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 who was 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 "Saitō Hajime".

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 coming to an end 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 samurai of 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 Takechi Hanpeita, who saved Ryōma from the fire that killed his family 15 years prior. Hanpeita 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 Okada Izō 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 Hanpeita had seen before. Hanpeita 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

Hanpeita 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 Saitō Hajime.

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 Hajime was staying.

Hajime 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 puts 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 Hajime 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 Hajime in a dojo that had uncooperating students that were more interested in fighting Saitō than helping him. Crow wants to know if Hajime is sure that the mysterious masked man is in town. Hajime 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.

Hajime is told by a mysterious man calling himself Matsusuke Niibori to find an information broker named the Bathkeeper of Sai. Hajime 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 Saigo demands to get information from the information broker. Hajime fights Saigo and when the former wins the latter takes him out drinking. Hajime learns that Saigo is the General Commander of the Satsuma Domain's army.

Upon leaving the bathhouse, Hajime is approached by a mysterious man in a hat who tells him to meet at the slum district, Mukurogai. At Mukurogai, which is approachable by boat, Hajime learns that the man is Okada Izo. The two fight and Hajime wins. Izo reveals that Hanpeita Takechi, Hajime'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 Hajime is wasting his time by trying to get revenge on Yoshida Tōyō. Takechi feels Hajime should be looking at the bigger picture to get the emperor back in power. Hajime, 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 next morning, Hajime goes to the Shinsengumi barracks to infiltrate their ranks. After Hajime 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 Hajime inside.

The deputy chief orders Third Division Captain Keisuke Yamanami to fight Hajime to the death. Hajime 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 Hajime he will be the new third division captain.

The next day, Hajime is made third division captain, upsetting several other captains because he Hajime 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 absense.

The meeting soon concludes, and Eighth Division Captain Heisuke Todo gives Hajime a bag with the clothes that all Shinsengumi captains wear.