Like a Dragon: Ishin is a familiar experience to RGG fans like myself, but definitely feels different enough to warrant its existence. Many of the pieces are there -- substories, minigames, goofy ass combat, and a killer main plot. There's a couple things that I think set Ishin apart, though.
The most obvious is the setting. I thought it was awesome to see this take on 19th century Japan, especially juxtaposed with all the wackiness of a Like a Dragon entry. The story it follows is one about incredible people fighting hard for the sake of their home, which is easy to get behind. I'll admit I thought it had a slow start, but I was captivated by the back half.
Ishin returns to real time action combat, with the notable twist of allowing you to equip troopers for your different battle styles which grant both passive effects and abilities. I thought this was a nice way to keep the combat fun, but unfortunately I only encountered a select few choices that were just way more viable than the rest so there wasn't a ton of variety. The game also tends to make its drawn-out combat sections a little too drawn out, throwing traps, bosses, and hordes at you without giving hardly a break.
I may just be fatigued on the Like a Dragon formula, but the innovations that are here to me don't heighten this game to the likes of Y0 or YK2. There's many things in Ishin that just feel way more tedious than they need to, and it feels like RGG did not do too much beyond reskinning one of the old Yakuza titles with a handful of new mechanics. Honestly, with some quality of life tweaks, overall less tedium, and a slightly fresher coat of paint, this could have been an instant classic. Instead, it joins the "good but overall unimpressive" camp of RGG titles.
The most obvious is the setting. I thought it was awesome to see this take on 19th century Japan, especially juxtaposed with all the wackiness of a Like a Dragon entry. The story it follows is one about incredible people fighting hard for the sake of their home, which is easy to get behind. I'll admit I thought it had a slow start, but I was captivated by the back half.
Ishin returns to real time action combat, with the notable twist of allowing you to equip troopers for your different battle styles which grant both passive effects and abilities. I thought this was a nice way to keep the combat fun, but unfortunately I only encountered a select few choices that were just way more viable than the rest so there wasn't a ton of variety. The game also tends to make its drawn-out combat sections a little too drawn out, throwing traps, bosses, and hordes at you without giving hardly a break.
I may just be fatigued on the Like a Dragon formula, but the innovations that are here to me don't heighten this game to the likes of Y0 or YK2. There's many things in Ishin that just feel way more tedious than they need to, and it feels like RGG did not do too much beyond reskinning one of the old Yakuza titles with a handful of new mechanics. Honestly, with some quality of life tweaks, overall less tedium, and a slightly fresher coat of paint, this could have been an instant classic. Instead, it joins the "good but overall unimpressive" camp of RGG titles.