

Summon a tiger to maul your foes, shove pickled plums down your enemies’ throats, and wield a whole cannon to blow down opponents. It wouldn’t be an Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio title without epically absurd heat actions.

And when you’re feeling extra brutal, smash some skulls with your bare fists using the Brawler style.īut that’s not all. Better yet, wield both a gun and sword and enter a fury with the Wild Dancer style. In Like a Dragon: Ishin!, you can slash through foes with a lethal blade using the Swordsman style or sharpshoot your enemies with a revolver using the Gunman style.
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These new character dynamics are as thrilling as they are unexpected, with a series of mind-blowing twists and turns in a story only Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio can tell.įour Killer Combat Styles and Riveting Heat Actions Goro Majima and other Yakuza celebrities join Ryoma as friends and foes in this fictional world that trades the flashy streets of Tokyo for the chaotic bustle of 1860s Kyo. In Like a Dragon: Ishin!, Kiryu is cast as Sakamoto Ryoma and brings the rest of his crew along too. Fans will recognize our protagonist as Kazuma Kiryu from earlier entries in the franchise. Like a Dragon: Ishin brings in familiar faces to tell this epic historical tale. Our hero, Sakamoto Ryoma, is a true historical figure largely credited with overthrowing the shogunate and taking Japan into a radical reformation. While other games tell earlier stories in Japanese history, Like a Dragon: Ishin! lets you experience the story of how the iconic samurai era vanished. Like a Dragon: Ishin! is an action- adventure historical thriller set uniquely in 1860s Kyo, a fictionalized version of Kyoto. Since so much of the game's presentation has been upgraded for the remake, it's a shame that the combat fluidity of recent titles didn't make it in.A Hero of Japanese History Brings About the Samurai’s End It completely ruins the flow and leaves Ryōma wide open to enemy attacks. In Ishin!, Ryōma has to stop attacking, pause, and then proceed to change styles. In other Yakuza games, I could switch between styles seamlessly mid-combo. However, the biggest issue with Like a Dragon: Ishin!'s combat is how stiff it feels. The variety keeps fights from growing stale. Want to pick off enemies from afar? That's what the Gunslinger style is for. Need to handle multiple opponents at once? The Wild Dancer style has you covered. But what if you need to dispatch a particularly troublesome enemy? Use the Swordsman style. In brawler style, Ryōma can pick up items to either smash or throw at opponents. Like a Dragon: Ishin! features various fighting styles based on Ryōma's weapons - the classic samurai sword, a revolver, and his fists. Kyo bursts with bizarre and relatable diversions that'll keep you entertained for hours and make the city feel like a real, lived-in place. You can also sample ridiculous mini-games that include karaoke, fan dancing, chicken racing, and even cutting cannon balls in half.

Other side stories include Ryōma dozing off to a chatterbox who talks his ears off about their life story and then indignantly quizzes him on. He balances this double life while on the trail of Yoshida's killer, which leads to incredibly tense moments throughout the story where his cover is almost blown.Įnjoy delightfully anachronistic karaoke, alongside other ridiculous mini-games. By day, Ryōma's forced to uphold the status quo. There, Ryōma changes his name to Saitō Hajime (another nod to a historical figure) and joins a new clan of samurai called the Shinsengumi, which acts as the city's police force and reinforces its rigid social order. Afterward, Ryōma vows to track his killer down and his investigation leads him to the capital city of Kyo. However, out of nowhere, his father figure, Yoshida Toyo, gets murdered in cold blood. As loose historical fiction, the game masterfully blends fictional flourishes with actual people like Ryōma.īristling against the deeply-entrenched hierarchies of the day, Ryōma begins the game by joining the Tosa Loyalist Party to fight for a more egalitarian Japan. Like a Dragon: Ishin! follows a young samurai named Sakamoto Ryōma, based on the real-life person who lived during Japan's Bakumatsu era - a pivotal time in the mid-1800s when the ruling shogunate crumbled ahead of the Meiji Restoration. This 1866 picture, taken in Nagasaki, depicts samurai Sakamoto Ryōma, on whose life Like a Dragon: Ishin! is based.
