We're all familiar with the Yakuza series and how wonderful it is to explore Japanese streets and cities with their sparkling lights everywhere, banners, neon signs, and other cheerful elements, not to mention the Japanese culture scattered throughout. In Like a Dragon: Ishin, the game saw magic of a different kind. Magic coming from the 19th century to show us a remake of the title we first saw in 2014 under the Japanese title Ryu Ga Gotoku.

As you have read, dear reader, the title is not new at all. You might think at first glance that Like a Dragon: Isin, specifically the word Ishin, is some kind of sequel, but this is wrong because it is a remake that was made entirely on the Unreal Engine 4 engine published by Sega. Of course, let's start with the most important sections of our review today.

In the Bakumatsu era, the blade of justice appears

The Bakumatsu era primarily depicts the period 1853–1867 AD, but our game is specifically set in the year 1860 in the city of Kyoto. No, I mean "Kyo," yes, that's our fictional city, and it's actually a depiction of the real Japanese city during that period. Our hero, the fighter Sakamoto Ryoma, one of the most skilled samurai of the era, seeks to change the course of Japanese history.

I met some truly influential characters in the game, and they truly set the story in motion. At first, it might seem like a classic or standard story, but the lesson lies in its events and how this fearsome samurai deals with his problems, encounters, and even exploring the town's villages. Everything is there to create a thread that truly elevated the story for me.

I think I can initially hear the dialogue of Sakamoto's relatives, for example, his brother Hanpeita Takechi, who demonstrates his role very well after many years of separation from his brother. I managed to create a lot of parallel dialogue in each level, which makes listening to the characters in the world important for the development of the story, and I personally advise you not to interrupt for any reason.

I felt the weight of the written dialogue mixed with a wonderful Japanese style of diction and voice acting, as always. I didn't play the English dub because the skill of the Japanese voice acting didn't inspire me, and I reluctantly completed the game with the Japanese dialogue but with the English subtitles because the game unfortunately doesn't support Arabic, and for some, that's a big deal. Disappointing, especially with the start of Arabic support for major Japanese developers, like Kojima Productions.

I felt the moments of the samurai's downfall in many scenes, and how he regains his glory in battle again, the character's movement and his immediate transformation from an ordinary Japanese citizen living his day with a very limited income, barely enough to pay the rent, to then taking up sword and pistol to become the best, giving birth to "Kio." It was a wonderful shift, and it broke the permanent dramatic barrier that exists in Japanese games, especially samurai games, which deliberately take a dramatic story too seriously. This is what Like a Dragon: Ishin didn't do, and I loved it.

Unfortunately, I felt a bit disappointed with the dialogue and cinematics, which sometimes take too long to tell some of the story's events in one go. I was bored and about to skip the scenes, but unfortunately, the importance of the scenes made me wait for the dialogue scenes to last, which bothered me. I thought the cutscenes would be shorter in the remake, since it will be released worldwide, but it's still the same.

Good gameplay and combat dynamics in Like A Dragon: Ishin

I'm not sure where to begin, but the fighting style, which is clearly the most important aspect of the game, brought back the Ninja Gaiden feel. I don't mean to say the fighting is outdated or anything, quite the opposite. In any battle, I'd fight with any weapon I wanted, but some of the bosses required mainly the sword, which makes sense because in Like a Dragon: Ishin, we're playing samurai. In enemy fights, I can play with just a gun, a gun and a sword, or just a sword, and I can use both until I show my fist.

The enemies here best capture the folkloric atmosphere of ancient villages. As soon as I enter a tavern, for example, I see these scoundrels attacking me one by one. It's not an easy sword fight; on the contrary, it requires some practice at first to get used to the same movement throughout the fight, but don't let it make you anxious. In just four hours, you can start adapting to the game's combat without any major problems, even if you're not used to it, of course. The difficulty modes are effective, and you can play on easy mode when conditions are bad.

I found the fighting style somewhat limited. The skill tree in Like a Dragon: Isin was easy to unlock, even without focusing on unlocking them. As a result, I felt cramped in combat, using similar movesets, and I didn't notice the thrilling difference in adding new moves, and the battles didn't feel rewarding. Unfortunately, I was just walking around and got into a few fights in a short amount of time, unintentionally affecting my health and overall combat balance.

The game's side missions are truly classic. I expected high-quality missions, especially since the game costs around $ 60. It's just chopping down trees, catching fish, and eliminating the same enemies in the alleys, with some bosses less powerful than the main ones. The missions were good at first, but I quickly got bored, and they're a good source of money that I had no problem collecting.

A magical world with minimal possessions

I simply wandered around to admire the magic in the architectural artifacts and Japanese calligraphy around the Japanese city of Kyo. The game's graphics were very cool. The sunlight reflections, especially in the morning, were great. It gets a bit dark at night, which evokes the spirit of ancient Japanese nights.

The game ran smoothly, and I didn't encounter any issues because it requires a GTX 960 card and a third-generation Core i5 processor, which is currently considered a low requirement. Incidentally, I ran the game on an RTX 3060 card at 1080p resolution for the most balanced and smooth experience with an eleventh-generation i5 processor and a total of 16GB of RAM.

Positives

Negatives

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