Like a Dragon: Ishin recently released to huge plaudits from the wider fan base of the franchise, with the remake being anticipated by Western audiences for close to a decade. To mark such a momentous release, the title is complete with swathes of brand-new content, a graphical overhaul, and a revamp of the game's original involved characters.
While the implementation of more contemporary characters within the story of Like a Dragon: Ishin is a great way to make the game more relatable to newer fans of the series, there are still quite a few massively important recent franchise characters that did not make the cut. In this way, any subsequent content for the IP such as a sequel to Ishin would be the perfet place to give these unused characters their time in the spotlight.
Returning Franchise Characters in Like a Dragon: Ishin
While the many characters that make up the narrative of Like a Dragon: Ishin borrow the voices and likenesses of many figures from the franchise's main games, their Ishin counterparts are otherwise completely unrelated to their original roles. With Ishin's characters bearing completely different names and with the game being set hundreds of years prior to the main Yakuza narrative, the familiar faces within Ishin at most simply just bear similar overall personalities to their original portrayals.
For example, the face and voice of longtime protagonist Kazuma Kiryu appears in Ishin as Sakamoto Ryoma, with the likes of Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, and Shun Akiyama also appearing in Ishin roles that generally reflect their presence in the franchise's main narrative. Many characters appear within Ishin from more recent games like Yakuza 6 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon, further adding to the remastered experience of the title. However, it remains that the large amount of important characters that did not appear in the game whatsoever deserve a chance to thrive in the more outlandish settings that spinoffs like Ishin foster.
Potential Yakzua Characters In An Ishin Sequel
While a fairly comprehensive list of new characters were introduced to Ishin from Yakuza 6, it remains that only two main figures from Yakuza: Like a Dragon appeared in the remaster, despite the huge amounts of recent success that the title generated for the IP. In this way, it is clear that a potential future sequel to Ishin would be wise to take from this pool of unused but contemporarily popular characters.
The most obvious character that should appear in future Ishin-like content would be Ichiban Kasuga, the beloved protagonist of Yakuza: Like a Dragon and the future face of the franchise. With Ichiban taking the IP's star role from Kiryu, it would only make sense that Ichiban could be the protagonist in a future Ishin game, replacing Sakamoto Ryoma. In this line of thinking, a supporting role for a character based off of Yakuza: LIke a Dragon's Yu Nanba would be perfect for an Ishin sequel, especially when paired with an Ichiban-based protagonist.
With other supporting characters like Saeko and Eri returning, a future Ishin title could easily replicate the success and chemistry of Yakuza: Like a Dragon's involved characters. While the replacement of older characters with the likenesses of newer ones is a smart decision on Like a Dragon: Ishin's behalf, the roster of massively important characters that went unused within the title should absolutely be utilized for a potential sequel, at the risk of otherwise being wasted.
Like a Dragon: Ishin is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.