It’s almost as if they decided to put on a play retelling historical events but forgot to practice how their roles acted. ![]() In an interesting twist, every main character looks and acts like the main cast of the Yakuza series. ![]() Yes, believe it or not, Like a Dragon: Ishin Is based on the very real period of political turmoil known as the Bakumatsu, and all the characters draw their names and roles from the prominent figures of that era. The game knows how to pull you in and keep you hooked every step of the way, but more importantly, Ishindemonstrates that even when the writers have to stick to historical events, they are more than capable of turning them into a thoroughly Yakuza-like adventure (in this case, a samurai western). Given I could also add various modifiers to weapons and armor, I ended up spending more time on crafting than I expected and after finalizing a powerful loadout, I was rolling enemies that felt like they had bloated HP pools previously in a matter of a few hits which was satisfying.True to form, Like a Dragon Ishin’s narrative is its biggest strength. As equipment didn’t mean very much in the previous action combat Like a Dragon games, it was nice to see it making a big impact in this entry especially since most of the rewards from doing side content was material for crafting. ![]() There was also a crafting system to forge new equipment like armor and weapons and given that the stat bonuses from equipment meant I was dealing much more effectively in combat, I was incentivized to hunt down various ingredients for forging and upgrading my equipment. As the skill trees also included passive buffs that would benefit all stances, it encouraged me to use all the stances equally which kept the combat feeling fresh from beginning to end. My favorite stance of the bunch was wielding both a katana and a gun at the same time which allowed me to deftly dodge out of the way of incoming attacks while twirling around swinging my sword in wide arcs and unleashing a barrage of bullets at the same time.Įach of the stances leveled up independently of each other and I was able to increase the attack power and learn new skills. Each stance excels in different areas where the gun is great for getting easy damage from afar, the katana is excellent in one on one fights. There are four different stances using variations of katana, gun and barehanded. In terms of combat, this closely resembles the more action focused titles instead of the turned based RPG combat of the latest entry. So while there were some great moments sprinkled throughout the experience like epic clashes against rivals, I never felt quite as emotionally invested in the unfolding events as I have in the previous titles like zero and seven. There are many characters introduced throughout the story and oftentimes, not much is done with those individuals and some which I felt were pretty important were killed off-screen in unceremonious ways. However, I did get a kick out of Ryoma/Kiryu taking up the mantle of Saito and Majima as Soujiro, two of my favorite characters from the Kenshin anime series.Īs is tradition, there are many moments of long exposition and some incredibly climatic moments but overall, I felt the overarching story to be one of the weaker aspects of the game due to some odd storytelling/pacing decisions. ![]() As I am by no means a Japanese history buff and my knowledge of the infamous “Shinsengumi” comes entirely from the classic anime series “Rurouni Kenshin”, there isn’t much I can say in regards to how fitting the casting choices are. The story presented in Ishin is interesting in that it’s loosely based on historical characters and events and as familiar characters from the the series reprise various roles in the game, I was always looking forward to new character introductions to see who would be playing who. However, his hopes for the future are burnt to ashes when his adopted father is assassinated and vows revenge against the assassin who killed the man he most respected in the world. With the guidance of his adopted father Yoshida and sworn brother Takechi, Ryoma takes up the fight to abolish the caste system once and for all. Returning home to Tosa after honing his swordsmanship skills in Edo, Sakamoto Ryoma is quickly reminded of the cruelty of the caste system that oppresses his homeland. Let’s give one of the most dangerous man in the world a katana and a gun, how much damage can he possibly do? MSRP: $59.99
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |