With Like a Dragon: Ishin releasing on February 22, 2023; that begs to ask the biggest question: Should I get it?
February 15, 2023 - Like a Dragon: Ishin! Is the latest released
game under RGG studios that is a remake of a Japanese exclusive classic
originally released in the PS3. It takes a fresh new look and gameplay
operations thanks to the Unreal Engine.
RGG knows how much the public loves the
Yakuza/Like a Dragon cast and no different from its PS3 Japan only release, it
does the same with LaD:Ishin! Utilizing the cast of (now) all Yakuza titles to
date: from 0 to 7 / Like a Dragon although still loyal to the original plot as
with the PS3 title preceding it.
WARNING: The following are spoilers about the game:
Taking place on 1867, of the Keio
era, Takuya Kuroda voicing Kazuma Kiryu, is left unchanged and visually
represents the lead character of this story, as the character Sakamoto Ryouma,
also going by the pseudonym Hajime Saito – a captain of one of the squads of
the Shinsengumi.
If you’re familiar with the history
of the reign of the Tokugawa Era, of Oda Nobunaga & their clashes with
Okita Souji either as a Japanese Historian, fond of history in general –
particularly Japanese History, or as one who has at least played that one
mobile gacha game that features these aforementioned characters, but
genderbent, you would have no problem diving in to the lore and story
surrounding the adventures of Kiryu- I mean, Ryouma.
Do note, that this is using the
historical writings of Ryouma and company, as a mere base. It is a Yakuza game
first, and a [fictitious] retelling of history second. Historical accuracy
would be around just the 30% mark of the entire game. We’re here not for a
history lesson, but here for a full-on yakuza packed action game filled with
bakamitai singing, minigames, cameos, and JAV artists(?) and overall comical
encounters.
PLOT:
Due to my lack of actual knowledge
about the PS3 version, nor my knowledge about Japanese History or the story of
the Shinsengumi in general, I may keep referring to the characters I recognize
as their Like a Dragon / Yakuza counterpart. And from here, this is a HUGE
SPOILER WARNING. You’re better off skipping this segment if you don’t want your
experience to be spoiled. Also, this will cover just the Prologue and Chapter
1:
We
start with a First-person view of someone who meets up with a bloody Majima (Okita)
who is with Mine (Hijikata), and Saejima (Nagakura) on a rainy night. They
along with you, charge towards a certain building with swords unsheated raiding
what looks like a bandit camp. As per Okita, your mission is to rescue or get
to Sakamoto Ryouma who’s on the upper floor. You kill someone holding a pistol
tagged as “Sakamoto Ryouma?” and eerily converse with someone who addresses you
as Sakamoto Ryouma; face reveal to Kiryu- I mean, Ryouma himself.
The
camerawork, for those loyal to the RGG franchise, recognize that shot from
anywhere and it is the iconic camera shot that was taken straight out of Yakuza
1 / Yakuza Kiwami. The throwback would make any fan of Kiryu Kazuma smile at
the intentional coincidence. A rainy night, someone dead, Kiryu is behind it (this
time definitely, not mistakenly), you know you are in for a wild ride!
Upon arriving at Tosa, your first
task is to help a doctor tend to a young girl’s inflamed appendix. But before
you could take notice and help the doctor and the mother in need of help, the
Joshi arrive and they seem to be the Ye-old Edo counterpart of the Yakuza
recognized and revered by even the public when everyone, including Kiryu- I
mean Ryouma, got on their knees. At the very least, they were a good pair of
meat bags for you to try out the new combat system since the writing made them
look out to be a bunch of disposable self-centered bun-haired degenerates,
worthy of getting their asses whopped.
But gladly, our man Kiry- Ryouma
comes to the rescue, grabs the Joshi’s sword by the blade, YES, THE BLADE (So
badass!), gives the boys a good ol’ Daddy Kiryu talks, and you’re introduced to
the first of 4 combat styles: Brawler/unarmed style. But just like any Yakuza
game; at the very least – throwing back to 1 and 6: this throws our lead to the
slammer as the Joshi are treated like high brass officials and defying them
means breaking the law. And quoting the words of the prison Guard taunting
Ryouma: “Class is more important than life itself” and the old days, they
emphasize a lot on that and Ryouma’s sentenced to death row.
Luckily, Toyo of the Edo Magistrate
(Shintaro Kazama) saves Ryouma and have him adopted under him and have him
escape with his head intact. The correlation between Toyo and Ryouma and their
character models: Kiryu and Kazama made me jump off my seat in splendor.
After having a meal, you go to the
schoolhouse Toyo told you to meet him with but on the way, you come across some
Ronin – wandering samurai – the thugs of this game. And after a few tutorial
guides, you’re introduced to brawler style formally. After you get reacquainted
with Toyo, he tasks you to join the Tosa Loyalist Party led by your blood
brother Takechi Hanpeita (Shibusawa). I love the play that they made you two
brothers here and only for the RGG fact that you two are the very first dragons
of the Yakuza series. You thought you’d get Nishikiyama, as per the original
lore? His role is best reserved for something better.
Takechi lays out the plans he and
Toyo have in overthrowing the castle and end the caste system of the Joshis,
etc. ending it with a heartwarming albeit idealistic goal of where everyone especially
those with no privileges living in poverty, to attain true happiness by tearing
down the Tosa system. At the end of his speech, Takechi gives Ryouma his own
pistol, where we unlock the next 2 battle styles. What bothers me is that the
plot is advancing way too early, and a tragedy is bound to happen in this
revolution. If it connects to the death of Toyo, then I won’t be surprised.
Heading back to get ready for the
raid (shadow legends), You get interrupted by Mr. Ten Years in the Joint Made
you a ****y, Okada Izo played by Nishikiyama himself (his Kiwami form). Izo’s
motivation to fight you was fed by other members of the Loyalist opposed to
Takechi promoting you to second in command right off the bat and you’re thrown
into your very first boss fight. And if you know anything about the
relationship between Izo and Ryouma if you know your history, you know this
won’t be the last we’d hear from Izo.
After making quickwork of Izo, you
advise him to leave the Loyalist Party if you’re just after prestige or cold-blooded murder. We fast forward to the meeting of Takechi, Toyo, and Ryouma
inside the Kechi Castle where, as I anticipated – went on quite quick… Toyo got
in what we say in Filipino, and pun intended, na-toyo. (I’ll see myself out) A
ninja barges in and assassinates Toyo.
Takechi commands Ryouma to tend to Toyo
(and his dying breath), and Ryouma gets framed for the murder of Edo Magistrate
Toyo, so your best chance is to fight your way out.
Upon reaching the exit, you’re met
back with a downed Takechi and a pool of dead Castle soldiers who all tried to
take down the Ninja. You fight the Ninja, but it seems that with the heat
actions presented, and the penalty of failing to do so – you are destined to
lose against him. This is an old trope back in the PS2 era where you’re faced
with an unbeatable boss early-game. Glad they kept it on this next-gen remake.
To prevent being arrested for the 2nd
time, you and Takechi leave but the latter has reached his limit. Takechi plans
to sacrifice himself and plead innocent, but Ryouma decides to swear a public
oath to his captors and Takechi that he will leave Tosa, find that Ninja to
make penance and bring him to justice by jumping off the cliff into the rocky
river below.
One year later, he takes up the name
Hajime Saito, and gets involvement with the Shinsengumi at Kyo. Honestly from
here, seeing a Kiryu-face with laid back funny music is an all-time new for me
to experience given Kiryu is mostly serious. Fast forward into some Dojo,
Ryouma asks around who knows the Tennen Rishin sword style. To him, it is the
only lead he has about the Ninja Assassin that killed Toya.
*Story Spoilers end here*
MENU / INTERFACE / GRAPHICS
/ THE WORLD:
Jumping between the Dragon Engine
and the Unreal Engine is a bit of some adjustment that is due, but it is
manageable given how nostalgic to the likes of Yakuza 0 the menu is laid out.
Those who have played past Yakuza titles would feel right at home with the
popular classics; especially Yakuza 0.
Unlike its modern setting titles,
with no more the ability to pick up and store weapons, your weapons are locked
to 4 specific slots: Katana, Special, Gun, and ammo whereas your Equipped gear
is now locked down to just a Headband, Breastplate, and Gauntlet; somewhat
similar to the 3-piece gear in the popular titles but more streamlined. Just
because you now have a gun slot you might go “Ryouma is not Kiryu, so he can
kill people now”; yeah, no – we’ll get to that when I talk about the combat.
Graphics wise, it is to be expected
by the Unreal Engine, texture detail is very evident down to the very pigments
of the skin. Switching to UR over the pre-dragon engine one they use sees no
change on how the characters interact from animation to inputs but graphically,
rivals that of the softer & more refined Dragon Engine used in Kiwami 2, 6,
LaD, and Judgement/Lost Judgement. The only way to differentiate the
game-engine cutscenes from pre-rendered ones is the frame rate; by default, the
game runs at 60 up, whereas pre-rendered cutscenes play on the traditional 24
fps and of course have more dynamic range of animations (not to mention blood
shown is by default set to realistic). Everything from 5, 0, and Kiwami were
seamlessly carried over into UR with no problem whatsoever; and slight
improvements on NPC animations during substories; their movements aren’t as
janky as they used to be.
Inventory Space now spans to your
usual in-combat menu inventory, produce, seafood, materials, and valuables.
Seeing Produce & Seafood have its own slots, it’s giving me really bad PTSD
memories of Kingdom Hearts 3 and Donald Duck constantly nagging at your ear of
good spots to look for ingredients.
Substories are now categorized by
region with a grand total of 72 substories for the base game. Not as much
as past titles but at least you know how padded out the game would be even
outside its main story.
The map is where the game shines and
segmented into regions that you unlock as the story progresses. Fushimi down
south, Mukurogai by the east-southeast area, Rakugai, the central-west area,
Rakunai, the northern area, and Gion by the far eastern area. There are other regions as well, but they're either for main-story only or for like a home-base; and categorized under "Others". Outside of
certain buildings, there is seamless entry to some shops inside for less
immersion-breaking moments. Some restaurants do this.
During combat, some elements of the
demo did grab the attention of those fans who were not fond of certain new
elements – such as Battle damage markers from Y7/LaD, and the troop card system; and
for those who have phobias or young ones who do not want to play this infront
of their parents – the amount of blood and gore during combat (you can’t take
them off cutscenes of course for the last one). If you’re not fond of RPG like
damage counters lifting up from your/your enemies’ heads during combat, you can disable Damage Values on your Display
tab in your settings while you can disable or reduce bloodiness under the
Graphics tabs of your settings menu.
At the very least, the game gives
you the option to simplify the interface and go for a more grounded combat
look; and the card system is all but an optional feature – think of them as the
extracts system from Judge Eyes & Lost Judgement. It’s there but you’re not
obligated to use them.
Graphics wise, for a game that uses
the Unreal Engine, it is optimized that my dated mid-high-level rig from 2020
runs the game super smoothly in Extra High settings with no frame loss
whatsoever at 60fps, but this is considering without streaming in mind. I later tried with recording and there is no futher frame loss either; with CPU consumption clocking in at 4.5% only throughout a 2-hour recording. But the
optimization rivals that of Yakuza 0 / Kiwami so I’m quite satisfied with the
performance of the game on my current build. Mind you I’m just running on a GTX
1650 on a B450M MB and a Ryzen 5 2600 3.40 GHz.
Aside from softer and higher resolution textures, the most subtle thing you've seen them do in pre-rendered cutscenes next to super subtle flowing hair is, if you see it, saliva strands when the characters talk. Gone are the days of the PS3 where all characters look like shiny polygon-ish figures that talk and breathe; the diffusion of light on the character surfaces almost rivals that of the pre-rendered cutscenes. However, some elements are left unchanged such as texture priority to the main case, and highly reduced texture quality and geometry for mob characters; even on the highest graphic settings, you can still pick out the lack of anti-aliasing on surfaces of some mobs in favor of the Kiryu model, which is very high geometry built.
GAMEPLAY:
For players who take auto-saving for
granted – the game initially asks you if you wish to have auto-save enabled or
not. And unlike most titles, at least for my copy, Legend Difficulty is
unlocked from the get-go so that makes me wonder what incentive I would have
for clearing the main story and give me reason to come back to it; it turns out
this is in favor of the new difficulty: Ishin! Difficulty, which is locked
behind a paywall DLC. If you have auto-save disabled, head on over to the pause
menu and save right there.
As with previous titles, you can
access your item box in any Jizo statue if you wish to store in some rare items
that you don’t want to carry around in your person. Do note tho that you cannot
nilly willy save anywhere as you please. If you’re just roaming around the
town, sure. But when you’re in the middle of main story, the save button is
absolutely greyed out for such purposes. They won't have you save in the middle
of say a boss fight you’re struggling with.
Combat wise, there is a good boat
load of variety among the enemies – gunmen, riflemen, club users (that hit like
a truck) with and without armor, your good ol’ Samurai/Ronin/Shinsengumi po-po, and of course the
bosses – certain events in the main story and boss battles bring back the use
of Quick time events to play the game to or against your favor. What I do
notice is that if you fail a QTE and you lose a lot of your HP in the process,
the game doesn’t treat it as an automatic Game-over but like a last-resort sort
of thing where you’re left with 1 HP.
Now if your enemy follows up
immediately, that’s on you. Not all QTEs you engage on boss battles are
offensive based – a lot of them are defensive based and it will test your
knowledge of proper use of styles. Each style has an advantage over the other,
but my preference would be using Wild Dance style especially if you’re with an
arena filled with a lot of enemies – the scatter attack at the end of your rush
combo of O gives a good amount of knock-back.
If you’re still struggling on higher
difficulty levels at certain stages, mobs, or bosses; the game gives you the
option to temporarily reduce your difficulty and unlike past titles, the
default option for this question is “NO” so if you’re just as stubborn as our
Dame Da Ne singing protagonist, you may continue to struggle until you overcome
that hurdle. Also, this isn’t permanent – it reverts back to your difficulty of
choice after you clear the stage you struggled with.
An additional note of combat is that even knock down animations they mostly use the same ones as in 5, 0, and Kiwami; amidst running on the Unreal Engine. As for the mix ups of the enemy, it’s a good hand full of those. Bosses, like in past Yakuza formula, tend to have a long string of almost uninterruptable combos; I say almost because getting behind them is the least you can do to interrupt their chain; and they carry Auras as well.
Depending on the story, some battles have allies in the mix with their own HP bars. Now, much like in Yakuza 6, and the Judgement Games, they don’t die; BUT if they lose their HP, they will be out of commission catching their breath to recover their HP and continue combat... or so I thought. They actually lose HP, and their HP gets locked on the criticial level and stays there, with no recovery, and no further HP loss. I guess the panting recovery only applies to the Dragon Engine games (YK2, Y6, JE, LJ).
Safe to say though the support AI is competent to a degree. On my playthrough, they are able to deal a fixed amount of chunky damage and can parry and dodge at their own perusal, though if they get mobbed, they will get their HP drained, but that's a non-issue given they don't die.
There are 4 battle styles for
Kiryu/Ryouma to choose from: introducing the most basic, the classic Brawler Style reminiscent of the Dragon
of Dojima; hell, even Kir-Ryouma’s battle stance is exactly just that: The
Dragon Style – one fist up, the other fist down. It even functions and flows just like the
classic Dragon style with a few changes. You can even throw and use special
weapons. What’s unique though is a dedicated parry ability button that
activates War Cry Counter, granting you i-frames. The downside is when slashed
or shot, you cannot guard in this style.
The window of allowing parries to
activate is quite wide in this style; holding the parry button too long would
leave you open for a slash, since majority of your enemies are blade-weaponed,
for one. Nonetheless, brawler style is made for our Kiryu-but-not Kiryu
character; though do note his combo chains have a mix of Dragon of Dojima and a little bit of Ba Ji Quan added to distinguish this from his modern-day counterpart.
Swordsman Style would be your general battle style and is a mixed use of Katana and
heat actions mostly. This one can hold its own on both offense and defense and
unlike Brawler style’s parry, this is a pure defensive style use of the parry
button. Your heavy attack can also be charged for a much stronger guard
breaking attack, alongside your grab is now replaced with a guard-breaking
double slash. Majority of combat will be using the swordsman style, but you’re
not obligated to stick to it; after all it is the point of switching styles
depending on the situation.
What I find iffy about sword style because it is so planted, is the fact that early game your swings are very slow and to deal big damage you need to charge your hard attack; but that leaves you open for attacks by your enemies. At the very least, the block is very responsive and the only thing that can hurt you through your block is a hard-knockdown attack or a boss grab.
Gunman Style
is unlocked after you talk with Takechi. Gunman style uses, yes you guessed it.
A GUN! The bullets pack a punch and is an easy way to pick off enemies at a
CERTAIN distance. Hit too far, your power & accuracy decrease. You
literally have infinite ammo for the light attacks and it’s your Heavy/special
attack that uses up your ammo and you can only equip one kind of ammo at a
time.
So, if you plan to interchange your ammos for various effects, you will
visit the menu quite a lot, its immersive breaking but a strategy’s a strategy. Safe to say, you are not obligated to equip ammo if you don't want to waste it, and the heavy gun attack will do just that; there is just a moment of delay and still deals a fair amount of heavy damage; just not comparable to the likes of special ammo rounds.
Wild Dancer Style was featured in my demo play of LaD: Ishin back at ESGS 2022 – that
uses both Sword and Gun style together for a unique, and style-name pun
intended: wild dance that combines flair and battle into one. With a sword on
your right hand and a gun on your left, you can interchange between ranged and
melee attacks on the fly. The biggest drawback is you cannot block in this
stance like brawler style, and the dodge has very short spacing; Brawler quicksteps are longer than in Wild Dancer, but it’s a spectacle to watch during combat. And with
one of the particular rush combo chains, this is best if you’re surrounded - where you spin around and fire your gun at all directions.
For all styles, Rush combos are
still the bread and butter of the combat – mixing square & Triangle (X and
Y respectively on the universal X-box style D-pad). You use O button to grab an
opponent (at least for Brawler style) but these changes depending on the style
you are on.
Battle results are broken down to
the following: Attack, Defense, Technique and they all contribute to how much
experience you earn. Attack ranking of course dictates is based on your combos,
Defense is how well you parry or block incoming attacks, and Technique would
most probably be for mixing styles, various combos and heat actions altogether.
You can carry up to 3 heat bars as denoted by the Roman numeral indicated on
the upper left of your combat UI. And as with past games – getting hit, and
doing nothing on combat loses heat.
Levelling up or gaining abilities
use the Soul Orb mechanic – reminiscent of Yakuza 4 and Kiwami 1 (though more
of Kiwami 1) but with the interface of Yakuza 0 – you have 4 webs that
constitute to the 4 styles you will need to master as Ryouma. They’re
categorized into two kinds: Training Orbs which are applicable to all and Style
Orbs which are for that specific style only.
The more times you fight on that
specific stance, the sooner you get to earn soul orbs to level up your
abilities and unlock more heat actions. A note of caution: you cannot withdraw or unlearn abilities with your training orbs - once it's in place, it stays there unless you trade it for a style orb; so, plan your distributions well; especially if you're after a certain heat action that you are close to unlocking but you are stuck behind a hard enemy.
Outside
of combat there are “chests” around in pots; it plays a bit different than in
the classic games where you just aimlessly roam around and see gleaming
sparkles on the floor and pick them up - they still exist but for a different reason but hey, at least they ain't locker keys this time. On top of that, at least we can see back then how
cleanliness matters. You can come back to these pots to get something new or
restocked by someone, according to the game.
Virtues
are something that’s new to the game but it's actually the equivalent of
completion points to make it sound fancier – doing substories, shopping at
shops, and praying merits you these for exchange. Your guide is the Diligence
Records that lists all parts in the world where you can earn Virtue, surprisingly.
Yeah, totally not the completion list, haha.
Komaki’s
back… or more like his great ancestor (the resemblance hasn’t differed through
the years) as one of your masters and of course reintroducing the ancient
version of the Komaki style. And your first instance with him introduces you to
something akin to heat release or Heat burst, reminiscent of Kiwami 2 and
Yakuza 6: the song of life where you maul on your opponent while holding R2 and
mashing your light attack. Komaki is the master of barehanded combat so most
likely his Komaki style will be enhancements to your Brawler style. Now isn’t
this reminiscent of a past master from Yakuza 0? * Hey, BOYYYYY! *
The
game has 2 currencies: mon and Ryo. Ryo seems to be the rarer between the two
and mon is the Yen before Yen even came to be.
Another point to note is the change
between day and night is well… like Day & Night; no different from like it
was in past titles, but the ambiance is very distinct from one another; with
townsfolk carrying paper lanterns and the whole place embraced in a warm yellow
tint. And the attention to detail among the mob characters around the area at
night – you can push a drunk man down and he will just pass out and sleep.
Hell, you can walk all over them too.
Of
course, it can’t be a RGG game without a good ol’ fashioned hilarity of
substories. I accidentally stumbled into one of them the one with the Ee Ja nai
dance that had me laughing. And as much as it reminds me of the whole Munan
Chohept Onast from Y0 and Y6, it was a big laugh for me to see Ryouma smiling
dancing along. Some of these substories are short but they are my god
impactful.
You can also improve your gear via the
blacksmith – purchase, craft, enhance; you know the works; unless you’re the
type who goes in bare handed like a madlad Dragon of Dojima loyalist, its
essential to improve your gear there to deal more damage or sustain more
damage.
Travelling around has its own
counterpart of the Taxi before taxis were even made – the palanquin – a 2-man
Hirsch that carries you from point to point fast-travel style for a fee. Boy
how have we made things convenient even before; we just added technology the
more we age.
The trooper card system gets an overhaul - Back then it can only be used on the Shinsengumi Dungeon Missions board only but now they made it in a way that you can utilize them outside of it - on the main story, on the world; it's up to you how you maximize your card roster. The story behind this is that your troops, being a Shinsengumi captain and all, take the form of cards (Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, is that you?!) each with their own respective abilities from support, combat and super that you can activate or auto-activate during combat. Your cards get stronger as long as you use them during combat, they level up along with you.
Supports can increase defense or heal you in the absence of items, Combat increases battle proficiency such as attack ups or attack speed ups and Supers are well... supers to obliterate enemies like the Kamehameha- oh wait, wrong game. Due to the nature of some abilities, they seem rather immersion breaking and was talked about a lot pre-game release but not equipping any of them disables the feature during combat if immersion is what you are after. There are 400 Shinsengumi units you could recruit into the Third Division, your division - as Saito Hajime.
MINIGAMES:
Stumbling
upon it by accident, I discovered one of the few mini games in the area: Wood
Chopping – as per instructions it is all about timing. The higher your combo
goes, the intervals between each glow of your axe become shorter, so it gets
faster and faster the more you chop.
Food
hopping returns like in old games and even if the setting is very dated – RGG
never fails to make all non-drink food items very palatable to the eyes, my
eyes and tongue salivate at the food images. Eating restores both heat and
health, and amount recovered varies depending on the item… and its price. Tasting
every item in their menu of course adds to your completion bonus.
Friendships
can happen to certain NPC characters through substories, similar to Judgement
and Yakuza 4. The requirements to such are a case-to-case basis however, from
consuming their shop contents to quests.
Riverfishing
is always an RGG staple and just as exaggerated as before, though loyal to its
IRL counterpart. Gameplay is 100% similar to that of Yakuza 0 and future titles
released since then.
It
wouldn’t be an RGG game without classic tabletop Japanese gambling games –
Mahjong comes back as one of the first of many gambling minigames in the Ishin
world. Cee-lo, Cho-han, Oicho-Kabu, Koi-Koi, Poker, and Shogi also make a
comeback and are other gambling games you should be familiar with by now
especially if you’ve played all past titles.
You
think Karaoke wouldn’t exist during the Edo era? How wrong you must be to
assume. Given its popularity in past and present titles, and its absence in the
Judgement series, by popular demand – ‘karaoke’ returns as a Singing Minigame.
There are 7 songs to try out and we’ve seen spoilers already – an Edo version
of Bakamitai is among the song list, making it the oldest song in (RGG) History
to date. All hail and rise to our National Anthem. The singing bar is the
Utamaruya at Fushimi.
Buyo
Dance is something new to non-Japanese players or to those who haven’t played
the original and is a very cultural thing amongst the Japanese in the olden
times. And it applies Yakuza 5’s Haruka / Akiyama dance minigames incorporated
into Ishin, but in a more simplified use. Either color coded or using the
D-pad, its closely described to a rhythm game where you need to hit it at the
right time to earn points. It’s also humorous to see Kiryu going from the
feminine Buyo Dance jumping straight into a Kabuki warrior stance.
You
can also help out on the udon shop; this makes it reminiscent to that of Yakuza
5’s minigame. If you’ve played this in Yakuza 5, you’ll feel right at home – a
simple game of memory where your customers dictate what noodle & firmness
they want; the longer you stay and engage orders – the more orders you get; it
gets tougher when you have a full house of customers and you need to get it
right.
Courtesan
games is also an Ishin classic. Yet despite the traditional name – it’s the
hostesses sidecontent that we all know
and love (in the remakes and hated in 3 and 4). Courtesans are akin to Geishas
at first glance, and they’re the only kinds of characters that have their
assets featured; you know what I’m talking about; not to mention how their
facial characters are modelled differently & uniquely for some odd (albeit
obvious) reason. The scenes are also with voiced dialogue from both Ryouma and
the girls you’re with. It’s located at Yamabuki Okami at Gion and its costs 1
Ryo, the premium currency to enter.
Now,
what makes the hostesse- erm, Courtesan (1 confirmed under the name Anna Konno)
different from past iterations is that it has its own dedicated minigames. On
first attempt, you’re introduced to the drinking minigame where you’re supposed
to have the drinking bar balanced using your key inputs. Drink too much and
well, you’re out. Not just game out – but drunk out. Survive the drinking game,
you get to engage the girl in rock paper scissors, with a twist: STRIP JANKEN. And
if you beat that… well, I won’t spoil it further. All of these though are
similar to the PS3 original, apparently, and there are 9 unique games you could
unlock, and Ryouma’s reactions are downright over the top.
There
is also chicken racing if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s like the poor
man’s equivalent of Horse racing where you cheer on your chicken and help them
get to the goal faster than the rest of the fowl. I also hope using chickens in
particular is a homage to the Yakuza 0 meme of Nugget, your “turkey” prize
turned Real Estate Manager who clucked your investments during the golden age.
That’s
not the end of it – upon meeting your daughteru Haruka, you gain access to a
cooking minigame; no nothing like the udon minigame mentioned earlier – as in
actual cooking minigame, harvesting, and trade management… YES! IT’S FARMING, TRADE MANAGEMENT AND COOKING SIMULATOR! Cooking is more or less a mini-rhythm-like game with button
prompts. It's no Cooking mama but it’s a start. Not to mention a side business
where you can manage and earn. Farming is no different from Farmville - set your crops & wait it out. The Trade Management part is simply - if you have it in your inventory, trade it for money. This is your way of earning upkeep & money
if grinding is too long to do so, as long as you have the items needed for the
trade.
VERDICT:
Going
4 chapters complete in the main story on writing this game, there is so much to
digest with Like a Dragon Ishin. So many things that were integrated from past
titles were put in on this remake; a lot from the original PS3 Japan-only
release that were further refined; and thanks to memes and popular demand were
given a new fresh look, I’m looking at you Baka Mitai!
Pacing
of the main story is distributed well enough; the substories though short and
concise for some are heartwarming and hilarious. The new combat styles
encircling around barehanded, gun, sword, and both are in good taste; my
personal favorite would be Wild Dance style. Combat’s rewarding from the
perfectly timed sword parries to executing your favorite heat actions, and
some.
Seeing fan favorite actors replace some cast members for that popular flair
worked so well, some unexpected ones and a ton of expected characters.
Integration as well of music from past titles was a good touch and added to the
mood, especially the hilarious ones. The graphics look so well with the unreal
engine and the soft lighting made things ten times even better too. Scripts
containing past iconic lines from past games was a nice touch as well
especially Okita’s “a mamaiya~ taunt” carried over from Yakuza 1. The music was
gold star too – especially the unique combat theme that you can only hear in
Ishin.
But there’s no such thing as a
perfect game. There will still be flaws and I’m willing enough to point out,
especially for those looking forward to the game. Combat encounters are gonna
be a hassle; given the layout of the map and all its blind corners, especially
in early game. If you’re the type gunning for just the main story, the
consistent encounters are a mood breaker. Working with Legend difficulty and
getting pinned on an enemy’s chain combo can immediately deplete your HP bar is
both a challenge and an annoyance.
That one raid battle on chapter 4 was
annoying as hell where if you die, you have to start from the beginning;
checkpoints would’ve been considerate enough to not kill the mood of
progression on multi-stage story battles such as this. And maybe it’s only on
my playthrough and my lack of a “substory finder” item, but randomly
encountering substories in the middle of my main campaign too was breaking my
pace.
I get the point of substories being random encounters while you’re in the
open world but some of them get triggered without proper heads up, it gives me
more reasons to not do the substories especially when I’m invested on another
one. On top of the fighting styles being more fluid if you have played the Japanese
only title on the PS3, there’s literally nothing new that is being added to the
table other than visual upgrades and accessibility on next-gen consoles.
Amidst all that is listed, it all
boils down to that one question: SHOULD I GET LIKE A DRAGON: ISHIN? No doubt,
the answer is YES. It’s fun, it’s entertaining, it’s jam packed, and the story
doesn’t feel like a bore to watch through. Either you’re a RGG Completionist
that wants all next gen ported titles or need your Kiryu Fix, or you’re after
that steamy hot passionate man’s battle, there’s a little something for
everyone.
For a complete guide to the Trooper Card Guide please visit the link below:
Trooper Card Abilities and Squad Formations: Turn the Battle in Your Favor in Like a Dragon: Ishin! - EXOSIA Project
Product Information:
Title | Like a Dragon: Ishin! |
Release Date | 2/22/2023 (Wed) |
Platform | PlayStation®5 / PlayStation®4 / Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One / Windows / Steam *Only digital versions of the Standard Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition will be released on the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Steam. |
Language | Subtitle: English / Voice: Japanese |
Website | https://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/Ishin_kiwami/asia_en/ |
Copyright | ⒸSEGA |
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