YMMV / Like a Dragon: Ishin!

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Yakuza series
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Like a Dragon series
Yakuza: Like a Dragon | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Judgment series
Judgment | Lost Judgment
Other Spin-Offs
Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! | Yakuza: Dead Souls | Like a Dragon: Ishin! | Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

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• Awesome Music: Shares a page with the rest of the series here.
• Best Boss Ever: The Final Boss of the game, Takechi Hanpeita, is widely regarded as one of, if not the best bosses in the game, if not the entire series, up there with the likes of Kuwana or Mine. Takechi is not only a very formidable opponent but he's also got plenty of Ryoma's moves (i.e., his own take on Wild Dancer) that he'll use against you with extreme prejudice, one of the most serene backdrops for a finale in the series (especially once you reach the third phase), and a killer soundtrack all throughout the fight.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: When Takechi first reveals himself to be the other Ryoma Sakamoto, he emerges from the shadows with long hair that has inexplicably turned white. Yet later, when you confront him in the final chapter, his hair is back to its normal color and length. This is not commented on or brought up again by anyone in the game, nor is any explanation given for why this happened. This is present in both the original and the remake, with the only possible explanation (that is still not ever discussed in the game proper) being that he was Prematurely Grey-Haired, but his excitement to face his old friend restored his youth and vigor.
• Even Better Sequel: While Kenzan was already a well-done game, it was a bit rough around the edges due to being the birth of the modern-day format the series is known for today. Ishin, meanwhile, has much better graphics, a more fluid combo system, a larger open world with more sidequests and characters, a deeper weapon system, and a more epic story.
• Fan Nickname: Oftentimes referred to as Yakuza Ishin by English-speaking fans, in a similar vein as its predecessor. Became somewhat moot due to the remake having basically the same exact title and Sega dropping the "Yakuza" moniker in 2022.
• Funny Moments:
  • Saigo's introduction in the bathhouse. Full-Frontal Assault is one thing, but considering how the man is portrayed by Ryuji Goda, he makes a hilarious first impression by complaining about the water being too hot after he lets himself in, to the Bathkeeper's chagrin.
    • The QTE in Saigo's boss fight. Yes, you know the one. A little less so in the Remake since it's censored some more to cover up their manhoods (or more depending on how you look at it), but still.
    • As if that wasn't enough, your reward for the ensuing boss fight is a loincloth! That's right, you get to steal Goda's pants by walloping him this time around.
  • In Chapter 7, Ryoma goes around the barracks looking for ways to get an audience with Chief Kondo. When Ito and Hijikata prove to be less than helpful, he goes to Okita... who is currently in the middle of strip mahjong with Takeda and two poor Mooks in nothing but their fundoshi.
  • Late in the game, Ryoma gets really drunk, and drags along Katsura and Saigo on a bar crawl. This somehow dissolves a centuries-long rivalry between the two factions and they become allies.
    Kondo: "Man, who woulda thought all it took to bury a generational grudge was a night out with the lads?"
  • Okita's idea for adding something to Kondo's letter to the Bakufu: pay the Shinsengumi captains a huge sum of money so they can live like kings for the rest of their lives.
  • If you take a detour on your date with Oryo and bring her to the Shinsengumi barracks, you'll get a unique encounter where the captains will hang out with her while Ryoma is free to navigate the map alone. The guys, especially Okita, will harangue you for bringing a date to such a morbid location and suggest you take her elsewhere.
• Game-Breaker:
  • Trooper Cards in the original game were restricted to the Battle Dungeons, but in the remake you can now take these powerful special attacks and abilities with you into the main story. While the games's difficulty was rebalanced with them in mind, there are still certain combinations of troopers than can make mincemeat of even Legend and Ishin! difficulty under the right circumstances.
  • Gunman Style. Simply pulling out your revolver and letting loose with the Bottomless Magazines can utterly buzzsaw enemies down in seconds, and the only ammo limits you have are for your special attacks. In theory, it's supposed to be a Death of a Thousand Cuts as a weaker choice to Swordsman or Wild Dancer, but in practice, it trumps both styles in terms of raw damage-per-second and efficiency beyond its piss-poor evasion. The 2023 Kiwami remake hit it with a nerf of firing slower while moving so it's not quite as abusable, but leveling and gearing it appropriately combined with the right Trooper cards can kill entire boss health bars per shot even on Legend mode.
  • The Another Life Side Mode is the money-making precursor to "Real Estate Royale" and "Cabaret Club" in Yakuza 0. While it takes time to build up the farmhouse in size and resources, the end result is a never-ending source of risk-free money you can spend on plenty of combat essentials like healing items and gear crafting to make the rest of the game easier to complete. Grow tons of vegetables, then sell them with the Trade Ledger over and over again to make tons of Ryo. The Ledger repeats trade requests after each cycle, and you get more money for each new cycle as well.
  • The Okanehira and to a lesser extent the Shiranui are this, as they carry the fire damage effect which has a chance to burn the enemy and stun them for several seconds at a time on hit, even the main boss fights, allowing one to completely trivialize the game by simply mashing light attacks into everything and watching them burn. They're also incredibly useful against armored enemies, as they carry the added effect of melting through their armor like butter (no pun intended).
  • In lieu of the Tiger Drop (which is still decently effective, but nowhere near as damaging, especially in the latter part of the game — see Low-Tier Letdown below), the Swordsman's Lightning's Glory (same input as the TD) is your go-to counter owing not only to its lightning-fast speed, but also being able to potentially hit multiple enemies at once. Pair it with the above-mentioned Shiranui or Okanehira and you'll be shredding through the game's Bandit dungeons before you know it.
• Goddamned Bats:
  • Swordsman enemies that carry an iaido stance or a side-hand stance, and spear users. The former are vulnerable if they miss their strike, but come out so fast that it's nearly impossible to hope to guard against them if they swing first. Side-hands are almost universally knock-down attackers that break guards and can potentially hit you right after you get back up. And the latter can bypass your guard with leg stabs and have a very nasty habit of poking you from just off-camera the moment you finish wailing on another enemy. A fight mixing these three, or even groups of all iaido or spear users, suddenly has a very high chance of you taking damage unless you abuse Gunman or the Wild Dancer evasion with impunity. You also can't tell what swordsmen will use iaido style as they switch to it after a battle transition, and the only sign of spear enemies is those that don't have a sword at their waist, which can also be a sign of gunmen too. And for one extra kick in the shin, the Kiwami remake made all enemies more aggressive; if you're too close to an iaido enemy at the start of a fight, you're probably taking a hit unless you hold guard before the fight begins.
  • Ninjas are fast-moving enemies with an evasion ability that gives them lengthy invulnerability, and they like to use it continuously. They also like to throw knives that automatically stun on a hit, and spin behind you to stab you from behind. And they're almost always encountered in groups.
• Good Bad Bugs: There was a glitch in the remake's chicken race mini game that essentially made it so that you can never lose. After placing all the bets you can, then selecting the option to exit the races, there was a brief window where you could still move about the menu to start the race. What this did was refund you the tickets bet on the race, but without cancelling the bets themselves. As long as you were quick enough to place the bets on every possible outcome of the 5-exacta, you were guaranteed all profits at no risk or even cost. It was patched pretty quickly, however.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Virtually everything about the Another Life section is heartwarming, as Ryoma takes over a house in the country in order to save an orphan teenage girl from being evicted from her family home after her parents left it badly in debt. The utter relief she has when Ryoma becomes her guardian and the way the two interact after that is sweet enough to cause diabetes.
  • The final part of the game: Despite Takechi killing Pops and effectively ruined Ryoma’s life, the latter ultimately decides to forgive him and chooses to continue loving his brother despite it all.
• Ho Yay: The whole bathhouse battle, particularly the QTE where Ryoma and Kichinosuke grapple each other by the waist and then Ryoma spanks him.
• Low-Tier Letdown: Despite having its own separate skill tree and being significantly more fleshed out compared to the unarmed style in Kenzan, the "Brawler" style falls into this as you progress through the game. While other fighting styles can have their damage output be improved considerably through better equipment, of which the main story offers plenty as free drops after boss fights, the same cannot be said for the "Brawler" style. This leaves it to be outclassed the further into the game you get, especially in terms of HEAT actions. Just about the most use you'll get out of it is relying entirely on the ever iconic Tiger Drop. The unique parry can also come in handy, but it's generally too risky against the blades and bullets you'll constantly be fighting unless you can acquire equipment that can allow you to block both weapon types when unarmed.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Kondo Isami is the cunning chief of the Shinsengumi. Planning have the Emperor of Japan and the country's capital move from Kyo to Edo by setting fire to Kyo so that the Tosa Loyalists have less power, Sakamoto Ryoma hears of his plans and rejects in taking part, after which Kondo baits him into fighting him by implying he may be his adoptive father's murderer. When Ryoma's impostor attempts to spark a civil war by taking advantage of the Satcho Alliance, after hearing a suggestion from the real Ryoma, Kondo writes a letter for the shogun containing his ideas for a Great Restoration, which he eventually receives, agrees to and accepts. When Kondo is fatally attacked by Loyalist Okada Izo in his party's plan to cause a civil war, Kondo initiates his "final move", which is to have his deputy chief Hijikata Toshizo host a meeting in the Shinsengumi, in which Ito Kashitaro, who is clearly a power-hungry traitor, outs himself by accidentally revealing he was aware that Kondo was murdered. After this, it is revealed that Kondo further outplayed Ito by having Todo Heisuke get close to Ito in order to find out what his true motivations are and who he is affiliated with, which ends up being Ryoma's impostor, who plans to meet with Saigo Kichinosuke and Katsura Kogoro, meaning that Ryoma and his allies know of all the players all thanks to Kondo's planning.
  • Takechi Hanpeita is the ambitious leader of the Tosa Loyalist Party, and adoptive brother of Sakamoto Ryoma. Originally planning to remove the class system in Tosa for the better, even having his adoptive father Yoshida Toyo assassinated, he eventually evolves his plan to reform Japan as a whole after teaming up with Tosa daimyo Yamauchi Yodo. He fakes his death and takes Sakamoto Ryoma's name in order to conspire with the leaders of the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Loyalists so that he can use them to start an anti-Bakufu civil war. When Ryoma interrupts his plan by having the shogun initiate the Great Restoration, Takechi orders the Shinsengumi to light the city of Kyo ablaze to provide a distraction while his fellow Tosa loyalist Okada Izo murders the Emperor and frames Shinsengumi chief Kondo Isami for it, in hopes of it igniting a war between the Bakufu and the Imperial Court. When Ryoma and his allies attempt to hold a meeting between the Satcho Alliance and "Sakamoto Ryoma" in order to bait him out, Takechi manages to see through this plan. Challenging him to one final duel in Tosa, Takechi is eventually defeated by Ryoma, who decides to spare him, which in turn leads to Takechi pulling a Heel–Face Turn, intending to fix his mistakes. After Yodo arrives and attempts to kill Ryoma whilst revealing his ultimate plans, Ryoma murders him and Takechi takes his name, working from behind the scenes to assist in Japan's rebirth.
• Older Than They Think: For most western fans, Yakuza 0 seemed to be the introduction of the Stance system that made it and Yakuza Kiwami stand out from the rest of the series. However, while Kenzan was the first game to really start a Stance system, Ishin was the one that actually produced the leveling system and proper stances that 0 would go on to refine to their fullest.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • The Trooper card system introduced in the remake is this, as it gives passive benefits and activatable special attacks that range from shooting fireballs to conjuring lightning that can completely decimate and trivialize certain combat encounters. While they're technically optional, what the game doesn't tell you is that the entire remake is balanced around them. Without them you deal absolutely pitiful damage and can't take a hit. Not to mention most of the major bosses receive their own special attacks that will easily one shot you if not dodged, unless you're equipped with Trooper cards.
  • Crafting in Ishin! Kiwami. Crafting upgrades for your gear is required in order to engage in the dungeons and arenas, as the stat upgrades you'll get from leveling up and the story-based drops are only really good for completing the main story, tying in with the Trooper card system being forced on the gameplay. Which is fine, except in addition to the game's increased difficulty making grinding the arenas for the harder to find materials excruciatingly painful, the original game's completely reasonable money costs have been increased to absolutely exorbitant levels to the point where you'll need several tens of thousands of ryo just to make everything in the game. Not to mention the absolutely asinine requirement of needing to level up the blacksmith in order to gain access to the final nodes of the game's upgrade paths to even get access to higher tier gear, when the only reasonable way to upgrade the blacksmith's level is to farm several more tens of thousands of ryo, to buy equipment, upgrade it to legendary rank and then donate it to the blacksmith, or just donating the junk equipment directly.
• Sequel Displacement: It is far better-known than Kenzan, to the point that a few journalists have referred to it as "the Yakuza game that America never got" without referencing its predecessor. Understandable, as Kenzan was launched extremely early in the series' run (only the third game overall, just to give an idea), almost a decade before it became popular outside Japan, while Ishin came right in between 5^note Which received such high demand for a localization that it received an English release over three years after it originally came out, digital-only and on the PS3 over two years into its successors' lifespan while still receiving strong critical reception to boot and 0^note Regarded by many as the best game in the series, and credited for drastically increasing the franchise's popularity overnight upon its Western release , both of which are widely said to be responsible for solidifying the growing worldwide interest in Yakuza as a whole. This was further exemplified by the announcement of a remake of Ishin to be released worldwide for eighth and ninth gen systems, but without any word on a Kenzan localization, merely suggesting that they'd be better off remaking the game entirely as well.
• Signature Scene:
  • Ask anyone what they know about Ishin, and there's a good chance they will mention the bathhouse battle. Even Kiwami references the fight with one of the Majima Everywhere encounters, having Kiryu looking at something called "Passionate Manly Bathouse Battle".
  • Alternatively, there's also the Final Boss fight against Takechi Hanpeita, widely regarded as one of the best final bosses in the franchise. Being accompanied by Hidenori Shoji's magnum opus in "Assassination of Bodhisattva" is the cherry on top.
• Strangled by the Red String: Ryoma's romance with Oryo fell under the criticism that most of their relationship development is offscreen, with Oryo already being in love with him by the time the events of the main storyline occur, giving them few chances to develop real chemistry before her feelings are revealed and they end up together. That she spends almost the entire game secretly spying on him also doesn't help matters. As interactions with her are relegated to intermittent cutscenes in the main story, it's much easier for a regular player to spend very little time with her, in contrast to characters in substories and bonds, which take up much more time and allow for a more organic, natural relationship progression. As a result, Ryoma tends to be shipped with just about anyone in the game but Oryo.
• Tainted by the Preview:
  • When the remake for Ishin was announced, some of the changes seen in the game received mixed reactions. One of which, was the announcement of Trooper Cards now can be used anywhere outside of the Battle Dungeon. Due to the over-the-top and powerful nature of some of the cards, some were worried that the remake's combat would be changed to be balanced around using them and that the over-the-top nature of them can detract from the story's serious setting. What doesn't help is that trailers showing bosses being able to use their own over-the-top attacks as well. Fortunately, the developers eventually announced the Trooper Cards can be turned off at any time during gameplay, although some bosses remain having their over-the-top attacks.
  • Another change that received a mixed response was the changes made to the cast to include characters from 0, 6 and Like a Dragon. Some think casting choices like replacing Hitoshi Kugihara with Joon-gi Han as the sadistic Yamazaki Susumu look incredibly out of place. However, the most infamous change was Takechi Hanpeita, originally played by and modeled after Katsunori Takahashi, being replaced by Shibusawa's actor, Hideo Nakano, in the remake. Some people took issue because Takechi is Ryoma's adoptive brother, which makes it incredibly jarring due to Nakano being more older-looking than Takahashi and being friendly with Ryoma who's played by Kiryu, a character that Shibusawa is incredibly hostile to. Another minor reason is that Takechi no longer being played by an original actor and making him a less unique antagonist.
• Tear Jerker: Several of the side stories are fairly heartbreaking, even for a drama-heavy series like Like a Dragon:
  • One substory has Ryoma entertain a famous artist for the night at the behest of a local, though he can't fathom why the man takes a liking to him. In the end, it's revealed that the artist's son was devastated by constant comparisons to his more talented father, and died by suicide some time ago. The artist muses that his son would be Ryoma's age, and thanks him for helping him have fun for the first time since his loss.
  • In another side story, Ryoma comes across an old couple being harassed by a samurai, with their dog barking at the man to try and scare him off. The samurai ends up killing the dog before Ryoma steps in and sends him packing, and the old man explains that the dog was one of the last reminders they had of their son, who also died when he ran afoul of a samurai years before (his wife has gone mute due to the trauma). The rest of the side story is Ryoma searching around for a cherry tree to bury the dog under, ultimately choosing the one at Haruka's house. As one final miracle, the seemingly dead tree blossoms one more time, which the couple takes to mean their dog and son are allowing them some closure so they can move on with their lives.
• That One Attack: The remake's contentious addition of the trooper card system also coincided with almost every major boss receiving some form of special move they use once they're in Heat Mode, all of which will one shot you on higher difficulties, not to mention you'll have to dodge them multiple times per fight on said higher difficulties due to the massive Fake Difficulty present, lest you watch all your progress completely disappear. By far the biggest offender is "Essence of Lightning's Spear" which is used by Sasaki Tadasaburo and Takechi Hanpeita in his second phase. While most of the other special moves can at least be easily avoided or blocked in Sword style to negate all damage, the same cannot be said for this move which is both completely unblockable and effectively unavoidable.
• That One Boss:
  • Both of the Brawler and Swordsman style's Teacher fights at the end of their questlines. All of your gear is stripped off of you for the fight, you can't style change for obvious reasons, and the only benefits you get whatsoever are what you've put into the respective style; if you rushed through the fight requirements to reach these points, you may potentially not even have a single one of their formerly-locked abilities to use yet. This is all combined with a pair of the nastiest non-postgame bosses in the series, who dodge and attack faster than you and can defeat you in a handful of blows while stunlocking you from being able to heal-mid fight. If you play on Legend or the remake's Ishin difficulties, this can potentially lead to a one-or-two-hit KO the instant you make a mistake.
  • The giant enemies present in the Sengoku raid and the Tosa raid are this. At a glance, they're simply an inexplicably upscaled version of the typical sledgehammer enemy present throughout the franchise. Then they shoot you with a hard to dodge fan of massively damaging arrows that knock you down, or stun you during the fight in the Tosa raid, potentially opening you up to a Cycle of Hurting from the giant themselves or their horde of enemies they're typically encountered with.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The aforementioned bathhouse battle receives censorship in the remake, with the "spanking" part being covered in a much thicker steam now to the point that it's barely visible, as well as the addition of a white flash when it occurs, completely obscuring the act and leaving it to the viewer's imagination. Needless to say, some are unhappy with the censorship.
• Unexpected Character: More under "guest star", but not a lot of people would have expected to see a VTuber like Nyatasha Nyanners as a Trooper card in the remake.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: This is the game that took Yakuza 5's engine and worked as the stopgap on the way to Yakuza 0, and it shows, as the more in-depth cutscenes were more detailed than ever, while the prefectures are quite well realized for their time in a way that stands apart from the main series cities.
• Woolseyism: According to Word of God, the reason there wasn't an English dub for the remake was because of translated lines being too long due to the game's heavy usage of Bakumatsu-era linguistics. They most certainly were not kidding. The final product's English subtitled script takes a lot of liberties in making it sound as natural as possible.

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