematic acti⛎on, there’s no groundbreaking boss fight you’ll be gushing about with your friends.
As much as I loved Ishin, my time with it was slightly marred by some graphical issues. The first and more subtle problem was detailed textures snapping into place on faces mid-cutscene. It wasn’t that the characters looked bad before the textures, but suddenly they’d get a few more pores and ⛎wrinkles, and just seeing the flicker of change was enough to distract you from the conversation a little.
The second was far more noticeable. It only happened for a𒈔 few seconds on two separate occasions, but cutscenes would flicker between graphics and blackness, like some strange strobe-lighting eff💝ect that saw characters and furniture popping in and out of oblivion. Though only momentary, it was jarring and disruptive. Some quality-of-life tweaks from more recent titles could have been added too, such as animated character models beside text boxes during conversations.
Like a Dragon: Ishin is a near-perfect package for fans of the series. It weaves an intriguing tale founded in historical events that has you hooked from the very start and eager to learn more at the very end. There’s a wealth of lighthearted substories, minigames, and slice-of-life gamep♚lay, which offer a nice change of pace from the dark storyline. The weapon-based combat is a much-needed reinvigoration for the series that offers fast-paced, bloody ca♈rnage in style. The only real letdown was the few graphical issues I experienced, which hopefully a patch will soon resolve.
Score: 4/5. An Xbox Series X code was provided by the publisher.
A remake of the 2014 action-adventure o👍riginal, Like A Dragon: Ishin! — part of the Yakuza series — follows Sakamoto Ryōma as he deals with revenge in Bakumatsu-era 𓆏Japan.