Yakuza games are no strangers to different fighting styles, and fans know that they are going to need all the skills they can get. As the game progresses, the fights become more and more difficult. All Yakuza games have a lot of combat in them, and Like A Dragon: Ishin is no exception. The story and the fights are intertwined and one cannot move forward with being good at just one or the other.
There are four fighting styles in Like A Dragon: Ishin and each of them comes with its strengths and weaknesses, but in the end, it all comes down to which style the gamer feels they are best at, or simply enjoys more. As the player progresses in each style, they get orbs that they can use to upgrade their skills with. This mechanic cannot be avoided, because after some level, the enemies become almost unbeatable if one decides to go for a “casual” fighting style.
4 Wild Dancer
A lot of new players will go straight for the Wild Dancer fighting style, since it combines the Swordsman and Gunman styles. The player has both weapons in hand while fighting and can use either of them or a combination to achieve a lot of damage, and have a variety of moves to choose from. The attacks are quite fast, so it is also good for gamers who don’t exactly love grinding, However, it has quite a big drawback: dodging and defending suffer a lot more than the other fighting styles.
On the other hand, Wild Dancer has one amazing feature when the player has to fight multiple enemies at once. They can do a type of spinning attack that deflects bullets from the enemies with the sword. When upgrading, the player will find the “The Bloody Wheel” move quite impressive, as it throws the gun in the sky and then cuts down the enemy. Also, the “Essence of Winged Fight” is an awe-inspiring move that will allow the player to deal with bosses much easier.
3 Brawler
For gamers that prefer hand-to-hand combat, Brawler style might be just up their alley. Reminiscent of the classic fights in games, Brawler allows the player to get up close and personal with their opponents. It features some very impressive “heat” finisher moves that feel particularly satisfying. In the Brawler style, the player can do a lot of combo moves that produce different damage options. They can also use the “grab” option to throw the enemies around, and pick furniture from the street to use as weapons.
One of the best things that this fighting style provides is the ability to dodge and counterattack, but it is not that great when it comes to how much damage the player can do, and it can get tiring in battles with multiple enemies. While upgrading, one of the most useful skills would be to unlock “Asura Spirit,” which lets the gamer expend their Heat Gauge to recover their health – something that Brawler style players will need a lot.
2 Gunman
This is a great fighting style for gamers who love ranged combat. Gunman allows the player to (obviously) shoot their enemies while keeping their distance, so they don’t have to continually dodge attacks. Plus, enemies are not very good at dodging bullets. Thankfully, bullets are infinite, so the player doesn’t have to worry about their rounds. They can spare a few shots that go astray while trying to shoot an enemy.
Another special feature of the Gunman fighting style is different kinds of bullets, like flame and lighting rounds, which can cause a lot more damage to the enemies than normal ones and also have the ability to stun them. With one of the best upgrades, the player can activate “Dragonfire Volley,” which can shoot most of the enemies in a room very fast, thus making it ideal for battles with multiple opponents.
1 Swordsman
For gamers that are not big fans of grinding, Swordsman fighting style is for them. The player uses a single sword, which causes more damage than the Brawler or Gunman style, so the time that they spend fighting is significantly reduced. The Swordsman also allows close combat, so if a player likes this fighting style but doesn’t want to just have their bare hands to fight, this is a perfect alternative. There are a lot of combinations of strong and light attacks, plus, the “heat” finisher moves are very impressive, though a bit more classic in terms of visual innovation.
A vital feature of the Swordsman style is that the player can defend against most attacks from enemy weapons, which is highly useful, considering that most enemies will also be using a sword against them. Also, with Swordsman fighting style, the upgrades available help to level up quite fast and fight higher-level enemies in less time than with the other fighting styles. For example, in the last upgrade, players can get “Essence Of Mincemeat.” This technique decimates an enemy with a broken guard, and it is a seriously useful skill in boss fights. Another good upgrade is the “Leaping Maelstorm” which is useful in multiple-enemy battles, as it uses the first enemy as a stepping stone, so the player can slash the next two opponents.