Like a Dragon: Ishin!

Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Developer	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher	Sega
Platforms	PS3, PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Series X/S
Released	PlayStation 3 JP: February 22, 2014 PlayStation 4 JP: February 22, 2014 WW: February 21, 2023 PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S WW: February 21, 2023
Added to Museum	PS4 JP: October 26, 2018

Like a Dragon: Ishin! (龍が如く 維新!, "Like a Dragon Restoration!"), is an entry in the Like a Dragon series that is a prequel to Yakuza. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan on February 22, 2014.

A remake, titled Like a Dragon: Ishin! Kiwami in Japan and as Like a Dragon: Ishin! elsewhere, will be released worldwide in 2023. This is the first time the game has been released outside of Asia.

Plot

On December 10, 1867, Sakamoto Ryōma, a samurai destined to change Japan, was assassinated. It was revealed that he was a doppelganger, as he was killed by Sakamoto Ryōma himself, going under the name Hajime Saitō.

Saitō explained the events that led to that day. Just a few years prior to Ryōma's assassination, Japan had been ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate for 300 years. Their reign started ending when the black ships of the Western civilizations came to Japan and the shogunate didn't have the means necessary to defeat their advanced weapons. The samurai couldn't sit idly when their leaders appeared weak, so this led to a civil war.

On May 4, 1862, Ryōma returned by boat from Edo to Tosa for the first time in about a year. He saw a mother who had a daughter who was ill. She was told by a doctor that she had appendicitis and only a doctor who utilized western medicine could treat it. The doctor intended to get the girl help, but the samurai of a high social class, the joshi, appeared at that moment. Japan at that time had a strict social hierarchy and people of a lower class were expected to stop and bow as the Joshi came by. The mother tried to rush by them, but she was stopped by the joshi. She tried to tell them that her daughter needed a doctor, but the joshi refused to let her by. Ryōma, a samurai of a lower class, the goshi, stepped in and told her to get her daughter to a doctor as he fought the joshi.

Ryōma was jailed in Kochi castle and was rescued, by Yoshida Tōyō, from execution at the hands of a Shirafuda Goshi, a samurai of a social class between the Goshi and the joshi. Tōyō was a high-ranking member of the Tosa government and Ryōma's foster father. Tōyō tells Ryōma to head to Kengoshi Academy, which is the secret training grounds of the Tosa Loyalist Party. Ryōma reunites with Hanpeita Takechi, who saved Ryōma from the fire that killed his family 15 years prior. Takechi announces to his men that Ryōma is second in command of the Tosa Loyalist Party, which doesn't sit well with the other members. Ryōma fights several men led by a samurai named Izō Okada and proves that he is worthy of the title.

The next night, Tōyō is at the castle with 500 Tosa Loyalist Party men to force the old governors out and enact change in Tosa. As they are about to put their plan into motion, a masked man enters and kills Tōyō with a style of martial art that neither Ryōma nor Takechi had seen before. Takechi chases after the man, and Tōyō, with his dying breath, tells Ryōma that the future of Tosa is in his hands. However, the castle guards blame Ryōma for the murder of Tōyō, and Ryōma has to fight his way out of the castle. Ryōma tells

Ryōma tells Takechi to stay out of sight, or he'll be accused of murder as well. He then dives off a cliff, fleeing the guards, and vowing to track down the man who murdered Tōyō.

The Tosa loyalists believe the emperor of Japan should rule Japan and are determined to bring an end to the rulers of Japan, the Tokugawa Bafuku, by any means necessary. Many loyalists gather in Kyo, which is home to the seat of the emperor.

One year after Yoshida Tōyō was killed, Sakamoto Ryōma rented a room in Kyo. In an effort to avoid execution due to the fact that the Tokugawa Bafuku believe he killed Tōyō, Ryōma used the alias Hajime Saitō.

Oryo is a woman who works as a maid for Otose. The latter is the landlady of Teradaya, a large bed-and-breakfast-style inn where Saitō was staying.

Saitō has spent the last year talking to people in dojos to see if he can find information about the masked man who killed Tōyō. He explains the masked man's technique as an obscure martial art from the countrywide that has elements of jujutsu, staff technique, and old martial arts that put an emphasis on function over form. He managed to learn that the style of martial arts used by the masked man was called Tennen Rishin and was taught in the Shieikan dojo in Edo. However, he had trouble finding out more.

An information dealer named Ginji the Crow was paid by Saitō to find more information about the masked man and his technique. Crow was coming up empty in regards to his assigned task so he approached Saitō in a dojo that had uncooperating students that were more interested in fighting Saitō than helping him. Crow wants to know if Saitō is sure that the mysterious masked man is in town. Saitō tells Crow that the Shieikan dojo in Edo closed and its members moved to Kyo. After being assured that the mystery swordsman is in Kyo, Crow vows to redouble his efforts.

Saitō is told by a mysterious man calling himself Matsusuke Niibori to find an information broker named the Bathkeeper of Sai. Saitō discovers that the people from the Shieikan dojo joined the special army for the Shogunate, the Shinsengumi.

In the middle of their conversation, a man named Kichinosuke Saigō demands to get information from the information broker. Saitō fights Saigō and when the former wins the latter takes him out drinking. Saitō learns that Saigō is the General Commander of the Satsuma Domain's army.

Upon leaving the bathhouse, Saitō is approached by a mysterious man in a hat who tells him to meet at the slum district, Mukurogai. At Mukurogai, which he reached by boat, Saitō learns that the man is Izō Okada. The two fight and Saitō wins. Okada reveals that Hanpeita Takechi, Saitō's sworn brother, is waiting for him deep in Mukurogai.

Hanpeita Takechi reveals that he still works for the Shogunate and is now a joshi. He feels that Saitō is wasting his time by trying to get revenge on Yoshida Tōyō. Takechi feels Saitō should be looking at the bigger picture to get the emperor back in power. Saitō, disgusted that Takechi is working for the people who killed Tōyō, tells him that he is joining the Shinsengumi to get revenge for his foster father and says that he will never move on until he does.

The following day, Saitō goes to the Shinsengumi barracks to infiltrate their ranks. After Saitō defeats Second Division Captain Shinpachi Nagakura, he is made a member of the Shinsengumi. However, he is challenged by First Division Captain Soji Okita. When the fight between the two is a draw, Deputy Chief Toshizo Hijikata takes Saitō inside.

The deputy chief orders Third Division Captain Keisuke Yamanami to fight Saitō to the death. Saitō wins, but when he refuses to take his life, Hijikata does instead. After stating that Yamanami tried to desert the Shinsengumi and warning that no one who ever leaves remains alive, Hijikata tells Saitō he will be the new third-division captain.

The next day, Saitō is made the third-division captain, upsetting several other captains because Saitō is a new recruit. The captains who are upset are Seventh Division Captain Sanjuro Tani, Tenth Division Captain Sanosuke Harada, and Fourth Division Captain Chuji Matsubara. Ito Kashitaro, the military advisor, then accuses Hijikata of taking the power of the Shinsengumi for himself during Chief Isami Kondo's long absence.

The meeting soon concludes, and Eighth Division Captain Heisuke Tōdō gives Saitō a bag with a blue haori, which is a piece of clothing that all Shinsengumi captains wear.

On the way back to the inn, a priest and a young girl are trying to keep a house from being foreclosed. Saitō volunteers to take over care of the house and to grow and harvest plants that would be sold at the market or cooked into meals. The girl, who is named Haruka, would maintain the property.

At the inn, Oryo gets angry that Saitō became a Shinsengumi and runs away. Otose tells Saitō that her parents were murdered by members of the Shinsengumi. Saitō goes after Oryo, and when he finds her he explains that he will change it from within by making sure people under his command don't indiscriminately kill people.

Saitō meets with a mysterious samurai named Nakaoka Shintarō. He was in Tosa when Yoshida Tōyō was killed. Shintarō knows that Saitō is really Sakamoto Ryōma and explains that he was a Tosa samurai who was present when Yoshida Tōyō was murdered. Ryōma is the prime suspect, but Shintarō suspects that Hanpeita Takechi was the murderer. Saitō tells Shintarō about the masked man, and the two acknowledge they are both working towards the same goal of finding Tōyō's real killer.

Saitō heads to the Shinsengumi base for his first day and is shown around the grounds by Heisuke Tōdō. Saitō learns that he has to control a unit under his command to fight against combatants to protect the people of Kyo, as well as to take care of anyone who defects from the Shinsengumi.

On his way back to the inn, Saitō is stopped by Susumu Yamazaki, an inspector for the Shinsengumi who is posing as a homeless man. He tells Saitō the location of Akimoto, a defector from the third division, so Saitō heads over to get him before he leaves the area.

When he arrives, Tōdō is there to make sure Saitō does his job as well as to stand guard to make sure Akimoto can't escape. Once inside, Saitō meets a woman named Mizuki, who lets him know Akimoto is using the outhouse. When Akimoto is finished, he gets jealous that Saitō is talking to Mizuki.

The two men fight, and when Saitō wins, he decides to let Akimoto leave, telling him to go out the back because Tōdō is guarding the front. As Akimoto tries to get Mizuki to go with him, Tōdō kills him with his sword. He tells Saitō that he has to lose his conscience because, by the code of the Shinsengumi, all defectors must be killed.

Saitō goes on a raid at a gambling den in Ikedaya. However, before he reaches his destination, he meets up with the informant Crow. Chuji Matsubara, the fourth division captain sees them talking and immediately kills the informant.

At the den, the seventh division captain, Sanjuro Tani runs in alone and is slain by Okada Izo. The ninth-division captain, Mikisaburo Suzuki, is slain next. Genzaburo Inoue plans to take him down with Saitō, but the latter takes him on alone due to Inoue's advanced age.

Saitō defeats Izo, and when given the chance to kill him declines to do so. The officials come in shortly afterward to bring Izo in, where he will likely be tortured and killed. Inoue revealed that he called the officials and that he was testing whether Saitō would kill Izo after defeating him.

Susumu Yamazaki tortured a loyalist named Furutaka Shuntaro to get him to talk. He reveals that forty loyalists planned to set fire to the palace and kidnap the Emporer. He mentioned the name Nakaoka so Saitō goes to the inn to talk to Nakaoka Shintarō.

Saitō reveals his worry over possibly sending Izo to his death, but Nakaoka assures him that he is smart and strong enough to come up with a way to escape. Nakaoka then reveals that he is not the Nakaoka they mentioned but said that he would get in contact with the loyalists to let them know the Shinsengumi planned to attack.

The captains combine their teams and then split up, with the two teams going to different inns. Saito goes with the team to the inn in Rakugai while the others go to the inn in Fushimi.

No one is at the inn, but the Shinsengumi receives word that the Choshu are at Ikedaya. Once there Nakaoka covertly lets Saitō know that he wasn't able to get the loyalists out in time. So, Saitō has to fight through the Choshu fighters until he reaches the leader of the Choshu Domain. It is Matsusuke Niibori, but he reveals he is actually Kogoru Katsura, the man for whom the Shinsengumi was at Ikedaya.

Katsura reveals that he knows Saitō is really Sakamoto Ryōma, tells him that they are on the same side, and points him toward Isami Kondo. Kondo is the Shinsengumi chief, and as such is someone that may be the masked killer. He convinces Saitō to throw the fight, which allows Katsura to escape. However, Nagakura notices Saitō doing so. He lets the incident go as he doesn't want any more Shinsengumi captains to die. However, he warns Saitō not to do something like that again.

At the Satsuma army base, Bafuku Navy Admiral Rintaro Katsu introduces Kichinosuke Saigō to a man claiming to be Sakamoto Ryōma. The imposter Ryōma acts as a mediary between Japanese and the British, providing the Bakufu with British weaponry. He wants to do the same with the Satsuma army.

Saitō asks around the Shinsengumi base to see if he can talk to Kondo. After getting nowhere talking to the deputy chief and other captains, he gets word that Kondo is at Asahi. Saitō fights Kondo, who claims he is the man who killed Yoshida Tōyō. However, when Saitō defeats him, he realizes he is not skilled enough to be the killer.

Kondo reveals that he knows Saitō is Sakamoto Ryōma, and tries to convince him to join a movement that intends to burn down the city and rebuild it anew, with a new castle for the emperor in the west. If he joined the movement, Kondo would tell Saitō the identity of the masked killer. When he refuses, stating he is going to continue investigating on his own, Kondo allows Saitō to stay in the Shinsengumi even though the imposter Sakamoto Ryōma is the man they are hunting down. When Saitō leaves, Genzaburo Inoue reveals that he knows Saitō's real identity as well.

With his identity known by the chief and his true purpose to enter the Shinsengumi to look for people who use the Tennen Rishin style of martial arts known by the captains, Ryoma meets up with Nakaoka. He reveals his predicament and they are both aware that Saitō can find himself in danger with the Shinsengumi at any time.

For the moment, Saitō decides to treat it as business as usual and goes to the Shinsengumi base. He is told that Soji Okita wants to see him. Okita tells Saitō that he wants him to be a part of a raid on the residence of the Sengoku. Okita believes that loyalist Shishi members are being harbored inside, but Saitō is wary of the plan because even the chief doesn't know about it. Okita tells Saitō that he only wants him to join as he is only interested in finding Tennen Rishin martial artists, so he will be able to get the glory all to himself. Reluctantly, Saitō joins Okita on the raid.