The Like a Dragon series (formerly the Yakuza series) is within a strange place at the moment – it’s simultaneously looking both forwards and backwards. The most recent mainline game boldy switched the longtime protagonist and combat system, but developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has since created multiple opportunities by itself to backtrack on those big moves, and keep tinkering away at a formula that's now almost 20 years old. Like A Dragon: Ishin! is one of them.
A remake of a 2023 spinoff in the mainline Yakuza series, Ishin! is 1 of 2 series entries that reimagines the stories of real historical figures from Japan’s past. Yakuza series characters essentially serve as actors, playing roles in these stories that suit their established demeanours. Having never been translated for English-speaking territories until now, the end product seems like uncovering a lost window in to the past – not only to its centuries-old historical setting and subject matter, but to a new amount of time in a brief history of the series itself.
It certainly seems like a Yakuza game from Ten years ago (Ishin! was originally released between Yakuza 5 and Yakuza 0), especially if your mind includes a reference based on how the recent Yakuza 7: Just like a Dragon and spin-off Lost Judgement look and feel. As a result, Ishin! doesn’t feel as stylish or sophisticated in how it presents its story and action by comparison.
This isn’t the type of remake that reexamines its own past. It’s a strict, faithful, like-for-like recreation of the game just one console generation old (said as someone who fumbled through the Japanese version of Ishin!). It could too be classified as a remaster, despite being reconstructed in a different engine. Using the broader context into account, Like A Dragon: Ishin! may be the studio’s first attempt for developing a game inside a new engine: Unreal Engine 4, as opposed to its in-house Dragon Engine. Perhaps Ishin! is an exercise in stepping back and securing fundamentals once more, before hopefully leaping further forward the next time.
Despite its moderately old-fashioned nature (and a few technical quirks), Like A Dragon: Ishin! still manages to leave a strong impression simply because of the inherent life blood of the series, which still shines through brightly. The mix of serious, high-stakes melodrama – a plot filled with double-crosses, macho characters, and highly political themes – completely draws you in. Meanwhile, the substories and mini-games are either surreal, goofy as hell, or just exceedingly heartfelt and sentimental – and rip you out. But the bizarre and clearly intentional juxtaposition is, and continues to be, strangely and irresistibly charming (when you are beyond the shock of the initial whiplash). The historical setting of Ishin doesn’t change that.
It’s incredibly nice to determine old faces from the mainline series again in Ishin!. Characters both alive and dead within the series canon return in completely new roles that reimagine their stories in new situations. It’s an alternate universe where bromances are rekindled again for the first time, and past rivals instantly hit it off as allies. Ishin! was already originally a remix of Yakuza in itself, in ways.
Yakuza series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu assumes the role of Sakamoto Ryōma in Ishin, who finds himself taking the be seduced by the death of his mentor (that ought to familiar), and takes on a new identity to be able to find the real killer. Stoic and honourable as always, he finds himself navigating a really tumultuous amount of time in Japanese history, where the country is wrestling with its traditionalist, isolationist, and xenophobic identity. Stoic and honourable as always, Ryōma barely threads the needle because he tries to play both sides, in an effort to attain his own personal goals and unravel a significantly, bigger conspiracy.
Ryōma, obviously, also finds himself getting distracted by the most ridiculous of situations and hobbies along the way – dancing, singing, gambling, and befriending various quirky characters away from main plot, indulging their bizarre requests and conundrums. For all its shortcomings, it’s these aspects, swallowed as one enormous, lumpy pill, which makes the series what it's: incredible. An exceedingly sharp and entertaining English localisation helps that pill drop very well, too.
Like A Dragon: Ishin! returns to the real-time combat of the series, with Ryōma able to utilise four different fighting styles: Brawler, Swordsman, Gunslinger, and Wild Dancer – the second a dual-wield combination of sword and gunplay. But with the focus of the combat system so scattered across three completely different kinds of weapons (with assorted degrees of lethality), it can seem like an unusual system, especially given the RPG-like damage and weapon crafting system that it’s integrated with, on top of a card-based support system of that provides passive and active bonuses.
Fighting can seem to be inconsistent and unsatisfying for long stretches as a result. Unarmed brawling never feels like the best option to make use of, given its low damage output, compared to guns and bladed weapons. Additionally, the unarmed repertoire certainly isn’t as robust as it is within the mainline series – it’s light on its selection of context-specific ‘Heat’ special abilities that always allow it to be so exciting, and the game environments don’t provide nearly enough opportunities for environmental weaponry, or even the general chaos of the street brawl.
The Swordsman and Wild Dancer styles would be the real stars (relying solely on a gun inside a martial arts game is really as uninteresting because it sounds), but even they've their foibles. Constantly having to acquire or craft new and swords to maintain enemies that grow increasingly hardier, (on top of earning and spending experience points to improve your base damage in any one particular fighting style) can definitely douse your momentum in the game. This is also true within the game’s early chapters, where it can seem like you’re merely scratching the right path to victory. Things get much more enjoyable (and logical) when you reach a certain electricity, however the product is unnecessary and tiresome busywork in a game that’s filled with far more entertaining busywork.
Aside from self-improvement, Ishin!, like a few of the other modern Yakuza games, puts an emphasis on pressing Ryōma’s relationship with the town of Kyo and its people in most of the optional substories and mini-games. The embodiment of Kiryu in Ryōma once more proves himself to be probably the most virtuous guy in the world to children, seniors, and animals, in addition to a savant at karaoke, buyo dancing, and becoming an udon chef.
One of the larger mini-games is really a farming simulation called ‘Another Life’, which realises the father-daughter relationship between Yakuza’s Kiryu and also the orphan Haruka in a situation where they tend to a country house together. Growing vegetables, cooking meals, increasing the home, and generally living self-sustainably is the overall arc here, and though it’s much more of a passive obligation, it certainly fulfils a nice fantasy where the two characters can easily enjoy life together (instead of the endless turmoil of the main series). I simply think it’s neat.
For all the game’s foibles, that largely stem from a slightly dated form of the series recipe, as well as some ideas that perhaps never really quite worked, Like A Dragon: Ishin! Is still an enjoyable Yakuza game filled with stories and activities, also it continues to have a firm grip on the feeling of drama and comedy that fuel its enduring soul. That soul is unique, charming, and special, and transcends setting, time, and rough edges alike.
Four stars: ★★★★
Like A Dragon: Ishin!
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: 22 February 2023
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The PS5 version of Like A Dragon: Ishin! was provided and played for that purpose of this review. GamesHub has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content. GamesHub may earn a small percentage of commission for products purchased via affiliate links.
