Sega provided a nice Deep Dive into the many ways you can upgrade Sakamoto Ryoma in Like a Dragon: Ishin, along with some of the many wacky minigames the series is known for!
We’ll be going through some of Like a Dragon: Ishin’s crucial elements like how you can train, master certain weapon styles, the battle dungeon mechanic that replaces the series’ pit fights, Arena battles, a few of the bosses, and more. Because even if you’re ever stuck in a difficult fight, you can always go back and prepare, crafting new weapons or enhancing your own skills to gain the upper hand.
Like a Dragon: Ishin releases on February 22 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
▍Like a Dragon: Ishin – Training and Minigames
There are multiple ways to train yourself to become stronger in Like a Dragon: Ishin, one of them is through encountering masters that grant you new techniques!
One of the masters is William Bradley, master of the Gunman Style. Through his special training, you’ll learn how to wield special elemental-type ammo and expand your arsenal. To unlock them you will have to beat William in combat, which won’t be a small feat as he fires his guns incredibly quickly, so you’ll have to plan your approach very carefully.
Another method is through minigames. You can play the Scarecrow Chateau minigame and try to achieve the target score within a time limit. In this mode, scarecrows will pop up from out of the ground, and you’ll have to destroy them quickly to rack up points. Once you’ve completed a challenge you can get a bunch of rewards including weapon materials, and Books of Revelations that will unlock new skills!
You can also try the Cannon Coaching minigame which can be played with either a gun or a sword. Time your strikes carefully as the cannonball approaches you, and depending on how accurate you are you’ll be given points that give you rewards ranging from bronze to silver to gold. Completing these will also grant you new materials, and unlock even more challenges if you can hit gold!
And what kind of feudal era would this be without the introduction of bounties? These missions let you hunt down various scoundrels who have been known to cause trouble. you’ll be given a brief description of the target and where they were last seen, and through that, it’s up to you to track them down. You’ll be rewarded handsomely though as you can use this opportunity to earn money and even Books of Revelations. Be careful though, as some of these enemies are incredibly dangerous, being able to use Heat abilities and even elemental blades!
▍Like a Dragon: Ishin – The Battle Dungeon
Battle Dungeons are part of a secret mission given to the Shinsengumi by the government. In these dungeons, you’ll be roaming around areas ranging from bandit caves to bandit mines, each riddled with traps ready to spring out.
In these missions, you’ll be tasked with defeating dangerous enemies, recovering 1000-ryo boxes, or even rescuing villagers. You’ll receive a fee for completing the mission, but the real gem comes in the dungeons themselves as here you can find materials, weapons, and more to help craft and enhance weapons.
▍Like a Dragon: Ishin – Arena
Up next is the Arena. Here you can challenge your skills by facing off against various enemies, from one on one battles to a showdown against 100 combatants!
Winning arena fights gets you prize money and arena points, which you can then use to exchange for prizes like weapons, materials, and items. Some of the rarest materials can be picked up easily here, so it’ll be worth spending some time practicing before diving into the arena.
And the training you’ll have to do, as when you face off against 100 enemies, you can’t switch battle stances! Pick the best one for the job and make sure you’re ready for an epic bout, that only master samurai could ever stand a chance at winning!
▍Like a Dragon: Ishin – Bosses
In Like a Dragon: Ishin you’ll also be facing off against familiar faces as dangerous bosses, each with special abilities and deadly attacks. Learning their patterns and preparing accordingly will help make short work of these deadly foes.
■ Okada Izo
Okada Izo can generate tornadoes by swinging his sword! Getting hit by this flurry will poison you, causing you to take additional damage and making running impossible. However Izo always telegraphs this attack by going into a stance, so keep an eye out for this whenever you can!
■ Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Yoshinobu has an incredibly flashy piercing flame ability, letting him burst out a fire that does damage even if you think you’re far away from him. Getting hit by this will cause you to be burned and of course, you won’t be able to block this attack, so be prepared to dodge!
