A new trailer for Like a Dragon: Ishin is focused on the game's diverse combat options, showcasing the variety of weapons and over-the-top fighting moves that can be executed. For the unintiated, this is a remake of the spin-off from 2014, bringing Like a Dragon: Ishin to the west for the very first time. It features many familiar faces from the franchise re-imagined in a setting from the 1800s during the Bakamatsu era. From there, players embody the role of the samurai Sakamoto Ryoma, who is visually based on Kiryu Kazuma and is searching for his father figure's killer.
During Ishin's original release, the Like a Dragon series was continuing to build upon on its third-person action combat. These two spin-offs games, Like a Dragon: Ishin and its predecessor Like a Dragon: Kenzan, introduced a combat system with multiple fighting styles, which would go on to refined further in games down the road like Yakuza 0 and the Judgment subseries. This new trailer for Ishin focuses on the primary fighting styles that players will be accustomed to in this game, along with some of the over-the-top combat options.
The trailer kicks off with a brief overview of the styles that will be utilized in Like a Dragon: Ishin, the first being the Swordsman style. As it suggests, the style uses Ryoma's katana to chain together a series of attacks, using both his hands to hold his sword to attack. There are also certain heat actions that can only be used in this style, such as Ryoma stabbing his foe in the stomach before tossing them away. The second style is the Gunman style, where Ryoma pulls out a revolver to ventilate his opponents in a variety of stylish ways.
The third style forgoes the weapons, with Ryoma fighting with his fists in the Brawler style. This is the most similar to Kiryu's fighting style in the mainline games, with classic moves like the Tiger Drop being usable in this style. The last style is known as Wild Dancer, where Ryoma has his revolver in one hand and his katana in the other while fighting. This unorthodox style is very flashy, where the player utilizes a combination of sword strikes and gunfire to defeat their enemies or execute impressive heat actions.
The trailer continues to show various moves that can be pulled off, making for a very expressive and free-flowing combat system in Ishin. This includes moves that show Ryoma seamlessly moving from one enemy to the next in the Swordsman style, or lining up several shots on enemies in the Gunman style. It's likely if a fan enjoyed the amount of combat options provided in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, this game will be a return to familiarity.
Like a Dragon: Ishin releases February 21, 2023 for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
